The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-04-29
War Debts OF The
Principal Nations

Washington, April IS
>HE RECENT announcement OF new British
loan OF 500. 600 lends interest to a
i statement just issued By the treasury BIZ
reau OF statistics regarding the national
debts OF the world This statement shows in
brief that the national debts Of the world as.
grcgated more than 5000 ,OoO, 100000 at the
close Of the nineteenth century, or ten times as
much US in the closing years of the eighteenth
century In 1893, at the beginning OF the Ma
poIconic VARS, the national debts of the world
amounted to approximately two and one-lalf
billion dollars in 1900 they were. according to
the best information obtainablc, thirty-onc bill
ion dollars. In general terms it may be said
that the worlds national indebtedness in 1909
aggregated ten time, what it did at the begin
ming of the nineteenth century. Meantime popu-
lation has increased 80 per cent, and gold and
silver, which form the basis OF the money with
which debt payments are made. 800 per cent,
though the proportion OF the existing gold AMI
silver which is turned into coin is now much
greater than at the beginning oi the nineteenth
century, while the utilization OF the various forms
OF credit as currency may have increased the
| worlds circulating medium quite in proportion to
the increase in its national debts.
Whether national wealth has increased as rap
idly as national indebtedness is equally diff
cult to determine, since official estimates of ma
tonal wealth were made at the beginning of the
century in the case Of only few nations The
wealth OF the United Kingdom, France, Spain,
and the United States in $500 is estimated at
$40 2Il. $40, ,OOO while Mulnall in 1895 estimate ed
their wealth at S1o5, ,750 10000, or practically ten
times that at the beginning OF the century The
debts of these four nations in 1893 aggregated
but Slj30219,000 and in 1900 were Sil,TGi 900 900
or seven times as much as in 1893, II the rate
| of growth in wealth which has characterized the
four nations whose growth during the century
may h. also pronrrlv anulicd IA IN, world at
largo il may be said that the crowtb of national
wealth has about kent pace with that oi national
irdrbte,lucss. since national wealth IN the cases
,yhprc IL can hc measured Is today ton timcs as
great NJ. nj the beginning of tie nineteenth cen.
t,r, and the national Indebtedness, where il can
bc n,a,cmed is tudnv nhout icn times what IT
was nj Tho bcciuniu.s q, thc century
IT.
The enormous increase in natioml indebted.
NO.. is chiefly thc result of won. st,nIi,,, ar
MOS, and works Of nnhlc utjlity To ,his may
hn added n tendcn,v in many cn.os IN crnotc nm
animal dcerit bv ,xnonditures oyccodi,r r,yr.
mos made in dctcrrn,, IN nonu,or donnud ,,bic,
I,pcits ult;n,.teI,. t,kc H., form a, ,unLod mr.
bonded Indebtedness rr Tho huIk of thrse onnr.
nous debts il from war and ynr nrcn,r,tions
,,,I a., .-,.,,,.;,, -, ,r.,; -,
rniI,,n,, p, ,bo world ,,haso tt,, ,n't ,, ho,.
estimated at $50 600 900. 900, about one thrl are
owned H. ,,o,i,r,, ,,o,a,n,,on,s ;,i;",ti,r +i,at
unnrovin,t,ly onc.,I;rd Of tho ;,o",'S, =, In
dcitcInc,s has bror ,nn,;,d T., ,y,rls ~, thig ,,
n,,o, nut tro. ,,ot a., roa, ,.o,, ,'a ,,'
,au,l ,bo rn,in,,s ,n,',r,n T., .i,,, =;
.t,n,i,. ,rolo ,ro,,,,,,,y ',iii,io, ., tt'n;,
inIehtodnrss cI,,,i,. idcrtiaos Iii, ~, n,o ,ri,
civil t,nto, il, ,,,, ,,,,a, i,nro,,, ~ r,ti,
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| ,-,1 49, ,L,,,t ,,,,. nv, n"n ,r, "'o"e'c :. w
i,to,,,.oi,,, ,,,,.,, ,Iat ,'' 800 W p,%s'
, ,;,, .t H. ,,'-;, , ,"'.,,"1 ""a Wv vs." %
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,I, ,,o"r,o1 I,;n' VA ~ ,%S, ". 'ne wa, WV"
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in,, H., ,o,, ,oar, ,s ,,, It ''',""su 'u''