The Russian Government has succeeded, it is said, in con-
tracting a considerable loan. The financiers of Berlin refused an advance, and those of England drew back ; but a com- bination of French and Dutch capitalists agreed to advance £20,000,000 at 83, on payment of 4 per cent. The loan, there- fore, costs Russia nearly 5 per cent. for £16,000,000. It is believed that the French will take up the loan eagerly, as they perceive, with instinctive quickness, that it will help to bind Russia and France together ; and if they do, it may be fol- lowed by a larger operation. The subscribers are soundly rated as fools ; but though their subscriptions undoubtedly tend to make war more possible, it should not be forgotten that war with Russia as an ally is not horrible to Frenchmen. Moreover, the bitter and just hatred of the Jewish race for Russia helps to exaggerate a financial distrust not altogether justified. It should not be forgotten that Russia pays only her external debt in gold ; that her greatest source of revenue is not derived from taxation, but from dealing in spirits ; and that she has paid her bondholders through most difficult times. We dread and dislike the policy of the Russian Government, but we dread and dislike still more the habitual exaggeration and depreciation of her strength. She can no more move her million!! over Europe than China can ; but she is no more necessarily bankrupt than China is. A great Russian financier who possessed the confidence of the Czar, might put her credit straight in ten years.
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