The Russian Loan in Paris has been a success, the
£20,000,000 offered at 3 per cent. having been subscribed on Thursday seven and a half times over in France alone. As the subscriptions in Russia itself are considerable, the 10 per cent. deposit will cover the loan. The price, however, 79, is very low, and shows Russian credit to be below that of England, Germany, or France. The result proves that the feeling in France for Russia is quite genuine, and that in the event of war between the two alliances, Russia might rely upon considerable subsidies, at a comparatively low rate. The money borrowed is to be devoted to railway purposes, but, we take it, the sum received will set free other money of which the Government can dispose. We know of no country whose finance wants scientific explanation so much as that of Russia. The public debt weighs heavily, the rouble never reaches par value—though its fall, it should be remembered, is in part due only to that of silver—and it is always borrowing ; yet there is always money for anything the Government wants to do, the creditor is punctiliously paid, and the credit of the Empire has of late years decidedly risen. We suppose the rapid increase of population, and consequently of agriculture and internal' trade, smooths away, or at least diminishes, all Treasury difficulties.
