The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-06
Babson ! Write,
|AboutC Currenc,s'

facts for readers 10 ets eon,ss, son,
Moreover, they relate to tas' cSss'
which ! have personsIl,, INl,Alss'
messed in my short Ifetin. VT
My first job, after grsdns. ins,
from the Massachusetts 1sua' 10sa
tute of Technology in isss 'asa'
as a statistician ior a bsntisa' W.
house in Boston. At that t@llhla' .ia'
the Leading banks OF New yo.1' s
Philadelphia and Boston ,o'A .s.
recommending the Reicbmsssss nss
IS as the safest bonds .asSs ob.ss
able - better than U. : Van S
The Reichmark, at tn at 'srs. v,.
sold for about "a cents, Na's
Within 20 years, I saw a..
German government bond, s
come practically worthless, :. W
true that the German vo,s.
ment redeemed them 'f
marks" but these marx, IL. u
dropped from a cents tn ,M as'
600 of one cent. Moreover ..s y'
ers of German insurance Iv,H' saS
cies and bank deposits sut,s..I "u
the same loss. Nothing like G Wv
will happen in the United S,,,.s W.
But initiation has always sYis.st
since the days when the old Nv
ropean kings clipped their ~
pies gold coins. Initiation ~, MIN
continue to be a factor and v.
value of every currencv vV I
probably continue to decline
/ have always been intere,,a
in China. My ancestors were !,
the Chinese trade, sailing ,hio,
from Gloucester to China uort,
At that time the Chinese don,,
was worth 30 cents in American
gold. China was ruled with ~
iron hand by an old lady, TN
Hsi, the empress dowager, vho
never heard of communism Tho
budget was always balanced
Just before World War II 7
was in China inspecting IN
Shanghai Power company. Al
that time, Chinese dollars ver,
worth 5 cents in American mon.
ey or it took only 20 Chinese
dollars to get a U. S. dollar,
This was only a few years sso.
Today, it takes about 10000
Chinese dollars to buy one
American dollar. This has not
been due to any dishonesty Is
was the case with Germany. /
has happened through a con.
slant ia lure to balance The
budget.
Before World War /, | had nj.
merous clients in Paris, and
visited there often. The French
franc, at that time, was worth
20 cents in American gold. Il
was looked upon as stable as our
dollar is looked upon today. Dw.
ing World War / this franc
gradually declined to about J
cents, This was not due to dis
honesty, but to failure to BAL
ance the budget.
Just preceding World Wsr Il
the franc had declined to around
2 cents. Since then, through
further failure to balance the
budget, q huge government debt
and other economic causes, the
franc has declined to a point
where it is difficult TO get a
Frenchman to accept them al
any price. They are probably
worth about 1-3 of cent. This
means that it takes about 800
francs to buy one American doI'
lar.
Up until World War II, III
British pound has been thu
standard currency Of the world
and it has sold for nearly s. il
American rency. During
World War II, in fluctuated from
So to SO, according to the tau
of the British navy or army, AT
er World War II, the pound wal
theoretically st abilized at A@
in American dollars. Apparent
ly, however, this is a tictltlol
amount, as illustrated by the lo''
lowing incident.
Some English interests haw
been endeavoring to purcnsS
two Gloucester trawlers. Afla
long negotiations (the bfi'iSa
are wonderful traders) a prick
was agreed upon. The owners
naturally, expected to get 90,
lars, but upon going to hhgldI
to get the money, were tolo uley
must be paid in pounds "nsa
my Gloucester friends retulnes
to New York they found they
could get only $2.75 in America
dollars for these British po0nuS
This did not happen years ass
moreover, it did not happen
China, many, or Wa
France. 1t happened last Ws'
in New York City.
I believe in the United sta'n s
All I have ! owe to the UNIV
States, and I am ready 10 s1.
my fortune and life to the ohN"
ed States. But, I am ui'iaI
my clients and readers no,
call to their a''sli4s, ~,
what is happening all over ~
rest of the world, and WhsI a..s l,.s'
happen in the United o''N, -.
Certainly, our. dollar s.,i,, IKE I
money of all other c. comlan. I.d',.
throughout the ages, VIII slas ~,
ally decline in purchasing pa, p
er. How far this will co. n00O''
knows. .,ad
What can we do TO pfo'sJ,
ourselves? First, we can ,,en, ~
to reduce the U. S. goyeIlI'--, gov, + n-r
debt and increase the U; ,, s...s, z.a
duction of goods through pe"