Business & Finance: Last of Liberties

By this week, when the last of the Liberty Bonds mature, the New Deal will have paid off or converted into securities bearing lower interest some $8,200,000,000 of Wartime debt—one of the biggest and least spectacular conversion operations in history. The first call for $1,880,000,000 of Fourth Liberties was made just two years ago. Exchange offers were accepted by holders of 90% of the bonds, the balance being paid in cash. Six months later another $1,250,000,000 of Fourth Liberties were called, and 87% of the bonds were exchanged. Still another block of $1,870,000,000 was called for payment last spring. That conversion was 83% successful. Later all outstanding First Liberties were called, involving $1,933,000,000. By this time the proportion of bonds exchanged-was down to 80%.

The fourth and final installment of Fourth Liberties amounts to $1,250,000,000. Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau was vacationing last week but Acting Secretary Thomas Jefferson Coolidge admitted that the offer was "dragging." However, said he. "on this market we'll get our normal amount. The market was good today and the conversion is profitable, which means that the big fellows will convert." Sure enough, the Treasury received $995,000,000 of Liberties under its offer even before final figures were in "Successful!" said Thomas Jefferson Coolidge.