Paris, July 6.
The failure of the Banque Industrielle de Chine is regarded as a severe blow to French trade and credit in the Far East, and there is much discussion as to whether it could or ought to have been averted in the public interest.
When the collapse in the prices of silk and rice made the situat tion of the Bank critical, valuable time was lost in trying to find expedients, which were finally recognized as ineffective. An attempt was then made to discount the 130,000,000 francs worth of Chinese Treasury bonds held by the Bank. This might have been done by the Bank of France had the three guarantees required by statutes of that institution been obtained. The other big French banks, which had previously advanced, in combination, Frs. 103,444,000 on security, were appealed to, but came to the conclusion that they could be of ud further assistance, and the Minister of Finance, after consulting his official advisers, did not feel justified in using the resources of the Treasury for such a purpose, it being very doubtful whether Parliamentary approval would be given.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.