FINANCE  AND  CREDITS  295
indebtedness.  Very  naturally  a  better  price
is  quoted  for  the  money  required  if  payment
is  to  be  made  in  coin  of  the  bank’s  nationality ­
  for  the  reason  that  it  necessitates  less  actual
movement  in  the  medium  of  exchange,  the  entire ­
  transaction  as  a  rule  being  done  on  paper.
This  preliminary  saving  of  a  fraction  of  a  per
cent,  in  a  big  business  means  much  in  the
course  of  a  year  and  it  has  a  strong  tendency
to  make  the  buyer  seek  markets  so  situated  that
he  might  profit  thereby.  On  the  other  hand
the  Latin  American  trader  desiring  to  remit
to  the  United  States  for  goods  bought  in  this
country  is  forced  because  of  lack  of  direct
financial  connection  in  South  America  to  buy
his  exchange  on  London,  Hamburg,  Paris  or
some  other  European  money  center,  thereby
giving  the  European  banker  a  profit  of  a  fraction ­
  of  a  per  cent,  on  every  dollar  of  our  foreign ­
  business.  Furthermore,  invoices  and
bills  of  lading  are  frequently  attached  to
banking  documents  for  custom  house  clearance
and  other  purposes,  thereby  giving  the  European ­
  banker  and  through  him,  his  clients