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WAR BORROWING

ting the payment of outstanding parts of the cer-
tificate issue due October 24 —issue of June 25,
1918; $839,646,500 in nominal amount — and still
leaving the Treasury encumbered with an unwieldy
balance of $1,845,739,992 [October 31, 1918].

In attempting to appraise the fiscal, as distinct
from the economic and social results of certificate
borrowing, it is important to set forth the standards
by which the effectiveness of a credit expedient in
war finance is to be gauged. There will be little
difference of opinion among students of finance or
financial administrators as to these standards.
The Treasury must obtain that part of its revenue
which is to be procured by borrowing with as little
delay, as slight risk and as moderate cost as possible.
Readiness, certainty and economy are the criteria of
the fiscal serviceableness of a war borrowing device.
It is with reference to these that our fiscal ex-
perience in the use of certificates of indebtedness
should be examined.

In the matter of fiscal readiness, certificate bor-
rowing has proved, as might be expected, a highly
efficient method. This is true both of authorization
and of administration. It has been possible to
secure legislative approval without protracted debate
or embarrassing delay, and there has been popular
sanction in financial circles and in public opinion of
the borrowing procedure. How much of this
assent represents intelligent approval, how much
sheer faith cannot be determined. Financial legisla-
tion in the United States has rarely been preceded or
even accompanied by a campaign of education — in