CHANGED CONDITIONS.
To what, however, it may be asked, do we owe the very remarkable change which has taken place in financial conditions within a few weeks ? Only a month ago we were experiencing a 6 per cent. Bank Rate, while less than two months ago British Funds and kindred securities weremnder a cloud. Thus, at the beginning of this year the 31 per cent. Conversion Loan stood at 73, as coin- pared with about.82 to-day, and the rise which has occurred in that particular stock is only indicative of the sharpness of the recovery in all kindred securities. And while Bank Rate a month ago stood at 6 per cent., it has now been reduced to 4 per cent. Not only so, but whereas at the beginning of the year the Foreign Ex- changes were all moving against us, the tendency to-day is in the opposite direction, so much so that there seems to be a difficulty in preventing a too active flow of foreign money to these centres. I say " preventing," because in view of the embarrassment occasioned last year by with- drawals of these heavy balances, there is no desire at the present time that they should once again become unwieldy.
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