Enormous Sums Spent in Present War

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 23, 1916

Enormous Sums Spent in Present War

The English House of Commons has again voted an enormous war credit, this time amounting to over two billion dollars. This is the largest vote of credit ever made in the history of the House of Commons. The Washington Post of Feb. 22, 1916, says concerning this credit:—

“This is expected to carry the war to the end of May, bringing the total sum appropriated by means of votes of credit since the outbreak of the war to £2,082,000,000 ($10,410,000,000) — a sum, according to Mr. Asquith, ‘not only beyond precedent, but actually beyond the imagination of any financier of this or any other country.’”

In speaking of the total expenditures in the war up to the present time, the same paper says:—

“According to unofficial estimates, all belligerents in the European war have spent since the beginning of hostilities about $40,000,000,000.”

Such figures are utterly incomprehensible; and still the dreadful waste goes on.