The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-29
OUR NATIONAL CREDIT

D1uuo1o. Ii oil S,OtU SopdI.
ate bids were received aggregating
$445, 100000. The successful bidders
paid premium Of about per cent.
The sale was the subject Of greatest
interest in the money markets Of the
world. AT par value the people of our
country would have taken the issue
nearly fifteen times over. It was a
wonderful illustration of the high credit
of our prosperous country. We are able
to obtain the money to carry on a great
W ork at rates lower than ever recorded
in any public undertaking. There is not
another government in the world that
could float a 2 per cent bond at par. 3t
!; All fair comparison calls for consid-
5ieration Of the facts that in our coun-
try government bonds are basis for
bank note circulation and that bank.
owning Panama canal bonds may Sc
Ecure treasury deposits. These things
count, yet if they were eliminated, the
issue, tho probably it would not have
commanded SO large premium, would
have sold readily well above par.
The antithesis Of this appears in the
case of Russia. While our bonds were
selling to such advantage as to aston
ish the world, Russian imperial tours
were down to the extremely low figure
of II. When it is considered that dur
| ing the darkest time of the war with
japan, these bonds did not sell under
86N. the contrast is striking. When
peace was declared: Russian credit i'm.
proved, but it did not take the world
long to find out that it was not he1
enemies abroad, but her troubles at
he me that were bringing ruin upon that
country. Developments since have
shaken confidence. a weak and vacil
lating czar, corrupt and oppressive
! autocracy, every official act marked by
hesitation and insincerity, the people
clamoring and the despots giving then
as much as expediency suggests or dir
necessity demands, and the iron han'
observation-disclosures things have turne'
) the world against Russia. The stabilit..
Of France thru it all, with her load 0
Russian debt, is wonder. The wors
) is feared and will probably come som
day. The mere possibility of repudis
Il ton, of any part ofUthe Russian deb
:. should the revolutionists gain contro
is enough to scare the financial world.
We need not go, however, to SO di
! tracted country as Russia for a con
:, parison. The securities Of any govern
+ ment in the world will show up less fl
=, vorably in the markets than ours. A
hoI gentina is new and prosperous cou1
t. try, yet: her S per cent bonds sold r
Gently at 1011b ard Argentine fou7
= were down to $685. German 3 Pr
= y cents sell at about 81, Italian fives- jul
i about par, Japanese tours at about 8
b Spanish tours at 94,a and French rent
It threes at about SO: allowance may /
9 made foraincome taxation or other mo
e flying influences in the various cou
7 tries and "a great disparity viii ST
&c 1emain. English consols have asbea
1s5 away under par for a long time. }.
,rsE* Ours is a country OF such great 20
ID tent, with resources so many and &
4 varied, that it is the richest in t
It world. Yet Russia, now at peace, is
n great country, having a populate
Z: even larger and in several importa
+ respects resources even greater thu
Is ours. A French economist recently p1
r sented an estimate 5of the, wealth
Or Russia, represented by her live stoc
n which was astonishing. Crude veal
a is there in every form and the PeoI
y are there, who under = "a more enllgi
4 eneda government might make Russ
= the power of the world: But the 60
L.: eminent is corrup and the country {
81 moralized. In our country the Cover
u 1nent is sound. = We have our niue
* rakers and our muck to rake, but we
3 know that the government is honest a
" capable and when we buy Pana1
~ bond or other security with the bra
q of Uncle Sam upon it we know, that
'B have got the best the. world affords.