STILL FALLING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 65, 16 March 1916, Page 4

STILL FALLING.

In hie speech in the Reichstag m December the German Treasurer gave as one of the reasons why he considered that England was in a deplorable plight, the deterioration of her rate of exchange. About that time tne English sovereign was at three per cent discount in Xew York, while the discount on the German mark in the same centre was bttween 19 and 20 per cent. Hard facts like these are ignored by Germans. Today there are two important messasae about the decline of German credit. In Copenhagen .the decline in the exchange rate has reached 30 per cent. On January 24th the rate at Copenhagen showed a decline of 23.8 per cent, ro that the fall in the last few weeks has been rapid. Even mores, significant are the American figures in to-day's news. A sensational fall has brought the exchange rate for the four-mark standard down to 7 tl cents, which, with 90 cents as tne normal rate, means a decline of a little over 25 per cent. The relentless decline in Xew York is significant because it represents the opinion of the powerful and shrewd American financial world as to Germany's position. The Germans have made great but vain efforts, in which they have- had the help or wealthy and influential GermanAmericans, to improve the exchange rate. The chart of Allied and German credit in Xew York, kept by the Britten Treasury, is very interesting. At the beginning of 1015 the rate of exchange on ithe mark stood at about 7.5 per cent discount; at the end of February it fell to 14 per cent; at the end of June it touched 15 per cent; and ' after rising to between 11 and 12percent at the end of September, it fell to 16 per cent at the j end of an,d Jo, nearly t 2O p«r ' cent in December. The successes of tue ! Central Powers in the Xcar East had no ; lasting effect on the exchange rate in Xew York, and the gain of a few milea at Verdun has not checked the.further fall. In August of last year Dr. Helfferieh complained of the "unfortunate unwillingness of Germany's enemies to see that the game is up." The stupidity of Germany's enemies is evidently shared by neutrals.