THE TERRIBLE PRICE.
A NATION OF MEN DESTROYED--MILLIONS IN SHIPPING AND COMMERCE
DESTROYED--WORLD'S MAPS CHANGED--BILLIONS IN MONEY--IMMENSE
DEBTS--NATION'S WEALTH--THE UNITED STATES A GREAT PROVIDER.
The human tongue seems almost devoid of power to convey to the human
mind what the war has actually cost the world in lives, money, property,
ideals and all that is dear to humanity. In all the world there is not a
human being who has not contributed something to the awful cost and the
loss due to the destruction of property, the stopping of industry, the
waste of energy and the curtailment of human endeavor in the interest of
civilization, and the effects which the struggle has had upon the world
cannot even be approximated in dollars and cents.
We have been taught to regard war as a terrible thing and to realize
that thousands must be slain, but in no war in the history of the world
has there been as many troops engaged as have been killed in the
European war on the battlefields of Belgium and France.
At the beginning of the year 1917 it was estimated that the total
casualties of the war were 22,500,000. In a report based on figures
compiled in Washington it was stated: The human estimated waste and
financial outlay are staggering. The combined casualties of the war,
partly estimated because all belligerents do not publish lists, are
22,500,000. The figures included killed, permanently injured, prisoners
and wounded returned to the front. Of this number the Central Powers
were estimated to have suffered permanent losses in excess of 4,000,000,
and the entente perhaps twice that number, Russia being by far the
heaviest loser.
The financial outlay, based in part on official reports and statements
and in part on estimates, was placed at approximately $80,000,000,000,
divided $50,000,000,000 to the entente and $30,000,000,000 to the
Central Powers. The entente lost more than 3,500,000 tons of merchant
shipping and approximately 800,000 tons of naval vessels. On the other
side the loss of naval tonnage was approximately 250,000 tons, and
merchant ships aggregating 211,000 tons were reported captured or
destroyed.
IMMENSE LOSS TO COMMERCE.
Of the foreign commerce the Central Powers had lost $10,000,000,000 in
the two and a half years of war, including imports and exports. The loss
of commerce of Great Britain and her allies with the Central Powers
probably was in the neighborhood of $7,000,000. This was largely made up
at least on the import side by increased trade with the United States
and other neutral countries and enlarged trade with the colonies.
Germany lost virtually all her African colonies and all her possessions
in the Pacific Ocean, an aggregate of more than 1,000,000 square miles.
Turkey also lost a large area of territory held at the outbreak of the
war, while Austria lost most of Bukowina and Galicia. To offset the
territory losses of the Central Powers, the entente have lost in Europe
approximately 300,000 square miles. Of this large area, all of it
thickly populated in normal times, 175,000 square miles were wrested
from Russia on the eastern battlefield.
The staggering losses in men include the vast number on both sides
wounded in such a way as to permanently cripple them and render them
unfit for military service. The figures are based on official reports
and estimates by military experts.
Germany's permanent losses were placed at 1,500,000 men, including about
1,000,000 in killed. The permanent losses of Austria-Hungary were placed
at about 1,000,000 more than those of Germany, owing to the fact that so
much of the hard fighting on the eastern front was in the
Austro-Hungarian theater. The losses of the Austro-Hungarians during the
drive of General Brusiloff in 1916 were frightful. Large numbers of
Austrians were taken prisoner by Brusiloff.
Russia's casualties for the first year of the war were estimated by
military experts at more than 3,500,000 men, and these were doubled in
the succeeding year, according to estimates by American military
experts. Russia returned to the fighting line a smaller percentage of
wounded than any of the other great Powers.
GREAT BRITAIN'S CASUALTIES.
Great Britain's casualties were placed in excess of 1,250,000 despite
the limited front of British operations in France in the early stages.
The aggregate of Italy's casualties was estimated at 1,500,000, while
Belgium's were placed at 200,000, Servians at 400,000, Montenegro's at
150,000 and Rumania's at more than 300,000.
While the area of the territorial losses of the Central Powers was
nearly four times as great as that of the entente group, with the
exception of the occupied portions of Bukowina and Galicia, the value of
the territory included in them is comparatively small. For example,
Germany's African colonies were sparsely settled, largely by natives,
with virtually all development in the future. Despite this fact, their
loss was a severe blow to Germany.
