Aug. 17.
The biggest financial man-Jeuvre of all time has proved a [success, probably even beyond ithe dreams of the most optimism tic, for of the total of £2,086, 000,000 invested in the War Loan lat five per cent, no less than £1,850,000,000 has been convert-fed' to three and a half per cent. £48,000,000 worth of the loan [will on the present figures be redeemed, and there still remains £288,000,000 worth of the oan the holders of which have mot yet indicated th If they fail to do so befor [September 30 their holdings will Ibe automatically converted, and in this connection it is believed that very little of this outstand-ting sum will be redeemed. If lall of it had to be, the operation would still be a success for it Iwas generally expected that between 10 and 15 per cent, of the total loan would have to be bought in, so that the smallness lof the proportion desiring redemption must come as a very pleasurable surprise to even the most optimistic observers. The Imatter of redemption having thus been reduced to such small proportions it is only to be expected that the raising of the money sufficient for such a purpose will be a matter of comparative ease, for though the lowering of the bank-rate made such a conversion possible, the ter must have the reciprocal effect of maintaining money at la low rate. That, probably, lone of the best indications of ithe prosperity which so ma to see in the future sheapness of, money, Ishould have a most beneficial effect upon industrial develop-Iment on the one hand, and on the other be a substantial, stable index of the country's credi The conversion is being put through as the result of the self-sacrifices of loyalty. In the rly days after th Iment of the proposed conversion it was stated that large holders War Loan were prepared to leonvert even though by doing so they suffered very considerable reduction in their incomes therefrom. Large firms, organisations such as the teachers' union, and private individuals, one at least! lof whom surrendered hi a gift to port they practically given to Mr. Neville Chamberlain's scheme. It is desirable that this quality of loyalty should first be emphasis-Il of a piece with ithe manner in which the country faced the relinquishment of the gold. standard, how it accepted Lord Snowden's economies and how it supported the formation lof a National Government whew ithe Labour Government was {forced to the polls. But there is also a hard-headed quality about it all on which Britons can also congratulate themselves. The disastrous state of affairs revealled about a year ago came as a shock to the whole Empire. British finances were in a parlous leon dition and it was up to the United Kingdom to extricate itself from the mess in which it {found itself. Now a budget has been balanced at a time when [seemed well nigh impossible, and las a result of this conversion between £20,000,000 and £80,000,- 1000 per annum will be saved to ithe tax payers What an answer to those who, ike a Chinese editor recently, profess to see the British Empire tottering to its doom! What a confirmation, on the other hand, lof those who not ¥ many months fage contended that the British [Empire was to-day stronger than it had ever been! And what example of solidarity! The feat which has been performed at a time when everything has looked iso black is so stupendous as almost to pass comprehension. The evil load which had to be shouldered because of the Inecessities of war has fallen like the pack from Pilgrim's back, q similar earnest of th better things to come. The depressing effect of costly money lhas been heavily discounted by these latest developments, for [cheap money means good credit jand a. country which can borrow approximately $£2,000,000,000 at 84 per cent. may' reasonably be said to have a high credit rating. That is what this conversion means. It implies that investors in the overwhelming majority are prepared to lend their money at this low rate, but it also means that those desirous of perhaps a somewhat lo: security but a higher return will direct their attention to other channels of investment and so contribute to the trade renaissauce which, there is every indication, is near. at hand. This may not be merely a conversion lof a loan, it may be the recon-ion of many to the belief that. "mought shall make us rue,
rue."
England to itself do rest but
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.