WHAT THE WAR HAS GOST

Evening Star, Issue 16626, 8 January 1918, Page 7

WHAT THE WAR HAS GOST

AND WHAT IT IS STILL COSTING. While the war in its toll of Uvea and treasure has already exceeded the bounds believed possible ‘before it began, yet the belligerent nations, as noted by a writer in the New York ‘Tunes Annalist,’ “are planning still greater expenditures.” This writer believes that the extensive publicity accompanying tho flotation, of America’s second Liberty Loan, to which was subscribed’ nearly £1,000,000,0000, “ has fixed one fact imfeljWy on ths minds of Americans rich and poor, and that ie that war is a tremendously _ expensive business. ’’Figures which were incomprehensible a generation ago, Budgets which financiers and economists agreed wornd bankrupt the world, are now passed by legislative bodies and approved by figh.mg peoples with scarce a thought." A hundred years ago about 450,000,000d0l was what the Franoo-Russian conflict in the Napoleonic era cost. Fifty years ago in the neighborhood of 8,000,000,000d0l was. what the American Civil War cost. To-day Allies and Central Powers together have spent in the neighborhood of 100,000,000,000d01, -exclusive of any-expenditures by the United states, and exclusive of economic waste and destruction caused by fighting. Meanwhile the warrin” nations “have provided for naif as much more—about 08,000,000,000d01, . to be exact—during tho, ensuing year.” 1 , that the war has gone well into its fourth year, -and, taken as a whole, “ is costing four times as much as when it started,” the. writer summarises further interesting facts from a pamphlet entitled ‘The Cost of the War,’ issued recently by tho Mechanics and Metals National Bank of New York City. In tho beginning the daily cost was about 40,000,000c101. Now it is a little less than 160,000,00Cd01, the difference being accounted for by “the greater area covered, the increased use of man and material, the necessity of replacing exhaustedequipment, the rise that has taken place in wages and commodities, and the entrance of the United States into the conflict.” Besides the money cost there has been oriier great cost.. Civilisation has received a check m its forward progress. Law, literature, art, religion, and science have suffered, lulling and maiming “of the best men of the best races on the face of the globe” have gone on. Peoples have been made to ■ w j 1 r homeless through devastated lands. _ There has been destruction of cities, railways, bridges, roads, and-country-aide that were built and developed by peace and have been battered down by war. Derangement has come to the scheme of international finance. Paralysis has come to commercial intercourse; dislocation to tho machinery of distribution; decrease in stocks of food, metal, and other materials necessary to the well-being of the race. 50,000,000 soldiers have enlisted thus fa l-. Th ®y> together with countless other millions engaged in making munitions, are devoting all their energy and skill to prosecuting the war. lienee, new wealth has not been created as it might have been had these millions continued in ordinary industry. There are two elements, therefore, of cost—the human and the money. Data as to the money cost are not hard to compute. But as to the human cost figures have to be based on ones own view of the situation. As to the human cost, the writer finds that approximately 53,000,000 have been called to the colors, divided as follows: United States ... ... 2,000.000 British Empire 7,500,000 £ ran . ce 6,000,000 a 14,000,000 Belgium, fcerbm, and Portugal ... 1,000,000 Entente Allies ... 35,000,000 Germany .. 10.500,000 Austria-Hungary 7,000,000 ® ul P rla 500,000 iurke y ... 2,000,000 Teutonic Allies 20,000,000 Total - iH 53,000,000 Of this number, representing able-bodied and skilful workmen, it is estimated that possibly a fourth can bo said to have been kited or injured since the outbreak of the war. In other words, tho total of killed has exceeded in number the. whole strength °‘ H * e , F r, e . nch irmy.” Statistics of the dead >t all Belligerents ore given as follows; k’«t~ I rri £ S ■S? 5 ■ ' ■ <OC3 -7 03 <• r-t t- O 003 • 2 ~ u E-ip*' England ... 205,000 102,500 307,500 £ ran ee 855,000 ’ 427,500 1,282,500 Russia 1,500,000 750,000 2,250,000 Italy ... ... 105,000 . ,52,000 157,500 Belgium ... 50,000 25,000 75,000 rbla . 110,000 55,000 165,000 Rumania ... Entente Allies 2,825,000 1,512,000 4,337,000 Germany ... 885,000 442,500 1,327 500 Austria-Hungary 718,000 359,000 1 077 000 £ u f ,tc y 150,000 75,000 ’225!000 Bulgaria ... 25,000 12,500 37,500 Teutonic Allies 1,778.000 889,000 2,667,000 Total, all ... 4,603,000 2.401,000 7,004^000

