S.A. puts his thousand dollars into an English,
French, Russian or German bond he becomes part and parcel of the
mightiest financial structure ever dedicated to a single purpose. He
cannot tell how his funds will be used. They may buy a few hundred
shells, clothe a thousand soldiers, feed a battalion or build a trench.
All he knows is that his mite joins the continuous and colossal stream
of expense that makes up the Red Wage of War.
Now if John Jones employs his money in the stock or bond of a railroad,
corporation, or public utility enterprise he can find out almost
precisely what it does, for it lays down a track, provides new equipment
or builds a power house. The investment, in short, represents something
that produces more wealth.
War, on the other hand, is a gigantic engine of destruction. Instead of
building up, it tears down. It is a monster machine consecrated to
waste. The only possible dividend can be peace.
The cost of the European conflict has a deeper interest for us than mere
curiosity over staggering statistics. The reason is that we have joined
the Paymaster's Corps. In other words, we have backed up our sympathy
with cash. We are silent partners in the costliest and deadliest of all
businesses.
Up to the present stupendous struggle and with the exception of the
Russo-Japanese War in which we floated several issues for the little
yellow men, we have had no definite economic part in the wars that shook
other nations.
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