Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/259

Rh 247 Norway. The debt of Norway, which has grown from 1,656,315 in 1871 to 5,806,222 in 1882, has also been largely contracted for railways, though the net annual charge per head is 2s. 6d. Switzer- Switzerland in 1882 had a nominal debt of 1,477,881, more than land. covered by the &quot; federal fortune &quot; or property belonging to the state. The separate cantonal debts amounted in all to 12 millions sterling, in most cases also covered by the proceeds of cantonal property. United Outside Europe we can only refer to the progress of the debts of States, the United States and India. The former began their career as a federal republic with a debt of 15 millions sterling (1791), on which there was little increase till 1816, when it reached 25 millions, which in 1835 was almost extinguished. The debt, however, rose again, but never exceeded 14 millions till 1860, the year before the civil war, when it reached 18 millions. During the next four years the debt rose rapidly, and after the conclusion of the war in 1866 the country was saddled with a debt of 556,685,175. This has gone on decreasing since with wonderful rapidity, on account of the systematic application of the large surplus revenue to its reduction, and in 1882 it had sunk to 383,662,598, being at the rate of over 10 millions a year. At this rate the debt would be extinguished within forty years. Each of the States has, besides, a debt of its own, these amounting to about 57 millions sterling in 1882. The debt of India, as might be expected from its peculiar con- India, ditions, far exceeds that of any other British dependency. During the early years of the century there were considerable deficits in the revenue owing to the various wars, and these by 1820 had reached over 5 millions. In 1834, taking the nominal value of the rupee as 2s., there was a total debt of 41,350,952. When the administration was taken over by the imperial Government there was a debt of 81 millions (1859), which, with slight fluctuations, has gone on increas ing, until in 1882 it had reached 156,820,614, with interest of about 4 J millions. Were the Government guarantees of railway and other undertakings added, this would raise the liabilities of the country to about 250 millions. The large receipts from productive investments, however, considerably reduce the net burden of the debt, which has fallen from 9^d. a head in 1871 to about 5d. at the present time. In the following table we give a list of the leading national debts (1882 and 1883), with various other items, by which some idea may be formed of their comparative burdensomeness : Table of Leading National Debts. Debt Per Head of Population. Annual Charges. Per Head of Population. Revenue per Head. Expenditure per Head. Imports per Head. Exports per Head. Imports ai.ii Exports per Head. United Kingdom

