Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-19
WORLD BANK HAS
DONE MUCH GOOD
Institution Is Praised for
Functions Aside From
Preparations.
BY ALEXANDER HENDERSON.
Associated Press Financial WriteEs

Associated Press Financial WriteEs
NEW YORK. May 19-The first an
nual meeting Of the bank for interna-
tional settlements now In session In
Geneva suggests q retrospective exam-
nation Of its first year OF activities,
Probably its most important achieve
ment from the standpoint Of the gen.
eral public Is its operation as an inter-
national unit In many transactions nee
involving reparations with which the
public at large associates it. 1t per-
forms this function as conceived by
the Young plan, but such operations
constitute only a small part of it's ac-
tivities.
The council of the institution only
yesterday authorized it to permit the
National Bank of Austria to discount
100000 900 schillings ($l4,070,0 900. at
par value) Of Austrian commercial pa
per as a means Of alleviating the dis
turbed financial conditions In that
country following the difficulties Of. the
Austrian credit anstalt.
Prevented Serious Break.
short time ago one Of the lesser
countries OF Europe was confronted with
situation arising out of conditions
which threatened its foreign exchange,
The Bank for International Settlements
advanced $10,000,000 to the central
Dank OF the country, preventing seria
Gus break in its foreign exchange.
The central banks of Europe and. pri-
vate and commercial American banks
q q ct al -
The heads of these institutions hold
frequent meetings at the banks head
quarters which have made it an inter-
national clearing house for information
OF fundamental Importance in financial
ana business economic affairs Some
OF these central banks are in countries
which have no claim of any kind on
the reparations paid by Germany. These
examples are sufficient to indicate the
scope Of the institution aside from Its
activities in reparations.
From the standpoint of practical
banking these periodical conferences
are OF great Importance. A number of
bankers OF high international standing
could be quoted to support this state
ment
Gates w. McGarrah, the American
president of the bank in addressing the
academy OF Political Science in New
York last November, referred to the
bank In these words: IF l were asked
what / considered the outstanding: ac-
tivity Of the last six months I wouldj
say the collaboration of the central
banks. 1t may be that with time the
Bis Will become the great CENTER for
central bank reserves as well as a. Qorn-
mon clearing house. Until the recent
past, central banks have tended to work
in isolation and in ignorance of what
each was about to do"
Removes World Fears.
Pierre Quesnay, the French general
manager CT the bank for international
settlements. has recalled that for. the
first time in the history of credit these
regular exchanges of views between
representatives of countries with the
gold standard have become possible"
ANY one is privileged to wonder what
might have happened in the years inn
mediately after the World War If the
governors OF the central banks Of Gerz
many, Great Britain, France, Italy and
OF the lesser European countries had
met periodically to consider the guess
ton, What can we do to help?1 Such
gathering then might have aroused
suspicion of some gigantic deal with al
background more or less political, but
1t Is held nowadays as matter Of
routine, and the exchange of views Is
mutually beneficial
An important factor in favor of the
success Of the bank is the confidence
shown in it by the leading bankers or
the world. This feeling has grown since
the very early days of actual operation
and was induced in part by the ability
OF its Stah, the key men of which We're
experienced and eminent bankers in
their own countries before joining the
new bank -
Another striking fact about the banh|
is the way in which it has been able
to avoid the entanglements of politics.
Notwithstanding its international ccni-
position.