Ma DEVALUED FRANC.
If only in view of the fact that France is now reckoned to be among the richest and most prosperous of all countries,
enjoying, moreover, the maximum amount of employment, it is scarcely surprising that dissatisfaction on the part of those who subscribed to the French Government Loans issued here during the War should be steadily increasing. The dissatis- faction, of course, arises from the fact that some three yearn ago France deliberately devalued the franc, which is now stabilized at about 2d., as compared with its pre-War value of just under 10d. ' This means, of course, that those investors here, who, during the time of the War rallied to the aid of France and lent some millions of British pounds, are now receiving dividends worth only one-fifth of the pre-War value of the franc, and they see their capital correspondingly diminished. Not long ago, for example, there appeared a letter in the Times from a correspondent who set out the case of an English- man, who, from purely patriotic motives, invested during the War 238,000 in subscribing for French 5 per cent Rentes through the Bank of England. Upon the death of this subscriber in 1922 his stock was valued for probate at £21,000. His widow, it is stated, still holds the stock, which to-day is worth about £4,000 with the interest thereon proportionately diminished. It is true, of course, that as a consequence of the devaluation of the franc French rentiers as well as English holders of French loans suffered correspondingly, but the ease is not on all fours, because, quite apart from the fact that there is a distinc- tion to be drawn between the internal and external obligations of a country, the French rentier is now obtaining some recompense through the prosperity of France. Foreign holders of French loans, on the other hand, suffer all the loss resulting from the devalued franc and so far from benefiting by French prosperity, the huge accumulations of French balances at other centres are proving quite a menace to inter- national money markets and international trade. * - * 5- *
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