England and Germany. Dillon Emile Joseph

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СКАЧАТЬ but so obvious were the probable consequences which made it appear so that even a German of the Jingo type would have gladly avoided it had there not been another and less obvious side to the problem. We are not to forget that in Berlin it was perfectly well known that Russia was determined to withdraw from her Teutonic neighbour the series of one-sided privileges accorded to her by the then existing Treaty of Commerce, and that this determination would have been persisted in, even at the risk of war. And for war the year 1914 appeared to be far more auspicious to the German than any subsequent date.

      Handicapped by these foreign parasites who were systematically deadening the force of its arm, the Russian nation stood its ground and Germany drew the sword.

      Improvisation – the worst possible form of energy in a war crisis – was now the only resource left to the Tsar’s Ministers. And the financial problems had first of all to be faced. In this, as in other spheres, the country was bound by and to Germany, so that the task may fairly be characterized as one of the most arduous that was ever tackled by the Finance Minister of any country – even if we include the resourceful Calonne. And M. Bark, who had recently come into office, was new not only to the work, but also to the politics of finance in general. Happily, his predecessor, who, whatever his critics may advance to the contrary, was one of the most careful stewards the Empire has ever possessed, had accumulated in the Imperial Bank a gold reserve of over 1,603,000,000 roubles, besides a deposit abroad of 140,720,000 roubles. Incidentally it may be noted that no other bank in the world has ever disposed of such a vast gold reserve.

      Although one of the richest countries in Europe, Russia’s wealth is still under the earth, and therefore merely potential. Her burden of debt was heavy. For at the outbreak of the war the disturbing effects of the Manchurian campaign and its domestic sequel, which had cost the country 3,016,000,000 roubles, had not yet been wholly shaken off. And, unlike her enemy, Russia had no special war fund to draw upon. As the national industries were unable to furnish the necessary supplies to the army, large orders had to be placed abroad and paid for in gold. At the same moment Russia’s export trade practically ceased, and together with it the one means of appreciably easing the strain. The issue of paper money in various forms was increased, loans were raised, private capital was withdrawn from the country, various less abundant sources of public revenue vanished, and the favourable balance of trade dropped from 442,000,000 roubles to 85,500,000. Germany, on the other hand, possessed her war fund, in addition to which she had levied a property tax of a milliard marks a year before the outbreak of hostilities; she further drew in enormous sums in gold from circulation, and generally mobilized her finances systematically.

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      1

      The Kaiser is one of the largest shareholders in the great mercury mines of Italy.

      2

      Cf. L’Invasione tedesca in Italia. Ezio M. Gray. Firenze.

      3

      Op. cit., p. 113.

      4

      Cf. L’Invasione tedesca in Italia, pp. 118, 119.

      5

      1050 million francs.

      6

      Op. cit., p. 120.

      7

      An inst

1

The Kaiser is one of the largest shareholders in the great mercury mines of Italy.

2

Cf. L’Invasione tedesca in Italia. Ezio M. Gray. Firenze.

3

Op. cit., p. 113.

4

Cf. L’Invasione tedesca in Italia, pp. 118, 119.

5

1050 million francs.

6

Op. cit., p. 120.

7

An instructive article on the subject by Mr. Moreton Frewen appeared in the Nineteenth Century of February, 1916.

8

This secret information bureau is everywhere a potent engine of attack in German hands. It renders deliberate libellers and defamers immune against the action of the law. The victims feel the effects but cannot point to the cause. The fiches, as the certificates are called, are couched in conventional terms and bear no signature. In the case of persons whom the bank desires to ruin, these documents are sentences of commercial death.

9

Cf. Preziosi, La Germania a la Conquista dell’ Italia, p. 57 fol.

10

L’Invasione tedesca, p. 147.

11

L’Invasione tedesca in Italia, p. 149.

12

Op. cit., p. 150.

13

It is an American Company for the sale of certain machines. The Russian organ mentions all the names. For my purpose this is unnecessary. The curious may find them in the Novoye Vremya of 5/18 August, 1915.

14

Novoye Vremya, 5/18 July, 1916.

15

Their names are Johann Assman and Rudolf Meyer. Cf. Novoye Vremya, 11/24 August, 1915.

16

Rassegna Contemporanea.

17

L’Invasione tedesca in Italia, p. 171.

18

Op. cit., p. 171.

19

Cf. L’Idea Nazionale. The words “even now” refer to November 22, 1915, and may be equally true to-day.

20

Felix Deutsch, Karl Zander, Otto Joel, Karl von Siemens, Walter Boveri, Karl Kapp, etc.

21

L’Idea Nazionale, September 8, 1915.

22

On May 21, 1915.

23

L’Idea Nazionale, November 8, 1915.

24

Giornale d’Italia, November 17, 1915.

25

Cf. Preziosi, La СКАЧАТЬ