AUSTRALIA DURING THE WAR 169
inevitably by the phase of declension, and it is here that an
explanation must be sought rather than in world business
conditions.
Looked at in this light the figures representing new debt and
interest as shown in the following table, and the relation betaveen
 them as disclosed by the accompanying graph, help to

TABLE XXXIX
Australian Public Debt held Abroadt
(In Millions Sterling)

Year.

1914 .
1915 .
1916 .
1917 .
i918 .
1919 .
1920 .
1921 .
1922 .
1923 .
1924 .
1925 . ’
1926 . ‘
1927 . 3
1928 .

COMMONWEALTH.

Amount. | Interest.
I. II.

3-5
18-3
10-1
58-4
102-6
106-1
111-7
117-3
(31-3
|26-2
142-5
(46-1
155-9
168-2
06-1

0-16 |
0-779
1-764
2-790
5-067
5-268 |
5-546
5-993
5-678
8-414
7-248
7-409
7-950
8-457
10-622

STATES.

Amount. | Interest.
111. IV.

224-1
229-2
232-0
243-7
261-1
258-2
266-3
272-0
300-3
309-2
339-6
336-9
359-2
374-9
416-7

8-068
8-480
8-587
9-261
10-182
10-328
11-717
12-240
13-812
"4-378
15-957
16-339
17-601
18-370
20-466

Total
interest.
y.

8-215
9-259
10-350
12-051
15-249
15-596
7-263
18-233
20-490
20-792
23-205
23-748
25-561
26-827
31-088

New debt
net.?
VI.

19-666
6-7
2-7
18-4
19-4
2-2
10-8
13-4
40-3
79
41-6
2-6
40-4
11-7
54-3

explain the prosperity of war-time as they do the adversity of
peace. In particular, attention is to be directed not so much to
the high average of overseas borrowing as to the spasmodic
character of this process of capital injection. The abrupt
changes from plenty to dearth, wave upon wave as it were,
precluded anything like an effective assimilation of the loan
money, and strained the Australian financial system badly in
the process. If ever there is to be found support for the ‘orderly
marketing of loans’ it is surely in the records of Australian
public borrowing since 1914.
An examination of the facts of Australian public indebtedness

Commonwealth Finance Bulletins, Nos. 11 and 18.
? Allowing for duplications in columns I and ITI for loans raised by Commonwealth
 for the various States.
3710