THE DEBTS OF THE WORLD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 164, 9 July 1873, Page 2

THE DEBTS OF THE WORLD.

(Pall Mall Gazette.) It may be useful at the present moment, when our attention is being prominently directed to our own expenditure, to know the burdens under which our actions are unhappily groaning. It is no very easy matter to discover the actual indebtedness of either Europe or the world; it is possible to give an approximate estimate of the total liabilities of continental nations. There are seven nations which owe upwards of one hundred millions each. They are — Great Britain ...£790,000,000 Franco ... ... 748,000,000* Italy ... ... 360,000,000 Russia ... ... 355,000,000 Austria ... ... 306,000,000 kpain ... ... 261,000,000 Turkey ... ... 124,000,000 £2,944,000,000 * This is theT lowest estimate of the French debt. Some authorities place it at £960,000,000. The debt of the German Empire amounts to a little over ihirty-five millions. The different States composing if, however, owe in the aggregate about one hundred and severity three millions. The liabilities of

the Empire may, therefore, be probably placed at about two hundred and eight " millions. The debts of the eight most heavily encumbered European countries may be raised to about three thousand one hnndred and fifty-two millions. There are six countries in Europe which owe their creditors more than ten millions but less than one hundred millions. They are — Holland ... ... £80,000,000 Portugal ... ... 64,000,000 Belgium ... ... 27,000,000 Greece ... ... 18,000,000 Roumania ... ... 13,000,000 , Denmark ... .... 12,000,000 £214,000,000 These six countries, then, add two hundred and fourteen millions to our previous total, and raise the national liabilities of Europe to three thousand three hundred and sixty millions. It must be remembered that we have excluded from this category all fractions of a million, and the debts of all States which owe less than ten millions. Nor, should it be forgotten that in most cases the returns which are available are one or two years old, and that therefore the national debts of Europe are probably greater than the figures at which we have placed them. We shall probably be within the mark in saying that, without including the liabilities of municipalities, the national debts of Europe exceed at the present moment three thousand four hundred millions. The For remainder of news see fourth page.

relative charges which these debts involve do not correspond with their relative amounts. Here are a few of them: — Italy ... ... £360,000,000 France ... ... 748,000,000 England ... ... Portugal ... ... 64,000,000 Denmark ... ... 12,000.000 Belgium ... ... 27,000,000 £2,001,000,000 The highest rate of interest, 9 per cent, being paid by Denmark, and the lowest, 3 per cent, by Portugal ; the average of the whole shows 4£ per cent. If the charge of other debts is not relatively greater, the national liabilities of Europe involve a burden on its population of one hundred and thirty-four millions a year. The debts of the rest of the world are happily much smaller than those of Europe, but even these are considerable. America, of course, heads the list. The different American States owe — United States ...£433,000,000 Brazil ... ... 67,000,000 Canada ... ... 21,000,000 Argentine Republic ... 16,000,000 Venezuela ... ... 14,000,000 Peru ... ... 12,000,000 Mexico ... ... 10,000,000 £573,000,000 Asia follows America at a considerable distance. Her chief debts are — British India ... £108,000,000 Japan ... ... 27,000,000 £135,000,000 Our different Australian Colonies owe in the aggregate thirty-eight millions. The chief African debts are those of Egypt ... * ... £28,000,000 Morocco ... ... 10,000,000 Capetown ... l ... 1,000,000 £39,000,000 The chief debts, then, in each of the five great divisions of the world amount in the aggregate to the following sums : — Europe ... ... £3,400,000,000 America'... ... 573 000,000 Asia ... ... 135,000,000 Africa ... ... 39,000,000 Australasia ... 38,000,000 £4,185,000,000 If we add only £15,000,000 to this total for minor omissions, we are compelled to conclude that the nations of the world owe their creditors £4,200,000,000— a sum which at only 4§- per cent, must involve a charge of £189,000,000. The figures are so stupendous that it is hardly possible to comment on them. But it is a suggestive circumstance that with perhaps three exceptions — the United States, Germany , and ourselves — all these countries are Bteadily x increasing their debts. The greater portion of them have been created within the memory of the present generation; the great majority of them are rising with a rapidity which is adding annually hundreds of millions to the national liabilities of the world.

incidental to hand cutting is estimated at fully 12 per cent, of the whole product, that ' waste ' is reduced to one- third of the amount by this machine, representing an economy of no less than ten millions of ] tons of cobl every year. As all this is stated of an invention actually in operation, and proved indeed by the experience of a twelvemonths' use, there seems hardly any room for doubting the practical efficiency of the new system. The only wonder is that it has not been more commonly adopted ; but necessity ia a strong power, and we shall now get the benefit of its painful butmost effective impulse." It is needless to point out how specially suited such an appliance must be to the coalfields we possess in the colony, more particularly those which are already in process of development on the West Coast. The thickness of the seams, and the scarcity of sufficiently skilled labor, suggest the propriety of adopting some such mechanism in the working of our mines, and any coal company existing or proposed to be formed would be consulting its own interest by obtaining as much information as possible regarding an invention possessing so prominently the merit of effecting expedition and economy.