The territorial losses of the entente covered all but a small corner of
Belgium, a highly developed, thickly populated industrial country; a
large slice of northern France, virtually all of Servia, all of
Montenegro, more than three-fourths of Rumania and 175,000 square miles
of Russia, the major part of it in the grain-growing section.
According to military experts on the "war map" of Europe as it stood at
that time, the Central Powers had won the war. But when their enormous
loss of foreign commerce and territory is considered, their "victory"
was shown to have most decided limitations, especially because of their
admission that they eventually would have to give up all occupied
territory in view of the frightful cost in men and money.
FIGURES POSITIVELY STAGGERING.
Supplementing these statements, as showing the progress of the war, it
was stated just before the United States took its memorable step to
break off diplomatic relations with Germany, members of the National War
Council estimated the total casualties of the war at that time as in
excess of the population of the United Kingdom, which in 1911 was more
than 45,000,000. This of course included those maimed, injured or so
stricken that they were unfit for future service. The number actually
killed was estimated at more than 7,000,000.
Staggering as these figures are they are easily conceivable when it is
remembered that the German front lines covered more than 500 miles with
Allied troops opposing them, and that in a single battle millions of
shells were fired by one side or the other. In one battle it was
officially reported that 4,000,000 shot and shell were used, and in
another the English mined the German trenches for a distance of several
miles and blew out the strongholds, using more than 1,000,000 pounds of
high explosives.
One of the great 42-centimeter guns of the Germans is said to have used
a charge of guncotton involving the use of a full bale of cotton to make
the explosive--and a bale of cotton contains 500 pounds. The shrapnel of
the heavy field artillery of the United States contains 717 balls or
bullets about the size of a common marble, and the shell, so timed that
it explodes just before it touches the ground, scatters the bullets or
balls over an area estimated at one yard for every bullet, or more than
700 yards. With thousands of such shells being rained over the
entrenchments is it any wonder that the list of wounded and killed was
great?
Thousands were killed by poisoned gases, and where they were not killed
a very large percentage of those affected suffered consequences which
rendered them unfit for battle--turned them into invalids. The gas bombs
produced hemorrhages of the lungs and bowels in thousands of cases and
left those who inhaled the fumes in an anemic and permanently disabled
condition. And what of the thousands who succumbed to fevers, and who
because of the terrible shock became mental and physical wrecks and were
made unfit for further duty on the actual firing lines?
A MATTER OF DOLLARS AND CENTS.
When it comes to the cost in dollars and cents it is possible to tell
something of what they mean with reference to war construction and
maintenance, although no one can estimate what it represents in
destruction. No one has yet devised an accounting system to determine
the percentage of "depreciation" through wear and tear on guns and
devices that cost thousands of dollars each, but everybody knows that
guns wear out and that some of the larger ones have a very decided limit
on the number of times they can be fired without being rebored or
rifled.
Railroads which have taken years to build and develop have been
destroyed, telephone and telegraph lines put out of commission, great
castles and temples razed, works of art burned, whole cities devastated,
green fields turned into great craters torn up by bombs and shells,
factories dismantled, herds of cattle fed into the maw of the armies,
and the ruthless Germans even went so far as to wantonly cut down and
destroy whole forests and magnificent shade trees which it took
generations to grow.
How the indebtedness of the nations grew during the progress of the war
is shown in the following statement issued by some of the financial
institutions of the country in the Spring of 1917:
"Indebtedness of the seven principal nations engaged in the European war
has crossed $75,000,000,000. In the middle of 1914 the indebtedness of
these seven nations was $27,000,000,000."
Financing on an extensive scale followed this state of affairs. France
issued a second formal war loan, Germany a fifth loan and Russia a sixth
loan. Great Britain issued temporary securities in enormous sums.
The war cost $105,000,000 every twenty-four hours, according to the
statistics, expenditures of the Entente Allies being fully double those
of the Central Allies.
COMPARATIVE WAR EXPENSES.
Without for one moment taking into consideration the billions which were
thrown into the war-pot by America the figures are staggering. An
interesting comparison is found in the cost of the previous great world
wars. The American Civil War, the greatest conflict in prior history
cost $8,000,000,000, a sum equalled every three months in the conduct of
the European war.
Approximate cost.
Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815 $6,250,000,000
American Civil War, 1861-1864 8,000,000,000
Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 3,000,000,000
South African War, 1900-1902 1,250,000,000
Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 2,500,000,000
European War, 1914-1917 (3 years) 75,000,000,000
It was further estimated that after the year 1917, the payment of
$3,800,000,000 a year would be required to pay the interest on the debt,
and that the total Government expenditures in Europe for bond interest
and support of the various branches of the Governments would require in
the neighborhood of 20 per cent of the people's income.
POPULATION AND WEALTH OF COUNTRIES.
Another comparative table that is important to any one desiring to study
the costs and their effects is that relating to population and wealth of
the principal countries. The latest available figures are:
Population Wealth
United States 101,577,000 $187,739,071,090
British Empire 394,930,000 130,000,000,000
Germany 67,810,000 80,000,000,000
France 39,700,000 50,000,000,000
Russia 187,379,000 40,000,000,000
Austria-Hungary 53,000,000 25,000,000,000
Spain 20,000,000 5,400,000,000
Belgium 7,500,000 9,000,000,000
Portugal 5,958,000 2,500,000,000
Italy 37,048,000 20,000,000,000
Taxes have been the main sources for raising money to carry on the war.
In Germany taxes on all incomes from the Kaiser to the ordinary business
man were kept at the highest rate, the Kaiser paying $500,000 on his
fortune of $35,000,000 during the early part of the struggle. This was
in addition to his income tax which amounted to $440,000, making a total
annual tax of nearly $1,000,000. The Krupps are said to have been
assessed at $3,000,000.
When the new military service laws were approved in Paris, which was
about the middle of July, 1913, the French Cabinet was at its wit's end
to provide the financial end of the tremendous military budget.
Investment markets were sluggish, and there were thousands of notes
whose values were rapidly depreciating. The French Government was unable
to float a loan of $200,000,000 which was necessary for making
preparations.
Then in her desperation Paris closed her doors to all foreign loans.
The Viviani Ministry practically duplicated the plan of its predecessor
in proposing an issue of $360,000,000 3-1/2 per cent bonds, which were
redeemable in 25 years.
One year previously to this financial struggle the Belgian Government
had started to raise $62,800,000 in order that the people of this
country might prevent its being used as the battleground for the world
war which they had seen away off in the future. This money was raised
for the purpose of making Antwerp an impregnable fortress.
IMMENSE SUM FOR ARMY AND NAVY.
Russia had taken steps to raise $3,700,000,000 which the Russian
Minister of Finance had informed the Budget Committee must be spent in
the next five years on the army and navy. During the first year of the
war there was $500,000,000 spent by this country in military and naval
defence. This does not include the cost of those strategic railroads of
which so many were constructed by the Russian Government, and which cost
so many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Previous to the time Great Britain declared war on Germany the House of
Commons had voted $525,000,000 for Emergency purposes, and within a
couple of days of this appropriation an additional $500,000,000 was
granted by the British Parliament.
One of the things accomplished by war was to bring out the fact that the
resources of individuals are far greater than is ordinarily suspected.
In 1870 Bismarck imposed an indemnity of $1,000,000,000 on France, never
believing that country could meet the great debt, but with the help of
all the inhabitants the debt was lifted within a few months.
When countries are at war the cost of continuing fighting does not stop
with those actually engaged. The trade of the world is affected, and
this means loss in all quarters of the globe. Of the import trade of the
United States more than $500,000,000 was directly with those nations
engaged in the war at the opening of hostilities. This was out of a
total of $1,850,000,000. A great part of this commerce is classed as
among that which yields the greatest import tax, which means that
internal taxes must be imposed on the people to make up for the money
necessary to meet with the yearly loss occasioned during the continuance
of the war.
ANNUAL NATIONAL INCOME.
In the United States there is an annual national income of
$50,000,000,000, the total bank resources being $35,000,000,000, the
individual deposits being $24,000,000,000, with cash held by the banks
totaling $2,500,000,000, total gold stock in the country being
$3,000,000,000, and available additional commercial credits on the basis
of cash holdings totaling $6,000,000,000.
The borrowing power of the American Government does not total less than
$40,000,000,000, from domestic sources, and this does not disturb the
ordinary financial and economical affairs of the nation.
During the first five months in 1917 the Government of the United States
reached a record for expenditures never before equalled in American
history. The total amount expended was $1,600,000,000.
