POSSIBLE CAUSES.
Amidst the innumerable rumours circulated, and none of which have yet received confirmation, the following explana- tions are at least plausible, and perhaps even probable. In the first place, the projected loan being a large one, the lending countries have doubtless been properly insistent upon ad- equate security and, such insistence being generally unwelcome in the borrowing countries, it is probable enough that there may have been a pause rather than a hitch in the negotiations. In the, second place, having regard to the effect upon Belgian currency of the persistent fall in the French franc, it is possible that the idea may have been entertained of stabilizing the Belgian franc at an even lower level than 107, and the anticipation of these possibilities may have led to heavy " bear " sales. That the difficulties at Geneva have been unhelpful is probable enough, but I should -doubt whether they have been anything like the prime cause of the sudden disturbance in the quotation of the Belgian franc. For, whatever may be the outcome of the Geneva Conference, nothing can alter the desirability, in the interests both of the countries directly concerned and Of all other financial and commercial Centres, of a stabilization not only of Belgian but
of French currency.
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