The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1914. THE COST OF A MODERN WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2269, 1 October 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1914. THE COST OF A MODERN WAR

Some idea ol tho enormous cost ol the present • war may be gained Irom a cablegram, which appears in another column of this issue, giving estimates of German expenditure. In the opinion of experts the outlay for, the six weeks which preceded the first decisive battle amounted to £60,000,000. German authorities reckon that it will cost £328,480,000 a year to''keep three million men in tho field, while, according to tho calculations of economists, the cost of maintaining an army of this size will be £440,000,000 a year. It is almost certain, however, that Germany has found' it necessary to mobilise" far more than three million men. Some, say she has as many. as • six million soldiers under arms.. One would probably be well within the.mark in estimating her present actual war expenditure as being at the rate of £500,000,000 per annum. This is entirely apart from the enormous economic loss due to the dislocation of trade and industry. Compared with such stupendous figures as these, the cost of military operations in' earlier times is 1 almost trilling. The machinery of war in those days was of a very simple character; the armies were comparatively small, the supply and of ammunition presented no great difficulties, and the troops lived almost entirely upon the country in which they were fighting. The ammunition supply began to require serious attention when the gun made its ajjpearance in warfare, and in recent years it has become' one of the greatest problems of military organisation. This is due to the wonderful manner in which •modern' science and. invention have increased tho number and power of the. instruments of destruction. In former days . a force .of 100,000 men was regarded as a huge army, but the present struggle has provided the world with tho amazing spectacle- of nearly the whole of the able-bodied male population • of Russia,' France, Austria, and Germany taking part in the operations. The cost of feeding and clothing such huge forces is a tremendous drain on the resources of the respective countries; and soldiers have to be well clothed and led if they are to bo kept up to the high standard of physical fitness necessary to enable them to stand the strain of, a campaign such as that. which is' now taking place in Europe. How long tho financial burden of the present war can be supported is one of the issues upon which the result_ may ultimately depend. The opinions of experts differ very widely on this point ; but it is quite certain that Britain is in a better position than any of the other belligerents to face the vast expenditure which a prolonged conflict would involve. Some interesting information regarding the cost of war is given in the London Economist. An official report presented to French Government on the financial aspect of the Franco-German War shows that the actual cost per day in January, 1871, was about £640,000, while the daily cost of every man under arms during the entire period of tho campaign was a little over eleven shillings. On that occasion, however, France had only 600,000 men in tho field, aind since then tho expensiveness of warfare has greatly increased. According to a later French estimate, a war in which France, Russia, Germany, and Austria were the combatants would cost £3,600,000 a day, while an Austrian authority thinks that such a war would cost France £1,020,000 a day, Russia £1,120j000, Germany £1,000,000, and Austria £320,000. By a calculation based on the Balkan War, and assuming that 9,250,000 men arc under arms, the Economist reckons that the present struggle is costing about £4,500,000- overy day. As regards Britain's expenditure, th# first vote (a sum of £100,000,000) was agreed to by Parliament on August 6. This is described af a preliminary x "estimate of tno sum. required to lie voted, beyond th» ordinary grants of Parliament, towards defraying the expenses whicli may'bo incurred during the year ending March 31, 1915, for all measures which may bo taken for the security of the country for the conduct of naval and military operations; for assisting tho.food supply; for promoting tho continuance of trade, industry, business, and communications, whether by moans of insurance or indemnity against rislc or otherwise; for relief lof distress; and generally for all expenses arising out of the existence of a state of war."

This vote of £100,000,000 is" generally regarded as an under-estimate, and tho prevailing opinion seemsto bo that Parliament will have to vote an additional sum in November. Of course 110 one knows what this great European conflict is going to cost Britain, because it is impossible to tell how long it will last; but wo do know that all the resources of the British Empire will be thrown into the scale againsfc the brute force and money power of Kaiscrdom, Wo have been assured on the highest authority that Britain was randy wlrnu commeiicedA and ve&dk.

ness certainly includsc! a state of financial strength unequalled by either of uuv adversaries. Finance is not everything, for war is a tost of the moral and physical qualities of a- nation, as well as of its financial stability; but money must always bo a factor of outstanding importance in modern warfare, and in the present case final victory or defeat may depend upon tho contents of the purses of the belligerent nations. As Mr. Lloyd George recently reminded us, the last few hundred millions may win the war. "Our enemies can stand the first hundred millions as well as wo can, but the last hundred millions they cannot.."