The Credit of the Present Combatants Contrasted.

Manawatu Herald, 12 May 1898, Page 3

The Credit of the Present Combatants Contrasted.

The difference in the credit of the United States and that of Spain on the London Stock Exchange on the 18th March, latest mail date, is indicted by the quotations for the respective 4 per cent stocks as follows:— United States, 4 per cent . . £125 130 Spanish bonds, 4 per cent . . 51£ 54$ The United States bonds on the date named had fallen about three points from the highest reached daring the present year, and at the average price of 127& they yield the investor about £2 18g per cent. The Spanish bonds, on the other hand, had fallen 8£ points, and at 54£ the yield to the holder is £7 7s per cent. Thus, then, if the Government of the United States requires £10,000,000 additional to prosecute the war, it will obtain the accommodation for £265,000 per annum, where £785,-, 000 would have to be paid by Spain, which is thus handicapped not only for being poor and weak, but for having her finances in a disordered condition. The United States can double its fleet for less than one half the cost that an equal addition could be made to that of Spain. And if that addition represented a sum of £10,000,000, the cost per head to the people of the United States wonld only be 23 Bd, while to the people of Spain it would be 11s 2d. Handicapped by having resources in men only one fourth the number possessed by the United States, with each man having to bear an interest burden eleven times heavier than has to be borne by each person in the larger State, Spain will occupy a very weak financial position in any struggle with so great an adversary.