But while loss of human life in war has not greatly increased, in
other directions the cost of warfare has enormously grown. In the
past, little special preparation was needed by the fighter.
Armies could be recruited off-hand from city or farm and do
valiant duty in the field, with simple and cheap weapons. In our
days years of preliminary preparation are deemed necessary and
the costs of war go on during times of profound peace, millions
of men who could be used effectively in the peaceful industries
spending the best years of their lives in learning the most
effective methods of destroying their fellow men.

This is only one phase of the element of cost. Great workshops
are devoted to the preparation of military material, of
absolutely no use to mankind except as instruments of
destruction. The costs of war, even in times of peace, are thus
very large. But they increase in an enormous proportion after war
has actually begun, millions of dollars being needed where tens
formerly sufficed, and national bankruptcy threatening the nation
that keeps its armies long in the field. The American Civil War,
fought half a century ago, was a costly procedure for the
American people. If it had been fought five or ten years ago its
cost would have been increased five-fold, so great has been the
progress in this terrible art in the interval.

NATURE OF NATIONAL RESOURCES

It is our purpose in the present chapter to take up the subject
of this cost and review the condition and resources of the
several nations which were involved in the dread internecine