The German Tax On Speculation.

The bill with scheme for taxing speculation has been carried through various stages, and was made law on May 19, 1885 in Germany. It is printed in full in a recent number of the "Jahrbücher für National-Oekonomie." As compared with what was originally proposed, the law is a very mild measure, and one hardly likely to have any great results. But it still deserves attention because it is very characteristic of public opinion in Germany on economic and social subjects, and also characteristic of the present condition of German politics. As an economic measure, it is the first practical outcome of the agitation against speculative gambling in stocks and goods which has been going on for the last ten or fifteen years, and which is only one manifestation of the whole movement of German thought on economic matters.