Foreword

FORE~WORD A four year period in the history of money, credit and banking in France and the United States might ordinarily be covered satisfactorily in a slender essay, easily written in a short time. Almost every week of the war period, however, has brought events of the first rrLagnitude in both countries. A definitive history of money, credit and banking during this period must be the work of several years. There is not merely the problem of reading and digesting an immense mass of materials, but there is also the certainty that many episodes, carefully disguised for political and military reasons, can not be justly evaluated until a later time. The writer trusts that other students will bear these difficulties in mind in passing judgment on the book. Errors it must contain, both in state ments of fact and in interpretations. It is a pleasure to acknowledge various obligations to· others.

Mr. Harvey E. Fisk of the :E~ankers Trust Company of New York kindly supplied several of the charts, as did Dr. M. Jacob son, statistician of the Federal Re~erve Board. Both gentlemen have given advice and information. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Service Department of the National Bank of Commerce in New York, the New York Times Annalist) the library of the Carnegie Ehdowment for International Peace at Washington and other organizations have been very generous. The author is indebted for many ideas to his colleagues of the Committee of the American Economic Association on the Pur chasing Power of Money with :Reference to the War, Professors Irving Fisher, W. C. Mitchell, E. W. Kemmerer and W. M. Persons and Dr. Royal Meeker. Mr. Basil P. Blackett, financial representative of the British Government, has given information and advi/ce, as have Professors O. M. W. Sprague and H. P.

Willis. 'It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that" the writer alone is responsible for the views here expressed. B. M. ANDERSON, Jr. November, 1918. v CHAPTER I Introduction CON~rENTS PAGE 3 PART I--FRANCE II Money, Credit and Banking in France . . . . . . . . . . 19 III The Outbreak of the Vv r ar in France 43 IV Depression and" Reprise des Affaires" .. . . . . . . . 56 V Prices of Commodities in France during the War 71 VI The Effects of the War on the Medium of Exchange in France: Coin, Bank Notes and Checks 82 VII French Fiscal Methods during the War 93 VIII The Banque de France during the War . . . . . . . .. 105 IX Private Banks and Savings Banks in France during the War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 114 X The Moratorium in France .... "............... 122 XI The French Bourse dur:lng the War '.. 127 XII French Foreign Trade and Foreign Exchange 133 PART II-THE UNITED STATES XIII XIV XV XVI XVII New York at the Outbreak of the Ware .