Municipal Debt.

28. The loans contracted by municipalities amounted in September, 1879, to £719,340, of which £577,153 was borrowed by cities, towns, and boroughs, and £142,187 by shires. The rates of interest paid were between 6 and 8 per cent., except in the case of one borough, in which the rate was as low as 5 per cent., and of one shire in which it was as low as 4 per cent., and of another shire in which it was as high as 9 per cent.