The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, MAY 22, 1916. AFTER THE WAR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 40, 22 May 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, MAY 22, 1916. AFTER THE WAR.

Many writers, both English and foreign., express the view that there will be severe depression in Europe when the war is over, and that there will be found great difficulty in providing the 25,000,000 of disbanded soldiers with employment, to say nothing of the further 25,000,000 employed on munitions and communications. There are others who hold the opposite view, and state that the relief of peace and the necessity for replacing the. destruction caused by the war will give any amount of employment, and that the need for production will be immense. Reviewing the question from all standpoints a well-known Australian authority oil finance, however, contends that while there will be a load of debt and high taxation for many years, it must be borne in mind that what this takes from the people it repays to them, and adds to their incomes. If we look back to the effect of other wars it has generally been found that peace has brought a boom where the countries were not utterly exhausted. If, for instance. Belgium, Serbia, and Poland were left to their own unaided resources a rapid revival could hardly be anticipated. The wars previously waged by Germany sine- 1860 were short, and exhaustion did not result even to the defeated. r iiu> onlv long war for a century was the Civil War in the I'nired States, and the South was thoroughly exhausted. Vet aided by the North when the "»y v- over the revival was rapid and depression did not follow the conclusion „|- pe .. c . e . Alter the Franco-Prussian War both cofnr.ries Loomed. The ride has been tor peace to be followed by a rapid absorption of labor and a vast demand for production, which was only omlvd when capital resources ran out. Hal will not this war, with its expenditure of over 620,000,000 a day U,. 1V0 all Rnropp exhausted The uorld hns llPV er yet had io lace sych a colossal expenditure, and it is admitted!:

! difficult to appeal to precedent. The | conclusion is. however, ilia: whatever I the financial position at the end of UuI war, the prosperity of the people will j depend upon the now production and 'consumption of goods. Their measures of value may he depreciated—they may be depreciated throughout the world—i and even ;hc pound sterling may continue to purchase loss, as it does now. But the most pronounced feature of the conflict has been the unprecedented creation of Government indebtedness, in- , eluding paper money, and Government securities are bound to continue depreciated, partly as measured in currency and partly by the depreciation in 1 the currency itself. It is also suggested thai the end of the war is not likely to be followed by any great depredation in visible prices, which will adapt themselves to the altered-cost of production as measured by depreciated currencies. ( BvmiaauamaßEmisiMtaaavauEM