THE  PRESENT

59

ticipation  issues.  The  remaining  twenty-three  issues ­
  of  an  aggregate  amount  of  $10,860,603,500
were  emitted  in  anticipation  successively  of  the  proceeds ­
  of  the  First,  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  Liberty ­
  Loans.
Such  anticipatory  borrowings  have  formed  a
large  proportion  of  the  nominal  amounts  of  the
Liberty  Loans.  The  volume  of  certificates  outstanding ­
  at  the  several  dates  upon  which  the  first
installment  on  account  of  bond  subscriptions  became
payable,  and  the  ratio  of  such  volume  to  the  amount
of  the  corresponding  loan  have  been  approximately
as  follows:
Ratio  of
Liberty  Date  of  1st  Amount  Certificates  Certificates
Loan  Installment  of  Loan  Issued  to  Loan
First  June  28,  ’17  $2,000,000,000  $  868,205,000  434
Second  Nov.  15,  ’17  3,808,766,150  2,320,493,000  60.9
Third  May  4,  T8  4,170,019,650  2,612,085,500  62.6
Fourth  Oct.  19,  T8  6,989,047,000  4,665,320,000  66.7
In  other  words,  the  Liberty  Loans  have  been  to
an  increasing  extent  required  to  discharge  shortterm ­
  indebtedness  contracted  by  certificate  borrowing ­
  in  anticipation  of  the  flotations.
The  certificates  have  been  taken  and  held  in  the
main  by  the  financial  institutions  of  the  country  —
national  banks,  state  banks  and  trust  companies. 37
The  Federal  Reserve  Banks,  with  whom  was  placed
37  An  investigation  made  by  the  Savings  Bank  Section  of  the
American  Bankers’  Association  showed  that  out  of  405  such
institutions  in  the  six  New  England  States  167  savings  banks
having  60  per  cent,  of  the  total  assets  of  such  banks  had  invested ­
  3.2  per  cent,  of  their  resources  in  certificates  of  indebtedness. ­
  In  the  five  Eastern  States,  out  of  196  such  institutions
101  savings  banks  having  more  than  60  per  cent,  of  the  total