APPENDIX
85
being much less; and immeasurably more liquid, inasmuchas they are now predominantly gold. French holdings of goldand dollar resources are not far short of double what theywere in 1914, and Canadian some ten times. Taking GreatBritain, Prance and Canada together, gold and dollar resourcesare not far short of double what they were in 1914. Germany 'ssimilar resources, on the other hand, which in 1914 werenearly half of our own, are to-day less than one-twenty-fifthof ours and less than one-fiftieth of the total allied resources.Moreover, our liability to Allies, which was our over-whelmingfinancial task in the last war prior to the entry of the UnitedStates , is to-day negligible in comparison. Since all monetarycommitments are on a much larger scale now than they weretwenty-five years ago and since an evident power to endureindefinitely is essential, utmost economy in the use of foreignresources and utmost effort to add to them by exports areof the first importance. Nevertheless, I cannot agree that westart, taking everything into account, with inferior financialstaying power than in 1914. The ability of the sterling andFrench area to meet a continuing adverse balance of tradeis, taken in the aggregate, enormous; whilst the foreignresources of the enemy are non-existent and already replacedby liabilities.
U.S. Federal Reserve Board EstimateEnd of August 1939(£ million at $4 to the £)
Securities Direct & AnnualCentral readily other in- Gold
Gold Dollar marketable vestments ProductionReserves Balances in U.S.A. in U.S.A. (1938)
500 149 184 225 —
750 79 46 20 —
54 89 125 140 41
135 — — — 146
Total 1,439 317 355 385 187