If there be stagnation in Germany, then money will be cheap in that country, and commodities will be cheap too. Manufacturers, therefore, will be able to obtain better prices in foreign markets; consequently, German exports will increase, and prices will soon begin to fall in England. Again, depression in the States speedily makes itself felt in the English markets, which become glutted with American goods, with the result that production lessens at home, and times gradually become, as we colloquially say, "bad." But there is one factor with which we have not reckoned, and that is time; for though after a period of prosperity prices generally fall suddenly--as, for instance, during 1901--it usually takes two or three years before production is again in full swing. In these days, when commercial ties bind the whole world so closely together, one nation cannot afford to rejoice at the misfortune of another; and when this fact is more clearly seen and is better understood, possibly large standing armies will become an unnecessary evil, for the secret of true progress is the fact that commerce and civilisation always advance together. The Bank of England, which deals in money and credit like every other bank, is exposed to the same influences as the rest of its kind; consequently, when trade is brisk and loanable capital dear, it pays larger dividends than during the depressed portion of a cycle. The following table will illustrate the fact:-- ======================================================================== £14,553,000 STOCK. ---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | 1892. | 1893. | 1894. | 1895. | 1896. | ---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | | | | | | Highest | 344 | 343 | 338 | 336 | 345 | | | | | | | Lowest | 325 | 325 | 322 | 322½ | 322 | | | | | | | Dividend % per annum | | | | | | 5th April | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8½ | | | | | | | Dividend % per annum | | | | | | 5th October | 9½ | 9 | 8½ | 8½ | 10 | | | | | | | ---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ Average Distribution, 9½ per cent. ========================================================================