New Ulm weekly review., 1879-06-04
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.
LONDON TOPICS. A FEW WORDS ON
. GAMBLING. FOREIGN INVEST.
MENTs. WHERE THE MONEY GOES.
&c. &c.

From our regular correspondent
London, May 10, 1879.
The Bishop of Gibralter has been
writing to the Times on the subject
Of the evils of Gambling at Monaco,
and in very emphatic language
points out the unhappy results Of a
visit to the wicked little principali-
ty. A few days before the Bishops
letter appeared the journal in ques.
tion contained roseate article on
the beauties of Monaco as a place
per- Sc and concluded with a we'll di-
rected blow at the tables of Monte
Carlo. Without the slightest desire
to interfere with the Bishops good
work, for he naively confesses he
has never been to Monaco, and only.
hears Of it's dangers from afar, I can
assure His Grace that there is more
gambling going on in London in one
week than is carried OH at Monte
Carlo in a year. There are clubs in
London at which $50, 600 change
hands weekly. Then, for downright
gambling of the basest description,
h0rseracing, as conducted in Great
Britain, is productive of disastrous
results. If the Bishop would direct
his critical attention to the turf
and its abuses he might possibly ef-
feet some practical good among the
hard working and middle classes of
England who, afflicted with the oct.
ting mania, squander tens Of thous.
ands annually on petty turf trans.
actions, which pass into the hands
Of a formidable clique Of blacklegs
Of unparalleled daring and depravity.
Next to drink, I should say gambling
is the uppermost evil of Great Bri.
tain at this very moment.
The capitalists of England are
hard up for investments. With the
Bank rate of interest at 2 per. cent.
per annum, and quotations in the
open market at II, it is exceedingly
difficult to place money, without
dangerous risk, where it will yield
an income. Under these circum.
stances it is little singular that
Consols do not rise considerably in
the market. No investment is more
safe, and 3 per cent, considering the
present plethora of money may be
considered good rate of interest.
And, yet this gilt-edged Government
paper, which represents the conso.
lidated debt of Great Britain fuctu.
ates but little, the quotations being
about the same from day to day ali
the year round; marking the finan.
cial barometer of the world. After
having lent millions upon millions
to every nation on the globe, John
Bull, to-day, in his embarrassments
of wealth, is anxiously looking a.
round for borrowers to deplete his
overaowing exchequer! Hard as it
is to borrow money, it is still harder
to lend it OH satisfactory securities.
And France too, or rather the Bank
OF France is in a similar condition.
It's crowded vaults now hold over
one hundred millions sterling, in
specie, waiting for employment. But
France, under the intelligent finan.
cial administration of M. Leon Say,
has had the sagacity and the courage
to vote magnificent appropriation
for public works amounting, in the
next ten years, to five milliards of
francs, or two hundred millions sterl-
ing, and these proposed internal i'm.
provements will doubtless, yield
handsome revenues, besides giving
employment to thousands of work.
men, and making of France the very
garden Of the world. Unfortunate
X for England she is spending all
her surplus revenues Of War, instead
OF public improvements, and has
nothing to show for such vast and
barren expenditures but here and
there piece Of foreign territory, en-.
numbered by savages, far more ex-
pensive than profitable to the I'm.
perial Government. But Instead of
increasing her national debt, and
multiplying her Consols, it is the
policy Of England to meet her bud
get defects by an increase Of income
tax, which is very hard on the tax
payers, especially in times of great
business stagnation like the present,
when competition in all sorts Of
manufactures is threatening to de.
stroy the principal source Of British
revenue. The people Of the United
States, that Younger Britain, are
rapidly gaining possession Of all the
great markets Of the world includ-.
ing those Of England herself, even
in her own specialities. No wonder
the British Capitalist, and the Brit
ish labOnr. tOOs ia alarmed at tho n,,t.