The Washington herald., 1915-12-19
By JOHN n. BALDERsON.

nave SApidlHSu tic Biehoc>
military scheme of the British govern
ment. and shown how by raising ZOO. 900
more men within a year 1t Is planned to
maintain seventy divisions In the field at
full strength for two years more. and
how with the help of sea power great
blows are to be struck in the Mediter-
ianean regions next spring and summer.
the eastern dreams Of the
central empires. To those realizing the
rapidly declining man power Of Germany
and Austria and the increasing distress
among their people. II must have seemed
that IL Britain's resources can stand the
strain she proposes to put upon them. II
Is. indeed. all up with the Kaiser.
And so IL is IL the soldiers and states
men in Whitehall have not blundered.
But there are great authorities on inter-
national finance who think the govern
ment has blundered, and that the empire
II headed straight for disaster: a disaster
not military. but financial, which will in
volve all the allies and probably. to a
lesser extent, some neutral countries as
well.
Burden Growing on England.
Little by little, while the French and
Russian armies have fought the great
battles OF the war and poured out their
blood, the inexorable force Of circum-
stance has been pushing Britain 10 the
front as the leader OF the entente. II Is
obvious now to friends and foe that IL
victory is to be obtained II must be won
by the money. the munitions. the men,
the morale. Of England. The secrecy
which surrounds military operations Is
maintained also. In the realm Of war
finance. Here are some staggering facts
about the situation. some Of them con-
cealed not only to separate the pride OF
the countries involved. but to spare the
British public the shock which would
follow appreciation of the empires true
position.
Russia is, literally. broke. On Britain
Is falling the chief burden Of suppiyig
her millions of soldiers with arms and
munitions All the war material sent &c
Russia from the United States Is belng
paid for by the Bank OF England.
France is now drawing heavily upon
the British treasury So is Italy. The
Belgian, Serbian and Montenegrin armies
are financed from London.
In the first year OF the war. Britain
advanced to her allies s2.li5.Io.Vo. This
sum includes a few psltry million pounds
supplied TO the dominions. on September
Is, Mr.. Asquith said. an average OF Va
10000 a day was being paid over to
allied nations. and he limited that this
sum would increase.
Better than a column of these atronom-
Ical figures one illustration will show how
serious is the situation. British gold
which subsidized from 1873 TO lsl5 all
the enemies of Napoleon. Is largely
credited with the ultimate defeat of the
Corsican. In those twenty-one years,
England advanced to her allies 81, 800.
CO.,
Rillinna In Her Alllea.
II Mr.. Asquith's estimate Of the daily
loans Is correct il there Is no sub
stantial advance on his figures. the
empire on August !. next year. will have
paid over S5.Gc Ooo,OOO to Britain's allies
who are fighting the Kaiser. and the
annual interest on this money at per
cent will come within few tens OF
millions of that So. "a. coo which sustained
for two decades the enemies OF the war
lord Of a century ago.
These colossal advances to the allies
represent about three-tenths OF Britain 5
expenditure on the war. which Is now a
little less than S. 5Ooo.GD a day. but will
inevitably increase by leaps and bounds
next year as new millions are armed
and as the great Oriental campaign gets
under way.
The present outgo from the Treasury.
including the billion dollars or so nor
mally disbursed in peace time. is at the
rate Of ten billions year. and the total
income of the nation. from all sources
Is officially estimated at NS.575CDo0l0, 50
that the government is spending a good
deal more than half the national in
come on the war. And the liquid capital
which has poured into the war loans is
II not exhausted. at least approaching
exhaustion. while the government con-
"a. .,,Hr IN
including war taxes not in operation un-
til January l. will yield about s5.G0Gp a
day. Chancellor of the Exchequer Nc
Kenna says. one-fifth the cost Of the war
and only two-thirds that OF the daily
advance to Russia. France. and the
others
The Military Plans.
Briefly. but accurately. the financial
position Of the empire has been outlined.
Let US examine the military plans. There
were on November some 2.S0.SO Brit
ish soldiers under arms. and the war
council had agreed to Kitchener's de-
mand for two million more to be enlist
ed within year. BY the end of the
year. the contribution of the colonies is
expected to have reached $4,000 men,
and some 10000 having been killed. per-
manently incapac citated or captured dur
ing the war. the whole number OF met
put under arms by the empire. on No
vember !. 1916. will amount to about D.
0OoO O0O
This great host is just sufficient tc
maintain 100000 trained men in England
for home defense and to keep seventy
divisions. or 1.400 600 men at full strength
In the field for two years more. allowing
100 per cent wastage n year. a perma-
nent additional loss of 10000. To guard
the Moslem possessions of Britain.
France and Italy from invasion and in
ternal revolt a great onslaught upon the
Turks. Bulgarians and such Austro-
Germans as may march with them will
take place somewhere in the Mediter.
ranean basin next spring and summer.
and will be the principal allied campaign
at that time. After that Is settled. II
may be assumed that attrition will have
SO weakened the enemy that the eastern
or western front. or both. can be broken
down and Germany brought to her knees.
But this grand climax. in the opinion OF
with whom I have talked. can
not be expected before the autumn OF
next year or the following spring.
Kitchener. It will be noted. has played
safe by providing in advance to maintain
his armies undiminished at least six
months longer than the allied high COM
mands think the Germans can hold out.
The Mediterranean Expedition.
The authorization to the war Office to
October, and early in this month the
British and French war councils. after
much consultation. overruled the British
general staffs adverse report of Oc-
tober 8 and decided on the great Medi-
terranean adventure next year, consider