had acquired the habit of living within her means; but neither explanation would suit Mr. Bunce, who says it was solely due to the manner in which her savings had been held—they had been kept in old stockings, and, when unearthed, enabled the state to pay the German exactions. The admission that "saving" of any kind produced riches that were available under such an unusual strain is fatal to his position; but, passing this, nothing could be more incorrect than the assumption that the enormous levy was paid out of stocking-hoards. Less than ten per cent, of the sum was paid in coin from any source. The indemnity fund was drawn from three sources: 1. The exchanges of foreign trade (i. e., proceeds of current production); 2. By selling foreign bonds and stocks held in France (i. e., by converting the accumulated results of past production); 3. By money borrowed from foreign countries (i. e., by discounting the proceeds of future production). This done, and realizing that, though the levy was arranged, it was not made good, she has gone on producing with unparalleled vigor.
On the other hand, Germany, upon the strength of her acquired millions, proceeded to make serious drafts on her available industry: 1. By the maintenance of a large standing army; 2. By the employment of vast amounts of labor in constructing fortifications, iron-clads, and munitions of war; 3. By unproductive private enterprises, unduly stimulated by speculation. Of course, productive industry must be restricted; commodities have been made costly in price and poor in quality to such a degree that Prince Bismarck declines to allow Germany to compete in the Paris Exposition of 1878, because of the mortification which would result from a comparison of her products with those of other nations. Here, wages have been paid, and wages have been received; that which Mr. Bunce calls "diffusion" has gone on, and, according to his theory of over-production, Germany should have been spared the commercial evils that have been felt in other countries. The fact is, she is worse off to-day than any nation that has a sound currency, and one of her economic writers suggests with some bitterness that the way out of her troubles is to engage in one more war, as the result of which she should have to pay five milliards of francs.
| E. R. Leland. |
| New York, June 28, 1877. |
CLARENCE KING ON CATASTROPHISM.
MOST of our readers have probably read the brilliant address of Mr. Clarence King on Catastrophism in Geology, recently delivered at the Yale Scientific School, and published in the newspapers. The speaker was fortunate in his topic, which is not only of wide scientific and popular interest, but one to which he has given special study from the American point of view.
When men first began to observe geological phenomena, they were profoundly impressed with the grandeur of their display of power. Rocky masses, miles in thickness, showed that stupendous forces had been at work upon them, upheaving, folding, distorting, and dislocating the mass of strata as if they had been sported with by preternatural powers. Firmly believing that Nature is only about 6,000 years old, all this conjuring with the earth's crust was supposed to have taken place within that time. It was a necessary inference that the forces which had been at work, and the effects produced, were on a scale of magnitude of which people know nothing nowadays. That the world had been drowned in a deluge was deemed certain; and that the whole march of geological transformation had been cataclysmal and convulsive was a natural conclusion. Early geology, therefore, explained things by catastrophes.
But, with the progress of observation and the sobering of the imagination, geologists began to suspect that the notion of catastrophes had been drawn upon a little too freely, and the question arose as to how far causes such as are now in operation can be invoked to explain geological effects. It was recognized as safest to reason from the known to the unknown, and, as the Mosaic barrier gave way, there seemed endless time for the play of geological
