St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-12-05
Cost of the South African War.


The cost of the South African war has
now so greatly exceeded the original esti-
mates that practically no one in authori-
ty in England seems able to make def
mite calculation of what it may ulti-
! mately amount to. The borrowing pow
ers granted to the British Government
by the late Parliament are nearly ex.
hausted, and heavy arrears, amounting
to between 5000 900 900 and $3.50, 900,
900 are pressing for payment. Against
these liabilities the government has
about SIS 100000 Immediately availa-
Bile, the unexhausted borrowing power
amounting to $4,000 900, and the bal
ance of loans issued yet to be paid up,
$45 100000 Of the payments in ar
rears much consists Of the pay due the
army and debts to contractors.
The indirect cost has been estimated,
and the result is highly interesting. In
September last the shrinkage in value of
the full list of securities quoted on the
London Stock Exchange had, as direct
consequence Of the war, reached the enor-
nous figure of nearly S., 100000 900.
The decline in the market value OF con.
soils alone has been serious, and the tall
has been equally marked in municipal
stocks and railway and other obliga-
tions. The increase to the national debt
with the additional taxation to meet the
interest payments has also to be taken
into account. Then there is the expense
Of the permanent garrison, estimated at
SO 900 men, which will have to be kept
fov- dot vNa,-;rI n = o
pocket OF the British taxpayer, for there
is no present visible source of revenue in
South Africa from which the cost can be
paid.
But the matter does not end here. The
increase and the reorganization of the
army have to be provided for. and mil
lions will have to be spent in bringing
the stores of ammunition and other war
material up to the requirements of the
new policy. Already orders for $50, 000,-
600 worth of new guns have been placed
to be followed by Others, the amount of
which has not yet been decided on.
1t is not, however, In England only
that the direct cost Of the war is making
itself felt by the taxpayers. The short
age OF revenue in Cape Colony this year
is estimated by the Minister of Finance
at not less than $12,915 900, which he
proposes to borrow, though the recep-
ton which a proposal to raise small
loan IN the London market few months
ago met with does not seem to encour-
age fresh applications in the same quar-
ter. In the nature of things it will be
some years before the waste and deStruc
ton worked by the war have been made
good, and meantime the course of trade
which in the past was favorable to Cape
Colony will take other channels. Dur.
ban, in Natal, and Lorenzo Marques are
so much nearer to Bloemfontein and Pre-
toria than Cape Town that supplies and
traffic may be expected to take the short
er routes. This will affect the revenues
of Cape Colony derivable from the rail-
ways.
No boom is to be looked for after the
war is over, the sacrifices made by the
Cape farmers or imposed on them hav.
ing been too great to permit their launch,
ing out into extravagances of any kind
for a long time to come. The reduction
of the Imperial expenditure consequent
on the withdrawal from the country of
thC SlSat pOIllOH VI tue DTltlS1 army
will cause a sudden reduction in the
trade depending on it and bring about a
great curtailment OF the profits of those
engaged in it and on which they depend
Tor their living, The latest accounts
from the late Orange Free State describe
it as reduced almost to the condition of
desert, the Boer homesteads in ruins
and the flocks and. herds either carried
off to supply the wants of the army OF
occupation or scattered over the vedt,
where they are prey to the wild beasts
that are making their appearance in con-
siderable numbers as result of the dis
appearance OF the population. The ces-
sation OF the production of gold during
the period of the war is also among the
indirect losses caused by it. New York
Sun.