Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-05-20
NATIONAL CREDIT.
Estimate in Which the Securities of
Various Nations Are Held.


| Various Nations Are Held,
| Among the nations of the world
which are In the market as borrowers
of money upon bonds, England stands
first, paying an average of about 2Z.
tper cent. on its funded securities The
reason for this high credit is two
fold: There is larger amount of idle
and uninvested money in England than
in any other country in the world. and
additional security for the debt, of
Great Britain is furnished in the enor-
NOUS colonial possessions and COM
mercial rights acquired by the Brit
ssh crown. The prevailing rate of in
terest on all loans is less in England
than elsewhere, and the effects of this
plethora of money are shown in the
low rate of interest at which the Eng
tlish government is able to borrow
money. The total debt of Great Brit
ain is about So 300, oO0. 600, or at the rate
of about $Ss per capita in the three king
doms of England, Ireland and Scot
| land
| Second on the list OF countries in re-
spect to the low rate of interest at
which government loans are made is
the United States, which, with an out
standing interest bearing debt of about
| 5000, 100000, pays the equivalent of
about 2A per cent. The debt per cap
| tia of the United States is about SIS.
an amount materially smaller than the
average of the debt of Great Britain,
but representing only the federal OBJ
| legations, the several states, counties
and municipalities having debts of
| their own to much larger amount col
lectively than the federal debt.
The financial credit of the kingdom
of Holland is very nearly as good as
that of the United States, though the
debt per capita of the Dutch kingdom is
nearly 500. France follows fourth
Oh the list, position due to the enor-
nous amount OF national debt, which
is nearly 4,5o0. OoO, 900, at the rate of
about $3.50 per capita. Money brings in
commercial investments a higher rate
of interest in France than in England,
and the French loans are made subject
to this condition. The three per cent.
French government bonds sell at about
101. which is equivalent to nearly three
per cent. ON an investment. Those of
the kingdom of Sweden and of the king
dom of Belgium are quoted nearly as
high. though the governmental debt
of Sweden is S13 per capita, and that
of Belgium is S63. The government
obligations of the kingdom of Norway,
country which has but seven dollars
per capita, pay somewhat more than
three per cent, and next follows, in
the estimation of investors, the govern
ment loan of Germany imperial loan
which pays about 81 per cent. Each OF
the German states has its own bonds,
and there are German government
bonds in addition. The Prussian bonds
pay fraction more than those issued
by the German government, and then
follow in order those of Austria, Russia
and Hungary.
This may be said to exhaust the list
of nations which are regarded as thor
oughly solvent by disinterested invest
ors. The five per cent. bonds of Italy
sell at IS cents ON the dollar. The "
per cent. bonds of Chill sell at IS. The
Turkish five per cent. bonds, protected
by the lien of customs receipts, sell at
SIS. Mexican six per cent. bonds sell
at &c, and Spanish four per cent. bonds
at 80. The bonded debt of Portugal is
not held in high estimation, its three
per cent. bonds being sold for about
20 cents on the dollar, while the four
per cent. bonds of Greece sell no higher.
China's five per cent. bonds bring par,
and the Bulgarian six per cents. sell at
9O.-N. Y. Sun.