The chief item of the increase--$607,500,000--was the purchase of the
obligations of foreign Governments in exchange for loans advanced to the
Allies. The sum did not represent by approximately $140,000,000 the
total amount authorized in loans. An increase of approximately
$245,000,000 in the ordinary disbursements of the Government, chiefly
due to military and naval needs, also was recorded and another item
going to swell the grand total of expenditures was the payment of
$25,000,000 for purchase of the Danish West Indies.
War loans of the six chief European belligerents, early in 1917,
aggregated approximately $53,113,000,000.
Loans of the chief Entente nations, Great Britain, France, Russia and
Italy, were placed at about $36,300,000,000; those of Germany and
Austria-Hungary, not including the sixth German loan reported to have
yielded about $3,000,000,000, at $18,800,000,000.
The amounts of the various loans were placed at:
Great Britain, to March 31, 1917, $18,805,000,000; France, to February
28, $10,500,000,000; Russia, to December 31, 1916, $7,896,000,000;
Italy, to December 31, 1916, $2,520,000,000; Germany, to December 31,
1916, $11,226,000,000; Austria, to December 31, 1916, $5,880,000,000;
Hungary, $1,730,000,000.
The total included the advances made by the United Kingdom and France to
the smaller belligerent countries allied with them.
SOME IDEA OF NATIONAL FINANCING.
Some idea of what all this financing means to a country may be judged by
the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who in October, 1916,
replying to questions regarding the English loans in the House of
Commons, declared that England was paying at that time about $10,000,000
a day in the United States, for every working day in the year.
When the English mission visited the United States in May, 1917, after
the country had entered the war, there was handed to Arthur James
Balfour, ex-Premier of England, a check for $200,000,000, said to have
been one of the largest single checks ever paid in this country. It was
a loan for war purposes. In the month of June it was stated that the
total advance made to the Allies was $923,000,000, among the loans made
then was one of $75,000,000 to Great Britain, and $3,000,000 to Servia.
The Servian loan, the first made by the United States to that country,
was mainly for the improvement of railway lines. A small portion was
used for the relief of the distressed population, and Red Cross work.
It was stated that the allied countries would spend in America, in the
neighborhood of $200,000,000 a month for the year; which brings
attention to the resources which America turned in against Germany when
she joined the allied forces. To meet the demands made upon it the
Government borrowed at once $3,000,000,000 by popular subscription--a
matter of history of which the nation is proud.
From its funds the country loaned Russia $100,000,000, which was the
first loan made by the United States to that Government. A credit of
$45,000,000 to Belgium was also established by the Secretary of the
Treasury. This also was Belgium's first participation in the loan of the
Allies.
COUNTRY'S NATURAL RESOURCES.
Aside from the financial resources of the United States, the country is
undoubtedly the richest in agricultural, mineral and other natural
resources. It annually produces more than 3,500,000,000 bushels of corn,
wheat touching the high point of 1,500,000,000 bushels; 1,600,000,000
bushels of oats; 250,000,000 bushels of barley; 40,000,000 bushels of
rye; 22,000,000 bushels of buckwheat; 425,000,000 bushels of potatoes;
77,000,000 tons of hay; 30,000,000 bushels of flaxseed; 7,000,000,000
pounds of cotton; more than 1,000,000,000 pounds of tobacco; 2,000,000
long tons of sugar and 275,000,000 pounds of wool.
There are nearly 70,000,000 swine, and as many cattle, more than
25,000,000 head of horses and mules, and 62,000,000 sheep. Coal is mined
at the rate of more than 500,000,000 tons yearly, and the copper mines
yield 1,250,000,000 pounds of metal. Petroleum wells yield 225,500,000
barrels yearly. There are 270,000 manufacturing plants with a yearly
output of more than $25,000,000,000. The products of the farm total more
than $11,000,000,000 annually.
As to Germany's position, economists all over the world have considered
her position as not only lacking soundness, but as crazy--crazy in that
no attention whatever has apparently been paid to what are recognized
as firmly fixed economic laws. The world has been at a loss to
understand Germany's attitude, and it can only be explained by assuming
that Germany was perfectly well aware of the entire unsoundness of her
commercial and financial position, and was willing, or, in fact, had to
risk everything with the hope of acquiring sufficient indemnity,
resulting from the war, to bring her financial affairs to a sound basis.
Germany's entire structure from the close of the Franco-Prussian war
evidently was built upon rotten foundations.