25 II THE PRESENT In the financing of the present war, the United States has made use of negotiable short-term debt obligations, under the designation of “ Treasury certificates of indebtedness,” from the preparatory measures taken before the actual declaration of hostilities, through the first anniversary of entry into the struggle, up to the present time of writing [November i, 1918]. There have been in this period, thirty-one issues of certificates offered by the Treasury through the Federal Reserve Banks for general subscription by banks and individuals. 1 In addition the Federal Reserve Banks have on various occasions made temporary loans to the Treasury, “ to avoid constant withdrawals of gov ernment funds on deposit with depositary banks,” by the direct purchase of certificates of indebtedness payable within a few days and bearing interest at from two to four per cent. 2 In the following 3 1 See below p. 28 as to the ante-bellum issue of March 3 1 , 1917, herein included. 2 “ Fourth Annual Report of the Federal Reserve Board ” (Washington, 1918), pp. 265, 277. 3 In a note on “Certificates of Indebtedness in our War Financing” in The Journal of Political Economy, November, 1918, the present writer has summarized the course of cer tificate borrowing down to June I, 1918, in the manner of the present chapter.