a very large sum to invest in the money market, and it is to be hoped
that the score or two of local societies can show better funds. What the
profits of this business are frequently appear in the reports taken at
Police Courts and County Courts, where Mr. Cent.-per-Cent. now and then
bashfully acknowledges that he is sometimes satisfied with a profit of
200 per cent. There _are_ respectable offices in Birmingham where loans
can be obtained at a fair and reasonable rate, but _Punch's_ advice to
those about to marry may well be given in the generality of cases, to
anyone thinking of visiting a loan office. Young men starting in
business may, under certain conditions, obtain help for that purpose
from the "Dudley Trust."--See "_Philanthropical Trusts_."

~Loans, Public.~--England, with its National Debt of £776,000,000, is
about the richest country in the world, and if the amount of
indebtedness is the sign of prosperity, Birmingham must be tolerably
well off. Up to the end of 1882 our little loan account stood thus:--


Borrowd Repaid Owing.
Baths .. .. .. .. £62,425 £27,743 £34,682
Cemetery .. .. .. 46,500 19,316 27,184
Closed Burial Gr'nds 10,000 41 9,959
Council House .. .. 135,762 10,208 125,554
Fire Brigade Station 6,000 53 5,947
Free Libraries.. .. 56,050 7,534 48,516
Gaol .. .. .. .. 92,350 79,425 12,925
Industrial School .. 13,710 2,310 11,400
Asylum, Winson Gn... 100,000 97,020 2,980
" Rubery Hill.. 100,012 5,887 94,125
Markt Hall & Markts 186,942 73,463 113,479