Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-04-05
Dreadful Condition of the French Re.
public.
From the London Spectator. March l.

Dreadful Condition of the French Re-
public.
From the London Spectator March l.
We trust the house of commons will
not separate for the holidays without
one serious discussion upon the new
misery which the German statesmen
have added to the miseries of mankind;
without one protest against the estab-
ishment of a precedent which if fol
lowed will make the industry of the
world the treasure chest of the German
army. What does Mr. Gladstone, first
of hnanclers and economists. think of
the infection of national debt of
tl4O, 600, 0Go sterling as fine upon
hrst-class power; of the recurrence to
the exploded system of tribute; of
single tribute exacted from a single
power of 912, 10000 a year-an in
come tax of a shilling in the pound to
be paid by France forever to enrich q
sovereign state2 The Germans demand
f200, 900, 900 sterling in cash, or It's
equivalents, payable within three years:
and as France is powerless, and the
money not absolutely beyond the
range of possible collection, Germany
must have it; but just see what the
exaction means. It means, if the mon
ey is taken in rentes, payment of a
thousand millions per century by
France to the German army. Nations
do not die, and. as the money must be
borrowed, its interest will be payable
by unborn generations; or, if it is tax
en- in cash, it means that the single eff
fectual restraint upon the ambition of
generals, the pecuniary difficulties en-
tailed by war, is, as far as Germany is
concerned, removed forever
The danger to Europe from this in
demnity seems to us grave, but, of
course, it is less than the danger to
France herself The money can hsa
procured, we believe, and procured
within two years, partly by borrowing
on the credit of the state, and partly by
straining the resources of the cities and
communes, but it must form at last an
addition to the national debt of France.
The debt is already $500, 600, 00O the
indemnity is equivalent to 94OO, 900, 600
more-the money being raised at about
50-and something must be done to
alleviate the distress of the occupied
departments and to compensate the
sufferers. There will be heavy failure
in the payment of taxes, aggravated
probably by the imposition of protect
i've duties; there is German army tt
be maintained in Champagne, ant
there are the Notifications of Paris anC
the great military centres like Chalon
: to be made perfect. France will b,
fortunate if in 1874, when the idennit,
is paid, she has a debt of less thai
81, 100000, 900 sterling, mortgage o
less than 936, 900, 900 a year upon he
: industry. That is equivalent to
3 mortgage of e5 los a year upon ever
household in the country, or, in othe
and clearer words, hypothecation G
) six weeks labor a year, to pay the III
den may, no doubt, be shifted from tn
poor on to the rich; but an income ia
: is in France detested expedient, an
, the new finance minister, M. Pouye
Quertier look to excessive tariffs as hi
: best resource. Very little, if any, {
3 the additional interest can be save
5 out of the expenditure, except by
3 resort to measures upon which n
, French ministry would have the cou1
age to venture By abandoning Algeri
e and Saigon, by reducing the fleet t
} the amount required for coast defence
D and by stopping all public works nc
= urgently required, sufficient none
f might be saved; but it would be at til
4 cost of the danger Of an instruction
:. men exasperated by defeat, by sufel
8 ing and by the suspension of the larf
e est employer of labor in the country
4to rfo4o e. l.
e whatever of any reduction in the COZ
0 either of the army or of the civil an
) police service. There must be a ere.
S army, with large and expensive sciel
e titic services, or when the country has
+ little recovered, the Germans ma
come back again and ask another tw
n hundred millions; and whatever Il
II system of reserves, or whatever II
It economy practiced, that army, vii
L the great cities to garrison, and the d
l. partments to reduce TO order, must be
is large one. That France may recov
we do not doubt, but for 20 years 81
will be exposed to all the disorde
which heavy taxes, constant deficit
@ and revolutionary finance experimen
10 bring in their train. The Gesmal
" think that therefore she is weak. b
Ii their own strength began with the
It financial ruin, and it is by no meal
10 improbable that social difficulties m,
g now, as in 1893, tend to make Il
II French nation an army, with militia
N life the only career, generalship Il
< only road to power, and revenge Il
); only aspiration. It is not the f
IL Frenchman who fights best, but Il
'e Frenchman who is miserable