Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-03-06

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/ should hereafter be undertaken by the
| commercial lines, there will be speedy
I liquidation OF this loss, running up into
| figures of many millions. And thus there
| could be specified dozens of similar class
es of expenditure indirectly made, and Of
| losses incurred, on account of the Philip
! pines, which, If added to the direct ex-
penditures. would enlarge the amount of
| the latter by many millions.
Looking Ahead for Ten Years.
Thus considered, $500, coo, 900 is not only a
| conservative estimate but doubtless an I'M
/ derestimate in large degree OF the expendl-
| lures already made by the Philippines.
| This may safely be taken as minimum
| estimate in stating the account. If there
were no future expenditures to be taken
| into the account and expenditures al
ready made were finally to end at this fig
ure, there would be no reasonable ground
! to hope for a return of the amount from
! the Philippines in generation to come.
| But by no means is this to be the end of
= the expenditure. There is well founded
reason for the belief that in ten years, If
| conditions continue as at present, and as
those having the best opportunity to be &C
curately informed believe they will, this
expenditure will be at least trebled. With
/ 81, COO, 000, 0O0 then. charged to the debit
side of the Philippines account, IL the
| statements hereinafter made as to the
probable business Of the archipelago are
well founded, a century will not see 1t or
any respectable proportion of 1t returned
to the United States by any receipts OF
revenue of any kind from the archipelago,
or Indirectly to the general public through
profit derived from trace or business or
any kind with the islands. That it is not
practicable to estimate with accuracy the
future annual expenditure of money Dy
the United States government which the
retention of the Philippines Will make
necessary must of course, be recognized
Nevertheless the minimum annual eXpen-
diture can be estimated at figure so low
as to be reliable for the purpose OF the
statement Of this account of debit and
credit.
The latest report from General Wheaton,
a most able and conservative ofhcer, Is
that $4,000 troops will be required In the
Philippines for the next five years, ana
in this opinion, 50 far as it relates to the
number of men. so many officers who have
seen service in the islands agree with MIN
as TO leave little room for reasonable sug-
eestion that ii is too high; and the general
expression among them is that TINS lar re
army will be required, not only Tor nVe
wears. but for a generation. Even II THIS
estimate is discounted and the number
nut at 600 below which practically all
the officers are agreed IL cannot safely pc
reduced. the cost directly and indirectly or
that army for the Philippines VIII De
about $50, coo year. soldler IN uihe
of war or in foreign service costs the
government about so per cent more tnan
soldier at home in time of peace. me
last analysis of all the organization
eouipment and paraphernalia of the war
department is the fighting man. All the
expenditures of the department from t.e
salary of the secretary of war down 70
the least important, at last relate 10 'iiiS
fighting man as a conclusion.
In this view the estimate is that each
soldier at home in time of peace costs an
nually about thousand dollars; ana that
in time Of war and in foreign service TINS
cost Is increased to about fifteen hunoreu
dollars. If to this there be added the
many attendant expenditures ABOVE sus-
gested and a reasonable estimate Oh the
Increased expenditures above suggested
and a reasonable estimate of the increased
naval armament and expenditure mace
necessary in the Philippine service, tne
annual expenditures can be shown 10 pc
reasonably between $T5,000,OOO and $lOO'OUO'-
600. But, leaving out of the Calculation,
all of the items which would thus SVEN
it. there can be no reasonable douot 'na'
with 49, 900 soldiers in the islands the ex-
nense of the army and navy required by
the Philippine service will at the lowest
possible minimum be annually $6O'OOOoOO
q wear. the aggregate in five years Will be
$500. 0O0, co., This, added to the $SOV'VVV'oVo'
already spent, makes total OF $OO0'OVOVVO.
The army requiring this vast annuaI Elk
penditure will not be needed to crush out
organized armed assistance to the Amer
lean authority, for that has already been
nearly accomplished; but in the generally
hostile temper of the Filipinos IL VIII Dc
needed to guard every nook ana corner
of the Archipelago and thus to repress
the revolt which would threaten In the ap-
sence of military force. 1t is no reply TO
-. hax a large qrnV-One
greater than is required for service in the
United States-that 1t must be stationed
somewhere and may as well be in the
Philippines as elsewhere. partial re-
ioinder is found in the statement already
made that the cost of the army IN the
Philippines is much greater than would De
the cost of the same army If stationed IN
the United States. But the complete an
swer is in the fact that that army would
not be needed were il not for the require
ment of the service in the philippines. IL
will not be forgotten that, in the nifty
sixth congress, the argument in faVor OF
the army bill which was most strongly
pressed was that the large increase in the
army was required for service in the Phil
ippines. 1T was indeed practically the
only argument of those who advocated
-, bill, as will readily be seen by refer
ence 10 the published debates. That the
increase was not required for domestic
service is abundantly SHOWN Dy tHe lat
that the country is now getting along sat
isfactorily without the forty or fifty thou
sand soldiers now seven thousand miles
away on the other side of the Pacific
ocean, a months sail from our shores.
So that it would seem to be a legitimate
conclusion tnat the cost of the army in
the Philippines is properly chargeable to
the debit side of the Philippine account.
No place is given in this account to the
loss of life among our trained military
officers and the young men who compose
the files of our army, but, limiting the
consideration solely to the cold question
of money, those who believe it to be from
this standpoint a bad venture feel that
they can with confidence challenge those
who think otherwise to furnish the figures
which will show how this money thus al
ready expended, and that inevitably to be
expended, can ever be repaid to the Uni
ted States either in money or its equiva-
| lent.
But suppose the calculation be based up
on the anticipations of the optimists that
within a few years, or even Immediately,
the army can be reduced to 10000 men,
there would, in five years. adding to the
yearly expenditure the amount already
spent, be an aggregate of S450,000,000 or
| $500, 900, 900, an amount for the repayment
of which 1t is thought that the challenge
may be safely made for the production of
| figures showing how it can be reasonably
done.
A most sariors item of expense directly