The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-04-15

need daily i've pounds of solid mixed
food, two and half would be enough
for persons who lounge and sleep
much.
The Payment of the Five Milliards,
When we look back upon the subject
as a whole, three great facts strike us
in it. The first, that France is very
rich the second, that the trade of Eu-
rope has attained such a magnitude
that figures are ceasing to convey It's
measure the third, that the aggregate
commercial action of nations is q lever
which ian lift any financial load what
ever. AS we see the transaction now,
with these explanations of its compost
ton before us, we can not but fail to
recognize that it has been rather Euro
pean than purely French. All purses
helped to provide funds for it; all trades
supplied bills for it. In every previous
state of the worlds commerce such an
operation would have been impossible
fifty, thirty, twenty years ago, it would
have ruined France and have disordered
Europe; In our time it has come and
gone without seriously disturbing any
of the economic conditions under which
we live. France, out of her stores, has
quietly transported to Berlin quantity
of bullion larger than the whole ordi-
nary stock of the bank of England; and
yet she shows no sign of having lost a
sovereign. She has paid, in her bank
notes, for e170, 600. 600 of transmission
paper, and yot the quantity of her bank
notes IN circulation is not steadily d.
minishing. Such realities as these
would be altogether inconceiVable if
We did not see their cause behind
them that cause is simple, natural,
lndisputable its name is the pres
ent situation of the worlds trade.
The vastness of that trade explains the
mystery. But yet, with these advan-
tages to help it, the operation had, in
addition to its enormous size, certain
special difficulties to contend with. as
one example, it may be mentioned that
among the elements of perturbation and
of consequent impediments to remit
lance, the French government had to
keep in view the fact that, at the very
moment when 1t needed all the none
tary facilities it could obtain, the Ger
man government was locking up gold
in its cellars, in order to provide metal
for the new coinage it was preparing.
This was a most unlucky coincidence !;
but it existed, and it had to be met.
The German plan was TO hold back the
issue of the new money until $50, 600, goo
of it were ready to be exchanged for the
old silver currency consequently, no
silver could be expected TO leave Ger
many until some months after the date
at which the gold had been brought in
there and, during the interval, France
knew that she must suffer from the
withdrawal of so much bullion form the
general market. But she found assist
ance in an unexpected way; silver did
flow back to her from Germany, without
waiting for the issue of the new gold cur
rency. France paid Germany e9, 5T2, 600
in French silver but this was of no use
to the latter; on the contrary, it was an
embarrassment to her, forshe vas on the
point of exporting aquantity # her own
silver, which would become superfiu-
GUS as soon as the new gold got iuto
circulation. So, for this reason, a coRsid-
cradle portion of the French five-franc
pieces came back Immediately to
France, and helped to reconstitute her
store. And all the other difficulties
we're, more or less, like this one. At
first sight they looked grave and dura-
bic, but they diminished or disappeared
as soon as they were seriously attacked;
the old thing turned out to be an aston
ishing example of obstacles overratt d.
The unsupported wealth of France, as
sisted by an extent Of general COM
mercial dealings which was less sus-
pected still, managed TO get the
better of all the stumbling blocks and
impOssib ilities which seemed to bar
the road. France has lost e400, 900, 600,
One-half of which she has delivered to
her enemy, and yet she is going on
prospecting as if nothing at ali had hap
pened. But it is now quite clear that
she never could have managed all this
alone she could not have found the
money, but never could, single handed,
have carried it to Germany. It is
there, far more than IN subscriptions TO
her loans, that the world has really
helped her; she has bought back the
stock that foreigners subscribed for
her, bus she could not do so without
the bills they sold her. IL she had
been left to her own resources for the
transport of the indemnify to Berlin.
she would probably have been forced
to send two thirds of it In bullion, and
to empty her peoples pockets for the
purpose the Vastness of the worlds
trade and the unity of interests which
commerce has produced, permitted her
TO use other nations means of action
instead of her own. Viewed in this
light, the payment of the five milliards
becomes an enormous piece of admira-
bly, we'll arranged international bank
ing, in which nearly all the counting
houses of northern Europe took q share.
-Btdcka0ood's Magazine.