The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1902-01-15
THE CONDITION OF EUROPE

THE CONDITION OF EUROPE,
The president of the Imperial hank
Of Berlin expresses the opinion, based
upon carefully collected reports from
various parts Of the empire. that the
worst of the business depression in
Germany is past, and ths, hencetor;h
there will be a steady II not rapid
return toward normal conditions. The
banks OF Germany have been 50 large
ly and directly involved in the general
business troubles that such an opinion
of a representative banker is 10 be
regarded as in q degree authoritative,
and this optimistic view will be well
coined by the world. The fac, is not,
however. to be overlooked that, apart
from the embarraSsments Of business.
the public finances Of Germany are get
ting into less satisfactory condition
jhan hitherto. The imperial debt for
merly triaiug in amount, is now no
less than ss75.coo.oOo. in addition to
which new loans Of s729'5ooo are
about to be made The present year
will thus see total imperial debt Of
nearly s75O.OoO.OCo agalns; only $3.50
0o0.OOo at the beginning Of the present
reign. 4 fourfold increase an fourteen
years is omnious Of heavy debt bur
dens. When. indeed. We remember
that besides this imperial debt the in
dividual debts Of the German states
aggregate about s.. 100000. the en-
pire is seen to be little If any better
on financially than its nelgrbors. says
the New York Tribune
In France national finance is a sub
ject which has long caused increasing
anxiety The debt is By far the larg-
est in the world. It is cutie true. as
the finance minister has recently point
ed out. that two-thiris = tha, deb.
must be charged against previous
forms OF government Yet the fac, re-
mains tha, the debt -xis.s inherited
by the republic from its predecessors:
and this fact. too that tn present
form af government goes right on add
ing TO that debt. Each year now sees
a deficit. in spite OF the fact tha, TAXA
ton has been forced up 20 the maxi
mum. The resul, IS tina. new bonds
have been issued. which the govern
men, is happily still able 10 do a, par.
But with population stationary sources
Of revenue cannot greatly increase;
and II in such circumstances exrendi-
lures do continue to increase there can
be only one result. and that a disas-
trous one.
II from France we turn 70 Russia
We behold debt depression and famine.
That empire has one Of the most no:ed
and probably most competen, finance
ministers in the world. who has done
great things for it. But some condi-
tions are too strong for even N. de
Witte to master. The trouble seems
10 be that Russia. with the distribut- /.
ing and consuming capacity Of only
a sem!-civilized land. has undertaken .
artifcially TO create the productive .
machinery Of the most enlightened. .
The result is that while tens Of mil .
lions Of moujiks throughout the en- /
pire are in abject want and squalor
great industrial establishments are .
suffering from overproduction glutted
markets and declining prices. Again
IN both Austria and Hungary there
g serious financial and Industrial de-
preston and the finance ministers Of
both nations are much perplexe1 20
ind means for carrying On business.
n Great Britain finances are !" q sad
state because Of the demands n he
South African war. and tn general .
outlook is by no means reassurlng.
,uriousIy enough Italy that one of
he great powers which has been sup
posed to suffer most from financial
burdens and Industrial depression.
seems now to be In the best condition Z
# all, 50 far as national finances are s
She IS, at any rate. the
nly one Of them all with a budget {
urpus. and that too. with diminish /
ng taxation. q
Such then, is the state Of Europe 7
t the opening Of the new year. II is t
ot satisfactory, though we may hope e