The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-12-15
INVESTED MONEY
BRINGING END OF
ISOLATION TOU.S.
Foreign Securities Owned by
Average Citizens in All
Parts of Nation.
BY William Philip SiInms.
Times staff Correspondent


WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.--Wheth-
er President Coolidge or some entire
ly new tenant hangs his hat on the
White House rack after 1928, II is al
ready foregone conclusion to those
who can read the signs of the times
that whatever now remains OF Amer
lean exclusion is doomed to Join the
dodo.
Here's why; There is scarcely a
country on the face Of the globe in
which the small American investor
isn't financially interested, and every
year he challIs up approximately one
billion dollars more to his credit.
! Growing more numerous all the time,
the day is fast approaching when
these citizens will WELD such stu
pendous influence at Washington
that many politicians now preaching
splendid isolation" will see tho adj
vantage Of talking through the 9TH
err end of the horn.
Up to very recently the well-known
international banker has been
about the only person interested in
what happened in Germany, OF Italy,
or Austria, or Japan, or the Argen-
tine, or Chile. Even the average
capitalist and the small bankers were
apathetic.
Now Times Have Changed
Now all that is changed. The
millSman In Omaha, the clerk In
Birmingham, the cotton planter in
Texas, the wheat farmer in Kansas.
the orange grower in California and
tho average American generally,
who has a few dollars saved up is
coming more and more to add a
foreign bond or two to his invest
ments.
Already, in addition to the SILL
000,000,00 war debt which foreign
countries owe the United States
Government, there is another S11,-
900, 100000 owing directly to the
American people, representing loans
made, through the banks, to foreign
ers. Cast your eye down the list
of foreign government bonds alone
which figured In stock market trad
ing yesterday: You'll see Argen-
tines, Australias. Belgiums, Bergens,
Bogotas, Bolivias, Bordeauxs, Bre-
mems, Brazils, Buenos Aires, Can
adas, Carlsbads, Chiles, Colognes,
Chinese, Colombias, Copenhagens,
Cordobas, Cubas, Czecho. Slovakias,
etc, etc, and you've not got past
the Cs.
Who owns these? Wall Street?
Nonsense. Tom, Dick and Hettie
own them, from Bangor to San
Diego. Wall Street is just the go
! between. The bankers are not the
big bond holders; they sell them;
you buy them.
Dwight F. Morrow Of J. P. Nor
gan & Co., In the January issue OF
Foreign Affairs, out today, tells the
result Of a careful nationwide in
vestigation which he made.
The Austrian issue, he found. for
example, was bought by $3.50 buy
ers. The average amount sold to
each was $2,944. This, mind, In
cluded the few buyers of big lots,
which greatly boosted the average.
He figures that So per cent Of this
and similar issues went to purchasers
of 500 to $4,000 worth.
The Japanese issue went to 8S,412
buyers; the German to S4,44o buyers.
the Argentine to 1881; the Belgian
to 1880 buyers. And so on. Only
to per cent, Morrow states, were
sales Of $4,000 or over. It is natural
to suppose, also, that some Of the
larger buyers bought them to resell
later to a large number of smaller
investors.
Thousands Investing
when we talk about the person
who is investing in foreign bonds,@
the banker writes, I'VE are not talk
ing about a great institution in New
York, or Chicago, or Boston. We are
talking about thousands Of people liv-
ing in all parts of the United States.
We are talking about school teachers
and Army officers and country doc
tors and stenogrpahers and clerks"
And what did these people get In
exchange for their savings? More
promises to pay. This or that group
of foreigners promised to pay the
money back some time or other, gen.
orally a decade or several decades
hence. Nor is 1t to be forgotten that
these promises can be made good
only If this little old world in which
we live and move manages to keep
on a fairly even keel.
Thus the isolationists' slogan Of
let 'em stew in their own Juice
even now has the death rattle.
'World peace and general economic
stability" must inevitably take its
place as fast as Americans awaken
to the fact that these foreigners owe
them large sums Of money and fat
dividends are hardly to be expected
on the promises-to-pay of people
stewing In their own juice