Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-09-26
MEETING THE WAR DEBT-By Frederic j. Haskn

WASHINGTON, d. c., Sept. 20-The
w United States treasury department
announces the dawn of a new fnan-
cial day. 1t states that Uncle Sam is now
solvent; that he is no longer running behind
in his obligations day by day; that he pays
he goes and has more money coming in
than he spends
This is a condition which has not existed
since this nation plunged into the great war
back in the spring of 1917 The unprece-
denied expenditures necessary in carrying on
that war were far beyond the power OF the
nation to finance without going in debt. AS
a matter of fact the United States went in
debt, piled up obligations, pyramided the war
burden at a digging speed never equaled by
any other agency since time began. Neither
Great Britain, nor France, nor Germany
spent money as fast as did America, once she
was started.
The period of debt accumulated amounted
roughly to twenty-seYen months, which
lasted from April, 1917, to the end of June,
1919. In that twenty-seven months the
United States spent thirty-two and half
billion dollars. The maximum expenditure
was reached two months after the armistice
was signed In the single month of Deem
Der, 1918, this government paid out two bill
lion dollars There the expenditure reached
the high-water mark and began to decline,
until for the month of June, 1919, the out
flow amounted to eight hundred million dol
lars. Such was the drift back toward normal.
All the time the stupendous war expense
was piling up the treasury department and
the congress were devising means for Dor
rowing the amount needed to meet the
emergency and for increasing the income
from taxation, that the government might
pay as much of the expenses as was pos
sible out of current revenues. The dominat-
ing device in the whole program was the
Liberty and Victory loans. Through these
the government piled up over twenty-one
dnIJ
income and incidental short-term certificates,
it paid its, way.
At this time, when the spending season is
past, it is of interest to attempt to determine
Just what this war venture of ours has cost.
We have the figure of thirty-two and a half
billions as the item of expenditure up to
June 80 last. Had the war not been in ex-
istence our expenditures through that time
would probably have been about a billion
dollars a year, or two and quarter billions
for the period. Deducting these normal ex-
penditures from the thirty-two and a half
billions, we have thirty billions, roughly
which should be charged up against the war.
Another credit item which may deduct
from that thirty billion is the nine billions
which is owed US by the nations of Europe,
and which, in all probability, we will get
back. So the sum total of net loss due to the
war seems to be about twenty-one billion
dollars.
"A lew uonChS dSo Cne treasury uepdtC-
ment estimating our possible indebted
ness when our war obligations were met
as from twenty to twenty-fOur billion dollars
Fortune favored us in a number of ways
however, and it is now evident that the debt
will not be that large. We expected a loss
of billion dollars through the guarantee
of $2.20 for wheat, while matter of fact
we have had no loss at all on that score.
The loss on the ship-building program of the
nation has not been as great as was an
ticipated, for the reason that the market on
ships has been excellent and it has been pos
sible to sell many of them in such a way as
to avoid loss, and sometimes even at profit.
So the debt has been whitfield down, and it
Is now evident that it will not amount to more
than eighteen billion dollars. and that it will
probably be under that figure.
This debt of eighteen billion dollars, to
be sure, is a nice little burden to carry
through the decades that are to come. In