The Indianapolis journal., 1904-02-23
WAR IN FAR EAST WILL
COST $2,5OO,OOO A DAY
Russia's Expenses viii Be at Least
a Third Greater than Her
Opponents.
FRENCHMAN'S ESTIMATE

PARIS. Feb 22-The French economists
and statisticians have been busy in figur-
ing UP the probable cost of the pending
Eastern war. and of the European war that
conceivably might grow out of it. A rather
thorough review has been prepared by NJ
Jules Roche, who starts by examining the
cost figures of the Franco-Prussian war.
This part of his paper is thus reviewed
by London correspondent:
"ln January, 1871. the actual cost per day
10 the French treasury, as per the Boreau-
LaJanadie official report, was G40lOoJ lo,-
JOO,VO0 francs); this for 100000 men under
arms The actual cost per day of every
man under arms during the entire period
or the var was exactly 10 francs S CEN
times. or, let us say, lis I'd. There was also
the cost of forage and OF horse-keep, which
cost at the rate of As per day per horse,
but into these items IL. Roche does not go
Even with the figures for the war of lS1O-n
before him, NJ Jules Roche admits that ii
Is no easy matter to estimate the hnanclai
expenditure or great war that might nap
pen in our times.
Conditions generally have considerably
changed within the last thirty years, ana
warfare is now even more expensive. To
begin with, the number of men under arms
in France, on a declaration of war. would
be far greater than in 1870. France then
began by putting 100000 men into the held,
but in the next great war in which she may
be engaged her military organization Is
such that within forty-eight hours she can
mobilize. in round figures 100000 men ana
to be called up would be the thirteen
classes of active and active reserve
troops. Each class numbers 160 600 men,
so that the actual number of men to be
modified at once would be 2,0S00O0.
Against this the Germans can pit $780,
600 men, the Austrians 100000 men, and
Italy 100000 men. Herr Schaffle, the emf
nent Austrian economist, who was some
time minister of commerce in the Hohen-
wart Cabinet, estimated in 1896 that Eu-
ropean war in which any of the above pow
ers were engaged would cost France
91,020,O0O per day, Russia e1l2O,OOO Ger
OOO"
NJ. Roche calculates in English values,
an outlay of u shillings pence per man
per day for the forces under arms in a
first-class contest between European pow
ers, and reckons that the total initial ex-
penditure, extended over the first two
months of the opening of hostilities, would
absorb a sum of GS0,000O00. With 3,O00,O 900
men under terms, NJ Roche calculates that
the cost would be about G1 100000 per day.
During the Russo-Turkish war of 1877
each soldier under arms cost the Russian
government, on the average, s pence per
diem. But the outlay for the 10000 troops
now III Manchuria must for obvious rea-
sons be very much greater. NJ. Roche
figures that once initial expenditure is
covered, it is calculated that the war.
provided ii remains localized to the far
East, would cost Russia an outlay of be-
tween e3OO.OOO and s35O0OO per day, naval
and military expenditures of all kinds in
cluded
Japan has a much smaller army than
Russia, and the utmost number of men she
could put into the field, without entirely
draining her reserves, would be 400,00t
men. The japanese military organIZa ton
| and mobilization arrangements are said
| to be admirable. and, if to believe
reports, the financial administration of the
| Japanese military forces (army and navy
| combines the highest degree of efficiency
with a spirit of economy unknown in Eu-
| rope. 1t is not, therefore, surprising to
| learn that the Japanese War Office is able
| to keep men in the field a a figure much
under that required for European armies
| The cost of the upkeep of clothing equip
ment, feeding, transport and munitions pei
| day per man would not, it is believed, ex-
ceed 5s, so long as the military opera
| tions are confined to Korea and to the
| surrounding seas. The actual cost of war
! fare to Japan. If we include the navy
which is destined to play a most important
part in the war with Russia, would prob
/ ably be between e150,O00 and 2200, 600 per
day. though in the earlier phase of the
war it might be expected to exceed this
| estimate.