War-time financial problems

126 COMPARATIVE WAR FINANCE

millions will be lent to the Allies, the Americans
are apparently raising nearly £800 millions out of
revenue. Therefore if we deduct from both sides
of the account the pre-war expenditure of about
£215 millions and deduct also the loans to Allies
from the expenditure, it leaves the cost of the war
to America £1285 millions for this year and the war
revenue £562 millions. If these figures are correct
it would thus appear that America is raising nearly
half its actual war cost out of revenue as the war
goes on.

On the other hand, in the New York Commercial
Chronicle of April 6th the total estimated disburse-
ments for the year are still stated at over 16,000
million dollars, that is to say, ^3200 millions roughly,
so that there seems to be considerable uncertainty
as to what the actual amount of the expenditure
of the United States will be during the year ending
on June 3oth. In any case, there can be no question
that if the very high proportion of war cost paid out
of revenue shown by the Times figures proves to be
correct, it will be largely owing to accident or mis-
fortune ; if America's war expenditure has not pro-
ceeded nearly as fast as was expected, it will be, no
doubt, owing not to economies but to shortcomings
in the matter of delivery of war goods which the
Government had expected to pay for in the course
of the fiscal year. It certainly would have been
expected that the Americans would in this matter
of war finance be in a position to set a very much
higher standard than any of the European belli-
gerents owing to the enormous wealth that the