Financial Notes
THE UNITED STATES FORSAKE GOLD: THE stock markets during the past week have been more or less unsettled by the wholly unexpected action by President Roosevelt in abandoning the gold standard. All kinds of reports have been circulated as to the reason for this .sudden action by the new President, but dealing with them in negative fashion it is quite clear that scarcity of gold was not the main reason. In the autumn of 1931, when Great Britain abandoned gold, there was no question at all that we were literally driven off the gold standard by' stern necessity. This was patent first of all by reason of the run which was made upon our gold reserves by, foreign countries, but if further. definite proof had been required of our desire to keep on gold if it had been anyhow poisible that proof was abundantly furnished by the fact that at a cost of many millions of pounds we raised franc and dollar credits in France and the United States respectively to enable us, if possible, to stem the adverde' movements in the exchanges. In other words, abandonment of the gold standard here was a matter 01 necessity and not of choice..
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