The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-03-06
APARTMENTS AFTER THE WAR.

Almost as rOmautlc as tuc Sdih' vision of things after death, appar- ently are tie delicious dreams which are forecasted by the militarists as to conditions after the great war IS over.
 They see as in an ecstasy the en- tire nations of the world armed to the teeth, and one is recently quot ed as suggesting that Germany line her borders with system Of tren ;hes and have a huge reserve army ready to man threatened points at all fronts.
 Like game of cards where fol- lowing suit is mandatory by the rules of the game the other nations. then, would have to do likewise, and Europe would not only be an ar"'eo camp. but the world would De actu- ally in state of defense 2rr;are ]! for offense.
 It is quite needless to s&? that American publicists who have been exciting the imagination With pre- paredness details will themselves denounce such a condition who'll? regardless of the fact lhat by theif fanatic zeal for armar'ents in ttl$ country. they would foIst upon the western hemisphere similar state of affairs. Therefore it needs the cool common sense of socialist writer like Georg Gothein. himself German socialist, and quoted i'll the Industrial Union News. to sum mariiy subject these visions to ana lysis.
 Gothein points out with consider able ability that for short time after the war, the terrible embit- terment which it has engendered between the nations will be in creased rather than diminished, but eventually "the war psychosis will pass away and the need to resume trade relationships will enforce per sonal intercourse between the riya belligerent groups.
 He states that the poverty and wretchedness which will have beer caused by the war and which vii have been brought home to almost every family group, will pave the way for a permanent peace move ment more effectively than ever.
 But he dwells With emphasis upor the financial condition of the warr ing nations compelling rather a re striction ill their military and maya organizations, than an increase.
 It is hard to resist the logic o1 his statements. The destruction o1 property and the squandering of tht national wealth has been so great that national impoverlshment wll be the condition of all belligerents The idea of war indemnity being exacted by one nation or another is cast aside as highly improbable by this writer The enormous losses if
 
 direct costs of the war will be faI less than the costs of pensions which will have to be paid widows and orphans The sum needed will be enormous. Taking then the require ments of the national debts and the interests and liabilities thereon, il (, I,., lob n huge sum per annum, For Germany Gothein calculates it will mean $1,S75,O0O,OOO per annum. Yet. he points out the military and naval estimates for Germany in 1914 which excited so much and such emphatic opposition, amounted only to $395,O0O, O,OOO.
 The task of shouldering the colossal burdens imposed by the war will be rendered far more diffi- cult because hundreds of thousands of the most efficient workers will have been killed or crippled in the struggle. The taxes will have to be met by greatly reduced number ot tax payers. Taxation will fall neavi- ly upon the produce of the surviv- ors, and will impair their ability to compete with the lands that have remained neutral. The home market in the belligerent nations will be greatly restricted owing to lack oi purchasing power. It is true that in Germany whose productive areas have remained unaffected by the war, there is likely to be at first