The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1914. THE WAR, NOW AND AFTER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 152, 23 November 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1914. THE WAR, NOW AND AFTER.

The success of the colossal British war loan of £350,000,000 was not for a moment doubted, but that it should have reached a premium already was, in the circumstances, hardly to be expected. It is a. great tribute to the loyalty of the financiers of the population, as well as an indication of the latent financial resources of the Old Country, that such a vast sum should be so quickly subscribed. Money is going to play a very important part, indeed a decisive part, in this war, and in this respect none of the combatants stand so favorably as the British nation. Britain herself is fabulously rich, and can find even an extra £450,000,000, the estimated annual cost of the war, without encroaching seriously on her capital, for that sum is very little in excess of the income she derive-* from her overseas investments. But she has other untouched wells of wealth. The wealth of India, for instance, is practie-; ally inexhaustible, and if necessity arose theTe is no doubt it would be placed at Britain's disposal. We of the colonies have no accumulations of capital. On the contrary, we require capital ourselves to develop our resources, but we are potentially rich, and can materially help the Old Country by providing foodstuffs and raw materials, which are just as acceptable as capital to Britain. The Chancellor of the -Exchequer mentioned that if we rose to the heroic level of our ancestors in Napoleon's time we would be raising £700,000,000 annually. Our people arc showing that they have not changed their spirit or character from those dark and momentous days, and, should necessity demand, even the vast sum mentioned would not be beyond > their means or willingness to provide. Mr. Lloyd-George also stated that during the war industries would be enormously occupied, and the country would then have to face the most serious industrial situation it had ever confronted. "Tho war will have exhausted an enormous amount of the world's capital, Britain's purchasers at Home and abroad would be crippled, and it was, therefore, desirable to raise as much taxation as was possible during trade inflation." The effect may be quite the reverse. The Government of Britain has revealed to ( the world how a State can successfully meet an entirely new situation caused i by a world's war. It promptly went to the assistance of bankers, financiers, traders—everyone, acting like a father to them all, and restoring confidence and normality. The same spirit, tho same readiness to help on the part of the State, after the war, will have the same beneficial effect. The extension of that help is indeed the logical conclusion of the measures that have fteeu taken. It will require courage and statesmanship, but the Government has shown itself possessed of these qualities. There may, however, be no necessity for any heroic State action. Business may increase, and not decrease, after the war. The British manufacturers now turning out articles for the war can p«y tneir attention to those markets lost by Germany. Russia has in the past been Germany's best customer; for the future ' the name Germany will stink in the ' nostrils of the Russians. What applies ' to Russia applies equally to France, Belgium, India, Egypt, and all the British colonies. Britain, if she takes ad- ; vantage of her present opportunities, will experience a great revival in trade, ' and will have need for all her men to man her industries. The Chancellor ex- j' pressed the hope that the chief result . of the war would be an all-round reduc- \ tion in armaments. This is inevitable. ' If Britain can save fifty millions annu- '■ ally in this way it will provide interest , upon over a thousand millions that tho war may cost. The other belligerents will effect proportionate savings. In . this way the load of taxation will be i lightened. The war has been the means of solving many social problems confronting the nation, and with the same brotherly, democratic spirit evinced after . the war the pressing social conditions of ] Britain that were so much to the fore ' before the war will offer no difficulty * of solution. ' " ""V'.' V'JyfjT !