COLOSSAL FIGURES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9618, 26 March 1917, Page 6

COLOSSAL FIGURES

£21,000,000 A DAY STAGGERING BILLS OF NATIONS AT WAR. (By Manfred Emanuel, in "Daily Express.”) The great appeal now before the British public (for tho late war loan) draws renewed attention to the enormous cost of war to each of the belligerent camps, and. to the manner in which the various countries engaged in war have raised the necessary sums. It is impossible to calculate the real cost of the great war. The loss of life, loss of productive industry converted into destructive industry, the halt in industrial progress, the value of property destroyed—these are some of the important items that cannot be set down in pounds, shillings and pence. The direct money cost of the war may be estimated, however, with some accuracy, and the result is shown in the following .table, which gives the expenditure in round figures to December 81st, 1916: Great Britain JC2.874.500.000 Dominions etc 250,000*000 British total JC3.124,800,000 France 2,440,000,000 Russia 1,700.000 000 Italy 800,000,000 Belgium 93,000,000 Serbia 66.000,000 fioumamda 50,000,000 Allies' total .£8,278,800,000 Germany 222,920,600,000 Austria -'1,000,000,000 Turkey : 130,000.000 Bulgaria 75,000,000 Enemies’ total ,£4,125,000,000 The cost is naturally on the up grade, and tho ..present average daily expenditure is approximately:— Allies :.... JC14,000,000 Enemies j£7,000,c00 We will now see how the leading nations have met and are meeting their staggering bills. FRANCE. Tho French Government has had recourse to two loug-fcarra loans, yielding ,£455,000.000 in cash. In November last the total of National Defence obligations and Treasury bills outstanding was .£640,000,000, while the total note circulation is 4660,000,000 (compared with 41267,000 - -000 immediately before the war). Total internal “borrowings approximate 222,440,000,060, but the Government and municipal authorities have in addition raised ,£135,000,001) in America, £41,000,000 from British investors and financial institutions. Tho actual cost of the war to the end of 1916 is estimated at *61,940,000,000, but the total war credits voted have been <£3,440,000,000, a truer gauge of the war outlay, because it includes largo expenditure of a semi-civil character which has arisen directly from tho state of war. France has made a great effort to provide a part of the war debt charges by additional taxation. A wide range of new imposts has been devised which, with the increase of existing taxation, will ultimately yield a very substantial figure. RUSSIA.

The Russian financial budgets nevei appear to err on the side of too much information, but it is clear that Russia is largely dependent on foreign credits to supply the sinews of war. To August Ist*, 1916. the actual war expenditure was figured at .fil. 164,000,000. The sum raised by internal loans has reached a total of .£1,033,000,000, while the advances made by the Bank of Russia to the State can only be estimated by the_ increase in the note circulation (now £<B4,000,000, compared with £170,000,000 before the war) and the Treasury bonds in the hands of the bank of £537,000,000. Advances made bv Great Britain are not revealed, but the direct credits obtained in London amount to £30,000,000, In addition to £27.000,000 raised m the United States and £12,000,000 in Japan. The authorised amount of foreign credits is £550,000,000. ITALY.

The war hill of Italy is comparatively small, owing to that country’s late entry into the conflict. The actual cost of the Var to the end of 1916 is estimated at .£800,000,000, and of this amount .£350,000,000 has been secured, by lonu and short term indebtedness witluu yno country, and foreign credits amounting to about <£l2o*ooo,ooo. # / ‘ ■ ' , Current expenditure at the rate ot a month, while the assistance rendered by the Bank of Italy may bemeasured by the increase in iiic note oneolation from £63.00l).000 to £148,000.000. Italy, as well as France, is raising a considerable sum by means of new taxation on novel lines, which is expected to yield £28,000,000 in the year 1916-17—a sum sufficient to meet nearly threefourths of the. interest on the war cost to the end of 1916. _ AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

The financial secrets of the Dual Monarchy have been well kept and the weekly statements of the Anstro-Hun-/ gariau Bank have been suspended since' the beginning of the war. The Joans for which particulars are available amount to £734,000,000, but the war costs must have considerably exceeded this figure. There can bo no doubt that Austria-Hungary—as well as the minor conspirators, Bulgaria and Turkey—are unable to .bear tho burden of war, and are financially, as in so many other directions, dependent oil Germany. The analysis of Germany’s and Great 'Britain’s positions has been left to the last, so that the contrast between them mav bo the more obvious. GERMANY.

The financing of the war by Germany has perforce been a matter of internal arrangement, owing to the dominating sea power of the-Allies, which would have rendered futile the creation of loans (p the United States. because their equivalent in merchandise would never have reached the \ aterle.nd. Ihe tota amount raised in America is estimated nL orly *OOO,OOO. , The total amount of war credits granted bv the Reichstag has been Xd,300,000 000 of which. .£2,367.000.000 lias been provided by permanent loans, iho expcßMlitiffe by the end of March next which is not provided by long-term loans will He about JB1,OOO.OUO.O(K> !T\otes of the loan banks outstanding are stated to be 41135.000.000, while the Reichsbank note circulation has grown from 4195,000,000 to 41333,000,000, and the advance aind discounts from .£10,000,000 to 41120,000.000. Germany has made little effort to meet war charges by taxation. GREAT BRITAIN. There is no need to enter into the details of Great Britain’s war bill, which bv March 31st next was estimated to total 413,324,800,000. including 41600,C00,•000 advanced or to be advanced to the Allies. Both these figures will probably be exceeded. There is no need, moreover, to give the actual figures of the various loans and other issues. The special point of interest, however, is the additional sum which will be yielded by the British taxpayer up to March 31st, assuming that the current year’s estimate of income will be realised. whereas there is little doubt that it will be largely exceeded. This total will be no less than 41488,000,000, the product of additional taxation, quite apart from the normal revenue. An amazing achievement 1 To sum up the position. Great Britain, and to a lesser extent France and Italy, are providing largely for war charges out of current revenue, whereas Germany (no longer even dreaming of subsidies) and her dependents ar© gambling with an empty Exchequer. The full measure of Germany’s bluff and of her financial embarrassment will only be fully- exposed on the day of peace.