French Ban Lifted

In 1924 the Coolidge Administration hoped to induce (perhaps force) France to fund her wartime indebtedness to the U. S. by depriving her industries of U. S. capital. Last week the U. S. Department of State despatched letters to bankers saying it no longer objected to flotation of French industrial loans in the U. S.

Although the Department of State refused to say why, there were two good reasons for raising the ban: 1) French industries are so conservatively managed, offer such sound investment opportunities, that U. S. financiers are impatient to do business with them; 2) Because a French general election looms this Spring, it is prudent for the U. S. to make a friendly gesture, tending to further the election of Deputies favorable to ratification by France of the Mellon-Berenger debt funding agreement.