Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-12-05
BY EMMANUEL MoNCK,

Financial Attache of the Frena Embassy
am bound to express geat surprise
at the prevalence of statehents to the
effect that France has Attacked the
dollar. The truth il thst France has
done nothing to justly such a charge,
as the following will show:
To attribute any SUD, policy to France
would be to convict ier not only of an
antagonism to the United States, which
Is unthmkable, but of great stupidity
so far as Frances owa interests are con-
cerned. America bang che Of Frances
best cuStoIners, it tbes without saying
that the purcha.inJ power of America
is regarded in France as valuable from
the French standpoint.
Keep God Standard.
Furthermore, an understanding of the
situation requires mention of the tunda-
mental fact thst since September. 1881,
the United States and France are alone
among the great powers remaining on
the god standard If the dollar had
been forced cf the gold standard, the
uanc as evesy one in France realized
would have been gravely threatened.
From this it should be understood that
complete solidarity existed between the
dollar and the franc from that time on
and now exists more than ever.
If international speculation had BEEN
successful in forcing the dollar eff
gold, it would have turned its efforts
next against the franc. Both France
and the United States are today con.
fronted by economic dangers arising
from the fact that they remain on the
gold standard although surrounded by
countries whose currencieS are depre-
ciated. The export trade Of these two
great countries IS thereby reduced and
their own industries are threatened.
The words of the joint statement OF
President Hoover and Mr.. Laval OF
October, 1881, should be recalled
THE maintenance of the gold
standard in France and the United
States constitutes the most impor-
tant factor for the restoration of
the economic life of the world"
This is just as true today as it was
last year. What hurts the dollar in
1yres the franc.
1t is hard to conceive that a country
should attack another when it knows ir
advance that it win be itself the frs
victim of such an attack.
If the American people should COL
slider thoroughly this deep solidarity Of
the franc and the dollar, which will be
more and more marked during the con-
ing months, we would not hear any Of
those critics who lately have received
such wide publicity.
Withdrawal Action.
Let us consider now the circ1m-
stances which brought about the h,avy
gold Withdrawals from New Yorf by
the Bank of France. It is very cay to
bring in to full light the technical side
of this operation. Before the legal sta
bilization of the franc-that is, Eefore
June IS, 1928-the Bank of france
possessed about $1,000 100000 Of 'oregn
balances, half in London and half in
New York.
I can safely venture to say that the
largest part of these credits we're of
foreign origin, because foreign capital
was coming to the Bank Of France,
partly seeking security and partly in
the belief that the franc would be
revalorized.
The bill stabilizng the fanc, June
IS, 1928, placed France Oh the gold
standard, compelling the Bark of France
to transform all foreign credits into
gold None Of the foreign central
banks showed any surprise at the time,
dI1O tIlEJ du SGdtt7u IcPcNtCAAy g41dk II
such balances were to he repatrlateo,
they had no objection to raise.
Can the Bank of France be accused
Of having withdrawn that gold in an
untimely manner and with a lack Of
cooperative spirit? N fact. the ex-
ample Of what happened in London,
where the Bank of Frlnce had kept the
largest part of her balances when the
pound sterling went of the gold stand
ard, shows how careful she was not to
act inconsiderably. In that instance
her spirit of cooperation cost her a
loss of s100,000,00 on the value OF
sterling balances.
Attitude Toward United States.
Toward the United States, the atti-
tude has been Just as considerate and
courteous. The repatriation Of French
gold was made progressively and not
without previous agreement as to the
best way it could be accomplished. A
decision was taken to repatriate gold
only on French vessels, thereby insur-
ing slower outflow from the United
States, which, N itself, was another
proof of moderation. Such an attitude
is the best demonstration that the
Bank of France recognized at all times
the complete solidarity of the franc
and the dollar
The facts given above show that there
Is absolutely no foundation in the be-
lief that France attacked the dollar.
Moreover, those in America who are in
a position to know exactly how things
developed never voiced such an accu-
sation On the contrary, the Bank of
France has received from the most rep
resentative financial quarter in Amer
lea the assurance that her course in
the matter had been highly appreciated.
Such an assurance from such a
source has more weight for France than
the present campaign of attack, and
we believe that ultimately American
public opinion will be similarly en-
Iightened.
(Copyright. 1892, by North American News
paper Alliance, Inc.)