Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-09-22
The Economics of War

A------- John BATES CLARK
Professor Political Hoonomy Coiumbia University.


VIZ Ar means that in some part Of the esTth peace
w goodness and love are largely bartered away
for suffering wickedness and hate; and, IN general
that parts Of Gods country are turned into oeVil
country. No expert from counting house can make
a balance sheet that viii show the amount OF such
damage.
Yet Il is extremely well worth while to measure,
we can the sheer loss Of wealth which war entails
The mpovei ishnent OF a country affects a people,
physical and mental we-being, and character user
suffers seriously when the struggle for life becomes
hard and material returns mcsger. II we can meas
apr oximately the dininution OF wealth which
beigerent country suffers, we can form some riGe
conception OF the general disaster that mas
occurred and possibly decide whether II is TOO great
TO be repaired. VIII the injury inflicted ny me
present on Europe be about ss well repaired 100
years hence was the Injury caused oy the
Napoleonic Of 100 years ago in Ike per'ooF
VIII the economic losses OF this war be great enough
90 follow and curse mankind through the whole of
the twentieth century and leave bequeN to the
twenty-first? On the highly favorable assumption
that the war will close before 1915 and that peace
will reign for hundred years thereafter there IA
much to be hoped for within the period which has
begun so disastrously.
Though the earlier generations following the end
OF the struggle will have much to suffer. there is
a redeeming possibility that the later ones may
emerge from the state which the Armageddon IS
creating For the dead, hardships and prvations are
already over, and for the manned and the halt they
will be over much less than century; hut
great reduction OF the accumulated wealth Of the
lions now fighting may conceivably have more last
ing effects The destruction Of literal wealth and OF
skill and intelligence which equivalent 20 wealth,
the check production and the breaking up Of tho
organization that carries II onthese OF he
influences against which the world must hereafter
contend; and 1t will require great power Of re-
covery and more of self-mastery than has recently
been shown to bring 1t out OF the pit into which it
has lightly leaped
The countries Of Europe are becoming poorer month
by month, and how much wealth they will have when
the II depends the length of time It will
last II is the purpose of the economic division OF
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to
A. 70 ffrlafa
will be possible after the close of the war, to MAKE
OF the reduction caused in the wealth OF the various
countries OF the world A comparison OF the amount
Of such wealth existing when the began with
that existing when II shall have closed Will measure
the positive shrnkage which the struggle Will have
entaied but It will not measure the whole of the
economic effect. In every belligerent land wealth
was increasing and there is little doubt that this
increase has been cut off and that dininution has
been substituted. The sum OF these two amounts
will measure the direct economic injury. How muoh
wealth would France Germany probably have
possessed II had taken placer The answer
will furnish rninuend; the subtrahend Will be t"e
amount that Il will actually have when the is
and only at that time can the latter quantity
be even approximately known
The absolute amount Of wealth a country contains
does not gauge the purely material well-being or
the Inhabitants. That depends on the amount there
is per unit the population. II the capital OF the
world should continue unchanged and the population
should grow enormously, IL IL conceivable that the
per capita wealth would decline than It usually
has done in consequence OF destructive wars IL
the other hand the capital should remain the same
and the population should greatly shrink there
might be increase Of economic wel-being for
those Of the people who should survive. Because
Germany lost two-hirds OF It's population, more or
less during thirty years the survivors, badly
off a they were, were less desperately poor than
they would have been n the whole original population
had stIl been Obliged TO extort living from the
sources of their ravaRed and desolAted country In
tragic the majority died for their country
persisted OF the starving survivors OF ship
wreck would perish If they were drowned In order
that the remainder might have food enough TO live
Losses OF life in would help 10 sustain the
standard Of living against extreme reduction II all
classes Of the population were sacrificed proper
tionately and n MANNED or enfeebled. When
bread winners perish and the children and the aged
survive. when men taken and women LOFT
the standard of living IL lowered; and II Is in
tragic way when are rendered helpless and left
to be maintained by women and children.
by the impoverished state Then It is that
ton OF life by warfare takes It's most terrible
economic toll and does not counterfeit, but exag
gerates the effect OF destruction OF productive wealth
This effect enters directly and dsastrousy into tho
problem of the effect OF the per capita
wealth OF the countries.
Military expenditures by governments
nearly measurable than other elements IN the total
waste which entails. and yet even these
now be estimated only in q rude way. II IL safe
that more than HooOooo are spent daily by the
states at war The effect OF this on public
finance IL easily calculated than it's effect
the existing wealth and the future prosperity of the
peoples affected Not by any means all the total
pendtures OF the governments chargeable TO the
That accounts however, for vast excess Of
OUTLAWS above those incurred in times of peace and Il
is this excess OF which our economic study must
take account
Not all the directly military expense or the gov
ernments does in itself make the countries poorer.
Feeding and clothing soldiers is giving them
partial equivalent for the living that In the