Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-03-07
why PRUSSIA BEAT FRANCE.

WHY PRUSSIA BEAT FRANCE.
There can be little doubt as to the
causes of the superiority Of the Ger
man yer the French combatants.
They are various. For example. an
item of information, brief but signif-
can't, officially supplied by the German
Government to Mr.. Frederick Martin,
the English statistician, is published
by him In his "Statesman's Year
Book for 1871" 1t runs thus:
Adding the liabilities Of the annexed prov.
inccs, the total debt OF Prussia In 1870 amounted
to ESQ, 396, go6. Out Of this total the sum OF
GgI, go, Tg3 was devoted exclusively to the con-
paid out Of the profits OF the State lines, the
yearly increasing dividends Of which create
likewise O sinking fund for the gradual extinc-
tion OF the debt. Exclusive Of the railway loans.
the total debt OF Prussia, both old and new
equal to CT Il. per head Of the population Of
the Kingdlm.
Against this Mr.. Martin shows that
in France the funded debt Of the En-
pirc rose steadily from EDO, 000, 900 In.
1852 to ESQ, 600, 900 In 1859; and to
this debt, he reminds us, there were
added in 1870: Firstly, a loan of
$50, 900, 900, voted by the Legislative
body in July, to defray the costs Of the
war; and, secondly, another loan of
GlO, 900, 600, decreed by the "Provis-
ioual Government Of National De-
fense OIL the 18th of October, for the
same purpose. Here, then, the total
national debt Of Prussia amounted to
EDS, 725, ls2, or, including loans for the
construction Of railroads and the debts
Of the annexed provinces since June,
1866, to ESQ, 395, 9O5 while the debt Of
France at the same time was $780,
900, 900. Coupling this with the fact
that the whole population of Prussia,
like that Of Sparta, is trained for arms,
and always ready for offensive warfare
lin July the whole regular army Of
300, 900 men, aud the first levy of the
Landwehr besides, were brought into
the field in less than a fortnightl, and
that every Prussian subject, young and
old, Is well educated, whereas out Of
every hundred conscripts throughout
France in 1866, only thirty could read
and still fewer write, and we arrive ut
once and without difficulty at the cause
of Prussian conquest and Of French
discontinue In the dreadful war which
has just ended. 1t implies q very low
standard of morals in France that her
population, il not quite stationary, has
increased during the last hundred and
fifty years comparatively less than any
other State In Western Europe. This
may partly arise from the great sacri-
flee Of life In the wars In which Franco,
perpetually aggressive, has become in
volved but there Is also the fact that
in France the birth rate, in proportion
to the marriage rate, Is considerably
the lowest in Europe. and that the
illegitimate births stand to Legitimate
births In the Department Of Seine.et-
Disc lin which Paris is %situated) rs l to
2.sS, and among the entire town popu-
lation Of France as | to 10. In the
country population this proportion
is l to 2l.Gl-the average through
out the whole Of France being
$4,000 illegitimate against 02o,9SO
legitimate children in n single
year, or l to 1921. In Prussia, on
the other hand, US IN Ireland, a woman
who becomes a mother before mar
riage Is not only disgraced forever,
but brings reproach upon her rela-
tions; hence, immodest behavior Is the
great exception IN these countries.
and, indeed, Is astonlshlngly rare.
Lastly, there Is very little religious
feeling in France, while there Is n
great deal of it In Germany. There is
very little public worship In France.
On the other hand, the Germans, Of
all religious denominations, attend
church regularly from u very early
age, and really are u conscientious,
God-fearing race. In France, as a
general rule, there Is great indifter-
ence to religion, and the morale OF the
people is very low indeed. The Ger
mans went into the war "For God and
the Fatherland," while the French
merely expected what they call
"glory" and a great deal of plumber.