OCR Text |
Show BISMARCK'S BOOMERANG. Indemnity of the Wir Had Surprising Results. There can be no doubt that the war Indemnity paid by France to Germany after the six weeks' war was a boomerang boom-erang to score up against Bismarck. The good It did to France la Inestimable. Ines-timable. Prior to the war there was an enormous amount of money locked up in the form of small savings. The appeal of the government to the people peo-ple set this sum into profitable motion, mo-tion, and, to the amazement of the world, France paid off her creditor in less than half the stipulated time. This gave a vast Impulse to business enterprise en-terprise of all kinds, and since then France has steadily become more wealthy. In Germany the effects were less beneficial. The huge Influx of gold sent up prices with a rush. A mania for speculation set in, followed by the inevitable crisis. Most serious of all, however, was the unexpected discovery of France's strength. Bismarck Bis-marck intended to cripple her forever, but he only revealed her immense power, and this, of course, necessitated the gigantic military burdens which year by year weigh more heavily upon Germany. |