Evening star., 1920-06-27
DEBT Of THE WORLD
IS S265,0|)D,ODO,ODO

The national debts of the world
now total s265,OoO, 900, 900. according
to a compilation by Q. P. Austin,
statistician of the National CITY
Americas. This compares with $44,-
000,0O0,00 at the beginning of the
European war, an increase of SELL
O00, ,000. 900.
In discussing this subject, the ar
ticle says. in part:
"The national debts of-the world
now approximate $265,000, 100000,
against $44,0O0.0 100000 at the begin
ming of the great European war
The interest charges on the grand
annum; as against about $3.50. 900
in the year before the war. The per
capita of national indebtedness aver
ages. for the aggregate population OF
all countries for which debt hgures
are available, about $3.50. against ap-
proximately $27 per capita in 1913
and annual interest charges about 20
per capita at present. as against
about 81 per capita in 1913.
"These figures are, of course, IN very
round terms. 1t is not possible TO meas
ure with extreme statistical accuracy
the total national Indebtedness OF the
world IN any designated month or year;
since the official statements OF national
debt are in many cases comparatively
in frequent and in some instances staoeu
| in terms not readily compaIaoie WIN
fthose of other countries, while the ng-
ures covering the interest rates on the
various issues, and therefore the annual
interest charges, are even more diIricuit.
| Comparative Figures.
"In general terms. however, it may
be stated that the debts of all countries
and colonies of the world in whien ma
tional obligations are created ana Re
corded aggregated little over 81 ,ooo'-
Inn - at =
ginning of the Napoleonic wars in 1893
and about 81 1000. 100000 at its close in
1915 In the thirty -eight years OF COM
parative peace which followed the Ma
poleonic wars the advance was com
paratively slow, the world total standing
of the Crimean war in 1854.
'In the twenty years which lnciudeu
the Crimean, the American civil and the
jFranco-Prussian wars, the period 1894
to 1874. world national debts increased
150 per cent, advancing from $500, ,O00,-
900 in 1854 to s22. 900. .O0o. 900 in 1874.
Then came forty-year period.
which included not only the Spanish :
American, the British. .Boer, the Bal
kan and the Russo-Japanese wars.
but also large expenditures for the
creation and maintenance of big
standing armies and great navles. as
well as the construction of railways
! and telegraphs, many of them by ma,
tional governments or through AID
granted by them. and in that forty
year period, 1874 to 1914, national
debts again doubled. standing at the
beginning of the great European war
at approximately $4,000, 100000
The worlds War.
Then came the great European war,
with its enormous armies aggregating
80, 900, 900 men; it's transportation of
men, munitions and food supplies
across great oceans; its use of new
devices for destruction on land and
sea. in the air and beneath the oceans.
and the additions to national debts
made thereby advanced by leaps and
bounds, at a rate hitherto unheard of
in any Of the earlier wars, which sink
into insignficance when compared
with the magnitude in this one in
which a dozen nations participated,
and in the six years from it's begin
ming in 1914 to the present time
world indebtedness grew from $44,-
oo0, 900, 900 to approximately $685.
000, zoo, 900, an actual increase in six
years of over 5000, 900, 900, 900, an aver
age annual increase of $35, 900, 900.
as against an average of little more
than $1,ooe,ooo,ooo per annum in
earlier years"