W

IDE, exciting fluctuations in foreign currencies such as occurred daily during the three or four years subsequent to the Armistice and which have not been unknown more recently are things of the past. The Spanish peseta is now the only important exchange to furnish at playground for the speculator, and the present year probably will see all the leading currencies firmly anchored to a solid basis.

Lithuania and Latvia stabilized in 1922; Austria, in 1923; Germany, Sweden, and Estonia, in 1924; Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, the Free Port of Danzig, and Albania, in 1925; Finland and Belgium, in 1926; and Denmark, Bulgaria, Poland, and Italy, in 1927.

France, Japan, Spain, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Jugoslavia, Portugal, Greece, Rumania, and Turkey are not yet officially stabilized. The first four of these ten should be in the fold, for various reasons, before the end of the year. About the other six no one can be sure, but they are of minor interest. Their foreign trade is small and their political situations are so obscure and so subject to violent changes that their currencies offer little attraction to the speculator.

The French franc and the Norwegian crown could be stabilized easily tomorrow if the controlling Governments saw fit. The former has been selling at virtually the same price for the past year and the latter is less than half a cent from parity. Japan, whose plans for the restoration of sound money were wrecked by the earthquake in 1924 and again by a financial crisis last winter, "will return to a gold basis as soon as its banking system goes through a reorganization process, which should be completed by next autumn. Spain is not and never has been heavily in debt, and once political tranquillity is assured, the gap of two cents which now separates the price of the peseta from par could be and will be closed.

Currency depreciation is a country's easiest and in some cases its only practical defense against such a tremendous

By THOMAS H. GAMMACK

For many years The Outlook has conducted in connection with this department—which is intended primarily to present an intelligent discussion of what is going on in the financial world -an advice-to-subscribers service.

A new policy, however, is now being followed. The Outlook believes that intelligent people nowadays properly seek advice concerning their investments from their local banker or the representatives of the reputable investment houses in their city or town. It does not believe that it is the function of a magazine to give definite financial advice. It considers that the question of how to invest your money has become a specialized field which no longer lies within the proper province of this magazine.

If there are any of our readers who are not easily able to consult a banker or investment house representative, The Outlook will be glad to direct them to the proper sources of information, and, if desired, turn their inquiries over to such specialists as we consider dependable and trustworthy.

financial strain as was thrown on the belligerents and some of the neutrals during the war. When the depreciation is made permanent, it becomes a form of taxation, even of confiscation. A government, in effect, says to the holders of its obligations, currency as well as bonds, We have taken 25, 50, or perhaps 100 per cent of the money we owed you and used it to pay our swollen bills. France, for instance, by revaluing the franc, which was worth 20 cents in 1914, at 4 cents, would cancel 80 per cent of all its franc obligations; Germany, by allowing the old mark to become worthless, wiped out its internal debt completely.

But, whatever the justification for abandoning the gold standard, the experience of Europe after the war shows how onerous are the handicaps of a fluctuating currency. Because the value of promises to pay rises and falls with

the value of the currency, trade becomes dangerously speculative; budgets, both national and private, are meaningless; and, when further depreciation is in sight, the incentive for saving is greatly diminished. When the value of its money is falling and prices are consequently rising, a country frequently enjoys spurious prosperity and faces the temptation of continuing inflation indefinitely, but no wise government delays stabilization any longer than it has

to.

The problem then arises as to the level of stabilization. Shall the value of the currency be restored to what it was before the disaster or shall it be fixed at a lower level? The latter alternative is the cheaper for the government, but the former, which was the choice of Great Britain, Holland, and the Scandinavian countries, means the purchase of prestige which may pay large dividends in the future. In some cases, of course, a country has gone so far on the road of depreciation that it cannot retrace all its steps. This was true of Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy.

Great Britain, the most notable example of a country which decided to stablize its currency at its pre-war level, paid a high price for this prestige. It pushed the pound sterling from its low point of $3.19 back to par, which is about $4.88, thereby increasing its internal debt some 40 per cent and forcing on the country the trade depression that almost inevitably results from deflation. J. M. Keynes and other economists with a popular following attacked the Government vigorously for this policy, but Great Britain is on its feet again and its people undoubtedly are glad that the pound was restored to its old place.

Because the coal strike hit the country immediately after revalorization was completed, the benefits that result ordinarily from stabilization were dashed away. In the case of Germany and Belgium, however, these benefits were very plain. The old mark was abandoned and the new reichsmark installed in the summer of 1924. This is what (Continued on page 113)

AMERICA

COMPANIES

Bell System is the lineal descendant of the pony express. It is this spirit of responsibility that causes operators to risk their lives by remaining at their switchboards in the face of fire, flood or other great danger. The same spirit calls linemen or repairmen to go out, even at the risk of their lives, to repair the lines in time of accident or storm.

IN THE Sixties the "pony express" carried the mail over mountains and Indian wildernesses from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco. The express riders and station keepers won undying fame for getting the message through, regardless of hardship or danger.

