, 1875-03-30

BANKRUPT NATIONS.
II there is any such thing ns n "debtor
class," about which wo havo lIeartl so much
of late years, it must consist mainly Of banls-
rupt Governments anil bankrupt railroads. A
member OF the British Parliament dcclnred q
short time since TINT tho ntnount tluo by
bankrupt Governments is not lcss thau
81, ,20o, 900, 900. II is also calculated t1lat
there are 550o, 100000 Of railroad bonds in
this country which lavo suspended tic pny.
ment OF Interest either for tic time being or
altogether. The bankrupt railroads OF other
countries, including tho South American
ssntcs, probably owe $500, 900 more. So
in round numbers, NJ the Nation estimates,
tho bankrupt Governments and railroads
together owe III mich as the entiro amount
Of our national t1obt.
Ths greater pnrt OF this enormous debt
which will not be rnid is hold in England nntl
Holland; mora Of 1t in tho former than in
tho Inter country. The prac.ico Of rcpndia-
ton Inns become SO general Of lnte that tho
capitalists Of England have organized "Cor-
poration of Foreign Dontlloldcrs," with I'LL
Executive Council and Sub Committees ill.,
trusted With Investigations. 80 fnr ~ tho
bankrupt railroads mud rcputlintcl Stntc dobta
Of tho past arc concerned, the most tint this
Council can accomplish is exposure; but tl1civ
services in tho future nny }o Of great va!uo
md save British capitalists ,ailionE Of pounds.
Among tho doubtful Government crcdits, :.
late report puts spnin III somewhat moro
hopeful condition, end Portugal us acting
fairly. but Italy il n matter Of "conRtant
solieitndo" to tlo Council because It hrs
taxed foreign holders Of its rfntts, and They
10 not hesitate to call tic fncncicrs Of Greece
"unlnitigatod knayos" OF TurSeynnd Tunis
they spcak hopefully. Liberia seams to DO
hopclcssly In lofault. Most of tho Soutn
American States aro in = bad w:y. San Do
nliugo ia uttorly conscicncclcss. aroxico was
brought m standing by q notification that no
moro loans Of hors would DO admitted TO
European markets. Guatemala is exception
nlly honost Honduras hopeless; Nicaragua
wants to compromise; Costa Rica is ooquet-
ting; tho United States Of Colombia aro
trying to pny thcir debts Ecuador Ia iu
disgrace Bolivna under cloud Paraguay
and Pern improving little; and Uruguay
struggling noby. While tAe cralit Of tho
United States is spoken Of in tho highest
terms, the Southern Statos are strongly a,,s-
pectea. It aays that tho Legislatures hayo
manifested but listlo disposition to sott1c with
their public creditors, and do Itt1o beyond
appointing Commissioners to negotiate, ap-
pasently with Tie view to indefinite postpone
lnont, ind at the BANG time '*1nuch disap.
pointment ia expressed because tho nggrioycl
creditors refuse to eo-operata in schemes for
selling lands, opening n,inea and a1nolting-
works, md forming railroads u; but tho Coun-
Gil says that their experience in tho cases Of
MEXICO md Vouozuola las shown that " the
extension of public works docs not produces
any corresponding desire to discharge the
public debt" The danger is that the credit
Of these Stntoa will grow worse before it be-
colnes bcttor.
The Nation gives some good adyico rolativo
to tho American bonSls which have been
p!accl on foreign markets and havs proved to
Ia worthless. It snyH:
But va aught 10 ray TO tue Lonan hondhotders Tint
no great Improvement 10 the poeuni4ry morals Of ANAL
or poor etatcs can be looked for long cncra In
The great money markets croduion4 and eager
for high raea of ntereat Of tho leans coutrac
cd overy yeor In London show En2lshtuep to b. A
very large number certainly Of the loanA saiaol thtro
BY Americans could not b. raiDod in this country wore
capital mover - PLENTIFUL md Of tho accompany
Ing Inducements offered ars such TO Euqgeat, ono
would thfnk, to every rational man, that Il thu under.
taking wors sound It wo.llA hAvo been allow
I'd to lcars New York or Doston. II tho stortes
Of tho projectors weEs trustworthy, aud tho
fortunes they offered were reasonably certain,
people hero would sell everything olso in order
to supply thom with funds. A great deal Of our pri-