HUGE COST OF WAR.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 6489, 16 September 1915, Page 2

HUGE COST OF WAR.

Great Britain Spending £35,000,000 Weekly.

Ree Sept 16, 8.45 a.m.

London, Sept 15,

Mr Asquith, in moving in th? House of Commons for a credit vote of £250,----000,000, said this sum would carry them to the third week in November. They have been spending £3,510,000 daily for the last iifty-six days. The main cause of the growth was advances to the Allies and provision for munitions. Almost three million wen had enlisted since the beginning of the war. '

Mr Asquith, continuing, said tn« expenditure of £3,500,000 daily htA increased to £4,200,000 by the ad« vances to the Allies.

The army and navy from April 1 to September 11 has coat £371,000,000. The army expenditure for September was estimated at £2,000,000 d«ily. The present vote made a total of £1,262,000,000 and they might assume that the future weekly expenditure would not exceed an average of £35,000,000. These huge figures did not say even now that the country was doing all she might cr ought, but the attempts being made to belittle and disparage their efforts bad most mischievous results.

Mr ABquith said we bad vastly exceeded any standard dreamt of before the war, but as we proceeded the war was constantly making new requirements and demanding new sacrificea in mon, munition and finance. We bad to raise and equip armies and ships, repair wastage of men, and secure an influx into the decisive theatre of the war of a steady stream of trained men and an ever-growing supply of apparatus for war. The positions in France and Flanders were strengthened. Large reinforcements had been despatched and substantial additions made to artillery and ammunition and also an extension of the line. While the operations at the Dardanelles had not succeeded in o«----lodgin# the Turks from the crests of th« hills there had been substantnl gain.