TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7757, 10 January 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

" Truth " Bays in regard to the late Baring crisis that "It is no secret that Lord Rothschild himself took energetic action with reference to the four or five millions of gold which are now being attracted to the Bank of England from France and Bussia, and the thanks of the public are due to bis firm for thus replenishing the coffers of the B&nk at one of the most critical periods of financial history." Apropos of this subject, the Jewish Chronkh makes some interesting comments on " Jewish influence in finance." In the present instance it thinks " the olaims of friendship and the sympathy born of a long co-operation and of an honorable rivalry " weighed almost aa much with the bowse of Eothschild as "the requirements of those great monetary interests of which they are the leading trustees." The Barings and the Eothechilde, it appears, Have frequently worked together. lathe great straggle which Nathan Eothschild waged against the monopoly of Lloyd'e, he found an active supporter in Alexaadec Baring, afterwards Lord Aahburfcon, and the result was the establishment of (Hie tmo Allianos lasaranee Compsaies.

•A i*h* liet of the public eerrioe* rendered by Jewish finanoiere is given by our contemporary. The present head of the Loncbn firm of the Bothechilda received his peerage hx coarageoos aagiatance rendered to the Egyptian Excheq,ueje at a critical moment. It wa* Baron Lionel de Eothechad who aided Lord , Beaconsfteld to acquire the Khedive's share* in the Seez Canal. The founder of the house, Nathan liothechild, laid the foundation of his colossal fortune by hie inexhaustible faith in British resources, and his being "always ready with large advances for the Government of the day, e?ea at the darkest period of the Continental war." In this connection the following anecdote is told:— •;.

"At the height of the panic of 1825 the Bake of Wellington sent for the Baake? one xnnrjiing to ask bis advice. Mathan Eothsctuld found the Minister st Apaley House in a flannel dressing gown and a great state of excitement, 'How, Mr Kothsehild, what can be dam for tfa« City?' aeked too Duke, 'Band down Cole/ answered the taciturn financier. 'Coal!' exclaimed the Minister, thinking that his interlocutor had taken leave of bb senses, • what, in the name of goodness do you mean?' "Cole, Cole, the Bank* broker/ grunted Bofcbschild testily; ' send Him down to buy half-a-miliioa'a worth of Exchequer bills ii the market, t&ali will put tlunga etrdight. . The Dolce 6@&ed upon this advice, with the result that the panio wee stopped."

Another characteristic etory it related ehowinsf hew Htm mat ftubader<ae« wrei

Masterman's Bank from develop into a collapse. There w as oa the Bank, and Sotheohild being V*J poaltor, waa by big fdead, Jj \ draw bis arnouat. He at once taJS i down to the Bank, which he fmiadT; J sieged by an angry crowd. Struge-iine the counteir, he tossed a bulky k * 1 Bank notes to one of the '%. he said in hie usual curt manner, 'If it to the credit of my account." Thu f'i the Bank. There is an amount of H heroism about an action of this kind irhu "'■ § comparatively few people could 5 themselves to display. The »J~f | of the J6200.000, would, of ,| be an insuperable bar to 1 of as, but 4 even among those who I comparatively few would have the hi&L 1 aeeatoriakifc in this fashion. I no doubt that the power wialded by » great financiers is immense. It I equally without doubt, and very 1 that that power ie largely employrifo 1 the public good. I

Onb of the moat remarkable tbinga iW 1 Dr. Koch's discovery is ita vaiae ig Jf means of diagnosis. If the fluft ' if injected into a perfeotly healthy J| son, apparently none of the 1 effects observed after the inoeulatioa oj : € tuberculous patient are produced. ft *m Jg be remembered that af c w weeks ago *q *. If cci ved a cable message stating that Dr. KoaJ 1 had become tuberculous. It ytQs J| by some people that he had become Jf while experimenting with his ft bacilli. Whether this was so originally M 1 not we cannot say, but this was not tkt A the cable message alluded to. It appeji, * | that Dr. Koch inoculated himseU' *h} '! his remedy for the purpose of mei<s| I observation. A decidedly unple»yi 1 surprise awaited him, for a t&L $ tion followed such aa ia observed Jf in the case of tuberculous patients, h 1 was emphatically a case cf " Phyeio}» M heal thyself." Another similar case'Ji $ reported. A young and -J physician, whose name is withheld bytt. <'lf Home papers out of consideration for feb -i family, though considering himself ia & Jf cellent health, inoculated his own pettut m for purpoßee of medical obeamtfei, *I Fever, vomiting, and all the eymptoauif $ reaction followed. His espectorati&as ? when examined proved conclusively tWfe) had become slightly affected with fa&p 1 cuioaie. In another case referred to by &' ■ 1 Gerhardt, of Berlin, a young man, p* % eentod himself, and the physical exsuossg % tion admitted the possibility, and ef& J the probability, of lung tuberculosa 1 When an injection was made, however, b< ■ | reaction set in, and the physicians at oact '| declared that this proved there Wμ m ', f tubercle present. A remedy whioh jaio! "J only a remedy, bub also an infallihlj ■ .' ! | meane of diagnosis, is, we should '•' \ altogether new to medical science* K '' x \ ■ • ■■•.($