Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-10
HAVE BIG DEBTS.
Nations That HsxeImnseuse Holes i'm
Their TEeaAuriea.


Nations That Have Inanseuse Holes i'm
Their Treasuries.
From the New York Sun. f p
1t has been announced that there is q
deficit of ss9.ooO,eo0 in the Russian gov
ernment's income this year. the equivalent
in Russian money of this 'sum being I00,-
100000 roubles. The, Russian system Of
finance is somewhat Nagusi in reference to
actual results. there nbeing every year a
formal estimate of the prospective govern
ment receipts and expenses, and a subse-
quent discovery that the receipts have fall
en- below the estimate made of them or
that the expenses have gone above the estf-
mate. the accounts showing deficit, which
Is carried over to the year succeeding.
Thus in 1S49 the deficit was 100000 roubles;
in 1895, u, 600 900; in 1896. $4,000, 600; in
1897. 3o,00o.0oO: in 1893. 50,oe0.oO0. This
year the shortage will be 100, Co., 600 rou-
bles, but the circumstance is not a dis
quieting one to the Russian financiers, who
appear to take 1t a matter of course
Russia imposes direct taxes on land, Ii
censes and capital invested in business, and
obtains further revenue from indirect taxes
on liquors (the chief item). tobacco, sugar.
matches and naphtha sold at retail within
the empire, from custom duties, stamp
duties and from the sale of spirits by the
state-what would be colloquially called in
this country a bar annex. The railroads
al I'll ny Tie government anu the prOntS
of the post Office and the telegraph service
go into the government revenues. The ex-
penditures include two items which would
probably be regarded with disfavor by
American financiers. One of these Is .'un-
paid arrears and the other is unforeseen
expenses
Russia is not the only European country
in which this indefinite method of govern
ment financiering prevails, and in which
an annual deficit is regarded as sugges-
ton of what is euPhoniously called "a re-
adjustment of the finances" Portugal,
country having smaller population than
the state of Pennsylvania, has an out
standing debt of $500, 100000, exclusive of
a floating debt of about 500, 900, 900 more.
The expenditures of the Portuguese govern
ment exceed the receipts, not occasionally
but always, and during the last eight years
there has not been one in which the dis
bursementS have not been in excess of the
revenues. go.
Another country in which there is con-
siderable amount of wild government finan-
ciering. judged from the American or En-
glish standard, Is Greece, whose total popu-
lation by the census of 1895 was 2,4oO,uOO,
or about the same the population of In
diana. The national debt of Greece is $685.
100000 drachmas, the equivalent of about
sf65, 900, 600, and the Greek revenues usually
fall short Of the necessary expenditures.
few years ago the total receipts figured
up 95,00U,0OO drachmas, and the total ex-
penses 1870 100000. A few years before that
l2b,6oo010. These items include. of course,
merely the ordinary government operations,
and are entirely exclusive of the revenues
derived from loans or the sums applied to
their payment.
The intricacies of Turkish and Spanish
finances have long been source of won
der to financiers. and Turkey exceeds Spain
in the variety of novel methods in govern
ment business. The present debt of Turkey
is S350OOO.OO0. and the Turkish practice Of
mortgaging the most desirable items of reve-
nue. explains, to some extent at least the
difficulty experienced in collecting the vari-
Gus items of income. one of which is a tax
on sheep. another a tax on fishermen, and
other items collectible from the profits on
the sale of tobacco andtpayments for ex-
emption from military SERVICE. In many Eu-
ropean countries the danger of a surplus
to confront the COVE rmsnt financiers is
not a source of any fecut ring embarrass-
ment. They come to be better used to an
annual deficit. The ordinary method of
providing for the shortages to issue bonds
and when the interest on1fhese cannot be
met the rate Of interest Is arbitrarily re-
duced. * e.