The Princeton union., 1920-03-18

one time on the fighting front. It is
more than the total that got into the.
combat lines.
These are "some figures" but they
are facts. We actually spent s1,151,-
100000 for airplanes and never got a.
fighting plane of American make IN
action in France and but very few of
the observation type. We spent pro-
portionate sums for ordinance and
got none in action. We had no Ameri-.
can tanks and no American shells,
| Where did the money go that is rep
resented in the $15,187, 100000 spent
in the 19 months of our part in the.
war, this inclusive of our foreign
loans ?~
The expenditures for this year end
ing June 80 next will be over 7,30O,-
600, ,00G: The cost for the 9 months
after the war are $15,474,9S4, ,0OO--
compare that with the amount fer the
war period and do little thinking;
The average annual expenditure for
the war of 1872 with past war cost
was $50, ,164,0 900 for the civil war
period 1888 ,O04, 900; enough to last less
than three weeks of this war. The cost
Of the reconstruction civil war period
was 1910, 900 a year; enough to-
have lasted about a week of this past
year period. The cost of the Spanish
war year would have lasted about lOa
days of, the past three year expendi-
lures.
| Do you know what was done with,
the money you paid for Liberty bonds
and war stamps? We do not, but we
do know that there is today a floating
debt Of over s3,O0O,o0O, ,oeo and un-.
adjusted war claims of around s., ,5Oa.--
100000. Your bonds are good The
interest will always be paid. Any
bank will take your coupons at their
face value. The bonds in five years
will be worth more than par. :.
i! But there was one government en-
ploye for every 61A men in the army
and navy, and we have spent more in
less than two years of war than FRANCE
did for over four years and she lost
nearly as many men as we had en-.
rolled.
There never was another such orgy
Of spending in the worlds history. It
was not spending, it was wasting,
wasting because of a refusal, a stub
born, bull-headed refusal, to use busi-
ness methods to permit any business
system or any system of any kind in
the conduct of the business side of the
war.
More than that we came to peace
just as unprepared as we were for war
Up to this day the administration has
not presented, nor is there any evi--
dence that it has even thought Of any
definite policy of retrenchment. Eachs
department is trying not to retrencE1--
but to avoid retrenching 1t is asking
for more money, not less. None has
presented a plan looking to less ex-
penditure or any fixed policy of econo-~
my. Yet it will take million dollars
year from the industry and savings.
just to pay interest on the public debt
There is just one man responsible
for this. For there is just one man
who could have prevented it. He re-
fused every plea for business manag ge-
ment and organization. He was
begged and implored by his own party
leaders to permit the organization of
a war council such as great Britain
and France had, to manage the busi-
ness end of the war. He refused. He
would not part with an item of his au-
thority Or power: We said at the time,
that if he insisted upon having all the
responsibility, vastly more than any
one man who ever lived could ade-
quately carry, he must with it, take all
the responsibility for the consequences.
That man is Woodrow Wilson, and he
has not changed; he has learned Moth
ing. Have the people learned any
thing Charles S. Mitchell in Du--
luth News Tribune.