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swamped by the great issues of Consuls and other Imperial Government Securities such as Treasury and Exchequer Bills, the Irish Land Stock, The Water Board Stock and the Transvaal Guaranteed Loan, together with simultaneous issues of a great number of Loans on behalf of Colonial Governments and Municipal Bodies. As a consequence vast masses of these securities still remain in the hands of the Stuck xo' ange and of e Financial Houses, and they are being financed by means of advances obtained from the Banks. Such advances however never carry less than Bank rate of interest and very frequently a much higher rate e.g. quite recently speculators hulding large masses of Consuls have had to pay as much as at the rate of 5 per cent per annum from Stock Exchange settlement to settlement for the monies they have borrowed from the Banks to enable them to avoid parting with their securities.
6. In these circumstances it is matter of notoriety that many of the Financial Houses and members of the Stock Exchange have lost large sums of money in comection with the accommodation they have obtained from the Barks to enable them to avoid sacrificing securities bearing a low rate of interest, which they have had to take up under their underwriting obligations and which they have not yet succeed- ed in passing on to the investing public.
7. As a consequence and under pressure from the Stock Exchange the issue of Loans carrying a low rate of interest has almost ceased for sume considerable vine, and various Colonial Governments and Municipal Budi os have been financing themselves by the issue privately of short dated debentures bearing 4 per cent interest or a shade over, which the Financial houses, Insurance societies &c. are
willing
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