The most picturesque parcel in the lot
is $11,000,000 in Suez Canal shares. This stock is one of the corporate
heirlooms of France and is very closely held. It not only pays a large
dividend but shares in the profits of the company which in peace times
are big. The fact that France should put these prize securities in
"hock" is evidence of her determination to keep her credit absolutely
above reproach.
The Three Year French Notes were brought out at 98 and interest and at
the time of issue yielded about 5.73 per cent.
But all direct French borrowing in America has not been on the pound of
flesh basis. For now we come to what might well be called The Loan of
Sentiment. It is the $50,000,000 City of Paris Five Year Six Per Cent
Gold Bond Issue dated October 15, 1916. It gave Americans the
opportunity to pay a substantial tribute of affectionate gratitude for
happy hours spent in the Queen City of Europe and have the prospect of a
desirable dividend at the same time. Here is a piece of foreign
financing with a distinction and a background all its own. Aside from
its purely sentimental phase it is perhaps the only loan floated in
America since the war which is dedicated to construction instead of
destruction. The proceeds are to be used to reimburse the City of Paris
for expenditures in building hospitals and making other necessary
humanitarian improvements and to provide a sinking fund to meet similar
disbursements.
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