The Charleston Daily News

The whole world will be interested in knowing the use which Germany makes of the war indemnity she has received from France. The grand totals of the moneys which France is to pay to her conqueror foot up somewhat in excess of 1,441,487,961 thalers. Of this sum, however, France receives back, 86,666,666 thalers for the railways of Alsace-Lorraine. The German government, very wisely for its own purposes, has used this vast sum of money first in aiding and restoring the provinces recently annexed, giving 36,700,000 to persons and corporations whose property was destroyed, and spending 11,440,000 thalers in replenishing the rolling stock on the railway lines, for strategical purposes. Large sums have been paid to the families of the landwehr, 4,000,000 thalers have been distributed among the successful generals, and ten times that sum has been set apart as a reserve fund for the next war. These sums having been expended in repairing losses by the late conflict, and other huge appropriations having been made for the building of fortresses and preparing for future exigencies, something is left to be divided among the several States. Even in this distribution warlike considerations are kept in view, and three-fourths of the whole amount is to be divided in proportion to the number of men furnished by each State.