Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-04-11
Gbc aaiIpg SPY.
TUESDAY, APRIL IL, 1854.
Thc BcIIigerent Powers.

The BeIIigerenf Powers
Hon-v Brougham, in one Of his celebrated
parliamentary speeches, said that the Kingdoms
Of Europe, after the year 1915, were under
49, 70 the amount of their productive in
anstyv for a generation, to keep the peace. A
,,onorot;ou has passed, the nations OF Europe
o., ,oorsballing their hosts for battle, and the
ouestion is, "Can they now afford, pecuniar-
y ~ carry on war; Are they better prepar-
al 70 do 50 than they were in 1857" We
think not.
The national debt of Great Britain, is at
rrcsent four thousand millions of dollars,an
vet Britain is the only power that can even
rrensre to 90 to war without borrowing mon
ey. France is compelled to ask loan, andso
is Turkey. The government Of Austria was
so VIGOROUSLY bankrupt in 1919, that the mon
ey dealers of London and Rotterdam would
not lend it one silver upon any terms; and
since that time it has staggered along, by fore
ing loans, and otherwise substituting the i'm
uoyerished people. Russia after campaign
Of six months in Hungary, in lS49, was
Obliged to borrow twenty-five millions of dol
lars from the Barring Brothers, London,
in order to pay her wretchedly fed
troops. And, in order to furnish means for
the present emergency, she has been compelled
to take the most extraordinary steps. The
Russian mobiles are commanded to gratuitous-
ly furnish horses, Wagons, and provender for
the war. And merchants and traders are or
dered to donate certain sums Of money to the
imperial treasury.
All these things indicate that the govern
ments of Europe cannot afford to go to war.
They are burdened with the unpaid expenses
of long preceding wars, and it is almost i'm
possible for some of them to maintain their
solvency even in the midst of peace. Still
they are about to rush headlong to destruction;
their armories ring with the clang of swords
AMI bayonets, and their ports swarm with
troops and ships, bonnd for the seat of battle.
The latest foreign news indicates commercial
", the probable issue of this contest High
rates of interest are offered for foreign loans,
in London, and the British moneyocracy eager
" take them up. This diyerts money from
its legitimate channel and will produce bad
effect on business. By this means, the balance
of exchanges is against England, and the bull
lion is rapidly leaving the National Bank for
the continent, the decrease of the amount in
the bank in one fortnight, being nearly $S,O00,-
600.
Several mercantile houses in France and
Italy have failed, with large liabilities, and the
fluctuations of trade generally, are reported
to be very great.
War is a losing game, not only on account
of the actual cost of the ornaments and ma
terial employed in it, but also on account of
the destruction it brings to industrial products,
and the arrangement it produces in the sys-
TEN of international exchanges. The auda-
cious ambition of one man has already caused
the wealth of Europe to be invested in cannon
balls and Paixhan guns, and the persistency
OF the same man will not only lead to havoc,
the destruction of ships and towns, and the
desolation OF the fields of industry, but viii
anu commerce.
We deplore these things, and pity the pee
pie who must suffer, while the Kings direct
the deadly revelry.
We have some consolation, as Americans,
IN knowing that we are not likely to be in
volyed in this war, and that our haryests will
flourish, and Our commerce increase, while
our neighbors over the water are running their
purses, and destroying each others cities.