The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-04-10
THE COST OF wan
UNITED STATES SPENT NINE asIL-
LION DOLLARS LAST YEAR.
This Great Sum Less Than Estimate
made a Year Ago-More rhan
Half Advanced as Loans to AlIIcs.

washington, April 4.-N1ne billion
dollars is the approximate cost to
the United States of one year of war.
More than one-half has gone i'm
loans to allies and will be repaid
eventually; over one-third has been
spent for the army and military estab-
lishment, one-tenth for the navy and
one fifteenth for ship building.
Just one-sixth Of this big war cost
has been raised by taxation and other
ordinary sources of revenue, and the
balance has come from sale of Liberty
bonds and certificates of indebted
ness.
Enormous as these war expen6i-
lures may seem to a country whose
government in peace times cost be-
tween 70O,OO0,00O and $500, 900 900
they are less than Great Britain's
and are only about two-thirds 0f esti-
mates made by officials less than year
ago. Slow progress of the ship build
ing program and the retarding of the
outpouring of war supplies are regard
ed by officials as the chief reasons
why expenditures did not equal esti-
mates.
Government expenditures are. run
ming about q billion dollars a month
with somewhat less than half going to
allies, who spend the greater part of
their loans for war supplies in this
country.
Since the declaration of war April
6, 1917, the governments actual ex-
penditures have been more .,than
$2,S0O, 100000, but about $8,OO0,0o0 of
this sum would have been spent for
normal activities even if the United
States had not entered the war.
Ordinary expenditures, under which
the treasury Classics all outlays for
operation Of the governmental ma.
chinery and war enterprises since the
declaration Of war have been approx
imately s5,OS4,OOO, 900. Actual pay
ments to allies amounted to about s4..
743, 900, 900.
Income from internal revenue, most
of which is represented by war taxes
and from customs and miscellaneous
sources has run up to about $1,5S5,-
100000 and the two Liberty loans
have brought to the treasury a little
less than s5.SOO,0OO,0 Small col
lections from war savings and thrift
stamps in the last four months amount
to s14O, 900, 900. 28
There are a number of other, minor
receipts and expenditures but thtx1do
not materially affect the condition OF
the public Golfers. Outlays for re-
demption of certificates of indebted
ness, although appearing large on pa
per. actually mean little to the gov
ernment in the long run, since the
certificates represent short time loans
About $4,000, 100000 of certificates
of Indebtedness are now outstanding
and will be redeemed at various times
within the next few months. This
means that the treasury has received
this amount to cover running expens
es. but will have to repay it soon out
OF receipts from taxes due in June and
from the third Liberty loan..
FINANCIAL experts Of the government
calculate that the war has cost in dol
lars even more than the formal treas
ury figures show, on account of in
creased expense of many State and
local governments under war condi-
tions. They do not venture to estimate
the aggregate Of these expo nses, how
ever. On the other hand the war has
resulted in innumberable economies.
public, private and personal, enforced
partly by rising costs.