The herald., 1896-07-19
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPECIALS

| raise more money the ministry are con-
tinually devising new schemes of taxa
tion. which shall not unduly excite the
somewhat inflammable populace. About
year and half ago an order was issu-
ed requiring the sender of every tele-
gram to write in full, and pay for it. not
only the address of the receiver but his
own address as we'll This was too much
to bear, and was accordingly soon re-
scinded
TO add to the embarrassment of the
situation, there are five or six times as
many employees as are necessary in the
civil service, owing partly to the excess
siVe fondness Of the French for red tape
hut still more to the supposed necessity
OF providing a sinecure for the sons of
privileged characters like the old nobii-
", for example. Red tape Is one of the
banes of the country today. You can
often cheat a Frenchman out of his
eve teeth" provided you have every
thing recsipted and countersigned six
or seven times
Another fact oe interest to the Ameri-
cans in the French political economy is
the manner in which they treat the
question of the maturity of obligations
The term for which a bond is to run is
frequently not fixed, and even when 1t
is. If the debtor sees it to his interest
to force payment in advance, he makes
unlike our government bonds the term
of the French rentes is not fixed. Ac-
cordingly, about two years ago, the leg
islature passed an act virtually forcing
the holders of the Az per cents. one Of
the legaces of the Franco Prussian war
of 1901, and amounting at par to over
81, 900 900 900, to accept 3% per cent for
the future. With this fact in view. the
recent protests of the French against the
conversion of the Egyptian debt seem
out of place, to say the least.
An interesting case Of the prepay
ment of bonds whose term is fixed, has
lately come up with reference to the
Eastern railway. This corporation at
tempted. in the face OF the express stip-
ulation of it's bonds. to refund some of
item at lower rates of interest before
they were due A number of holders,
feeling unable to fight single handed
so powerful a corporation. accepted the
proposed terms. Others. however, es-
pecially the banks and large corpora
tions, combined and fought the matter
in the courts Roth sides quoted the
French code as authority.
| The case was appealed from court to
| court until it reached the supreme
court of the republic, where the bord-
holders won. Now the asserting stock
| holders come forward and claim equal
| rights with the dissenters, on the
ground that their assent.was forced. 1t
will be interesting to watch the results
of this latter piece of litigation.
! Perhaps the most alarming symptom
! of disease in the body polite is the for
sakng. by their own people, of these
same French rentes to buy English Sc
| curities. This move has been doubtless
induced by the remarkably favorable
! showing of the last English budget. At
any rate, the movement has assumed
such proportions as to cause exchange
on London to- fall several points.
What. on the other hand. is the TIL
| tude of the French people toward Amer
| lean securities? Generally speaking,
unfavorable. Why? % Because most
American enterprises are not engin-
eered by Europeans. (2) The Ameri-
cans are apt to keep their best securi-
| ties al home and send their poor ones
to Europe, as in the case of the pan
electric scheme and one or two others
like 1T. CD American securities are not
offered In small enough denominations.
The bulh, of French money for invest
| ment does not come from the capitalists
| but fromi the poor peasants, who live, it
may be, in close proximity to the COW
and, but who nevertheless, usually have
| little money hid in the ground The
statement has even been made to me in
Paris that, should the United States
| government today offer a really popu-
| lar loan, in small enough denomina-
\ common people could. readily under
Stand anG take advantage Of the condi-
tlons or subscription, three fourths of
II would be taken in Europe (4) The
interest on American securities is sell
dom payable in Paris; usually in New
York, Boston, or, at best. London. (5l
Inc unsettled state of the America n
currency and tariff questions naturally
alarms all conservative Europeans
| rev American securities are now
listed on the Paris bourse, among them
the United States As and some of the
mining stocks, like the Victor of CrippIe
Greek. But ordinarily there is no mar
ket for them here. The general trend is
eastward rather than westward. True.
many of them are held by such people as
the Rothschilds and by Americans re-
sizing IN Paris, and men in a position to
know assert that, If the best classes of
americans" = or 31a per cent bond
OF the city of eNw York, for example,
were properly doomed and French in :
vestors fairly treated, a large market
might be found The French are con-
hding people, and their confidence is
easily won. They are not by nature sus-
| picious, like some other races of conti-
mental Europe. Take the case of the
| South African mines. At first they were
warned against these stocks by French
| consuls in the Transvaal But when
| they once became interested they fairly
ness to get shares.
If Russia should today ask loan in
| the Paris market. she would not be
obliged to wait long for takers. The
issue would probably subscribed many
J times over. Of course. political senti-
ment plays an important part in the
| case, but are not the French well dis
posed toward us also? Certainly more
so than toward either the English or the
! Germans. Even the Turkish govern
| ment can borrow money in Paris, as was
seen when the Ottoman loan was offered
| week or two ago. But as far as we are
concerned, France with the rest of the
world, including ourselves is fearful of
taking any important step until after
the election of 1S96.-Paris Letter to
United States Investor.
Berry ices are delicious deserts this
| weather.