more seriously, from its close political relations with Great
Britain.

In these days in which we live the cost of war is a giant to be
reckoned with. With every increase in the size of cannon, the
tonnage of warships, the destructiveness of weapons and
ammunition, this element of cost grows proportionately greater
and has in our day become stupendous. Nations may spend in our
era more cold cash in a day of war than would have served for a
year in the famous days of chivalry. A study of this question was
made by army and navy experts in 1914, and they decided that the
expense to the five nations concerned in the European war would
be not less than $50,000,000 a day.

If we add to this the loss of untold numbers of young men in the
prime of life, whose labor is needed in the fields and workshops
of the nations involved, other billions of dollars must be added
to the estimate, due to the crippling of industries. There is
also the destruction of property to be considered, including the
very costly modern battleships, this also footing up into the
billions.

When it is considered that in thirteen years the cost of
maintenance of the armies and navies of the warring countries, as
well as the cost of naval construction, exceeded $20,000,000,000
some idea may be had of the expense attached to war and the
preparations of European countries for just such contingencies as
those that arose in Europe in 1914. The cost of the Panama Canal,
one of the most useful aids to the commerce of the world, was
approximately $375,000,000, but the expense of the preparations