Evening star., 1915-11-11
EnqIand's Total Allotment for
War Purposes Then Will
Be s8,310,00O,0 900.
HUSBAND RESOURCES,
HIS PLEA TO NATION
Daily Cost of Conflict to England
Since September IL Is Declared
to Be $21,750,O00.

n, l.
auith was to have asked the house of
commons yesterday for vote of credit
of f400, ,oOo, 900 $4,000. 900. .oOo). but some
unexpected development prevented him
from taking this action. which was
postponed until today. The premier.
however made his expected statement in
regard to the financial situation. and it
pressed upon the nation the necessity
of a careful outstanding of it's re-
sources.
$3.50, 900, 900 for War.
Including the new credit. Premier As
quith pointed out, the total amount al
lotted for war purposes will be f1,662.
100000 (sS.310.O00,00o) He presented
figures showing that the government
had a sufficient sum left over from the
previous vote to finance the war to the
third week of November
The approximate daily cost of the war
between September ~ and Novem Der
was given by Mr.. Asquith as f4,350.000
($21.750,000). 1t rose to this figure
from f2,700.00o (s13.50O, ,00o) in the ear
lier part of the financial year.
Loans advanced by Great Britain to
her allies and doninions between April
] and November s, Mr.. AsQuith said,
amounted to 9S.000.000. In the same
period f23.000.000 was expended for
food supplies and miscellaneous items.
Causes of the Increase.
The main causes of increase in the
cost of the war, Mr.. Asquith continued
were the great expenditures for NUM-
tions and the advances to Great Brit
aims allies and dominions.- He could
hold out no hope that there was any
immediate likelihood Of a decrease in
those two items. On the contrary,
they were likely to increase.
Mr.. Asquith said there was no reason
to believe expenditures during the next
two months would exceed 100000
daily, so that the new vote of credit
might be expected to last to the middle
OF February.
Returning to the question of public
economy. the premier said the matter
had engaged the attention of the gov
ernment and special cabinet com
mittee for several months. AS re-
suit there had been much closer inves-
tigation of army contract prices, and
there has been a revision of the scales
OF the army rations.
Allies in Agreement.
Regarding contracts. said the premier,
arrangements had been made between
the allied governments to avoid COM
peting against one another either in
the home market or in foreign markets,
and thus keep down prices. Where
there has been reasonable ground to
suspect that excessive profits were
being earned by contractors prices had
been reduced to reasonable level. This
was only beginning, and there was
still much to be done. but he hoped
that these steps would lead to substan-
tial economy without jrejudicing the
effective prosecution of the war.
The war office, Premier AsQuith con-
tfnued, already had taken steps to Sc
cure a more effective and co-ordinated
prosecution of the war on the part of
the allied powers by strengthening the
British general STAFF and establishing
more intimate munication-not
sporadic, but normal and habitual-be-
tween the military and naval advisers
Of all the allied powers.
For System of Conferences.
81 am betraying no secret" continued
the premier. when 1 say that the dis
tinguished man who now holds the
post of prime minister to France Is
AnXious-and l am as anxious as he
is-that we should develop the system
o. informal occasional conferences
which have taken place in the last few
months with great advantage into
something more definite and better or
ganized- Neither he nor 1 is without
hops that before long we shall have
something in the nature of a war coun-
ell. on which shall sit ministers of the
crown and ministers of the republic,
which will. with the expert advice of
their united general STATS, control and
direct our conjoint military and naval
operations.
Il do not place any limit on the extent
TO which this cooperation will be car
ried. and We shall be only too delighted
If Russia and Italy join us for the pur-
pose | have indicated. With a broad
based. well conceived and sympathet-
.cally worked system of that kind we
have every confidence that the opera
tons CT the war will be still more eff
ciently conducted and co-ordinated in
the future than in the past and that the
hne spirit and resources of the allies
will bring the war to a triumphant con-