Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in _underscores_. Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook. THE WAR AND OUR FINANCIAL FABRIC THE WAR AND OUR FINANCIAL FABRIC BY WALTER WILLIAM WALL, F.J.I. FELLOW OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY AUTHOR OF “BRITISH RAILWAY FINANCE,” ETC. LONDON CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD. 1915 PREFACE In this work I attempt to gather up some of the lessons to be learnt from the experiences of the greatest of financial crises. Many predictions have been unrealized and many theories destroyed, and we are able, I think, to see with greater clearness and to grasp with more boldness the problems that perplexed us in the past. Banking, credit and currency problems have ever been subjects of contentious controversy, experts and academic critics alike being unable to agree upon their reading of phenomena and upon right interpretations. The problems are indisputably complex, the most complex, probably, in the vast domain of economics, and vision and logic have not guided us with sureness amidst their intricacies. Hence we have groped and gone our different ways, finding ourselves at no common goal. Royal Commissions have been asked for in order to tackle and, if possible, to find solutions that will be universally acceptable. For some time before last year’s crisis a small committee of bankers had been sitting in order primarily to deal with the reserve problem and the provision of emergency currency. It is believed they were on the point of presenting a scheme to deal with future crises when the sudden outbreak of the war put an end to their labours. Whether or not their scheme will ever be made known to the public may depend upon future developments. Perhaps the public may never be enlightened, for it may now be thought that inspiration and genius discovered the most practical solutions at the right moments. Something had to be done swiftly. And that which was decided upon swiftly revealed deeper insight, maybe, than slower deliberation. This is not uncommon, however, in the career of genius. Civilization has profited more, perhaps, from flashes of inspiration than from uninspired controversy. In order to build up my arguments I start from the foundation, and in the earlier chapters deal with the monetary problem and the general working of the banking system. These lead us into the region of dialectics and controversy and to a survey of the happenings during the crisis.