Dr. Helfferich's Hudibrastio oration in the Reichstag last week on
the magnificent condition of German finance has already been visited by Nemesis. The German Bourse imme- diately suffered from a slump. No doubt the brokers, who were quite ready to be heartened up by any rational defence of their country's financial state, were depressed by obviously irrational rhetorio. If Dr. Helfferich had to fall back on mere empty
assertion, things, they no doubt felt, must be in a bid way. There has been no mention of new taxes, at. least, till the war is over. Apparently the maximum of revenue from taxation has already been reached. The rates of exchange for the Central Powers also tell a gloomy story. The rate of exchange for British money has fallen 2.9 per cent., but for the German mark it has fallen 19.2 per cent. and for the Austrian kroner 34.1 per cent.
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