l62 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE COST OF THE ARMED PEACE. 



Some Interesting Facts and Figures. 

 Mr. Edgar Crammomd contributes to the Qnar/erh 

 Review a very valuable article concerning the expen- 

 diture on armaments. It is valuable because of its 

 elaborate statistical tables, which bring up to date the 

 facts and figures as to the cost of the armed peace. 

 Mr. Cramniond had very little difficulty in showing 

 that, so far from'great Britain setting the pace in the 

 matter of naval armaments, she has of late years 

 lagged behind, and our expenditure is less in relation 

 to its foreign trade and the tonnage of merchant 

 shipping than that of any other country in the world. 



OUR OVERSEAS TRADE. 



Mr. Crammond gives the following figures as to 



the extent of our overseas trade : — 



The overseas or external trade of the British Empire for 1909 

 amounted to /i, 595, 751, 000, made up as follows : — 



Foreign trade ... 



Trade of the United Kingdom wit 



other parts of the British Empire 

 Inler-Colonial trade 



£ 



1, 200,524, oco 

 337,276,000 



'57,951.000 



Total i,595,7Sr,ooo 



Of tliis huge total the inter-Imperial trade represented 

 ^395, 227,000 ; and, even if this amount be deducted from the 

 aggregate, the enormous sum of ;r;^ 1,200, 524,000 is left as repre- 

 senting the value of the overseas trade of the British Empire 

 with foreign countries. 



The annual income earned by these investments may be 

 estimated at ^185,000,000 per ,<innum. The earnings of our 

 shipping industry, as carriers for the world, exceed ^^i, 000,000 

 per annum, and a further sum exceeding ;^ 50, 000,000 per 

 annum is earned by our banking, mercantile, and insnrance 

 houses in respect of their services in the conduct of international 

 trade. 



WHAT IS SPENT ON WAR SHIPS. 



Mr. Crammond then furnishes us with two very 

 interesting tables : the first in which he shows the 

 growth of naval expenditure by the eight great naval 

 Powers during the last ten years : — 



Total N \\ \i. Kxtknuiture. 



yi 



Increase 



Per 



cent. 



• Including expcndilure from Loans under Nav, 

 .-»ppropriations in aid. 



Worlis Acts and 



THE PERCENTAGE OF INSURANCE. 



If the naval expenditure be regarded as insurance 

 against the risks of war, Mr. Crammond remarks that 

 it would be well to examine what percentage of 

 premium is paid for this kind of insurance by the 

 various Powers ; — 



In 1902 Great Britain's share of the total naval expenditure 

 of the eight great Powers was 37-3 per cent.; for the year 

 19U it only represents 30-5 per cent, of the aggregate. 



• Naval expenditure of United Kingdo.Ti. + Including inler-Imp^rial trade. 



Mr. Crammond publishes another table showing 

 the total expenditure on the Army and Navy in 

 1909-10, from which it appears that we spend 

 ^^63,043,000 upon our Army and Navy, and Ger- 

 many spends ^61,249,000, the expenditure per head 

 being jQi js. for Great Britain, and 19^-. 2</. for 

 Germany. 



THE COST OF A SUPREME NAVV. 



Mr. Crammond says that we have got to keep up 

 our Naval supremacy whatever it costs, and he con- 

 siders we have good reason to believe that we can 

 better afford to pay for two keels than Germany can 

 pay for one. Our income from investments abroad 

 has increased by forty millions per annum, and the 

 earnings of our banking and other houses by at least 

 twenty millions, and by this source alone there are 

 sixty millions, whereas our naval expenditure ha- 

 only increased ten millions : — 



.\nd, when the Oversea; Dominions have fully developed 

 their schemes of naval defence, it should be quite within the 

 bounds of possibility for (ircat Britain to raise the. level of her 

 expenditure on tlie .\rmyan(l Navy to eighty-five or even ninety 

 millions for whatever period it might be found necessary to 

 _ do so. 



ThI'. Herald of the Golden Age an J British Health 

 Rnnew is a threepenny m.Tgazine which contains a 

 great variety of articles of interest to all humanitarians. 

 It wages continual war against vivisection, san- 

 guinary sport, and devotes special attention to riglit 

 eating and drinking, deep breathing, and right living. 

 It circulates in fifty-three countries and colonies, is 

 edited by Mr. Sidney H. Beard, and is published as 

 the official journal of the Order of the Golden Age, 

 153, Brompton Road, which is a philanthrojiic society 

 founded to advocate humane laws and to promote 

 social ainelioralion. 