756,376,519 s. d. 21 9

29 678 672 s. d. 17 s. d. 290 s. d. 2 8 10 s. d. 11 7 s. d. 880 s. d. 19 15 British Possessions 156 820 614 15 9 4 558 100 5J 074 079 C 3 078 14 Australasia 95,988,682 33 17 7 4 552 000 1 11 9 793 6 14 1 19 17 8 36 8 Canada 32,040,627 782 1 867 078 088 175 137 4 17 5 4 6 11 944 15,441,700 10 6 818 700 10 11 345 3 16 6 630 2 16 3 8 19 3 Natal 1,631,700 400 76 741 039 155 141 5 14 3 237 7 17 10 France 1000,000,000 26 12 52,722 300 180 300 3 10 4 550 &quot;! 3 16 8 918 640 000 000 6 13 28 000 000 5 10 19 4 128 14 9 15 9 1 10 6 &quot;Austria-Hungary....: 474,759 955 12 10 11 22 027 805 11 8 200 230 1 14 3 1 17 10 3 12 1 Italy 446 502 440 15 14 19 748 071 13 10 204 201 1 14 5 1 13 6 3 7 11 United States 383 662,598 7 12 17 775 482 070 1 12 105 2 19 317 607 240 000 000 14 9 9 500 000 11 1 17 8 1 17 8 178 185 2 16 1 Turkey , 149 687 434 727 2 000 000 020 14 O 14 O 120 100 220 Egypt 109,016 350 19 15 4,948 023 18 4 190 190 159 280 3 13 9 Prussia 102,984,071 3 15 6 4,381 032 3 11 1 14 3 1 14 3 328 374 6 10 Portugal 97 512,000 20 11 3 065 285 12 11 169 188 1 12 3 19 5 2 11 8 Brazil 85 355 660 8 10 8 4 850 000 099 152 186 1 16 262 422 Holland 78 442,370 19 1 3 2 419 222 11 9 236 2 12 8 16 15 5 12 13 29 8 5 Belgium ., 72,222,665 13 9 3 512 115 12 9 230 250 11 16 2 989 21 4 11 70 168 418 1 19 5 494 369 030 077 077 038 036 072 Argentine Republic 29 427 000 11 11 8 2 594 000 100 283 283 453 4 18 8 9 3 11 The total debt of the British empire may be set down at about 1080 millions sterling, or at the rate of about 4, 6s. per head of the population of the empire. The gross debt of all the states of the world is estimated at about 5200 millions in 1882, or about 6 per head. In some of the Central and South American states it is scarcely possible to obtain the actual amount and burden of the debt, as the interest has remained unpaid for years. For example, the debt of Costa Rica is equal to 22, 8s. per head, but as no in terest has been paid for years, the actual burden is nil. In the case of Honduras, if the overdue interest were added to the outstanding debt, the burden per head would be something like 38. Most of those states, however, have been defaulters, and have sought to escape the burden of their liabilities by not meeting them. The classification given by Mr Dudley Baxter in 1874 (Jour. Stat. Soc.) is still (except as regards the United States) essentially correct. He classified the bori owing states into four categories, according to the rate of interest on the market-price of their stocks: (1) low interest states, 3 and 4 per cent. United Kingdom, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany, India, Canada, Australasia, Sweden ; (2) moderate interest, 5 to 6 per cent. Morocco. United States, Brazil, Russia, France, British African colonies, Chili, Argentine Republic ; (3) high interest states, 6 to 10 per cent. Portugal, Japan, Hungary, Austria, Colombia, Roumania, Uruguay, Italy, Cuba, Egypt, Peru, Ecuador, Turkey (states whose expenditure exceeds their income, and whose other circumstances show some risk to lenders); (4) excessive interest, 14 to 66 per cent. Guate mala, Bolivia, Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Venezuela, San Domingo, Greece, Honduras (states of unsettled governments and finances, and threatened or actual default of interest). Most of the last class have been or are defaulting states, and among them, in this respect, should be classed Peru and Ecuador. The above table cannot be said to represent the real relative amounts and burdens of the various national debts. For example, the interest per head of the British debt is 17s., while that of Russia is 5s. 10d., of the United States 7s., of Australasia 31s. 9d., and of Egypt 18s. 4d. But it is evident that these figures give no adequate idea of the real burden, that the average Englishman can more easily afford to pay his 17s. a year, the Australasian his 31s. 9d., and much more the average American his 7s., than the average Russian his 5s. 10d., or the poor Egyptian his 18s. 4d. It has been sought (Fenn s Compendium) to shew the real comparative indebtedness by readjusting the capital sums on a 5 per cent, basis. In this way the British debt would be represented by about 460 millions; that of France by 780 millions; Austria, 226 millions; Russia, 485J millions ; Italy, 432^ millions ; United States, 225 millions ; India, 118^ millions ; Belgium, 53 millions ; Holland, 50 millions ; Japan, 93 millions ; Egypt, 99 millions. If, moreover, from these sums be deducted the amount covered by the net earn ings of reproductive investments, a considerable reduction would have to be made in some cases in the amounts to be provided for by taxation. In the case of Prussia, for example, the whole of the debt in 1882 was met by the proceeds of reproductive investments. The Cape Colony, on the 5 per cent, basis, had only half her nomi nal debt to provide for by taxation, and so more or less with the Australian colonies ; the debt of India would thus be reduced by one-third, of Belgium by about one-half, Norway the same, Sweden by about nine-tenths. Perhaps the most satisfactory test, accord ing to the above table, of the relative burden of the various debts, is a comparison between the interest per head and the annual value per head of exports. Compare, for example, Great Britain with 17s. per head of interest and 8, 8s. of exports, Australasia 31s. 9d. and 17, 8s., Canada 8s. Sd. and 4, 6s. lid., the United States 7s. and 3, Is. 7d., and Holland ]ls. 9d. and 12, 13s. with France and its 1, 8s. of interest per head and 3, 16s. 8d. of exports, Russia 5s. lOd. and 15s. 9d., Austria-Hungary 11s. 8d. and 1, 17s. 10d., Spain lls. and 1, 8s. 5d., Egypt 18s. 4d. and2, 8s., Portugal 12s. lid. and 19s. 5d., Japan 3s. and 3s. 6d., and some idea will be obtained of the different conditions of the countries to meet their national liabilities. But even this comparison does not give anything like a complete idea of the real burden of national debt, and should be supplemented by reference to the total income of each nation from all sources and the total amount of its capital, supposing all its assets were realized. Estimates, which can only be regarded as roughly approximate, have been made of the value of national capital of the leading states and the amount of their national income. Taking, then, the capital of the United Kingdom at 10,000 millions sterling, we find that the national debt, 756 millions, bears to this the proportion of only a little over 7 j per cent. ; and even if we added the local debts the proportion would be only about 9 per cent. Taking again the national income at 1200 millions, we find that the annual charge of the debt is only 2J per cent, of this sum, and even if we added the charges of the local