Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-01
WARS APPALLING COST
From the GlnsSow tscotlandp Weekly Herald

When, short time ago, Lloyd
George said in the House of Commons
that this il the most expensive war
which has ever been wagcd in men,
material ana money" hc was using
words Of singular restraint and mod
Grafton, which conveyed little concep-
ton OF the appalling and utterly un-
preccdenteG demand II is making on
the worlds rcsourccS-a demand COM
pared with which the cost OF any pre-
N'ous war in the worlds history
shrinks To trivial proportions.
lie might while coniining himself
strictly Within the limits Of truth. have
added: so gigantic is the cost of This
great world struggle that every ten
days Of il eXhausts more gold than ali
the worlds mines produce in twelve
months; and all the gold coined last
year at the London Mint would not pay
Il three day bill. Every twenty days
Europe is squandcring on it more than
Britan's entire revenue for last year;
and IN three more days more than the
annual expenditure on all her armies
in time OF peace.
Even such figures as these fail to
give any adequate impression Of the
drain imposed by this great world war
on the cNchcqucrs of Europe II We
look through the list Of Britains wars
for the last two generations we find
at
solitary week of her present disburse-
mcnt. There are among these no fewer
than sixteen, he most expensive OF
which falls well under 100000. or
less than We alone are now spending
every three days
Rut lei us examine Europes present
war BILL with its formidable phalanXcS
Of figures, far as ii has gone At the
time of writing. Our share of il already
amounts to the staggering total Of over
ego, 100000, representing an average
expenditure of over fl,0G0,000 day, or
nearly twice as much a S our daily rev
cnuc for last year. This means that
Britain is paying for each year Of the
war 1866, 100000, or nearly flo0,000,Q0O
more than the aggregate income of her
landlords, drawn from houses and lands
in the United Kingdom.
Large as such figures are, they are
thrown into eclipse by the contribu-
tons of France and Russia 10 the bill.
1t is estimated that France is spending
no less than fl.800.0d0 every day OF the
200 days of fighting had reached the
enormous total Of 1850, 000,0 In "A
full year of war her disbursement will
thus reach 1857 900, 000--a sum which
represents half the capital value of ali
the railways in the United Kingdom.
IN the first three and one-half months
of the war Russia spent fl92,750. 600
a daily average of Fl $4,000 Her bill
is thus mounting up to q grand total OF
approx imately zero, O00,O 900 for the year.
Thus. leaving out the minor nations
we find that the minimum contributions
Of the three great allies are as fol-
lows:
Great Britain .......,.......El, 000, 900
France 81 SOC, 600
Russia ................. fl ,S3j, 600
making total daily expenditure Of
f4,63t.oo0. or IA yearly total of roughly
1855. O00, 900.
1t tx more difficult to ascertain the
expenditure of Germany and Austria.
but we may he sure that the estimates
given Il short time ago in Vorwacrts.
and compiled from official sources. are
fairly reliable. According to this au-
thority, the cost of the war to the two
great powers arraycd against us is
f4,200.000 a day; and as. il is said, the
war is costing Germany exactly twice
as much as Austria, the respective
daily contributions may be fixed at
t2.S00.Ioo for the former and fi,400,000
for the latter. Thus, we arrive at a
yearly total Of 1853, 100000 for the
two daily fS'm sum NATIONS" Of 100000 we for a tSs
other lighting nations-a figure which
probably errs on the side of moderation
we get daily aggregate war cost
Of E9,335.000. and yearly total of
more than fS.407 600, 900, which is con-
sIderably more than 80 per cent greater
than tho entire annual income from
all sourc IS, of the United Kingdom
Nor do these figures, so colossal that
tho mind cannot grasp them, represent
by any means the full extent of the
war bills. The great losses in ships
and cargOes must not" says the con-
trbutor to Vorwaerts. "be forgotten
The estimate of those damages during
the first five months of tho war at
00.00d.000 to f2,50O,00O.000 is GER
tainly NOT too low" Nor do they In
clude the enormous damage to property
done through the war, or the still
greater( loss to industry. Leaving out
tho latter gigantic item. which 1t is
imposs Rle to estimate. and taking no