become acute if it had not been for the expected political consequences
that were feared from the financial penetration that was being
attempted; and as has been already pointed out, the financiers are
generally credited with having persuaded Germany to agree to a
settlement on that occasion.

In short, finance, if left to itself, is international and peace-loving.
Many financiers are at the same time ardent patriots, and see in their
efforts to enrich themselves and their own country a means for
furthering its political greatness and diplomatic prestige. Man is a
jumble of contradictory crotchets, and it would be difficult to find
anywhere a financier who lived, as they are all commonly supposed to do,
purely for the pleasure of amassing wealth. If such a being could be
discovered he would probably be a lavish subscriber to peace societies,
and would show a deep mistrust of diplomatists and politicians.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: Quoted by the _Financial News_ of September 28, 1915.]




CHAPTER VI


THE EVILS OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

No one who writes of the evils of international finance runs any risk of
being "gravelled for lack of matter." The theme is one that has been