MONEY
(L’ARGENT)
BY
ÉMILE ZOLA
AUTHOR OF 'THE DOWNFALL' 'THE DREAM' 'DR. PASCAL' ETC.
TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY
WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN PHOTOGRAVUREBY H. ROUNTREE
LONDON
THE CAXTON PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED
CLUN HOUSE, SURREY STREET, W.C.
1900
PREFACE
The present version of M. Zola's novel 'L'Argent' supplies oneof the missing links in the English translations of the Rougon-Macquartseries which the author initiated some five andtwenty years ago, and brought to a close last summer by thepublication of 'Doctor Pascal.' Judged by the standard ofpopularity, 'L'Argent' may be said to rank among M. Zola'snotable achievements, for not only has it had an extremelylarge sale in the original French, but the translations of it intovarious Continental languages have proved remarkably successful.This is not surprising, as the book deals with a subjectof great interest to every civilized community. And withregard to this English version, it may, I think, be safely saidthat its publication is well timed, for the rottenness of ourfinancial world has become such a crying scandal, and theinefficiency of our company laws has been so fully demonstrated,that the absolute urgency of reform can no longerbe denied.
A work, therefore, which exposes the evils of 'speculation,'which shows the company promoter on the war-path, and the'guinea-pig' basking at his ease, which demonstrates howthe public is fooled and ruined by the brigands of Finance, isevidently a work for the times, even though it deal with theParis Bourse instead of with the London market. For theways of the speculator, the promoter, the wrecker, the defaulter,the reptile journalist, and the victim, are much the same allthe world over; and it matters little whence the example maybe drawn, the warning will apply with as much force inEngland as in France.
The time for prating of the purity of our public life, andfor thanking the Divinity that in financial as in other matterswe are not as other men, has gone by. When disasters likethat of the Liberator group are possible, when examples offinancial unsoundness are matters of every-day occurrence,when the very name of 'trust company' opens up visions ofincapacity, deceit, and fraud, it is quite certain that thingsare ripe for stringent inquiry and reform.
Of course the cleansing of the Augean stable of financein this country will prove a Herculean labour; but althoughcallous Governments and legislators may postponeand shirk it, the task remains before them, ever threatening,ever calling for attention, and each day's delay in dealing withit only adds to the evil. We are overrun with rotten limitedliability companies, flooded with swindling 'bucket-shops,'crashes and collapses rain upon us, and the 'promoter' andthe 'guinea-pig' still and ever enjoy impunity. It isbecoming more and more impossible to burke the issue.It stares us in the face. Even if the various measures ofpolitical and social reform, about whi