THE COST OF WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 239, 18 March 1915, Page 5

THE COST OF WAR.

NEARLY TEN MILLIONS A DAY, A GERMAN ESTIMATE. <■» According to a dispiUch to the London Times from a correspondent in Amsterdam, the chief organ of the German Socialist Party, Yonvaerts, reckons the cost of the war to all the belligerent nations at nearly 1 *10,000,000 a day. Says this correspondent:— From the otlicial statistics of the various belligerent countries tlie Vonvaerts estimates the cost of tlie present war. The British Government, states tlie journal, recently declared that its daily war bill amounted to £1,000,'000. Thus it must already have spent some £150,000,000. Up to December 10 the war bill in France totalbd £257.<U0.000, of which amount Belgium bail received £10,000,000, Servia. £3,000.000, ;tnd Montenegro £-1)0,000, and a loan to Greece of £BOO,000. The daily cost for Eranee amounts therefore to some £ l,X40.0l):l. Kussia spent during the first three and a. half months £1 '.12,7:50,000, and her •daily bill is about £1,835,06(5N> > , England, France, and Hussia together, I continues the journal, are daily spending about £4,000.000, and, as they together have probably not more than 11,000.000 soldiers each soldier costs about 8s 5d daily. Tt stands to reason that, the eost of tlie % war for German/ ti-i Austria .is about the same, wliieh would make for both States, with a mobilised lighting ' power of some 10,000.01!') men, a' daily expenditure of £4,200,00(1. , Then the cost of the Belgian, Servian, Turkish, and Japanese armies must lie added, which, can be estimated at the i lowest at £400,000 ..,- r day. All the belligerent Powers together have there-* fore a daily war bill of at least £0,000,000. Professor Wolll', ivTio recently published a book concerning war costs, estimates the daily cost of the war for all belligerents at £7,500.000. " Our reckoning." remarks Vonvaerts, 'winch does not relv on estimates but on e.llieial facts furnish,.! by the belli-' gcrents, comes nearer To the mark and is much, higher than Professor Wolff's estimates. The costs of molelis.ition are included. The future cod. will ho not lower but still higher. Professor flolll is of opinion that the ciwt for . ' each man will not amount to more than IS per day. M. Yve„ Guyot istimates them at 10s." The first five months of the war have therefore eost about Cl.e 10 000 000 without the damage done tho war and without the loss to hMuslries 'I he indirect cost of the war vs regards the industries is much linger than tho direct cost. 'I he damage done in Bel-;->«m is estimated at Oil! fiOu.Ofin, and in East Prussia at £2,000,000.