The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-01-11

anu JULIUS LOT making aerOplanes
drop; swords to cut you up in pieces
and surgeons to sew you up again. In
fact, the war machine is faultless But
who has got the fuel to set it working ?
/ VINO will plump down the cash for
war between England and Germany.
and for the resulting Armageddon be-
tween the Triple Alliance and the
Triple Entente?
Is Herr Bebel right when he saws
the coming Franco-German war will
cost $75O,OOO,OOO a month, or $4,000.
100000 a year? If England, Austria.
Italy and Russia join in, may it be as.
sumed that the war will cost in pro.
portion-that is, $4,000, 600, 900 for the
first year, not to mention the second
And who will pay the $4,000, 900 900?
/ Europes brilliant statesmen waste
no time on this Insignificant problem.
They are far too busy brewing those
glorious wars-a business easier far
than carrying them gloriously on. But
frivolous, unpolitical people-finan-
ciers, economists, statisticians. trad
el5-would like to know who will pay &?
/ First, they ask themselves what will
a war cost? No man knows. Herr
Bebeps estimate is guesswork and
| probably exaggeration. Italy's little
war with Turkey is costing $500, 900 a
/ day, allowing for a mere 10000 fight
ing men. Professor Viviani of Rome
says that if only $4,000 men are sent
| it will cost 1,00O,0OO,00O lire, or $780,
| 100000 Since this estimate was made
it appears Italy will have to send 12O,-
600 men; and if she marches into the
interior. still more. The Boer war, in
which Englands army averaged 2OO,-
600, cost O55,OOO,OOO in two and a
half years The Franco-German war,
which lasted only 100 days, cost Ger
many $45O,OOO,OOO for an average fight
ing force of 1,25O,OOO men, The war
in the Far East cost Japan $650,OOO,-
coo and Russia 1929, 600 900, not count
ing lest ships. Only toward the end
had either side anything like a mil
lion men in the field.
The coming Armageddon will cost
/ infinitely more than these, because the
armies in the field will be bigger and
because food, clothes, arms and ammu-
milton every year cost more, and more
of them will be wasted. Moderate
estimates are that a war Testing a
year will cost France, Germany and
England each about $4,000, 100000.
Russia's yearly bill would be $780,
100000 and Italy's and Austria's about
/ 81 100000, 900.
Imperial War Treasure.
To meet such demands and to pre-
vent universal panic no single Euro
pean state has made proper provision.
/ Europe's war chests consist mainly of
/ Europe's capacity for borrowing. Ger
many alone has an imperial war
treasure" which has captivated the
European imagination, but in reality
is ridiculously small. This is the
notwithstanding, which lies in the
julius tower of Spandan citadel, guard
ed by triple steel doors, simultaneous
keys" which are held by different in
dividuals, and a dozen sentries. 1t
amounts to a beggarly $3O,OOO,OOO, all
in coined ten and twenty mark pieces,
kept in boxes, each of which contains
$4,000 Against it are issued $780,
100000 in imperial treasury notes, so
that no interest is lost.
Germany's real war asset is her
state railroad system. No country has
such a splendid asset. The Prussiau
railroads, which cost $2,25O,OO0, 900,
are now valued at $4,000, 900 900. They
pay an average of 7 per cent on the in
vested capital The result is that only
81 10000 900 railroad debt is outstand-
ing, so that the state owns railroad
/ property which has sale or mortgage
value of $4,000, 100000 clear of debt.
The South German state railroads are
not so remunerative, but they could
be mortgaged for a considerable sum,
and optimists have declared that on
her state property Germany. if need
be could secure loans totalling approx
mately $4,30OOOO,OOO.
Russia's Bank Monopoly.
Russia is the only other state that
can talk of realizable assets in terms
of hundreds of millions of dollars.
First comes the S49J, 100000 gold re-
serve which lies in the cellars of the
Bank of State. Against it are issued
/ $6lO,OOO,OOO in credit notes, and about
$500 100000 more credit notes could
be issued in war time without exceed
| ing the legal limit That railways can
not be counted an asset because they
show an annual deficit of $1O,000,0O).
/ The greatest Russian asset is the
"Kayionnaya Vinnaya Monopolia,' or
State Vodka Monopoly, which was
started as an experiment by Witte in
1895, and is now in force all over the
empire. Under it the state is sole
] p,onufo pturar urbnIaooIa and rataiI