Austin's Hawaiian weekly. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1899-190?, 1899-06-24
War and Industry.

Joseph McCabes book Can We Disarm," in
which it gives the cost of wars in the two CEN
turtles, showing the tax it has been on industry.
1t is especially interesting in connection with the
peace conference now in session at the Hague.
War has become a science, and it has given
birth to enormous industries. The industrial
community derives very conspicuous advantages
from the military system, and does not clearly
see definite compensating advantages in its aboli-
ton. So the industrial community, e. the great
body of the nation, does not care to part with
militarisn just yet. 1t seems scarcely necessary
to give aborous proof of the point, but there are
many who do not realize how deeply mtarism
is rooted in the present industrial order. During
the last two centuries England has spent fl ,2o5,
100000 in the conduct of her wars, quite in
dependently of the permanent maintenance of her
army and navy. France has spent fS3o,ooo,ooo
in the same period in war alone Russia has spent
f335ooo,ooo in war during the last sixty years.
The Anglo-French war of I7o3-ISI5 was the first
to make lively impression on the economic
world. 1t is said by Mulhall to have cost fI,25o
100000; and Mullalls figures as to the cost of
war do not represent their entire commercial
value he only gives the distinctly military eX-
penditure. The Crinean war of 1886 cost
f3o5.ooo,ooo. or fI46oooooo per year Gas COM
pared with foo,oooooo per year in Napoleonic
times) The American civil war in 1906, in
which nearly 100000 men were engaged, cost
f74oooo,ooo (f35oooo,ooo per year,. The
l'ranco-Ger1nan war of 1901 cost France Gin
Guiding the indemnity to Germany and damage
to property, etc. f5o6oooooo. The Russo-Tur-
kisf war cost fIOo,oooOoo: the Chino Japanese
war $225,oooooo; the Hispano-A American war
cost America alone S25oooo,ooo. MulhalFs esti
mate that the principal wars from 1893 to 1877
cost l3,o47 100000 does not represent their full
economic value: it does not include Indirect con-
sumption. For instance, he estimates the cost of
the Franco-G German war at f3I6ooo,ooo. Bodio
has shown that it cost France 100000 900. and
there is still large margin in Germany not cover
ed by the indemnity.
SO much for the economic vaue of war to the
industrial community. To this must be added
the ordinary cost of the maintenance of armies
and navies in times of peace; fully one-half of
this is for direct employment of labor. England
has an annual revenue of about fl 100000. OF
this she spends about f4o,ooo,ooo annually on her
army and navy, and further f25ooo,ooo in the
service of the national debt Ga war eXpenditure)
Considerably more than half of the entire revenue
of the country is absorbed by military expendi-
ture Russias latest military budget amounted TO
384,379,ooo roubles. Gernanys military ex-
penditure for the financial year 1867 was f3I,-
100000 out of all entire revenue of f67 100000.
France had a total revenue of f1369oo,ooo in
1885, of this f25 100000 were spent on the army,
fIo,oooooo on the navy, and f35,oooooo in in
terest on the national debt. impoverished, starry
ing Italy out of her forced revenue of f67,ooo,-
900, spent fl 100000 on the army and navy and
denly dropped into the ways of civilized nations
She has resolved to spend f28oo,ooo annually OF,
her army and to devote fI2 100000 to the inn
movement Of her navy