M. Cheron, the French Minister of Finance, made an important
declaration on January 10th with regard to France's ambition to make Paris an international money market. He shows how the restoration of the French financial system and the stabilization of the franc have prepared the soil—and " the country has recovered its traditional capacity to save "—while a careful readjustment of charges and duties has improved the conditions for a thriving growth. The current number of L'Europe Nouvelle, which prints this message, devotes much space to the enterprise. It gives plenty of informa- tion about what is being aimed at, and. suggests that the future financial function of Paris will be quite different from that former function of " sharing with London the market for long-term capital loans." It is implied, however, that London bankers are very willing that PariS should help to bear the burden. We should be Old to know that co-operation between these two financial centres is assured, but, frankly, we do not like the political flavour of French finance. The history of the last ten years goes far to justify Mr. George Glasgovi's gibe (see Continental Statesmen reviewed on p. 98) at the tapparently unconquerable French aversion from realistic finance.
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