list closed, and the House will be very glad to hear that the amount
was not merely subscribed but oversubscribed by the market, because this
country is not quite as accustomed to Russian securities as France, and,
therefore, it was an experiment. I think it is a very good omen for our
relations, not merely during the war, but for our relations with Russia
after the war, that the first great loan of that kind on Russian credit
in the market has been such a complete success.

Now we have to consider the position of this country with regard to the
possibility of our gold flitting in the event of very great credits
being established in this country. The position of the three great
allied countries as to gold is exceptionally strong. Russia and France
have accumulated great reserves which have been barely touched so far
during the war. I do not think the French reserve has been touched at
all, or has been used in the slightest degree, and I think as far as the
Russian reserve is concerned it has only been reduced by the transfer of
L8,000,000 of gold from Russia to this country. Our accumulation of gold
is larger than it has ever been in the history of this country. It has
increased enormously since the commencement of the war. It is not nearly
as large as that of Russia, France, or Germany, but it must be borne in
mind that there is this distinction in our favor; up to the present we
have had no considerable paper currency, and this is the great free
market for the gold of the world. The quantity imported every year of,
what shall I call it, raw gold, comes to something like L50,000,000, and
here I am excluding what comes here by exchanges. The collapse of the
rebellion in South Africa assures us of a large and steady supply from
that country, and, therefore, there is no real need for any
apprehension.

But still it would not have been prudent for us to have overlooked
certain possibilities. I have already pointed out some of them--the
diminution of exports, the increase of our imports, the absorption of
our transports for war purposes, large credits established for our own
and other countries, and a diminution in our savings for investments
abroad. There is just a possibility that this might have the effect of
inducing the export of gold to other countries. We therefore have to
husband our gold and take care lest it should take wings and swarm to
any other hive. We therefore made arrangements at this conference
whereby,