Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-08-27
COST OF ENTRANCE INTO CON-
FLIcT WOULD REACH AP-
FALLING FIGURES.
DANGER OF BREAK WITH
GERMANY STARTS GUEssERs
Expense Of Putting Million Men in
Field, Of Properly Equippins Navy
and Of Making Other Preliminary
Preparations to Actual Fighting
Would Eat Money.
Especial Correspondence

with Germany. or in some other fash
! ion become entangled in the present
nearly world wide war, what about the
money to foot the bills?
! This is a question to which little in
telligent attention has been directed in
the United States. But it would soon
! enough become an appalling problem
If it had to be faced
! At that. it would not be so appalling
as the staggering debts which are
/, piling high before the nations of Eu-
rope. The richest country in the world,
the United States, if it had to. could
bear the burden of great war debt
! more easily than any other nation.
The other day, stories went the
rounds that if there We're break with
Germany and the president did the ex-
pected and called an extra session OF
priated for military and naval prepara-
tions. 1t was suggested that half
billion dollars would, perhaps, be al
| lowed as an initial appropriation for
war purposes.
a half billion sounds large in these
days when the cost % living is the
most that the average citizen cares
about political economy. But it is
easy to show that in war time it
wouldn't go far
Cost Of Putting Out Million Men.
What, for instance, would it cost to
put million men in the field, ready
for service? What would 1t cost to
put the American navy in trim for
lighting first-class power.
AS to that. some one may say that
the United States wouldn't need mil
lion men. Still, if the United States
goes to war with Germany it will go
to war, presumably, not as one of the
allies but "on Its own hook" This
means that it may not be in on the
conclusion of peace in Europe. II the
United States shodld go to war with
Germany it might have to fight that
nation and settle up Its own contro-
versy after peace in Europe had been
declared. Certainly. 1t could not we'll
assume that 1t would not De dragged
into the fighting on a big scale. In
modern war. as everyone knows. a
million men do not make up force
sufficient to decide issues between
tirst-class nations.
1t is not easy to get figures on what
it would cost to put a million men into
the field in readiness for campaign.
1t is patent. however, that half bill
lion dollars wouldn't du IT,
Artillery experts of the war depart
! ment have calculated that to provide
the artillery alone for an army of a
million men would take $45O,000 900
That is it would take nearly a half
billion to furnish the field artillery for
lisuch a force. This means the guns
land all material not including the
! personnel to man them. 1t means pro-
vision for S-inch field guns, howitzers,
! machine guns and the like
| Or, consider the problem of horses
For an army OF million men, it
| would require, for cavalry, artillery, Of
fcers mounts. transportation of all
kinds, and the like not less than 300
| 600 horses. This is a conservative fig
ure. since the number of cavalry which
| would be dem anded in such an army
would be 100000 or Whereabouts. Az
| eraging the horses at $50 apiece, it
would cost s45,ooo.o0o to buy the
horses and. considering that horses in
war melt away like the SHOWS, many
more would soon have to be purchased
Arms and Clothing.
| Then there are rifles, ammunition
! .,
hospital equipment, signal corps equip
! ment, including aeroplanes, Transport
, tation Of troops and supplies and end
less other objects Of expense. It is
true, the government has some of
these things in stock For instance, in
pinch, the war department would
be able to furnish rifles to nearly
million men, making use in part of the
old krags, which are good weapons in
| many respects.
Army men say it would knock big
hole in billion dollars to put into
the field million troops
| 1T would make billion look SICK"
was the way one army officer put 1t.
He pointed out that in war time the
| tendency is to overcharge the govern
\ ment and that this Is one of number
OF factors which it is hard to figure on.
he pointed out, too, that it would be
much more expensive proposition to
provide for, an army Of million in
war time, or with war just beginning,
than it would be to provide for a big
reserve and its equipment in time of
peace.
But with the first million of troops
provided for, II there was real cam.
paignfng on great scale, there would
follow expenditures such as would
make the imagination of old Croesus
look poor.
Millions to Equip Navy.
AS for the navy, it would unques-
tionably take several hundred millions
Of dollars to put it in shape for eff
cient work at sea-. This would go for
more dreadnaughts battle cruisers,
destroyers, submarines, aeroplanes,
ordnance. ammunition, personnel, and
what not.
Under the circumstances it needs
no diagram and no higher mathematics
to prove that If congress has to meet
to consider making war expenditures
it will have to begin talking in ap-
preparations by the billion instead OF
the million. A billion dollar approp-,
ration would be a reasonable one at
the outset and IL that went far it
would be because much actual cam
paigning did not eventuate.
In the civil war, when the north
was spending money at the rate of a
million a day, it was thought to be a
staggering outlay.
n But the British expenditures. as
stated by the chancellor Of the ex-