The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1918-11-28
COST OF THE WAR IS
ENORMOUS
An. Eastern. Financier.. Places
Total to Present Time at
134 Billions.

The bill of costs for the great war
has not all been rendered. With the
ending of actual fighting there will
be reduction of expenses and the toll
of lives claimed by guns and gases and
treacherous submarines presumably is
ended but there is still an enormous
drain on the resources of the countries
at war. 1t certainly will be two years
expenditures to say nothing of the
enormous interest that must be paid
on the national debts unless they are
compromised or repudiated.
R. E. Whittlesey, statistician of an
Eastern Trust company, has made
some estimates which if accurate are
startling. The money spent by the
seven leading nations during the four
years from the beginning of the great
war up to the time Mr.. Whittlesey
made his estimates is placed at 134
billion dollars, which is 29 billion dol
lars more than the total estimated
wealth of Germany and Austria COM
bined. 1t is greater than all the COM
bined money expenditures for all 9th
er wars since the beginning of all re-
corded history. The total cost of all
the wars fought since the American
Revolution up to this one was only %
billion dollars, so that the cost of this
war has been very nearly five times
as great as the cost of these wars. The
average daily cost of the war during
the four-year period has been about
107 million dollars. The total cost of
the Panama Canal was considerably
less than 500 million dollars, so that
every five days during these four
dreadful years there has been spent
for purposes of destruction more than
enough to construct the Panama Canal.
To construct one of our great trans
continental railroads would not cost
to exceed a billion dollars, the equiva-
lent of war expenditures for two and a
half days or less. To construct tun-
mel under the English Channel wide |
enough for a double track railroad
and -ully equipped, it is estimated by
engineers would cost something less
than 100 million dollars. In other
words the money expenditures of the
Great War for single day have been
more than enough to pay for the con-
struction of this tunnel. These fate
full four years have added to the debts
of these seven nations the astounding
total of 120 billion dollars. 1t had TAX
en- the entire previous century to ac-
cumulate combined debt of $685.
$50 100000.
Great as has been the money or
dwindles into insignificance as COM
pared with the horrible loss of life
and the number of human wrecks left
to spend their lives in continual pain
and Lelplessness. Mr.. Whittlesey esti-
mates the number killed during the
four-year period at 812 million. To
that number must now be added fully
Il million who have been killed since
August /. The number of perma
nently disabled during the four years
he estimates at 7,155,00 and to that
number must now be added another 4
million, so that the total loss of man
power in killed and permanently dis {
abled is now 16,206,000, all young. {
vigorous men, for war takes the best {
we hi We. This means that there have '
been subtracted from the man-power ,
Of the world enough men to equal the |
population of 10 average states. g
The estimated economic value of 8
these men killed and permanently dis {
abled is estimated at 45 billion dollars. 5
And all these estimates do not take
nto ; ccount the horrible suffering in
,licted on non-ccmbatants, women and
children and old men. 1t does not
axe into account either the multiplied r
Millions of dollars worth of civilian :,
destroyed, the cities and
owns wrecked or totally obiterated.
t does not take into account the works y
# art destroyed, rare paintings ruin :,
d, the acts of inexcusable vandalism =
esulting in damage which can never -
e repaired, in losses which never can :,
e replaced. p