86 
WAR BORROWING 
volume of outstanding short-term obligations. On 
November 15, 1917, the Treasury balance stood at 
$801,983,785. A fortnight later 6 with the pro 
gress of the Loan flotation it had attained the height 
of $1,968,484,725, and on November 30, 1917, it 
was still at $1,837,419,886 — despite the redemp 
tion of the October 18, 1917, issue of certificates 
($385,197,000) maturing November 22, 1917, and 
the August 28, 1917, issue ($250,000,000) matur 
ing November 30, 1917. On the other hand the 
certificate issues of September 17, September 26, 
and October 24, 1917, of a nominal aggregate of 
$1,385,296,000 were due on December 15, 1917. 
Two courses were now open to the Treasury in 
meeting this combined problem of surplus funds and 
of maturing short-term obligations. The one was 
to conserve the Treasury balance for current dis 
bursements and to rely on further borrowings to 
meet the maturing certificate issues. The other was 
to use surplus funds to redeem outstanding certifi 
cate issues before maturity, and to provide for 
future expenditures by new short-term borrowings. 
The procedure followed was in the main the second 
course: two issues of certificates were called for 
redemption before maturity, and provision was 
made for further issues of certificates. 
The reason assigned for earlier redemption was 
the danger of disturbance in the money market by 
the heavy withdrawal of funds that must otherwise 
have occurred on December 15, 1917. Certainly, a 
further advantage was the reduction of the swollen 
Treasury balance. On November 22, 1917, the Sec- 
6 November 23, 1917.