The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1915. THE COST OF WAR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 51, 30 June 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1915. THE COST OF WAR.

It is worth while to pause and think

sometimes of the enormous cost of this useless and wicked war, which German madness lias forced on the world. Some idea of the burden of expenditure may he gathered from the fact that the British Government had to announce a deficit of £518,000,000 the other day, while the Chancellor of the Exchequer almost lightly referred to the borrowing of £000,000,000 of

new money, a sum approximating nearly the whole sum of Britain’s national debt before the war. The extraordinary part is, however, that the money will readily be found sucli is the strength of British finance and the faith in (he Government. The London Statist not long ago published some interesting calculations as to the total cost of the war. It’s estimates were purposely made as low as possible. It assumed that the cost to Great Britain would he £700,000,000 for the first year of war. We now know that it is costing about three millions sterling each day, and that will mean at least one thousand millions sterling for the year - . It has been calculated also that the war expenditure of France would not be less than that of Great Br itain, while Russia would havu to tpend more. To ho on

th« safe aide. it is said that Russia will

also .spend £700,000.000, which means that the cost to the three Knteute Powers for the first year wiil amount to £2.UK),000,000 At the most moderate estimate, another £000,000,000 must he reckoned for Belgium Serbia, and Japan so that a single year of hostilities on the present scale will cost the Allies not less that 2-100 millions sterling, and possibly a good deal more. The Statist supposes that tlu> war cost to Germany, Austria and Turkey is quite as much, if not more than it is to the Allied nations and the States they are assisting to defend. The sum in mere wealth which is being destroyed at a maniac’s' whim is stupendous. But even this

is nothing to the terrible sacrifice of human life, for the slain may already

he counted in millions. Beyond all is the abhorrent methods of German warfare, for right from the commencement of hostilities, Germany has endeavoured to spill blood without any just cause, and therefore, it behoves the Allies to take full advantage of their attainments to inflict any degree of suffering upon their unscrupulous antagonist. The enemy has used missiles that not only kill, hut inflict unnecessary torture. They have treacherously fired upon our wounded, and

have used, flags of truce to conceal deadly designs, while the, employment of poisonous gases is quite in keeping with armed marauders. There are still foolish people who talk of gentleness towards the perpetrators of such’ foul deeds. The Allies task is no light one, but they go forward to the bitter end, and the wrongdoer will lie made to suffer severely in full punishment. That i,s what the civilised world now looks for.