The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1916-01-14

Much has been said and a great
deal written upon the probable eco
monte conditions that will prevail
after the war In Europe has teen An
ished and peace rest tred. The ma
tions directly involved In tile war
aill have to pass through period OF
reconstruction. How long this per-
iod will take depends entirely upon
the recuperatiye power OF its citizen
ship and their ability to purchase the
material necessary tn supply their in
dustrial plants and establish their
agricultural industries upon high
plane OF productiveness.
The stupendu0us sums OF money
spent in the prosecution of the war,
while draining the nations involved
of their resources, has been spent not
| for constructive purposes, not for
building up the nations industrially,
but on the her hand, this money
as we'll as the energl OF the people
has been spent for destructive pur-
poses devoted to the spoilation and
destruction of thousands of years of
human effort.
Added to this economic condition
the warning nations are confronted
with the problem Of depleted popu-
lation. The best specimens Of their
manhood have been sacrificed upon
| tho aItar ~ striFn ard manu- noillionG
Of bread winners will return no more
to desolated homes, to widowed wives
and orphan children. The perma-
nently maimed aud crippled Will re-
turn to become pensioners upon an
already overtaxed government. The
care OF the orphans Of tender age will
add materially TO the burdens Of the
nation. Vast sums of money have
been spent abroad for munitions and
war supplies, not one cent OF which
Will benefit the people industrially or
otherwise. Huge loans have been
negotiated at high interest rates to
be swallowed up by the Unsuitable
God OF war and the people must in
some way meet those obliga ions.
Under these conditions industrial re.
construction viii necessarily be slow
A stupeuduOus national debt will be
heritage OF the people PROSTATE
Industries Will revive slowly because
of the lack Of skilled labor and raw
material. Agriculture will languisA
because there will he few u till the
soil Labor will demand a high wage
and the muney to meet this demand
viii be hard to find.
We look In VAIN through history
for par lle to this struggle in the
wanton destruction of life and prop
erty The wars Of Napolean though
! asIing hlteen years did not i'm the
as much in life and treasure as the
| first six months of the present war.
| b lgium, Poland and northera FfaF4@e-
are devastated The same fate
awaits the Balkan states, Greece, n
neutral nation, VII probably be COOS
en- as the battle ground upon which
the final battles + hi, war win be
ught Her territory will be raw.
ished, her cities sacked and he's "a
tioHal aspirations stllled 1t viii re
quite many lea $ of toll and wise
craftsmanship to build up the wreck
ed industries Of the w,Gring natiO S
TO heal the sounds and etlace the
causes that led up to the conflict.
As rule recuperation after war is
very rapid where there is healthy
foundation upon which TO build.
Unfortunately i'm the present case
the foundation is an incnnceivably
large national debt, frightlul deci-
nation in the ranks of the veTile
population and the great lumber of
the physically incompetent such as
the cripples snd dependent children
OF those slain and MANNED in battle.
The outlook is anything but optimis.
tic and the end is not in sight. The
destruction OF life and property upon
the sea taken Ia tie aggregate is
staggering In lE immensely. The
merchant narine.of ali nations, neu.
trail and belligeraut alike have suf.
fered great losssand Inconvenience.
Many liners costing millions of dol.
lars have been sent to the bottom
with cargoes valued at millions of
dollars more, not counting the thou.
sands of human I,yes that went down
with the ships, IL Will require many
years of labor ana hundreds of mil
lions of dollars 10 replace the gigan-
tic fleet of vessels that have been de.
s'royed since nostIlties began.
The domestic animals which are SO
necessary to tue cumrort, convent
ence aud prosperity of mankind ara
almost Snuihilated throughout the
war zone. When peace prevails once
more those domestic animals must Ice
replaced This will mean the exaen.
diturs of many millions of I.lIars