The Russian Railway scheme is not abandoned ; on the
con- trary, the Russian Government has so enlarged its conditions as to have drawn in Baring of London and Hope of Amsterdam. The new offers are designed to render the project easier to the concessionaries. The iron for the rails would be admitted into Russia duty free ; the first issue of shares would be to the ex- tent of twelve millions and a half ; and ten months are allowed for that issue. This is intended to allow the capitalists of Eu- rope time for throwing the shares into the market : but who can tell the position of the money-market, or even the position of Russia, within the next ten months ? At present, certainly, there is not the faintest chance for any shares in the market either. of London or Paris. French railway shares are under- going a constant decline, so much as to have occasioned a report that the Government is about to effect a compulsory purchase for the State, converting the shares into Government stock. And our Bank has announced a new rule, raising the discount to 7 per cent. Perhaps the concession is, like the Austrian loan taken up a few years back by the Duke of Modena, only a drama to cover the defeated dignity of the august Alexander.
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