The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-22 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 22, 1867.

rushing into the opposite extreme- no; class' an
others in the same category. The most apposite
example is Chili. She, like Venezuela, is also a
Spanish-American State, and, unlike Venezuela,
has steadfastly maintained a strong sense of
honesty with regard to the public creditor. It is
but repeating what everyone knows, that for public
credit Chili ranks among the highest countries in
the world. For many years her stocks have de-
servedly stood in the best estimation, and it has
only been through a strange but insignificant error
of management that her last loan should have
fallen to a discount. Most probably the present
quotation would have been higher if the state of
the political world had not prevented a recovery.
Intrinsically, the credit of Chili is now at least
as good as six years back. Nothing has
occurred to injure her material prosperity
beyond the war with Spain and consequent
bombardment of Valparaiso, but these are calami-
ties which would soon have been repaired. Her
national honour has not fallen in the slightest
degree. Yet investors do not care to touch Chilian
scrip, for the old reason, that they have no wish
to take up anything new, while holders are as
ready to sell as if their security were worth no-
thing.
Leaving foreign bonds for the moment aside,
and reverting to home securities, the depreciation
is not only considerable but often seems unwar-
ranted. Railway stocks, the moat important of
the whole, have indeed fallen, but this arises Kea
from general than from domestic reasons. The
state of confusion which has latterly come upon the
railway interest, and which seems beyond the capa-
city of any one to suggest a remedy, is unfavour-
able enough of itself, but is necessarily heightened
by the prospect of an European war. Restriction
of trade and diminished traffics will step in
to complete the loss already entailed by
I financial difficulties. Such, at least, is the
pessimist view. On the other hand, there is at
all events the encouraging feature that the small
public are quietly investing in railway stocks, in
moderate amounts individually, but large in the
aggregate, and that the sellers are chiefly specula-
, tive holden who have bought up stock on the chance
of realising at some future period with profit.
This, at any rate, shows that bola fide purchases pre-
dominate over sales, and that all things considered
the public think that the prices of railway secu-
rities have fallen to that point that they are
decidedly worth buying. The sauna cannot be
said of banking and other shares which, gene-
rally speaking, are of indisputable value. They
possess the fatal defect of entailing upon the pur-
chaser a liability to " calls," and although it may
be well known that there is no chance of any
being made, the mere possibility is an insur-
mountable drawback to the prudent investor.
With reference to the future, there is nothing
to be done but to wait the course of events. It
is a trite saying that the expectation is worse than
the reality, and hence both the political and finan-
cial atmosphere might forthwith clear if war were
really to break out. At least, the worst would
be known. It seems almost futile to hope that
the public will exercise a calm judgment upon
these points, and refrain from allowing their
minds to be swayed to one extreme or the other
according to mere temporary prejudice. While
suspense lasts this is sure to happen, and thus Vie
best thing to be desired is to get rid of suspense at
all hazards, even if it make place for a most
unfavourable certainty.

fa the oldAtog of the Timers, with France. The King
of the Nefffierliuida may or may not have taken the
first step by proposing to sell Dutch Luxemburg,
but the French government might easily have dis-
couraged the idea before their dignity was compromised
by the Prussian veto. Whatever influence we may
possess at Berlin should be used in deprecating, with the
utmost courtesy and respect for German susceptibilities,
the commencement of a conflict which so far as it can
foresee, must be fruitless, except for evil.
Prussia, Lays the Post, is not asked to yield a right, but,
following the example of France in Italy, to withdraw
from an abnormal position, inasmuch as the occupation
of the fortress of Luxemburg by Prussian troops since the
dissolution of the Germanic Confederation has constituted
a legal wrong. And there might be no objection to this on
the part of Count Bismarck if it was stipulated that
the Duchy should not be assigned to Fiance. If,
then, this he the point in dispute, it is clearly not
one to be referred to the arbitration of arms.
Still the Post thinks that armaments are going on—that
as regards Prussia, it is folly to declare that the Rhenish
fortresses have not been armed, or that no extraordinary
orders have been given for needle guns ; and th►t as regards
France, it is well known that for months past nothing
tending to increase the efficiency of the French army has
been omitted.

The clashing of designs between such men as Napoleon
and Bismarck cannot be regarded, in the opinion of the
Star, as other than most menacing to the interests of
peace. It does not therefore wonder at the violent panic,
or rather succession of panics, that has agitated the
Bourses of Europe for the past four days. However
eagerly it may desire the maintenance of public tranquil-
lity, the Star cannot be blind to the manifest signs of a
near and a terrible war.

Although the Telegraph does not implicitly believe the
statement that monetary panics are an infallible sign of
approaching war, it admits that there are unfortunately,
both in France and Germany, manifold signs of a popular
desire for war—or, at any rate, for • policy drifting to-
wards war ; and that feeling argues far worse for the
maintenance of European tranquillity than all the doings of
monetary authorities. The Telegraph believes that the
Emperor is sincerely desirous of avoiding • war on account
of the Exhibition, and because there is reason to suppose
that the French army is not yet prepared to cope with
that of Germany on equal terms. But if, justly or not,
he should come to believe that Frenchmen are permanently
dissatisfied with their national attitude, then no choice
will be left for Napoleon 111. except to obey the tradi-
tions of the First Empire—the traditions of Wagram,
Austerlitz, and Jena.
The Dail g Nein.r, referring to the unconditional com-
pliance of the Spanish government with the demands of
Lord Stanley for the restitution of the Queen Victoria,
says that no one can grudge the pride of Castille the alle-
viations which it may receive from the fact that the cap-
ture was some days since condemned as illegal by the court
of Cadiz, and that this decision has been con-
firmed by the Council of State of Madrid. It
would be ungracious to enter into any chronological
details with respect to the relative dates of Lord Stanley's
despatch and the decision of the Spanish Court, or to
inquire whether the " English fleet was yet in sight"
when the judgment was given on which the cabinet of
Madrid has acted. It is sufficient that justice
has been done, and peace has been preserved.
Lord Stanley's diplomacy reflects the change which has of
late years come over the mind of his countrymen ; and
which was first signally expressed in the Schleswig-Hol-
stein debate of 1864. It is now apparent that a temperate
and conciliatory foreign policy is not necessarily tame, sub-
missive, or inefficient.

LATEt3T IN TELIAIGENC&