THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.

THE financial condition of States has become a question of such vast importance in the progress of civilization, that it may be ranked amongst the very first duties of a government, under whatever form it may be carried on. All other parts of the State machinery, however well proportioned, or nicely balanced, will avail but little when the finances of a country are controlled by an unskilful hand, or by those who squander away the national resources, regardless of consequences or of the public credit. The financial condition of a State is also so intimately connected with the social, moral, and religious welfare of the people, that the connexion may be traced with surprising minuteness in every kingdom throughout Europe; and neither a fruitful soil nor a genial climate will compensate for the misappropriation of the funds abstracted from the produce of labour and skill.

During the present century the financial condition of Europe is the most remarkable that has ever been placed upon record in any previous epoch of the world's history; and since the introduction of mixed currencies of representative and metallic money, the aggregate amount of the Public Debts of the several States enumerated in the following pages has reached a point that astonishes by its magnitude. It is, too, a

remarkable feature in looking at each kingdom separately, that there is scarcely a single government that is able to meet its annual expenditure from the usual sources derived from taxation. There must be something radically erroneous in the political economy of States to produce such strange results when the wealth produced by labour, skill, and enterprise has increased in the mean time a thousand-fold. It would be out of place in a work like the present to enter into the political economy of the wealth and poverty of nations; but it certainly is a point that deserves consideration, why it is that those abounding and increasing from year to year in wealth, should rarely be able to balance income and expenditure without continual deficits, and accumulations of debt never to be redeemed. There can be no doubt, that one of the primary causes in operation to produce this state of things is the irregular manner in which the currencies of nations are conducted. In some instances they are either wholly controlled, or, to a great extent absorbed, by the government authorities; while in others they are placed in the hands of public bodies, who have the power to make them the channel for conveying all the surplus wealth of nations into their own coffers. The whole tendency of legislation upon this subject in our own country has, for many years, been to favour the accumulation, and to oppose the distribution, of money capital, by which alone the State receives its revenues.

It is not, however, to be inferred from these remarks, that there are no circumstances which can

justify the contraction of a public debt, or that the amount of the public debt of a country is the correct measure of the freedom and civilization which it enjoys. By this standard England would be the most degraded of nations. It is the public credit of a country in its financial transactions, and not the amount of its debt, that constitutes the correct measure of its power or weakness; and abundant evidence is given in the following pages to show that the most highly-indebted countries are the most wealthy and powerful, because their public credit stands high in the estimation of surrounding nations. If the debt of England outweighs the aggregate amount of the debts of all other nations, her credit stands equally high, and without blemish; and the freedom of her institutions remains unrivalled.

In submitting the present volume on British and Foreign Finance, Funds, &c., to the notice of the public, the Editor will not occupy the attention of the reader with useless apologies; but will briefly state the nature and objects of the publication.

The original Author, to whose name the Editor of the present edition has attached his own, was once a member of the London Stock Exchange; and whose family connexions still hold a highly respectable position as members of that Institution. The last edition of FENN'S COMPENDIUM OF THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN FUNDS, &c., was published in 1840. It needs scarcely be stated, that since that period not only has the financial condition of our own as well as that of foreign countries experienced very remarkable

changes, but the extent of the financial operations of the world has been greatly enlarged. In taking Mr. Fenn's work as a basis for the present volume, the Editor soon found himself in a situation similar to that of a person desirous of improving a residence surrounded with extensive grounds, which he finds can only be done by raising an entirely new structure, and by making use of such materials from the old building as may be found useful. This is precisely the position in which the Editor found himself in the compilation of the present work. Since the production of Mr. Fenn's book, the field open for financial operations has become almost illimitable in extent: and the Editor has been compelled to construct the work anew rather than adhere to the original plan of the Author. This is not spoken in disparagement of Mr. Fenn's work, but to show that the very nature of the subject demands that a more extensive view of it should be taken.

The principal objects kept in view in the compilation of this edition have been to combine as much as possible the practical information relative to the dealings in public securities and other investments, with all the information that can bear upon their value, in order to render the work useful to the banker, the merchant, and the capitalist, as well as to the private individual.

The securities which belong more exclusively to the English market, and which are of English origin, form a prominent feature in the work; and the Editor has, with great labour and care, introduced all the

financial changes of the Government up to the close of the present Parliamentary Session. With regard to the details of securities in general, the Editor found it impossible to give more than an outline of those descriptions which are recognised by the Stock Exchange Committee; but railway property has become of such importance in the London market that he has given the latest details published by official authority.

One deviation from works that have been previously written on the same subject, the Editor trusts will prove useful to public companies and others whose pursuits bring them into contact with the Stock Exchange-namely, an Abstract of the Rules. and Regulations of that body.

Under the division set apart for the debts of foreign nations, it will, perhaps, be necessary to offer a few remarks. There is no part of the work that has involved greater labour, or has extended over a wider range of investigation; and if the reader should not find that uniformity of arrangement and dates which might be desirable in this part of the subject, he will, perhaps, bear in mind that the statistics of foreign finance and commerce are only obtainable at an immense cost of time and labour; and when obtained, can only be introduced into a work like the present after very careful consideration. The Editor would, however, remark, that in the selection of the facts relative to the debts, revenues, and expenditure of foreign nations, he has consulted the best authorities, both amongst English and foreign writers; and to

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