European War Chests

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 41, 13 October 1904, Page 15

European War Chests

It is an interesting and lititle-known fact Uial of all the great nations of Europe England is almost the only one Dhat has no treasure-house of gold to go to when she wishes to start her great fighting machinery. On the Continent, stored in cellars and vaults, it is said, there are no lews than £.'s'(lO,oiW),u l IM in gpld and, silver coins, always ready tx> be drawtn on the moment the fiat of war has gone forth ; and it is a very prudent precaution for some nations tii(us to lay by for a warlike day, since otherwise they migjit be caught naplpmg and be placed untier a heavy handicap at the beginning. About fifteen miles from Berlin stands the grim fortress of Spandau, ai»d it is in impregnable vaults in the Julius tower of this fortress that Ge'rpiany keeps her war gold and siPvtjr. How many millions precisely it amounts to is known to few ; but we know that out of the indemnity paid hy France, Germany appropriated £18,000,000 to her wax-chest. (fermany has had her hoard of war-money efver since the days of Frederick the Great, who filled the first ' chest ' by imposing a high protective tatifi on foreign maavufactures ; and no doubt many a time his SjUccesfcttr,* on tile throne of Prussia have had caufee to blestsi his thrift and foresight. France is pro-bahly even better prepared for war financially than Germany, for she is Credited with having a ffund of no less than £-120,000,000 to fly to whenevem she has to set her vast legions in motion. Of this gigantic sum £70,000.000 is m gold anri £50,000,000 in silver. Ih ftjie custody of the Austro-Hfcngarian Bayik tjiere is a very serviceable fund of £30,000,0^)0 for pus'poscs of war ; Italy has a well-filled war -chest ; and even penurious Russia has, hidden away somewhere, the equivalent of £100,000,000, a sum which will keejp the war machinery going for a good many months, at any rate. If these figures are correct — and tihey appear to be generally accented}— it is evident that something like £30.0,000,000 must be hoarded up by Continental nations alone, solely as a 'preparation for war— a yearly sjjim of £9,000,000 approximately thlus being lost to their exchequers. Time was when for many* a century Ejngjanfl, too, •had her war-«!hes<t— lit et ally a Ohest,' iron-bound and massive — and no expedition ever moved against an enemy without it When it was no longer necessary to adopt such a primieive method of financing an army there was a fuwd — ahd a very large fund, too—exclusively devoted to war expenses. A little more than 70 years ago this fluhti disappeared in Pitt's scheme for the Consolidation Fufrvd ; and if we may (be said to have a war-(Shest at ail, it may be considered to take the ijorm of 'this Consolidated Fund, wihich ie always available for the purpose of starting a war financially. But if JrfWn Bull has no war-chest, arid needs njone, in, \ the strict meaning of the word, he has many a little pile of gold gcattereVl a^bout in different parts of his sk!,h prinvitfeve method of finaWciinJg ssi army usually contains about £50,000 ; in the Straits Settlements there is £<36,00Q ; at GibfaliJar thetre is' always from £30,000 to £40,000 to draw on ; at Bermuda, £25,000 ; at the Uape, £20,000 ; in the West Indies, £l7;00Cf s in -Egypt, £50,000 ; in Hong Kong, £25,000 ;

a,nd s*> on, an aggregate sum of nearly £1,000,000 being "distributed airiong these scattered hoards. The Treasury chest fund is probably the legitimate survivor of the old chest -which the English arm es .used to take witih them in their excursions against rhe ' rebellious Scots ' or against the armies of France a*id Spain.

Some doctors sperm a, lifetime In hunting after germs, Atid by the time they've killed them, They've grown as big as worms , Microbes would bid adieu to earth, Ohest troubles would be fewer, Life would b<? &ay if overy one Took WOODS' GREAT PEPPERMINT Cl RE. The (Hadsittme Coffee Palate, Quay s'ttree'l, Auckland, is close to train and wharf, and comrmuitis a splendid view of the harbor An excellent table is kepi, whilst the tariff i.s' extremely moderate . The paid up capital, reserves, and undivided profits of the South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company now exceed £120,0710, whilst Uic net annual revenue is over £285,000. These figures sipeak for themselves, and bear testimony to t v he stability and vohimc of business of fhe convpany In every grain and grasvs growing coiUnUy, Chicago is known as the home of the ' MeCormick Rca-per and Binder.' Some Idea of the magnitude of this immense plant can bo gathered from the fact that 'Upwards of 130, (M)0 tons of pig iron and sitcel are cohsfßincd yearly in the construction of ' McCormick ' Machines The buildings ard large a!n'd numerous, varying mi Icm'gth up to ,11,00 feet and in. height up to six storeys, embracing an area of 170 acres of great industrial^actrvity

The Canadian mantnne province oi New Brunswick, swrjpt from the cast by the fresh salt taee'/es of the sea, from tiie west by the pines aliti bals-amnladon. wiuda fiom the forests, has given birth and home to more than its share of centenarians. B)ut eve,n New Brunswick has had but one active centetnayrian legislator. He is Senator Wark, of Frederickton, who ih February last was, one hundred years old, and who atteittdeld the sittings of Parliament at Ottawa as regularly during the session just past as when the number of his years was smaller by a score, lie was born near London . derry, in Donegal County, Ireland, in >l'B'o4. Shortly after that event, his parents went to Canada. Among the telegrams of congratulation whiL'h the venerable legislator received on his one hundredth anniversary was one from King Edwatd VII., wishing him prosperity and extolling his as an ideal of Cahaflian vigor and stound intellect. On the same occasion the Canadian Government presented to him an oil painting of himself. At the reception at which tiie painting was presented, Senator Wark acknowledged the courtesy in a speech which would have done credit to a much younger man. Before he went' to 'Ottawa to attend t\he last Parliamentary session, the government offered him the use of a special car to convey him from his home at Frederickton. The. offer he declined, declaring that he did riot need the car, and he journeyed tshe 7UJ) mil a? as an ordinary passenger.