Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1900. THE COST OF WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIV, Issue 103, 4 May 1900, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1900. THE COST OF WAR.

Th k centimes* of war is realised only after peace is declared, unless, indeed, a natiuu play the game lung aiid losingly. The vast bulk of tho national del.t of the civilised world has been piled up by war. Even New Zealand has not escaped the impost^ for fully haif the amount of her public liabilities is due on account ot her early trouble with the Native race. The Bureau of Ordnance at Washington, U.S, has compiled tables showing the cost of the Spanish-American war, andit appears from the data given that tho war in cues tion was thecheapest tho world ha> know n at least to the vietots. 'J'|ie t - v:iion ;, that it was short and sharp, and because tUo Spaniards never once gained a victory It is the prolonged wars that have cost such enormous sains ; ami under the conditions of modern warfare a Ion" war is far wore costly than it used to be in the old days of honest gunpowder and muzzleloaders. The Wellington " I'ost " has compiled some interesting figures relat ing to the cost of great and memorable wars, and some of the facts given are worth recording. * * # Thp cheapwar through which America humbled. Spaiu and acquired valuable ?° s !Sf. io °? be . vond her se '» s ' cost America AIXJOO m the action at Manilla, by ivhirjli Aanural Montojo's fleet was anni'hihte'd and .£2o,oo0 at Santiago, when tho "allant Cervera was brought to his knees. °Tho«c two were the principal and decisive battles of tho war, and in them American loss of men, money, and material uus not sxeessire. IBnt if the expenditure of both money and won after the vnr jva* over in the Philippines, for instance, in quelling Aguinaldo's rebellion, be taken into consideration, the average between tho Spanish-American and other wars may he alike when all accounts are settled riu; American Civil W;ir of the sixties nas one of the most expensive of muderu LilflC;'. The money cott was v,> less tlmn i-7io.(yo.;i.\', . j nd iky to« «f nto aiuouut--'J ta f ioti,iXXi. (There were £'.o."u J," " ' v *'in ' Nat *^ *» <c sy. "»"i °f these but i if m,- W f- r ° J H lled m actnal while IMAtt, died from wounds and disease. ioOluEn at H loit *'>'™ killed and -00,(KX)in wounded and prisoners For he conduct of that war the Ordnance Department of Vashington served out

7RSI2 cannon, d-,(I^2,(XX) ritles. Lf.lib'O.OUO equipments. 12,000 tons of gunpowder, and l,0i»2,000,(xs; rounds ..i 1 c.irtiJgus. The American War of Independence tov.arda the end of the las.l century cost Britain This was nearly double the coat i>f tin; Crimean w.u, which was a charge of only £(iii,(XX),(.X)) on tho liriiish ex. hec|iior. \et the bulk of the Hritish X.ilional Debt d.ue* from the Crimean WV-, the most of the liabilities of the groat wars of the early part of the century having been reduced iv the fifties. It may b<> calculated that at least half the- British National Debt was created at about tlic period miller notice, duo to the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. The cost of the Crimean War to our ally at the time, Fraucc. was J:!K«,OiJIi,(XXI, while the luser, Kusbia.bad to spend £ 1-12,OCK),(KX). Uiitain put '17.0JU men into thu field, of which 70,C(K) returned to England. France, as usual, was extravagant of her lighting men, at .1 sent :!0:),10L) to lh<> Crimea to concjuer her present ally. Of those !I.">,lK_'O, nearly as many as the entire ltritisb force, lost t their lives. To meet tin- armies of the ' allies llnssia put kss.lKXi men info the 1 Held, and half of these lie buried at Alma, j lnkerman. Balaclava, aud Sevastopol. In something under tl.iee hundred * - ' n I I : i j l s - i i l r t

years Cireat Britain lists spout no less thau £l,X>'.\(;w,ir<) in iv;ir: Of this enormous sum tlio campaign of Marl(•ormigli in lluicn Anne's rei-'ii against Uor.nany and Sixain cost A'l.Sl'.ihh I,lxlo, and I.c Napoleonic iv.irs -S^n.COO.OUO. Thu cost to Frame in nionoy was only .£2-"i5,( 100,000, though she vasfightin^ the wliolc of Hiimpc; but the expi.iuntiou is ,-imiile. JJu..'ii of thu mouey for (he i.wjM'iiws of ;illii>d Kiiropu (.'niiit! from Ku^liunl, iin<l during liis vittorious taivtr Napolt'ou cijuari'il ucconuts l>y making the uuni|Ui:ie<l nations pay them. The last groat European war, the t'nmeoI'russian, involved an euormous ex|)cndituro of life and money. Uermany put 1.«K.H.1,1HK1 men into the. IK-1U against a lVencli fomMif 71U.000. Of !!:!• Ka-nch i:i«,S7(l died in kittle or in lio-=[iital, against t!,(M) of tlio (u'lmans. The latter firc-4 :X),(iOli.( ; .; muskef cartridgus and a(i;i,(lO*) louuds of artillery, with which they killed or mortally u-nnnrled 77,(K10 French, bein^ -ICXi shots' to kill one man. The war cost France A:iI(i,OtKJ,OUCI. * * * b

Our own modern "little wars," iv Egypt, on the Indian frontier, and now in South Africa, will rnn well into nine figures when all accounts are nettled. It is impossible to form any estimate of the cost of the presi-nt campaign, for there is no telling how lonjf it will last. We are not yet even cv the borders of the Transvaal, anil •' a hole has been made " iv £2Q,m>,l>oo. South Africa, when entirely llritish, will be able ;to repay all ; but ere then there will be great stringency in the money market, for the production of a third of the sold of the world is now in a state of suspension. Even the comparatively small expenditure in which the Australasian colonies have involved themselves by the despatch and partial maintenance of troops in the war will probably lepivsent a sum total which, if spent under the ordinary conditions of peace and development, might have built a hundred miies of railway, or irrigated a province, or created half-a-dozen harbours.