It is stated that the sum of $50,000,000 is needed for the payment of the soldiers, and that there is little hope of getting it from Spain, because the Rothschilds will not lend the Government any more money unless Spain sacrifices the income of the famous Almaden quicksilver mines for twenty years. The Rothschilds are the greatest and richest bankers in the world. This firm has branch houses in all the great capitals in Europe, and has probably lent money to every government on the continent. If a war is contemplated, and a nation needs a large sum of ready money to make preparations, it is to the Rothschilds that its government generally turns. When good security is offered there is never any trouble in getting money from them, but if the security is not of the best they never find themselves in a position to lend the money. In 1870, Spain, needing money, applied to the Rothschilds and obtained what she needed because she offered as security for the repayment of the loan a lease of the Almaden mines for a term of thirty years. These mines are said to be the greatest quicksilver mines in the world, and yield an immense profit. The Rothschilds worked the mines and realized their profits, the Spanish Government receiving a royalty of so much money for each flask of quicksilver sold. This royalty, in the twenty-six years the bankers have been working the mines, has amounted to thirty-six millions of dollars. The contract with the Spanish Government expires in 1900, and so when Spain needed money for the Cuban war and applied to the Rothschilds for it, the bankers were very willing to lend it, asking in return that their lease of the mines be extended for another term of twenty years. This, Spain was unwilling to do. She had been informed by her engineers that if she could get the control of the mines into her own hands, she could realize a yearly income from them of $6,000,000. The Government therefore decided that the lease could not be granted, and the Rothschilds on their part said that they could not accommodate Spain with the required money, and so the last loan for the Cuban war had to be obtained from other sources. Spain is again in need of money. If she decides to grant a new lease of the mines she can obtain it readily. If she does not make this arrangement, it is said that she will be obliged to come to terms with Cuba for lack of funds to fight her. A plan to raise money for Cuba has been started in this country. A silver coin has been struck off, which is to be sold in the United States, and the proceeds used to buy arms for Cuba. The coin is about the size of a silver dollar, one side bearing the head of the Goddess of Liberty, and the reverse the arms of Cuba. Its price will be one dollar. Ten thousand of these coins are to be ready during the first week in July, and the Cubans have made arrangements for a further three millions to be coined if they are required. * * * * *