The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-10
THE SINEWS OF WAR.
TaE FINANCIAL CONDITION Or, THE
two GREAT row Rs. ENGLAND
AND RUSSIA.

AND RUSSIA.
England's wealth..
IN Y. World
The British revenues for the year ending
March 81, show surplus of over GGuO, 900 ster-
ling. instead OF the deficit which was expected.
The London Times OF yesterday explains this
AS the result OF certain special and temporary
causes, but the fact itself, like the resignation
Lord Derby, will doubtless surprise, official
circles in st. Petersburg and strengthen the
position Of Lord BeaConstield at home: Ii
one OF these fact, goes to show tue Russians
that England Will not patiently submit TO the
virtual establishment Of Il Russian pro-
tectorate over the dismem9ercd Turk
NOUS financial disadvantage ut which Great
Britain holds them at this Important G, isis
In the story of both nations. When
the financial strength III England Is fully
called out to support such u war as q War with
Russia for the cuttOl OF the Eastern question
must inevitably b., Russia, even though I'M
exhausted 10y such sore struggle as she has
Just been waging, may well h., state to Crap
pie with Sn,'wS 30 tremendous A paper has
Just been laid before the Statistical Society in
England by Mr.. Giffen, In which the subjects
OF The wealth OF England and of the recent
accumulations Ut capital in the united king
dom are considered carefully and ut length,
and with results which have startled even
those Englishmen who had Thought them
selves most familiar with the financial his
tory and condition of their country. Mr.. Glffen
finds, for example, in regard to the growth
Of capital In Great Britain, that in the ten
years between $50 and 1875 the capital of tho
country was increased by the enormous sum
Of E2,4O0,0oO,0o0, or about twelve Thousand
empire was 46100,O 100000. In 1876 it was
fS,500,0o0,OOO. In other words, Engla has
been adding 10 her capitalized wealth or her
national estate at the tr mendous rate OF
G240,000,000 a year And whereas the gross
assessed income Of Great Brit lin Mt the be-
ginning of the century, when she Was cAl ry
Ing ON her great wars with Napoleon /, WAS
but E115, 100000, and In 1855, at the time OF the
Crimean war, was but E3OS, 600 900, 1t had risen
In 1855 to f3seooo,ooo aud in 1875 rose to
EST 100000.
These figures, as Mr.. Giffen says, are "bewil-
dering" in their amounts, and nothing in the
way OF political economy can be more im-
portant than thorough investigation OF the
causes which have led to such colossal re-
suits.
Russ,a's Bankruptcy.
Russia already SEES a depreciation of Al
per cent In her current paper, and the ex-
change at st Petersburg expects a declara-
tion OF war with Eng to be followed by
government had barely established al equi
Hbrium between its receipts and expell,ii
lures, after many years of budgets showing a
deficiency, when the Turkish war broke out
l0,3O6,oO0, including some $s,o000o0 of the
revenue Of 1877 paid ia advance by merchants
who had imported largely in excess
Of their immediate needs during
the as wae Phpp prayy et exp
lures were S4l4,5632oO, which left u deficit of
"a, 250,000, to say nothing of the addition to
the debt then beginning to be made for the
in expectation of war. We have before us the
estimates for 1878, which anticipate a revenue
OF SAC, 292, 200, including all the amounts
drawn from extraordinary sources, such as the
sum OF about twenty M lions from the 5 per
cent foreign loan of 1876. ln,smuch as afi err
deducting this the amount to be raised from
the people Is somewhat larger than the rev.
enue Of 1875, year of peace and unusual
prosperity 1t will be seen that, with her
crops unmarketnd and her labor market de-
ranged, Russia must meet an incre ,sed bur-
den OF taxation. The estimated expenditure
for 1873 equals the receipts, and IL a trifle
over 500 600, 600 OF roubies,, without including
cember u.s., 1877, the Russian treasury had
been called upon to pay $3l7, 100000 as the
expenses OF tue Bulgarian and Armenian cam
paigns, the funds having been obtained by
two home loans in paper of 300,0OO0OO
roubles and by a foreign loan in coin Of
100000 900. Up tpthe present time, especially
as after the ar,nistice of Adrianope additional
forces were called out, the war must have
cost Russia $4O0,0o00OO at least; and as the
is simply absurd, this sum must be added to
the Russian debt, which will then amount to
about 81 800 OO0, 900, the addition meaning that
some $4,000, 600 year must hereafter be pro-
yided for in the budget. The Russian Reuie,c
pointed out three months ago that while the
value Of the paper rouble was steadily falling
the necessaries of life had Of course be-
come much dearer, the arrears of taxes
common. In two years the number OF
cases Of bankruptcy adjudicated by the COM
mercial tribunal of MISUNDERSTANDING all
amicable settlementS-had risen from 68 to
1l3, and their amounts from S3,SS7,0O0 to
1928, 0.000. The volume Of paper currency
had been Inflated one-third, and amounted
to $734, 600 900, to which should be added such
items as the 5O,000,0 900 roubles issue made on
the thirteenth Of March of treasury obliga-
tions, which are redee,nabe in September and
bear interest at the rate of a. per cent per
annum.
This is not an encouraging prospect for the
rulers OF a nation about to enter upon a sec
ond war infinitely more severe, more perilous
and more expensive than that which has just
closed. The eminent French &c nomist, NJ
Paul Leroy Beaulitu when the arms ice was
signed, regarding the war as over, calculated
that for many years to come Russla must
raise an annual revenue OF 64n,00O,o00 or 650,-
100000 roubles, which would impose an addi-
tional annual burden of S70,000,000 on her
subjects, the greater portion OF which
sum must come from Increased duties on
sugars, Oraluy, sail anu n,paceo. oueA q
burden must be grievously +, 1t in country
which lacks the elasticity OF resources found
in highly civilized nations, organized in some
sort of conformity with the principles Of po-
litical economy, such as England and France;
and it is not surprising that Prince Gortscha-
koff and the En- peror Alexander contemplate
the future with less en' husiasm than the Pan
slavists OF Moscow or the lieutenants who are
lounging as conquerors about the cafes OF
Pera. To go to war with Great Britain is to
court national insolvency; to abauion the
treaty of San Stefano is to risk a domestic
revolution.
rHru.Nn,s INTENTIONS