The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-09-01
The Cost Of War

~ some idea OF the cost Of modern war.
fare, says Leslie s. w eekly, can be arrived 20
al by taking q japanese Warship like the
!sKasuga or Nsshin and calculat ting the
humber Of shots she would dis charge. The
first named ship carries four cannon aEll nor
which cost $50 900 each. One OF these guns
can fire two shots per minute, andSe very
shot costs $500; thus in five minutes these
four cannon can discharge forty bombs
at d cost Of SIC, 900. \ The smaller cannon
cost each $4,000, and every shot they fire
means an expenditure Of s7o.g: They mr.. are
very rapid, and lit is estimated that IN
five minutes the twelve cam on could dis
charge shot to the value of nearly $35, COO.
This 3cnorr,on BUS exp endit IRE 3 { money is
not only wasted In the cost Of the gun IN
and 4 firing it, buts worse tha:n,Ewasteed
for il the shot take " fec 81 tl'.-
struction OF life and prop rtyss Y 7! ear by
year We have been making the plates Of
our warships stronger and slrnn Attain eouFly
We have been 5incre astng the force OF our ''lf
guns. Inventive genius has taxed Itself tsel
on the one hand to make a gun that It VIII y ~
penetrate the thickestg steel pla to, ma as IS
the gun is made more powerful the plate -el
IS mad thicker; or, to put itsthe other 1ti e
way, as the plate made thicker an ana
more Irresistible, the gun is made more or
nowerf,,l and the shot more penetrating.
And SO we have gone on from one lnvenT
ltion to another in both dire O u.s. ne
cues Ion, therefcFs, arises. what VIII the l'e
final gu tcome be 2 q Shall we be able to
mako our guns so strong that no ship can
r,cs,st the impact OF the ball or shall we
be able to make our ships destruc y, tinle
l1,he answer seems to US plain enough !
II is easier to destroy than to create as
everybody knows, and with the aid o.
Giant /! powder and dynamite and other
no ,werful & explosives; with the. AID 81
strong and rapid-firing guns, and espe-
cially with the aid Of ttorpe'd1|oces there there
must come q time when the 9, strongest ''i
ships Of war will BIO unable to stand the
assault Of scientific Inventions. q
This Is one OF tho agencies that Is work
i 3np towards universal peace, Practlca
4 men are asking themselves day by v day
yyhy Governments sltuulu -cNPel'u
sums OF money for the sake Of destru &C.
I ton; for the sake OF destroying boil
4 life and property Leaving the mora
question entirely out Of consideration, w
A believe that the spirit Of thrift and econ
omy, which is growing all the time, vii
\ by ana by be strong enough to abolish
Il war and remove the possibilities Of war
and, therefore, to cause the ma tons OF IN
II eartl, to dlsarm and nut their soldiers an
sailors to work, IS IN
Mr., Roosevelt may talk as much as }
) pleases about his big stick and his stron
;. army and his powerful navy. but IN $
!. talking he is out Of spirit with the grow
I ing sentiment OF the age, Peace an
prosperity are terms often associated, an
{ they are terms that are closely relate'
!, for when we have universal peace; whe
i the fear OF war In all Its branches sha
t have been removed. we shall then be
4 near as possible to universal prosperit,