As OTHERS SEE Us.
But for the great confidence felt all over the world in our banking and monetary system, the effect of these unsatisfactory and unsound conditions upon the Foreign Exchanges would have been revealed in startling fashion long ago. In some respects it would have been better, perhaps, if they had been so revealed. Instead we have had France and other foreign nations depositing their money here for short-term periods, thereby tending to correct temporarily the effect which would otherwise have been produced upon the Foreign Exchanges by our natural adverse trade balance. When the critic in this country endeavours to emphasize the dangers of extravagance in the national expenditure and the impair- ment of confidence by Socialist legislation, he is usually accused of political bias. When, however, we see these follies perpetrated in some other part of the world, such as Australia, we are quick to detect its ill-effects and even to utter warnings to statesmen in that country. It is the old story of perceiving the mote in our brother's eye without perceiving the beam in our own. At the pre- sent time, however, we may be assured that in foreign countries our credit has suffered considerably as a conse- quence of our persistent disregard over many years of those principles, the observance of which was the original foundation of our pre-War prestige and prosperity.
(Continued on page vi.)
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