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Show -oo BILLIONS BEING SPENT IN WAR. Three years of this war would bankrupt bank-rupt the nations of Europe. Here are figures from the London Economist on the first six months of the conflict: con-flict: Germanv ....$2,125,000,000 Austria-Hungary 1,500,000,000 Russia 2.125,000.000 France 1,625,000,000 England 1,200.000.000 Total $8,575,000,000 Russia's minister of finance has estimated es-timated a war expenditure of $892,-500,000 $892,-500,000 up to October 13. Germany-'s rate of outlay is arrived at from the fact that the August vote of a $1 250,-000,000 250,-000,000 war credit and the $81,000,000 gold and silver in the Spandau castle cas-tle presumably financed the war during dur-ing four months, or up to December 2, when a further $1,250,000,000 was credit was voted by the reichstag The Economist points out that "the j rate of expenditure is beyond all I comparison greater than that of any war on record." The Napoleonic wars cost England $4,155,000,000, spread over twenty years, the Crimean war, $337,500,000. spread over three years, the Boer war, $1,055,000,000, spread over four years. The surprising feature of the financing fi-nancing of the war is that there is wealth available to take up these enormous loans. Neither country can sell its bonds unless there are bond buyers with resources to absorb those bonds. From where do the millions and billions of dollars come; how much are the people of the world in debt to the comparatively few, to make possible these purchases of national na-tional obligations; when will the com mon people get out of debt7 Tho financing of a war does not mean that ten billion or twenty billion bil-lion dollars of currency or cash have disappeared, but indicates a transfet of credits from the very' rich. The actual loss Is in the destruction of cities, farms and other forms of property In the area where the armies ore battling and tho waste of human energy as represented In military movements. The money goes ino circulation. |