REAL COST OF THE WAR

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10613, 11 June 1920, Page 4

REAL COST OF THE WAR

Mr Cramond’s estimate of tho cost of the war—the real cost, he terms it —differs to a rather surprising extent from official figures occasionally published. Hie list in his lecture at the Bankers’ Institute, for example, of tho cost to live nations—Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany —gives a total of £20,050,000,000 as tho real cost. Now, an official estimate by the British Government of tho cost to all the belligerents to March, 1919, is £40,000.000,000. It is difficult, without Mr Cramond’s details, to see how Austria, tho United States, Russia, Turkey, "and the Balkan States, none of which are named in his list, can make up between thorn the £20,000,000,000 required to balance tho two estimates. Britain’s real cost, moreover, is set down by Mr Cramond at £3,500,000,000. Now, the Government’s figures to tho end of March, 1019, show a total war expenditure to that date of £9,531,000,000, of which taxation contributed 28 per cent., or £2,678,000,000, and loans provided 72 per cent., or £6,853,000,000. If we take from the above nine thousand five hundred millions the £2,292,000,000 represented by loans (£1,739,000,000) and Supplies (£553,,000,000) to the Allies, the British expenditure stands at £7,239,000,000. Tho difference between this and Mr Crainond’s real cost to Britain of tho war, £3,500,000,000, seeing too large to bo accounted for by sales of materials and plants and by shipping and other acquisitions. A good deal has been recovered on those counts, but one can 1 scarcely " believe that tho amount is so large as £3,739,000.000. "When the text of the lecture, reaches here, the point will, no doubt, be cleared up.

Tho summary ot "Uis 'ecturor’s figures of national wealth and national incomes is too meagre for complete understanding, and is, therefore, tantalising. For example, everybody will like his estimate of tho British wealth in 1910 of nearly 25,000 millions and his estimate of the same in 1920 at 44,000 millions, more especially as the estimates of income are rcsjiectivcly for these dates 3332 millions and 7650 millions, an increase of considerably more than double. At the same time, everyone will bo anxious to know how this improvement has come about, in spite of four years of the most costly war in history.