LONDON AS MONEY CENTRE.
I want now, however, to refer, even if briefly, to Mr. Tennant's remarks concerning London as an international money centre. I do so the more willingly because Mr. Tennant was dealing with a matter on which it would be well if the general public,. and the industrial world in particular, had somewhat clearer ideas. It is a matter of common-knowledge that mainly by reason of the gigan- tic and prolonged boom in Wall Street the London Money Market last year was subjected to an exceptional period of severe strain, out of which it has emerged triumphantly, and, moreover, with the imposition of far less onerous Bank Rates than might have been feared. But while the London Money Market may justly indulge' in a certain amount of self-satisfaction at what has been achieved, it is just here, Mr. Tennant said :- "that the industrialist and the trader enter their complaint. What you have been describing, they will say, is exactly what we are grumbling at, namely, that London's efforts to maintain her inter- national position in a time of strain entail sacrifice on our part through the imposition of high rates for borrowed money, which often transform a small profit into a loss, and in some unfortunate industries are the last straw which breaks the camel's back. Now, that is the position which I wish to meet."
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