OCR Text |
Show WHAT WAR HAS COST. Wak sometimes becomes a "necessary "nec-essary evil." There would be no need of it if everybody had a desire to Uo Justly, deal fairly and regard common rights. But selfishness is the ruling motive among nations as among lndlviduals,and this swamps higher motives and leads to the worst of crimes. War is an expensive expen-sive indulgence and few have any idea of its cost In lives and money. The following gives same light on this matter as to the past thirty years, and is taken from the 8aa Francisco Chronfefe: "According to tbe estimates of French and German statisticians there havo perished In tbe wars of the last thirty years 2,MO,000 men, while there has been expended to carry tbcui on no less than the inconceivable aum or 313,003,000,000. Of this amount France has paid nearly $3,500,000,000 as the cost of war with Prasate,whiIeherlOM in men Is placed at 135,000. OI these 80,000 were killed on the field or battle, 36,000 died of sickness, accidents, or suicide, and 20,000 In German prisons, while there died from other causes enough to bring the number up to the given aggregate. The sick and wounded amounted to 477,21, the Hvck of many thousands of whom u ere doubtless shortened by tbehr IU-ncMi IU-ncMi or luxuries. According- to Dr. Itotb, a German authority,' tbe Gr- mans loat during tbe war 88,000 men S " killed or rendered invalid and $503,-000,000, $503,-000,000, in money, this being tho excess ex-cess of expenditure or of material losses over the $1,150,000,000 paid by Frjsjcoby way of indemnity. Dr. En' gc Vanother German statistician gives the following as the approximate cost of the principal wars of the last thirty years: Crimean war, f2,00O,0QO,0OC; Italian war of 1S5P, "!0o,00d,C00; Prus-O-Danlsh war of 1S64, $35,003,-000; $35,003,-000; war of tho rebellion (North), 3,100,OOJ,OSO, (South), $2,300,000,000; Prusso-Austrian war of ISO!, $330,000,-0C0; $330,000,-0C0; Ituaso-Turklsh war, $I23,000,'jOO; South Africa wars, $5,770,000; African war, $13,220,000; .Seno-llulgarian, 1176,000,000. All these wars were murderous In the extreme. The Crimean war, in which few battles were fought, cost 710.0X) lives, only J0.00O less than were killed or died of their "rounds North and South, during tho waruTtherebiillion. The figures, it must bcfreitierhbcrcd, are German, and might not agreu precisely pre-cisely with ths American estimates. The Mexican and Chinese expeditions cost $200,000,000 ant CJ,0J0 lives. There w ere 259,003 killed and mortally wounded during the Rnsso-Turklsh war, and 45,000 each In the Italian war of ISSfl and tbe war between Prussia Prus-sia and Austria. In the other wars tho loss of life was relathely less, which did not make either the men or money easier to part with in the more limited areas where they occurred. And this is bnt a part of tbo accounting, account-ing, alnce it does not Include the millions mil-lions expended during the last twenty j cars In maintaining thesast armaments arma-ments of the Biiropeau powers, the losses caused by the stoppage of commerce com-merce and manufacture, and the continual con-tinual derangement of industries by the abstraction from useful employment employ-ment of so many millions of persons, held forajicriod of military service extending from thrca to fh o yean. |