The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1918-11-28
GERMAN WAR DEBT
: Will BE ENORMOUS
MANY ASK WHERE Will. THEY
GET THE MONEY TO
PAY BILLS?"
WILL TAKE GOOD FINANCING
FRENCH UNDERWRITERS PAID
AT CLOSE OF FRANCO
PRUSSIAN WAR.

New York, Nov. >26.-How will Ger
many pay the damages for destruction
demanded by the Allies? asks the
Evening Post. The territory she has
invaded has been swept nearly clear
of its industrial facilities. Germany
herself has not experienced invasion
and its drastic effects. Hut on. The
ether hand her currency is tleranged
and her governments credit is shak-
en-. Her war debt is already large,
but she may be called upon to float
"huge indemnity loans," and her po-
sition in that regard would be SER
iously complicated should any such
distintergration come upon her as has
come upon her Austrian ally and up
on Russia. The question, then, is how
widely Germany's experience will diff
fer from that of France in paying the
indemnity exacted by the victors at
the end Of the war of 1901.
After the peace preliminaries had
been ended in February at Versailles,
the final treaty, giving the details of
the payment of the indemnity, was
signed May 10, 1871, at Frankfurt.
France was to pay Germany 500,000,-
900, francs 80 days after order was
restored in Paris, part of a total of
1,500, 900, 100000 during 1871; s00,-
100000 on May 1, 1872, and 3,000,-
00U,000 on March 2, 1874 Interest at
5 per cent on the last payment
amounted to 301, 145.078 francs. Lat
er arrangements We're made whereby
the railroad company of the. east.
French government property in Al
sace wa3 accepted in payment of
325, 100000 francs, There was also
credited to the indemnity F9S400
francs for the account of the German
troops in Paris. Notes of the Bank of
France to the amount of 125,0O0,0 900
were likewise accepted. This made
total initial payments 450,098,400
francs, leaving difference of 1885,
901, 900 francs, which, with the inter
est, brought the sum finally to be
paid to 4,S51 ,40,678, or approximately
1910, 100000, allowing five francs to
the dollar.
Coin as Required.
This sum, the treaty set forth, must
be paid in gold or silver, notes of the
banks of England, Prussia, Holland or
Belgium, or first class bills of ex-
change. Of the eventual aggregate
payments, it is to be noted 4,249, $685.
374 francs were in the form of bills
of exchange, whereas, 742, 3S4 ,079 were
in all forms of currency, including
banknotes. Of the entire indemnity
actual payments in specie were only
273,003,O58 francs in French gold and
239, $4,000 in French silver. The
monetary circulation of the country,
as a result of the transaction, lost less
than the sum of coin and banknotes
delivered because some of the latter
were acquired by exchange in other
countries and others were German
notes that had come with the invaders
into France. The money circulation
actually swelled from peasants boards
and the Bank of France in a few years
brought it's reserve of coin to double
what it had ever before held. Though
in the three years of 1871, 1872 and
1873, France lost 375 100000 francs in
gold, and in 1871 the reserve of the
bank dropped as low as 399, 999 500
francs, in 1876 the bank held $780,
100000 francs in its gold reserve
alone.
France Made Two Loans.
France issued two loans, one au-
thorized June 20, 1871, and the
other July Is, 1872. The first loan
produced 2,225, 100000 francs, from
which 20 per cent or 1861, 100000 was
turned over to Germany. The second
loan, one of very large oversubscrip-
ton. produced, after cutting the sub
scriptions, 3,50O,O00,000 francs. OF
this 81 per cent. or 5000, 00O, 900
francs, was paid to the conqueror. One
of the most remarkable features OF the
second loan was that, whereas the peo-
pie of France subscribed to very little
more than 40 per cent, nearly 60 per
cent was subscribed in foreign coun-
tries.
Subscriptions to the scond loan from
Paris totalled 13,242,455,9S0 francs
from the French provinces. Abb, 445,-
566, and from foreign markets, 26,-
050, 1876 ,054 francs.
There were 934,276 separate SUBJ
scriptions Of which 107, 612 were from
foreign markets. These figures Were
given by Leon Say in 1874 to the
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