The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-10-01
THE COST Of WAR
FIGURES ARE TOO HIGH
ESTIMATES USUALLY INCLUDE
COSTS THAT DO NOT PRO-
PERLY BELONG.

In making estimates of the cost OF
the war there is the liability Of Great
Ing exaggerated impressions which
might as well be guarded against says
the New York Telegraph.
OF the enormous cost and waste In
which all the world must share there
Is no doubt, but there are offsets and
possible compensations to be taken in
to account.
When It is said that It costs so many
millions a day to maintain the armies
in the field and to supply them with
subsistence 1t Is to be remembered
that the bulk Of these armies have
been maintained in barracks and on
parade in time Of peace at something
approximating the same cost. though
the difference may be substantial.
Same Expense in Peace.
The food and clothing supplies which
they consume would have been con-
sumed by the same number of men
more or less wastefully in any case
and the subtraction from what is left
for noncombatants because the men
are now in the field is not so great as
one Is apt to think.
Extra cost for transportation, with
the incidental waste and the increased
wear and tear, are to be charged tc
the loss account The squandering OF
war material in guns and ammunition
is destructive of what has already
been produced and paid for in the labor
Of peaceful millions, but Is of no real
value except for warlike purposes and
the practice and training for them.
Whether this Is to be reckoncd as
part OF the cost and loss to the world
depends upon whether this madness
OF militarism Is to continue and ma
tons are to keep on squandering the
peoples substance In replacing and
possibly increasing these instruments
Of destruction out of the fruits of pro-
duction. That Is not a necessary re-
suit.
Another item in the st Of war Is
the withdrawal Of men who constitute
the reserve force of armies from pro-
ductive industries This is not a ne
cessary result.
Another item in the cost Of war is
the withdrawal Of men who constitute
the reserve force Of armies from pro-
ductive Industries. This, too, Is sub
ject to much exaggeration; the labor
formerly performed by these men Is in
large part thrown as an extra burden
upon those who remain employed.
Privation and Suffering Not Included
There is cruel privation and suffer-
ing, but this Is not included in the
figures Of national expenditure, and
It goes far to Offset the estimates Of
cost. There is a large amount Of en-
forced economy on the part Of those
who do not really suffer from priva-
ton.
The worst consequence of the war
from the economic point Of view Is the
restraint upon manufacturing industry
and the paralysis Of trade in the coun-
tries whose people are engaged in the
conflict and between those and the
rest of the world. Germany's highly
developed industrial system, so assld-
uously built up in the last 40 years. is
in danger of wreck. That will not be
permanent. but 1t will for many years
be costly to rebuild.
Interruption Of the agencies Of trade
and exchange will be the occasion Of
much loss in the sense that It will for
some time prevent or greatly diminish
the gains of commerce, but the effect
OF this will by no means be irretriev-
able.