The extent to which the exchange fluctuations which have troubled trade during the past three years have been seasonal, and therefore due, not to a continuing or increasing disequilibrium, but merely to the absence of a fixed exchange, is not, I think, fully appreciated. During 1919 there was a heavy fall of the chief European exchanges due to the termination of the inter-Allied arrangements which had existed during the war. During 1922 there was a rise of the sterling exchange, which was independent of seasonal influences. During 1923 there has been a further non-seasonal collapse of the franc exchange due to certain persisting features of France’s internal finances and external policy. But the following table shows how largely _recurrent_ the fluctuations have been during the four years since the autumn of 1919:-- PERCENTAGE OF DOLLAR PARITY +------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+ |August-July.| Sterling. | Francs. | Lire. | | | Lowest. Highest. | Lowest. Highest. | Lowest. Highest. | +------------|------------------+------------------+------------------+ | 1919–1920 | 69 88 | 31 66 | 22 56 | | 1920–1921 | 69 82 | 30 45 | 18 29 | | 1921–1922 | 73 92 | 37 48 | 20 28 | | 1922–1923 | 90 97 | 29 41 | 20 27 | +------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+ On the experience of the past three years, francs and lire are at their best in April and May and at their worst between October and December. Sterling is not quite so punctual in its movements, the best point of the year falling somewhere between March and June and the worst between August and November. The comparative stability of the highest and lowest quotations respectively in each year, especially in the case of Italy, is very striking, and indicates that a policy of stabilisation at some mean figure might have been practicable; whilst, on the other hand, the wide divergences between the highest and lowest are a measure of the expense and interference that trade has suffered.