FINANCE  AND  CREDITS  291
That  this  movement  is  judicious  no  one
familiar  with  this  trade  will  for  a  moment
dispute.  The  ability  of  the  British  banks,
through  their  strong  financial  arteries,  gave
them  exceptional  opportunities  to  force  business ­
  into  the  hands  of  English  merchants,  by
obliging  the  seller  of  exchange,  for  example,
in  Buenos  Aires  on  New  York  to  pay  from  1
per  cent,  to  1.5  per  cent,  more  than  if  he  sold
on  London,  or  if  he  desired  to  buy,  to  pay  a
correspondingly  higher  price  for  a  draft  on
New  York  than  on  London.  In  addition  to
exerting  thus  their  powers  through  a  high  rate
of  exchange  to  drive  merchants  into  British
markets,  the  profits  in  the  transfer  of  money
incident  to  the  transaction  were  enormous.
The  truth  of  this  statement  is  vividly  apparent
when  we  are  told  that  in  1912,  “bills  on  London” ­
  valued  at  $9,025,000,000  were  sold,  on
every  penny  of  which  a  fraction  of  a  per  cent,
of  profit  was  made  by  English  bankers.
It  is  not  deemed  necessary  for  the  purpose
of  this  work  to  go  into  the  intricacies  of  the
banking  problem  in  Latin  America.  Such  in ­