The national debt of France is $7,000,000,000. This exceeds the combined
national debts of the United States, England, and Germany.
In territory, France is not as large as California.
Her population is[2] ....................... 37,000,000
The population of the United States is ..... 65,000,000
The population of England is ............... 37,000,000
The population of Germany is ............... 40,000,000
____________
Total .................................. 142,000,000
The French navy is a fairly close second to that of England.
Her army is as large as that of Germany.
France, then, supports an army and navy of the first class, and has only
37,000,000 people to do it with. And this same 37,000,000 people pays
interest on a debt that is greater than that of the 142,000,000 people
in the three countries named. Yet there is no wail of distress, such as
we are familiar with, heard in this France, with its great army and
navy, and its fabulous interest-bearing, debt.
What is the secret of it?
France is the greatest producer of luxeries in the world, and, of
course, has the rich the world over for her customers; and she is a
nation of small owners, her resources, land and all else, being
subdivided among her people to an extent unknown elsewhere.
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