One of the most responsible direc
tors of one of the "Big Three" of the
German banks said that every neutral
i country was loaded to lull capacity
with German reichsmarks and could
take no more; while what he consid
ered the irreducible minimum of gold
held by the Reichsbank was all that
remained and from this must come
payment for the imports of food made
through the official benevolence of the
United States Government. An at
tempt, therefore, to repudiate all or
any part of the German currency
would have disastrous consequences in
countries where Germany has made
every effort to keep her credit good
Let it be remembered, in parenthe
sis, that the estimates of German
currency here offered do not include
those of everv city throughout the
former Empire, which in the absence
of silver money has floated unlimited
auantities of fractional currency. Co
logne, in fact, reached the point of a
paper bill for ten pfennigs. Taking
the mark at two cents, this would be
worth 20 mills ofc an American cent,
or a shade more than one-fifth of that
useful coin. Bu it would not be
worth that for any distance outside
of Cologne. The other towns would
refuse to accept it because they would
want to protect their own fracional
currency, and the point is rapidly be
inir annroached where this sort of
small change will be sold, if not by jj gJJ
tne pouna, at least oy ne uun.L. au ;
one knows how much of it may be
afloat, and repudiation is as easy and
as costlv as our Southern States found
it in days we are all trying to for
get. j
Away hack in the time of the. Russo- i
Turkish war London Punch found j
something to say in favor of the in
debtedness of the Sultan of Turkey.
