May CONCURRENTLY—with Mr. Churchill's exposition of the provisions of the Budget, important financial operations are Jannounced in the United States which, if carried through in their entirety, will mean a loan jof roughly £150,000,000 placed at the disposal of the British Treasury, an amount about equivalent to the normal gold reserve held in the Bank of England. It may aot be required, but its negotiation emphasizes perhaps the greatest danger at tendant upon a return by Great Britain to a gold standard—the possibility of a heavy drain on the.gold in her possession by Continental and other countries which till subsist on a paper currency footing. This brings into prominence provisions which are being introduced into the new gold standard system which were absent from the prewar system,.and, being in the nature of safeguards, it may be taken for granted that the hope of the present Government is that assistance from America will in actual fact not be requir ed. Were it otherwise, the return to a gold standard could only be regarded with the gravest" apprehension; for, as soon as London required a loan of gold from New York for the purpose of replacing her depleted stocks, there would be heavy interest charges to be met, and instead of bettering her position " financial ly and commercially as it hoped te do, an additional burden would be placed upon her taxpayers in meeting these The meaning of a gold standard is nothing more than that Jon demand the holder of a Bank of England or Treasury Note will receive gold on its encashment, and that he can then take that "gold out of the country should he so desire. Before the war the possessor of a Bank of England note could not only demand gold, but actually sover-reigns, and furthermore he could have gold minted free of charge It will be observed that neither lof these provisions is to-day in force, in fact they are specifically stated as being withdrawn, and herein, it arise safeguards for the British gold reserve. The holder of a note may go to the Bank of Eng-and and demand gold: he may ask for sovereigns, and if eonvenient the Bank' will supply him with these: but if for any reason the-Bank does not wish to part with sovereigns, it wi simply give him gold' to the value at parity of the note. Of course gold, except in the form of coin, is not a specially convenient medium for the carrying on. of. trade, whereas for all gen-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.