The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-02-05
TWO PICTURES.

Scven wears ago Germany was inc mos
nrosnerous country IN Europe. The war WITH
France and the sl,OOOOOo,OOO French indem
nity had created such an abundance Oh money
in the country that business was stimulated III
all directions, speculation ran high ana every
body was getting rich. AT that tihe nearly
half the money IN circulation in the country
uas silver. England had demonetizeu silver
the bankers, brokers, bondholders and money
changers of Berlin, Frankfort, Leipsic' e'c"
saw that by the Punishment OF silver the value
Of their gold hordes, bonds and notes "ou'u
be immensely increased, and they prevailed
upon Bismarck to follow the example Oh En-
GLAND and pass a decree of decentralization
The effect on business was as pan anu
h,oht General industrial and comnefciai
distress was more speedy and calamltous than
that which overlook America from suDs'ah'''
a,lv the same cause in 1878, though the lash
ion is to attribute it to the Jay Cooke smash
mn And Germany has never recovered from
the blow. The following, which we copy from
,he Berlin correspondence of late English
paper, shows the present condition OF uer'
many. which is but refrain OF what II mas
been since the blight CT demonstration Tell
upon the country seven years ago
Misery is very great IN Germany. Selling
nr;ces and land rents are falling flghtuily
low The result Is that debtors on mortgage
canno, nav the interest Of their debts ana are
dlspossessed and their properties frequently
sold at half the value they had some time ago
This depreciation cannot be attributed 10 lot
eipn competition, as the importation OF corn
and other produce has been taxed. 1t Is gen
eralIy believed that the fall in prices Is due TO
tbe scarcity of cash. Germany wanted to
have the gold standard like England; but
gold does not remain in the country ana, cir,
Culation beng slow, everything decays and
agriculture languishes still more than manu-
features and industry.
On the other hand, France, though payin 6
in two wears a thousand millions OF golu 10
Germany, chung to her silver, and the bulk OF
her circulation among the people issilyer still
and while the sharpest industrial depression
and commercial distress prevailed IN America
England, Germany, Austria and India, France
alone renamed steadily and permanently pros
porous, and her prosperity remains unchanged
to this day. We copy in proof the io!lowln
from late number OF lie PdriSienne:
It's fact, proved by the irrefutable testi
mony of figures that the year 1850 has IN
France gone to sleep on u bed OF millions he
fore vanishing forever. 1t is the rule IN Eu
rome for nations 10 have their finances IN de
felt. In France, up to Dec. 10, the excess
above the estimated proceeds OF the direc' and
indirect taxes for eleven months ana nan Oh
the wear amounted to 1887 GOO francs. Tins
Is a phenomenon without precedent, anu
shows the ascending course of the pubic Tor
tune and lis confidence in the republic. When
the taxes are readily paid into the golfers OF
the state, and when the indirect taxes produce
abundant resources, 1t is proof that the ma
ton has money and that misery Is diminish
Ing. AS regards this latter point, Mr.. fau
Leroy. Beaulieu has recently pubilsheu an I'M
porant work tending to show that The socia
question, of which we hear SO much, IL resoiV
ing itself Of its own accord.
According to Mr.. Leroy Beaulieu, proyidet
the economic phenomenon now in course 81
development be not arrested by material OF
legislative interference we shall arrive lltilt
by little at the gradual extinction OF pauper
ism. In o word, during the last fifty years
there has taken place in the general dislrlhu
ton of wealth in Europe such an evolution
that "the rich are becoming less rich and Tho
poor less poor" Mr. Leroy.3eauieu, who Il
no novice in these questions, has demonstrated
this consollng truth by facts and figures. liz
has furthermore demolished lumber OF pre-
tended laws set forth with much parade by
Nautilus, Turgot, Adam Smith and other econ
omsts, notably the Mallhusian theory, that tn.
production of subsistence increases less rapid
" than that of births. Mr.. Leroy-l'caulel
shows that half the globe IS at present unin
hablted, so that there ~ no immediate dangc
of over.populalion, and that the production o
food increases so rapidly that there Is mani
fest tendency to a decline in prices of provis
IONS. a The more and more sensible fall in tn
rate OF interest ntervencs in Its turn as an III
vinciblc element in the levclling of socln
classes AS to the question of salaries MI
Leroy. Beauieu shows that they are continual
ly rising, while the inequality of fortunes an
of the incomes derived from them is dali
diminishing.