| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written |
ENGELS TO WILHELM LIEBKNECHT
IN BERLIN
London, 5 December 1885
Dear Liebknecht,
Herewith excerpts from the Economist and Bullionist.[1]
The amounts shown in my letter of the 1st inst. are those of the Russian loans quoted on the London STOCK EXCHANGE. The 1884 (Bismarck) loan is not dealt in over here at all and is excluded from the list of securities negotiable on the STOCK EXCHANGE. Likewise the smaller hand-to-mouth loans which have been raised off and on since 1878; most of these were taken up internally and are quoted on the Berlin stock exchange. I have found the following in the latter's list of prices:
Orient Loan 5% I, II and III
Loan 1880 4%
Bonds 1883 6%
as well as other stuff about which I'm not clear. You'll have to get more information on the subject from someone on the Berlin stock exchange. Several also appear in the enclosed excerpts, but only with the net amount the government claims to have received. The Russian paper rouble, which ought to be worth 39d. at par, is now standing at 23d., i.e. 16d. or 41% below the full value in gold.
If the Russian government is still managing to place its paper at home, this is simply because the colossal slowdown in trade makes it more advantageous for Russian manufacturers to invest their surplus cash in paper yielding 6-7% rather than in such currently ruinous activities as extensions to factories or speculative trading. The interest coupons are circulating as currency, especially for the payment of wages. Thus coupons, which are not payable until 1891-92, are now passing from hand to hand, and these the Russian worker must accept at face value in payment of his wages, though they can only be disposed of for half this amount (much the same thing happened in Germany not long ago). I have this direct from Russia.
Your
F.E.