THE LIFE-COST OF A WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 34, 9 February 1881, Page 4

THE LIFE-COST OF A WAR.

The Manchester Examiner remarks that, startling end terrible as were M. de Foville'a calculations of the money cost to France of the war with Germany, the ghastly numbers he deals with in the last cumber of the Economiete Franchise ore even more impressive. M. de Foville in this articlesets himself to examine all the authorities bearing on the numbers killed and wounded during the, war and the Communist insurrection, and he arrives at a result which is simply appalling to reed of. Before, however, he proceeds to the French death-roll, he refers to a remark of Prince Bismarck's, on which he is able to give Borne information. Bismarck is reported one day, in an excess of melancholy, to bave said, "But for me, threp great wars would not have taken place; 80,000 would not have perished on the field of battle, and their children, their brothers, their relations would cot bave been reduced to despair." M. de Foville insists that Bismarck's computation could only have taken account of the German losses, for, ioetead of 80,000, the victims of tbe three wars of 1864, 1866, and 1870 must be put down ai least at 250,000 men. To take the last war alone, be quotes tbe official woik of Colonel Peirron to show that tbe losses of tbe German army in 1870-1, were 18,673 killed, 11,516 who died from the effects of wounds, 13,301 who succumbed to disease, 4000 disappearances unaccounted for, while 127,867 were wounded, but survived. Tbe French armiea, in tbe same period, had altogether 138,871 killed and 143,060 wounded by the fire of the enemy,- raising the total of French killed and wounded to the sum of 281,987 ; or, adding the losses of the two' armies together, we have the awful total of 450,000 men killed and wounded in the campaign. But the disastrous effects of war are not limited to the armies engaged. Disease and famine follow in its wake, and comparing. tbe general death-rate in France during 1870-71* with that of the yr ars 1869 and 1872, M. de Foville calculates thai the deaths, in the former period were 660,635 in excess of the general yats of the two other years, Then there

are the ravages of the Communists and the second eiege to be taken into consideration. This careful writer estimates ♦ bat he is not far from the truth in fiffising ot 150,00 the number of Frenchmen currying arms killed between July 1870 and June 1871, and at 100 COO more the number of those whb were left maimed or permanently disahled es the result of wounds — a prodigious and horrible " butcher's bill," which is sickening to think of.