| Show national D debt ebo of cf orent oreal e irli britain tain for the first time in the history of the world I 1 1 angland takes her place second in the list of indebted nations recent european events have placed france at the head of tho the list with an indebtedness so BO great that only an approximate amount is given with the other othen statistics for that after afler france comes eng bag land and a return issued last year states that the total capital of the funded and debt of the united kingdom amounts to the origin of the british national debt is traced as follows some two centuries ago the necessities of the nation required advances to cover incidental ex pences that the annual revenue was wasi inadequate to meet and the goldsmiths of those days eaher of their own will or of compulsion met tile tiie demands thus created it was in the year 1664 that national securities bearing interest were first negotiated and eight years later the second charles charies of england broke the national faith by declaring that a sum of RG principal and its interest could nov not be paid twenty years yeara later however the tho interest of this debt was paid anh ana in 1699 1609 an act of the english parliament was passed allowing a permanent interest on it at the rate of three per cent per annum the principal above alluded to now forms a portion of the british jund iund ed debt and in point of fact was its origin the temptation thus suggested of using national savings for defraying pressing ng public expenses was not avoided and consequently in succeeding reigns rea reaching ching ebing down to this present time the chancel Chantel chancellors lors of the british exchequer did not hesitate to issue loans loais required to cover the cost of wars and other causes of expenditure that the annual ie revenue failed to 0 provide lovide for in Georget george the be thirds rei rel reign gb irp the greater portion of the national dept of G great reat britain was incurred and it is only with wilb ina lna in a comparatively recent period that any leally efficacious method has been devised to decrease it |
