THE BALANCE OF TRADE 219

stock dealings is now very great, and has an influence on
balances of international indebtedness co-ordinate with, if
not greater than, that of movements of merchandise. For
effecting quickly a change in the balance, they are of supreme
importance. The lack of records, which arises from the
nature of the case, of the amounts, or even of the balances, of
these transactions must stand in the way of testing statistically
 the equality of the debit and credit sides of the foreign
obligations of a nation at any moment.
Attention may be called to the fact that we are not here
avoiding the issue of the balance of obligations. The
amount due for a sale of goods with a definite contract to
accept payment in three months’ time is not due till the
period of credit expires, and is fundamentally different from
a balance, due for immediate payment, which remains
unpaid without any arrangement for granting credit. The
question of the necessity of meeting a debit balance by the
shipment of specie is affected very greatly by the possibility
of arranging a loan in the form of deferment of date of
payment, or, what comes to the same thing, a credit from
a banker. The credit permits the settlement of the present
obligation to the seller of the goods, and the meeting of
the new obligation is not a matter for which immediate
shipment of bullion is the only solution.
The third item on our list is one of great importance in
actual cases, and goes far to explain the apparent contradictions
 of the trade records which have been quoted.
Recent estimates have been made of the amount of French
capital invested in other countries, and the figure given
amounts to about 1200 million pounds sterling, the
greater part being invested in European industries or the
bonds of European governments, the latter representing
about one-half of the aggregate of foreign investments, The
annual payment due to French owners of these foreign
investments must be something between 30 and 50 millions
sterling, in all probability. England is a considerably larger
owner of foreign investments than France, and the annual
sum due may well amount to the go millions estimated by
Sir George Giffen in 1899. The United States, on the other