National Wealth , Wealth. , per Capita. TT ~ , . Dol. Population. Dol. United States ... ... 250,000,000,000 104,000,000 2,404 United Kingdom 90,000,000,000 47,000,000 1915 Canada ... 7,500.000,000 , - 9,000,000 834 India, and other Possessions 32,500.000,000 384,000 000 84 British Empire 130,000,000.000 440,000.000 300 France ... .„ 65,000,000,000 40,000,000 1 625 5 u f la ... 60,000,000,000 175,000.000 343 Italy ; ... ... 30,000,000,000 36,000,000 833 Japan, including Korea, etc, 25,000,000,000 72,000,000 547 £ h ; n . a 25,000,000,000 400,000,000 62 Belgium 9,000,000,000 7,500,000 1,200 Portugal ... ... 3,500,000,000 6,250,000 560 Rumania and Serbia ... 3,500.000,000 12,250 000 277 tuba and Panama ... ... 1,000,000,000 3,000,000 330 Alliance, total 601,000,000,000 1,296,000,000 462 Germany 85,000,000,000 68,000,000 1 215 Austria-Hungary 40,000,000,000 53,000,000 756 Turkey and Bulgaria ... 4,000,000,000 27,000,000 148 Central Allies ... 129,000,000,000 148.000,000 872 Tofc al, all 730,000,000,000 1,444,000,000 505

•. ■ ■- i The writer of this pamphlet state? that his compilations are based on figures fathered by’tho War Study Society of Copenhagen, and that “ while neither accurate nor satisfactory, not being official figures, the returns at least give some conception of war’s destruction of life.” From the same source ha obtained other data giving tho number j of permanently wounded as follows:

Teutonic Allies 1,291,000 645,000 1,936,000 Total, all 3,573,000 1,746,000 5,119,000 In statements as to the money cost, purely military expenditures'only were reckoned by this writer. Unlimited expenditures of moneys are still in sight, while tho cost of making war, with the cost of everything else, continues to ascend. This table is given in which the writer undertakes to set forth what four years of wax will have cost; ' Daily Total Military Average. Cost. Dol. Do]. 1914 (Aug. 1 to Doc. 13) , 52,700,000 7,900,000,000 1915 71,800,000 26,200,000,000 1915 97,700,000 35,650,000,000 1917 (Jan. 1 to 1) 131,000,000 27,700,000,000 Total, 3 years 90,000,000 97,450,000.000 One year, to Aug. 1, 1918 159,000,000 58,150,000,000 Total, 4 years ... 107,000,000 155,600,000,000 “The above calculation means that there will have been laid out for military purposes,if Die wax does not end before next August" a sum greater than tho developed wealth of any single nation of the world other than tho United States. It means that for war there has already been expended an amount three times as largo as the total indebtedness of every aalion in the world as that indebtedness stood in 1914; four times as large as Ihedeposits of all the banks of tho United States; 10 times as large as the value of all our agricultural products in a given year; 12 times as large as the value of our annual foreign trade; a thousand times as large as the amount of the annual American gold output. It means that this war has already required a sum that would have extended tho railway mileage of the United States several times its present length, and that, besides, would have carried steamship lines to every corner of the earth; rebuilt the world’s cities on rational, sanitary lines: provided schools and teachers for every child living; eliminated savagery, and endowed science to the devotion .of its efforts to improve the living conditions of all mankind. “Instead of this, the money has been spent for organised destruction, and for every month over which hostilities continue to progress five thousand millions more are added to the cost. This means that there is required of the world every month an amount, of money double that expended during the Russo-Japanese war, which lasted 18 months. It means that the Beer war is being concentrated into every eight days of this war. It means that the Franco-Prussian War is being fought over and over again, its entire cost being compressed each time into a space of three weeks. It means that our Civil War—jhitherlo the greatest conflict in world history—is being duplicated with such intensity that a counterpart of the four years’ struggle between the North and South is reproduced every 50 days.” As to the financial resources that enable the Powers to withstand this drain, one finds an overwhelming superiority among the' Allies. Even without the United States, Great Britain and her Allies ” could match the Central Powers dollar for dollar, and still show a comfortable surplus.” With America fighting on their side, the wealth of the Allies is “ four and one-half tiroes that of the Central nations,” tho ratio beitm about six hundred billion to one hundred and twenty-nine billion. Following is a table in which the writer records tho wealth of the countries now actively engaged:

tH rH (• gVo *3 to bo P 3 <<i 2-2<d rt tH ££2 cS dO <njSi-T hSh E-Ito England 154,000 77,000 231,000 Prance 634,000 317,000 951,000 Russia 1,146.000 573,000 1,719,000 Ifealv 73,000 37.000 110,000 Belgium 33,000 16,000 49,008 Serbia 42,000 21,000 63,000 Rumania — 60,000 60,000 Entente Allies 2,082,000 1,101.000 - 3,183,000 Germany 635,000 318,000 953,000 A i is t ri n -Hungary 533,000 266,000 799,000 Turkey 105,000 52,000 157,000 Bulgaria 18,000 9,000 27,000