Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/89

Rh France.—Bonds of the Midi Railroad were placed in the United States in 1920 to the amount of $3,250,000. There are numerous American industrial investments in France, some of which are of considerable magnitude, but I can do no better than guess the total as being something like $100,000,000.

Germany.—American owned property sequestrated in Germany has been estimated at $191,147,346. The chances are that claims for such property are exaggerated. The chances are also that so long a time is likely to elapse before anything can be collected on this account that it might as well be written off. Recently the balance of trade has indicated that a good deal of American capital has been going into Germany.

Great Britain.—Perhaps the largest investment of American capital in Great Britain is in ships sailing under the British flag. Along with this there is considerable money in docks and warehouses. The International Mercantile Marine Co. is the chief example of investment of this kind. About 93 per cent of the stock of this company is held by Americans.

The International Mercantile Marine Co. owns 1,026,429 tons of shipping, whereof about 85 per cent flies the British flag. The stock market, according to quotations at the middle of 1921, put a value of about $30 per ton on this shipping. The average cost of its ships before the war was about $100 per ton. The company has a working capital of $35,208,192 and a reserve of $23,000,000 for shipping replacement. The greater part of these holdings are in England.

Besides the American investment in British ships, many American manufacturing companies own factories in Great Britain, or hold the capital stock of subsidiaries