COLOSSAL FIGURES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16965, 29 March 1917, Page 6

COLOSSAL FIGURES

£21,000,000 A DAY. STAGGERING BILLS OF NATIONS AT WAR. (By Manfred Emanuel. in Daily Express.) Tho great appeal now before tho British public (for the lato ww loan) draws renewed attention k> tho enormous cost of win- to each of the belligerent camps, and to tho manner in which tho various countries engaged in war have raised thu necessary sums. It is impossible to calculate the real cost of the groat war. The loss of life, loss of productive industry converted into destructive industry, tho halt in industrial progress, the value of property destroyed— these are some of the important items thnt cannot be set down in pounds, shillings, and pence. The direct, money cost of the war may be estimated, however, with somo accuracy, and the result is shown in the following table, which gives the expenditure in round figures to December 31, 1916: — Great Britain ...£2,874,800,000 Dominions, etc. 250,000,000 £3,124,800,000 France 2,440,000,000 Russia 1,700,000,000 Italy 800,000,000 Belgium 98,000,000 Serbia 56,000.000 Rumania 50,000,000 Allies' total ... ...£8,278,800,000 Germany £2.920,000,000 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 the present average daily expenditure is approximately— Allies £14,000,000 Enemies 7,000,000 We will now see how the leading nations have met and are meeting their staggering bills. FRANCE. The French Government has had recourse to two long-term loans, yielding £455,000,000 itt cash. In November last tho total of National Defence obligations and Treasury bills outstanding was £640,000,000, while the total note circulation is £660,000,000 (compared with £267,000.000 immediately beforo the war).

Total internal borrowings approximate £2,440,000,000, but the Government and municipal authorities have in addition raised £135,000,000 in America, £41,000,000 from British investors and financial institutions. The actual cost of the Tvar to the end oE 1916 is estimated at £1,940,000,000, but the total war credits voted have been £2,440,000.000, a truer gauge of the war outlay, because it includes large expenditure* of a semi-civil character which has arisen directly from the state of war ■ France has made a great effort to provide a part of tho war debt charges b.v 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. Tile Russian financial budgets never appear to err on the side of too much information, but it is clear that Russia i» largely dependent on foreign credits to supply the sinews of war. To August 1, 1916, tho actual war expenditure was figured at £1.164,000,000. The sum raised by internal loans has reached a total of £1,088.000,000, while, the advances mado by the Bank of Russia i.o the State can only be estimated by the increase in the note circulation (now £784,000,000, compared with £170,000,000 before tho war) and the Treasury bends in the hands of the bank of £537,000.000 Advances made by Great Bi-itain are not revealed, but the direct credits obtained in London amount to £30,000,000, in addition to £27,000.000 raised in ' tho United States and £12.000,000 in Japan, The authorised amount of foreign credits is £550,000,000. ITALY. The war bill of Italy is comparatively small, owing to that country's late entry into the conflict. Tho actual cost of the war to the end of 1916 is estimated at £800.000,000, and of this amount £350,000,000 has been secured by long and short term indebtedness within the country, and foreign credits amounting to aboufe£l2o.ooo,ooo. . Current expenditure is at the rate of £40.000,000 a month,., while the assistance rendered by the Bank of Italy may be measured by the incroaso in the. note circulation from £63,000.000 to £148.000,000. Italy, as well as France, is raising a considerable sum by means of new taxation on oiovel lines, which is exacted to yield £28,000,000. in the year 1916-17—a sum sufficient to rrioet nearly three-fourths of the interest on the war cost to the end of 1916. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Tho financial secrets of the Dual Monarchy have been well kept, and the weekly statements of the Austro-Bungarian Bank have been suspended since the beginning of the war. Tho loans for which particulars are available amount, to £734.000,000, but the war costs must have considerably exceeded this figure. There can be -no doubt that AustriaHungary—as well as the minor conspirators, Bulgaria and Turkey—are unable to bear the burden of war, and are financially, as in so many other directions, dependent on Germany. .

The analysis of Germany's and Great Britain's positions has been left to the last, so that the contrast between them may be 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 in , the United States, because their equivalent in merchandise would never have reached tho Vaterlancl. The total amount raised in America is estimated at only £4-.000,000 ! The total amount of war credits granted by the Reichstag has been £3.300,000.000 of which £2.367,000,000 has been provided by permanent loans. The expenditure by the end of, March next which is not provided by lons-ferm loans will be about £1,000,000,000.

Notes of the loan banks outstanding are stated to be £185,000,000, while the Reichsbank note circulation has risen from £95,000,000 to £333,000,000, and the advance and discounts from £40,000,000 to £420,000,000. Germany has made little effort to meet war charges by taxation. GREAT BRITAIN

Thero is no need to enter into the details of Great Britain's war bill, which by March 31 next was estimated to total £3,324,300,000, including £800,000,000 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 vielded by the British taxpayer up to March 31, assuming that the current, year's estimate of income will bo raised, whereas thero is little doubt that it will be largely exceeded. This total will be no less than the product of additional taxation, quite apart from the normal revenue. An amazing achievement. To sum up the position, Great Britain, and to a lesser extent Franco and Italy' are providing largely for war charges out of current revenue, whereas Germany (no longer even dreaming of subsidies) and her dependents are gambling with an empty Exvhequer. The full measure of Germany's bluff and of her financial embarrassment will only be fully exposed on the day of peace.