Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-08-02

From Bleckwood's Magazine.
Moltae the Silent-der Schsceige--as he is
called, Is generally considered the greatest and
is certainly the most successful of living soldiers
His achievements at konfggratz, Sedan and
Paris have never been surpassed. aud compel the
admiration of all competent military critics. ST.
lent quiet, cold. the very incarnation of concentra-
ted thought, inst as you see him walking in the
streets or moving in drawngroom, when
everybody stands respectfully aside to let him
rass-sO he stood on the battlefield. his cold
clear eye passing slowly from one point to the
other. and his cold. clear mind weighing the
chances OF victory and defeat with the
intensity and serenity of mathema-
tician pondering over the solution of
some grave problem. No one. it is
said, has ever seen Count Moltke excited. not
even at Sedan. where the greatest victory Of
modern times decided the fortunes of the two
most powerful empires Of the continent. His
calmness seems mysterious. almost awful. and
there is something strangely sad about that
silent, lonely old man. His wife died some years
ago; he never had child his nearest relations,
with the exception OF nephew and niece. seem
10 be kept at distance by him. Who are his
companions and his friends? To whom does he
ever talk ia friendly, familiar way? Nobody
has ever been able to tell me- though have
he still appears without fail whenever
duty calls him. He is to be seen at
almost all the emperors receptions, the
most striking parsonage near the throne. But
how does the old Field Marshal pass his time
when free from duty. when tired of work? No
body pretends to know Either nobody pene-
trates into his intimacy. or else those who ap-
prOach him intimately do not speak about it.
When the weather Is fine you may see very
tall thin man, with very light yellowish hair
and sallOW, beardlesS wrinkled face, out OF
which shine pair of stony gray eyes. wrapped
in long, dark military coat, cap on his
small head, faultlessly dressed in generals
unform-a gentleman born in every inch
of his aristocratic. slender figure, his body
still erect, but his head as In deep
thought slightly bent forward-such a man,
say. you may see coming out of the great red
building which stands on the KOenigs- PlatZ, at
the corner of ''Moltke" and Bismarck" streets,
and which bears the name Of General Stab"
The solitary old man, unattended by a servant,
walks slowly, nolselessly. Every one who meets
him looks at him attentively; if the passer-by is
a soldier he stands on one side and salutes. The
old general returns the salute slowly and DELHI
erately, but apparently without seeing to whom
Every time See him the thought occurs to me
that in such guse Dante must have passed
through the streets of Florence. That is Gem
eral Field Marshal Count Hellmuth Won MOtke,
one of the strangest characters the world has
ever produced. 1t is well worth going to Berlin
to sec that great historical parsonage.
The World in Pawn.
From the Australian Federal
The idea of the whole globe being hypothe-
Gated by countless millions of debtors to cal
culabe number of creditors is a very startling
one when it is abruptly and markedly presented.
And 1t is difficult to imagine SO vast an estate In
liquidation, or to conjecture in what bank
ruptcy court the creditors would prove their
debts, or who would be the official assignees to
collect and distribute the assets. Nevertheless
the fact remains that the whole world is In
pawn and that its balance sheet shows us an
aggregate of liabilities which is absolutely ap-
palling. They have been summed up in the
'Fortnightly Review" by Mr.. A. j. Wilson, an
experienced writer on financial subjects and
the total is the stupendous sum of 5 1894 million
pounds sterling. an amount which, If repre-
sented In sOvereigns, 1t would take a man liz
years to count. at the rate of a sovereign
minute, without a moments cessation from be-
ginning to end. To de1ray the interest on this
enormous debt requires 600. COS. 600 per an
mum, which Mr.. Wilson represents to be fully
equal to the entire earnings OF eight millions of
people; and did each individual in these eight
millions support family of three persons only
beside himself the interest upon these debts
would imply the absorption of the entire sup
port of population equal to that the United
Kingdom"
OF course. a calculation Of this kind takes no
account OF the debts owing by municipalities.
counties, cities. railway. canal, gas, water in
surance and other public companies. But these
would assume still yaster proportions for the
capital sunk in railways alone is 1000 millions,
and this is, of course. debt owing to bond and
shareholders; while the local debts-state and
cty-in the United States amount to
Il10 O3O. 600. The mother country is the greatest
pawnbrokcr in the world, and draws $3.50 0OO. 600
per annum from the nations and colonies in
debted to her. Mr. Wilson is of opinion that the
time has arrived when q stop should be put to
this system of mOrtgaging the future to meet
the expenditure of the present. and when Eng
land. more particularly. should begin to eXtin-
gush her existing liabilities. But this advice is
not likely to attract much attention Nations
are just as improvident as individuals; and not
one OF them has everbeen deferred from rushing
into war of ambition or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 10y
consideration Of the burdens it was entailing on
posterity; and the United States is the only one
which has taken prompt measures to eXtricate
itself from a national debt