The morning call., 1894-06-02
HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF.

Australasia bids fair to demonstrate
how unerringly history repeats itself
under similar conditions. Half century
or more ago large number of American
States which had been profuse borrowers
of money were unable to pay and had to
default on their bonds. English writer's,
with Sydney Smith at their head. INDUCED
in bitter sarcasm of American dishonesty
and made il unpleasant for Americans to
visit England. A few years later when
the Western railroad mania broke out the
experience was repeated. Towns and
counties bonded themselves for the con-
struction of railroads. They were unable
to raise money 10 meet the coupons, and
once more reputation became general. In
many cases the towns and counties were
absolutely unable to pay. One town in
Wisconsin was bonded for more than the
total valuation of the taxable property in
the town. We were again reminded by
our English critics that dishonesty was in
grained in the American character, and
that an Englishman who invested money
in this country deserved TO lose it.
1t looks now as though history were
going to repeat itself in a quarter of the
glob which cannot be classed as Ameri-
can. That is Australia. The Australian
colonies are the most deeply indebted
country in the world. and the debt is all
due to England. The banks of Australia
owe about $500, OOO,O 900 TO English depOsi-
tors. and the Australian governments have
issued about $500, O0OO 600 of bonds. nearly
all of which are held in England. 1t takes
SS7,000,000 year to pay the interest on the
fF,h
another, have been loaned to Australia.
The colonies cannot pay any such sum, nor
can they make the capital OF the loans
safe. There are about 100000 inhabi-
tants on the continent Of Australia, and of
these 100000 only about 1000, 900 are pro-
ducers. OF Australians chief products,
wool is selling at the lowest price on
record, coal has just declined 30 per cent,
and the gold mines leave a mere trifle over
and above the cost of working for profit
for their owners. In the language of an
Australian. England owns US, and we are
only laborers in her service"
1t cannot be long before the Austria
laDs tire of their condition of bondage
and discuss schemes for throwing off
load which they are unable to carry. They
will probably begin as Illinois did by
scaling down their English debt and will
END as Mississippi did by repudiatiug it
altogether. AS the poet says, even Don
Ferdinando cannot Go more than he can
do. 1t is very sad TO go to protest. but
many an honest man has been forced to
come to that catastrophe when he was at
the end of his resources.
For many years intelligent observers
have predicted this finale TO the hothouse
development of the Australian colonies.
The col0nsts attempted to accomplish in
forty years that which it took this country
two centuries to achieve Melbourne is al
fine city as San Francisco; Sydney does
more business than Boston. And the
Australians labor under disadvantages
which the settlers of the United States did
not encounter. The latter had a back
country, unlimited in extent and unex-
amped in fertility, 10 which they could
flock when the ocean shore bscame
crowded. Australia, on the contrary, is
nothing but a gigantic atoll, with a rim
which is fertile; the interior is a vast
seething caldrOn which only differs in
degree from the crater of volcano. q
few miles from the seaboard on which the
cities lie there is no water and no river
communication. There can be no popu-
latiOn there. Instead of making profits
which would enable them to pay interest
on foreign debts the rare settlers on thu
inner edge of the rim have a desperate
struggle for subsistence-a struggle so
bitter that those who take part Ia it will
not have any compassion left for foreign
creditors if their claims are rejected.