﻿88

WAR BORROWING

allotted. This procedure was repeated a month
later in a further series dated January 2, 1918, the
subscriptions to which aggregated $491,822,500.

The immediate effect was to aggravate the
Treasury plethora for a season. The net balance
had receded from the high point $1,968,484,725 on
November 23 to $1,837,419,886 on November 30.
But on the following day, December 1, 1917, with
the receipt of the proceeds of the new certificates
it attained the record height of $2,515,471,407. In
the next two weeks and a half, the outstanding
parts of all issues of certificates put out in anticipa-
tion of the Second Liberty Loan were called for
redemption or paid off upon maturity, to an
aggregate amount of $ 1,337,960,440; there was
advanced to the Allies some $317,500,000; and there
was disbursed in ordinary expenditure $403,138,459.
On December 19, 1917, the available balance was
back again at $775,899,891. But on the other hand
the Treasury was for the first time since July free
from all short-term obligations, other than the new
series of certificates issued in anticipation of the war
taxes.

For the next month receipts from the January
issue of tax anticipation certificates, together with
the final installment of the Liberty Loan payable
on January 15, 1917, were enough with ordinary
revenues to meet the Treasury’s requirements. On
January 22, 1917, the Treasury balance was $763,-
830,030, having touched $653,449,458 as the low-
point in the interval — and the second cycle in our
war financing may be said, with this downward ten-
dency, to have been completed.