Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1915 — Resources of Combatants. [ARTICLE]

Resources of Combatants.

A comparison recently made by the London Economist of war costs and resources for the principal combatants placed the aggregate wealth in 1013 of Great Britain, France and Russia at £40,000,000,000. Of this £ 1 8,000,000,000 was allotted to Great Britain, an estimate which iinds rather general acceptance, and £ 13,000,000,000 to France, which compares with, an estimate by Sir George Paish last May of about £ ! 0,000,000,000., The balance of £!),■ 000,000,0(|0, which seems to have been arrived at in lump total, apparently is for Russia. The combined wealth of Germany and Austria-Hun-gary is placed by the Economist at £25,000,000,000, of which £16,000,000,000 is credited to Germany. This figure, it may be noted, is practically identical with the Paish estimate of last year. To make these comparisons complete something should be added fro the total for the allies on account of Belgium and Servia, and to the Austro-German figures for Turkey. But probably the general relationship of the estimates would not be seriously disturbed thereby. Taking the figures as given, it appears that the combined wealth of the three principal allied powers is 60 per cent greater than that of theTT two chief opponents. Against these sums the Economist placed the direct war costs for the three allied powers for six months at £990,000,000 and for Germany and Austria-Hungary at £725,000,000. In the former case therefore, the estimated wealth Is over 40 times the estimated war cost of the first half year and in the latter something less than 35 times. These Ratios in themselves do not indicate any decided advantage, nor do they afford much basis for judging the staying powers of the combatants. Great Britain’s command of the seas, for instance, may be worth fai 1 more than billions of wealth in land, minerals or industries. • K Perhaps the most important fact brought out by these figures is the frightful devastation caused by the war. If the allies are consuming their wealth at the rate of one-twentieth per year, and Germany at the rate of one-seventeenth, rates which are almost certainly increasing, it must be

apparent that a eon diet of even two years' duration means the wiping out of an enormous accumulation of capital. And it must be remembered, that the direct costs of the war do not include the enormous losses through destruction of property and. cessation of production, which somo ecoomists place at as much more. Over and above all is the immeasureable loss in lives of .the picked men ol! the warring nations.