Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-31
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL J. COLLINS.


The Mexican government is doing
now just what the government of the
French Revolution did in 1889. in con
fiscating all church property. What
Mexico will do with the seized real
estate is not disclosed, but what
France did with 1t, q century and a
third ago is matter of history and a
background against which certain co
tenpOraneOuS events stand out in high
relief.
Leaving the mystery of Mexico,
therefore. the reader may turn to the
story of the French high finance into
which the Contiscation plunged the
country and wonder what will he
MexiCo's sequel.
The story has special interest in
view of the announcement If Premier
PoinCarc of France that his policy will
be to postpone efforts to fund the debts
to the United States and Great
Britain until some months hence, and
that not only does he not seek o
sabilizet the franc now. considering
that this move should await another
and q fairer day, but his slogan is
that France must save herself with
out the use Of foreign credits. Has
history ever demonstrated the wisdom
of sacrificing international credit?
Il i; X *
The first republic took possession
of all the Catholic real estate in
France. which comprised. then. one
third Of the entire territory, together
with many palaces as well as churches
and Cathedrals. The COnfiScation rep
resented many millions of francs in
appraised value and annual rentals.
just as it does now in Mexico. But
the appraised frozen capital repre-
scented by the ConfisCated real prop
erty did not in itself balance or settle
the financial needs of the government
nor bring prosperity to the masses.
The minister of finance. NeCker,
was one of the great financiers of
Europe, and with strong patriotism,
he used his influence toward keeping
his country upon sound financial
policy, but i'm the national assembly
there were Missionaries and dema
gogues without financial experience.
Steadily the assembly turned to the
allurements of easy money" and dis
credited Necker.
Finally in April. 1890. the finance
committee reported that the people
demand a new circulating medium of
paper money and it declared that
such paper currency sis the most free
people, and will bind the interests of
the people to the public good They
confused circulating medium" with
wealth.
The committee. to prove its own pa
triotism. made the appeal almost in
the language of Premier Poincare:
Let us show Europe that we UNI
derstand our own resources; let us
Immediately take the broad road TO
our liberation instead of dragging our
selves along the tortuous and obscure
paths of fragmentary loans" and 1t
recommended IAN issue of 400. 900, 900
francs in paper money. not redeem
able in gold or silver. but carefully
guarded so as not to risk any impair
ment of national credit"
The story of the issue of the 'as-
signats" and later the "mandats" is
familiar to readers of French history,
but some of its philosophy so pslral-
lels some of the present-day theories
as to suggest that, just as the peo-
pie of 1890 had so easily forgotten the
bitter lessons of 1921, when John Law
had plunged France into an orgy of
fiat money without specie foundation.
so the radicals of France now forget
the financial record of their own coun-
try--in both the John Law bubble"
anu Iite dosiS hel1 flLAti ilelitu'tt -
y
The assignats We're miniature mort.
cages upon real estate--upon the MIL
lions Of values in the eonfiscated
church property--and they bore in
terest, just like our Government
bonds. They were legal tender for
taxes and for all Indebtedness. On
their face, what could be sounder
gacnAv? Whenever a holder of as
sicnAts wanted to redeem them in
land they would, by law, be accepted
in the purchase Of any of the con-
f1scated church land at the fixed valu-
alton of the real property.
In the course Of the debate in the
Assembly NJ. aenla Rochefoucald ar