ALL EUROPE RUNNING INTO DEBT.
An ominous feature in world politics is the large deficit of revenue now confronting nearly all European countries. In France the financial situation is the worst for many years. Reckoning the deficit for the year 1901 with that estimated for the current year, M. Leroy-Beaulieu says the government will be confronted with a total deficit of $79,000,000. In Germany the deficit for 1902 is $14,750,000 and that of 1903 is estimated by the secretary of the treasury, Baron von Thielmann, at $37,500,000. While this is not so large as that of France it is enough to cause perplexity in finding ways and means to balance the budget. It is noticeable that neither in France nor in Germany is there any support for the old-fashioned idea of getting rid of deficits by reducing expenditures. The rivalry of armaments alone forbids any such retrenchment, and it is only a question of how long the people will be able and willing to stand the strain of an armed truce that is almost as wasteful as war itself. Moreover, Germany and France are not alone in this matter of annual deficits. Every leading nation in Europe, Great Britain heading the list, has been facing a deficiency of revenue every year for three years. The United States is the only great nation whose income has steadily and largely exceeded expenditures for many years past.—Thrice-a-Week World.