Today, in the city of Denver there is rising on the site of one of the old pony express corrals another splendid structure dedicated to the service of modern message-bearing-the new headquarters building of one of the companies of the Bell System. In fact and in spirit, the

There are no instructions requiring Bell System employees to endanger their lives. It is the spirit of communication that bids them, "Get the message through."

Illustrated by Luxor Price

R

OSE was next-to-the-biggest of the O'Neill family, and there were many O'Neills. Father was. an "elfin Irishman" with a wandering foot and a passion for wild places; so he transported his family to the mountains of Missouri and built a home known as "the mansion" to the neighborhood. Mountaineers came miles to see it, spending fascinated moments making sure the water in the bathroom really ran, giving timid trials to the stairs, and invariably attempting to count the books.

There were rows and rows of them in the library to feed a small girl's imagination, but, best of all, there was Father, whose heroic deeds multiplied in proportion to the wide-eyed credulity of a young listener. Father-who had never been within a hundred miles of a uniform was the real hero of the Civil War. Why, once he had disposed of so many of the enemy single-handed that, needing shelter for the night, he built himself a log cabin from twenty-four dead rebels, where he put up comfortably until morning.

Nothing was too gruesome for Rose, but her favorite was "The Baby and the Bears"-perhaps, to the future artistinventor of that essence of babydom, the Kewpie, because the story began and ended with a little new-born baby.

In almost every family there is one favorite story which is an unwritten classic. It is usually the invention of one of the and is sometimes parents, passed on with variations to each succeeding younger generation. In their way, these stories are like the folktales of the Negroes, which Joel Chandler Harris retold under the title of "Uncle Remus."

and jumped on the other and began to seesaw. Up and down and up and down we went, faster and faster and faster. I was afraid to stay on and afraid to get off. On we seesawed, up and down and up and down, until I jumped off so quickly that the other end fell with a great thump, sending the bear flying over my head and back into the woods again. So you see how many bears there were.

One night my father said to me, "Go for the doctor quickly."

"Why?" said I.

"Because," said my father, "your mother has a new baby in the house and the baby is crying."

"Why is the baby crying?" said I. "Because," said my father, "he is frightened."

"Why is he frightened?" said I. "Because," said my father, "he is seeing the great world for the first time. So hurry and bring the doctor as quickly as you can."

ter, but the weather hadn't turned cold enough yet.

But I had gone only a short way along the path, swinging my lantern, when the littlest bear of all came running out. He was only the size of a puppy, but he ran so hard that he knocked into my lantern and smashed it. So there I was all alone in the dark. The littlest bear sniffed at my bare feet; then he began to pad-pad-pad along the path behind me.

Presently another bear came out of the woods, and then another, and then another, until the darkness was full of bears, all breathing and snuffing at my bare feet. They all fell in line behind the littlest bear, the biggest bear last, and there were all the bears of the forest pad-pad-padding along the path behind me.

Soon the bears began to walk a little faster, so I had to walk faster; then they began to trot, so I had to trot; then they all started to run, so I had to run, faster and faster and faster.

I felt the littlest bear catch my suspender. I pulled away, but the suspender snapped, so I had to hold up my overalls with one hand as I ran.

Suddenly I stopped and swung myself up into a tree. The bears were running so fast they couldn't stop themselves, but kept right on, falling all over one

the woods to the doctor's and that the woods were full of bears. But I lighted my lantern and started off barefooted. Of course, I always had shoes for win

climbed high up the tree. The bears made a circle and stood watching for me to come down, but I only climbed higher. Up and up I went, until suddenly, in a crotch above, I saw two eyes shining.

It was a panther!

There were the bears below, and the panther above and I was only a little. barefooted boy holding up my overalls

by a broken suspender. I began to climb out on a limb. But the panther

came crawling after me. On I went, as far as I dared, until I had nearly reached the end, and closer and closer crept the panther. The limb was bending lower and lower under our weight. The bears stood watching below.

Suddenly, with a crash, the limb broke, and I fell straight onto the back of the biggest bear. He was so surprised that he began to run, and all the other bears followed after-pad-pad-pad-pad

The Marriage Problem

Solved!

THURSTON'S PHILOSOPHY OF MARRIAGE

by

William Robert Thurston

ding through the forest. Bushes scratched my face and the wind whistled past my ears, but I clung tight to the fur of the biggest bear.

On they ran through the dark woods, on and on and on-pad-pad-pad-padpad-until presently I saw the lights of the doctor's house far away. Just as we passed the door I fell off and rolled to one side. The bears were going so fast they couldn't stop, but ran on and on, and I was soon safely inside the doctor's house.

He was surprised to see me so late at night, but when I told him how my mother had a new baby in the house and the baby was crying because he was frightened because he was seeing the great world for the first time, the doctor got his satchel and saddled his horse, set me up before him, and started off.

SING a form of presentation unique in the history of the pub

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a single chapter of an ordinary book, the author of this book has brilliantly illuminated a subject that has been shrouded in darkness and mystery for centuries. What is still more remarkable, he offers a lucid and readily practicable solution for the problem of marriage that has met with the approval of some of the keenest minds in the country.

If you are unhappily married; if you contemplate marriage; if you love or hate your husband or your wife; if you desire your children to be physically and mentally perfect; if you are unhappy or discontented or unsuccessful in business and do not know the cause; or if you are now happy and successful in business and wish to remain so, this book will be worth to you a thousand times its weight in gold. $2.00 postpaid

TIFFANY PRESS, Dept. B, 33 West 42nd St., New York

We galloped and galloped until we reached our house, where the little new baby was waiting-but, do you know, we didn't meet a single bear all the way!

S. Parker Gilbert, Agent-General for Reparations, said in his report for November, 1926:

"As for the currency, its stability has been fully maintained . . . and buyers and sellers alike have been able to do business with the assurance that stability implies. . . . The output and distribution of goods . . . has considerably exceeded the experience of the immediately preceding years, and have begun to resemble those before the war."

Belgium made her old franc a subdivision of the new belga in the autumn of 1926. Immediately trade began to pick up. Its growing prosperity in the ensuing months is well illustrated by the rise of 30 per cent in security prices be

tween November and the following June. Italy's de jure stabilization has lasted only a few weeks, but the substantial appreciation during that time of Italian securities shows that a large part of the financial world expects the improvement of Belgium and Germany to be repeated. Mussolini, as jealous of Italy's financial prestige as Great Britain's Ministers were of hers, started in the summer of 1926 to raise the price of the lira, then selling at a little over 3 cents, to its par of 20 cents. By June, 1927, it had appreciated nearly 50 per cent. It became obvious then that industry and commerce could not stand further deflation, so the rise was stopped and the currency has rested ever since at ap

proximately its present gold price of 5.60

cents.

The French franc has hardly stirred for more than a year, and its position, because of the great resources behind the French treasury and the Bank of France, is thoroughly secure, but the political situation forbids de jure stabilization until after the spring elections. Once the votes are counted, the return to a gold basis may be expected at any time.

With the major currencies founded again on gold, the need for the artificial restraints and stimuli that the various central banks have had to apply to industry and finance will, to a great extent, disappear. Under a world régime of sound money, the natural operations of international trade and exchange will supply nearly all the checks and balances needed. Wall Street was a more interesting place when foreign exchanges were bobbing up and down like wildcat oil stocks, but because they are stabilized American business men can more easily carry on profitable foreign trade.

Let your
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PAY YOU
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WANTED-CARTOONS

THE OUTLOOK wishes to receive cartoons from its readers, clipped from their favorite newspaper. Each cartoon should have the sender's name and address together with the name and date of the newspaper from which it is taken pinned or pasted to its back. Cartoons should be mailed flat, not rolled. We pay one dollar ($1) for each cartoon which we find available for reproduction. Some readers in the past have lost payment to which they were entitled because they have failed to give the information which we require. It is impossible for us to acknowledge or return cartoons which prove unavailable for publication.

THE EDITORS OF THE OUTLOOK 120 East 16th Street

New York

"Napoleon," by Emil Ludwig. Boni & Liveright. You will find this engrossing biography a fine foot-note to the Napoleonic period. Reviewed November 9.

"Mother India," by Katherine Mayo. Harcourt, Brace & Co. This highly gifted reporter's account of some aspects of Indian society is not calculated to endear us to India, but is providing lively reading to lots of Americans. Reviewed June 22.

Have You Seen These ?

Jesus As Seen by Barbusse
By Edmund B. Chaffee

"Jesus," by Henri Barbusse. The Macaulay Company.

The Bible declares that of the making of books there is no end. The same statement holds true of books about Jesus. One of the most recent of these has been written by that brilliant French author of "Under Fire," Henri Barbusse. It is notable in that it is no dry summarizing of the old facts and posing of the old problems, but, rather, a fresh and vigorous attempt to interpret the meaning of the life of Him who became the founder of the Christian faith. This biography is made especially gripping by being told as though it were the autobiography of the Nazarene. It is rendered still more appealing by a simplicity and directness of style which is reminiscent of the New Testament itself. But Barbusse's interpretation of the Christ character is the interpretation of a man who feels that the Gospel writers did not understand Jesus and that the orthodox Christian has entirely misread the meaning of his life. He finds no divine Christ, but a mighty soul who, to use his own words, "grasped all human misery, suffering, and greatness and held them up in his hands that all might see." But so enamored is this brilliant skeptic of the Jesus he has found that he would seek to win us to him. This is the purpose of his book.

And what does Barbusse find as the essence of Jesus' teaching? Just this: Man, rely upon yourself. You can remake the world after your heart's desire. He makes Jesus say: "It is the man who makes, or who does not make or who unmakes. Believe fully in ourselves,... remake life in our image and we shall be saved." Jesus, for Barbusse, was the supreme teacher of faith in man