NOTEBOOK “ε” (“EPSILON”)

THE ECONOMIST AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ON THE WAR

The Economist , January 9, 1915. N.B.

Article:“ The European Deadlock ”....

| ...“It is not surprising that under such, conditions [the “appalling conditions of modern warfare”] the soldiers should, in places where mud has made progress almost impracticable, conclude impromptu truces, such as are described by a correspondent in The Times of yesterday. These truces naturally occur only in the parts of the field where the trenches are close together, but they bring home to the imagination the cruel absurdities of the war, and suggest to some a hope that from the soldiers in the field there might come a protest against the indefinite prolongation of its horrors” (p. 46).... | |
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| | | N.B. |

| Idem, p. 54: “Industrial profits” |
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| Net profits (after payment of debenture interest, etc.) |
| Reports published in quarter ending: | Number of companies | (£ millions) | | ± | Total capital | % of profit on capital |
| | | | | 1913 | | 1914 | | % | | 1914 | | | | |
| March 31 | 301 | 20.5 | 22.1 | +8.4 | 230.1 | 9.6 |
| July 31 | 263 | 22.6 | 23.6 | +4.2 | 181.9 | 13.0 |
| September 30 | 131 | 10.6 | 9.5 | -9.5 | 107.8 | 8.8 |
| December 31 | 214 | 15.3 | 14.5 | -5.6 | 116.4 | 12.4 |
| | | | | | | |
| Σ | 909 | 69.0 | 69.7 | +0.9 | 636.0 | 10.9 | “misfortunes” of the capitalists!!!

The Economist , December 19, 1914. “War Supplement”, p.10; Russia’s expenditure on the army and navy:

| 1903 | 466 | million rubles | % | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1904 | 491 | +25 | +5.3 |
| 1905 | 496 | + 5 | +1.0 |
| 1906 | 504 | + 8 | +1.6 |
| 1907 | 493 | -11 | -2.0 |
| 1908 | 612 | +119 | +24.1 |
| 1909 | 631 | +19 | +3.0 |
| 1910 | 648 | +17 | +2.7 |
| 1911 | 669 | +21 | +3.3 |
| 1912 | 809 | +140 | +20.9 |
| 1913 | 944 | +135 | +16.6 |

The Economist , December 19, 1914, p. 1059, article: “The War and Modern Business.”

...“Until the bloodiest storm in history burst at the end of July, it was hardly possible to tell where Krupp began or Creusot ended. War loans were inextricably mingled with peace loans, and deadweight debt with full capital issues. Whether to destroy or to construct, whether to build canals or forts, ocean liners or battleships, the whole world of business and finance seemed to have centred itself in London, Paris and Berlin. The financial houses were almost of necessity Anglo-German, Anglo-French and Anglo-American; directorships were interlaced, branches of agents existed in nearly all the cities of the Old World and of the New. Monster companies and corporations welcomed share holders of all nationalities, with very little regard for the diplomatic alliances.... It was a truism six months ago to say that nationality was no obstacle to business arrangements.... All this came to an end all of a sudden.... And yet the businessmen and the working classes are admittedly innocent. The guilt of war is everywhere traced to a few men—emperors, diplomatists, statesmen, militarists, or ‘philosophers’.... Let us hope for a swift disillusionment, a return of common sense, a revival of religion, and a reawakening of the human conscience”....

| The Economist , 1915, No. 3724 (Jan. 9, 1915) [1] (p. 51): |
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| N.B. “The Cost of the War to Europe” |
| | for six months |
| | £ millions | £ millions |
| | Army (mill.) | | Cost of war | | Loss of produc- tion | | Value of lost lives | | Popu- lation 1913 (mill.) | | Foreign trade | | (per head) | | Nation- al income 1913 | | (per head) | | National wealth 1912 |
| Germany | 4.35 | 395 | 830 | 294 | 68 | 1,063 | (15.6) | 2,100 | (31) | 16,000 | | (235) |
| Austria-Hungary | 3.50 | 320 | 500 | 141 | 50 | 264 | (5.3) | ... | | ... | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Σ | 7.85 | 715 | 1,330 | 435 | 118 | 1,327 | (11.2) | ? | 3,000 | (25) | ? | 25,000 | (212) |
| |
| Russia | 5.4 | 490 | 110 | 218 | 170 | 269 | (1.6) | | ... | | | ... | |
| France | 4.0 | 365 | 600 | 232 | 40 | 583 | (14.6) | 1,250 | (31) | 13,000 | (325) |
| United Kingdom | 1.0 | 90 | 100 | 83 | 46 | 1,344 | (29.3) | 2,250 | (49) | 18,000 | (390) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Σ | 10.4 | 945 | 810 | 533 | 256 | 2,196 | (8.6) | ? | 5,000 | (20) | ? | 40,000 | (156) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| ΣΣ | 18.25 | 1,660 | 2,140 | 968 | 374 | 3,523 | (9.4) | ? | 8,000 | (21) | ? | 65,000 | (174) |
| | (α) |

| | Alliance countries | Entente countries | | Both sides |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Direct (war) costs for six months | 725 | 990 | 1,715 | (£ mill.) |
| Loss by cessation of production (Yves Guyot (α)) | 1,330 | 810 | 2,140 |
| Total costs for six months | 2,055 | 1,800 | 3,855 |
| Normal national income for six months (say) | 1,500 | 2,500 | 4,000 |
| Proportion of direct costs to na- tional income | 48% | 40% | 43% |
| Ditto ... of total costs | 137% | 72% | 96% |
| National wealth | 25,000 | 40,000 | 65,000 | (α) The Yves Guyot source is obviously not impartial!

Ibidem (January 2, 1915), p. 12:

| | “Disgust at the utter barbarism and ferocity of modern warfare is reported by all who have seen it. Everywhere people are beginning to ask how long human nature itself can endure the awful anguish of this indescribable war, how soon exhaustion and the approach of starvation will drive the peoples into revolt. Some of the German newspapers look for a revolution in Russia. They may have to count with one at home, for nothing is more likely than that the working classes of Germany will turn savagely upon the aggressive militarism which has been their bane.” |
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| N.B. | | This is from an article “The Realms of the Hab- sburgs”, which says that in Russia the position of the population and nations is worse than in Austria | |
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January 9, 1915, p. 57: the Rumanians in Russia are worse off than in Austria....

Ibidem, p. 66: Russia’s war expenditure (1/2 year) = 6,234 million rubles ( 13 million rubles per day).

p. 72, a new book: P. Vinogradoff , The Russian Problem (1 shilling)?

The Daily Telegraph (No. 18631) Dec. 29, 1914.

The Independent Labour Party and the War .

“One of the resolutions on the final agenda for the annual conference of the Scottish Division of the Independent Labour Party to be held in Glasgow on Saturday, when Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., is to address the delegates, asks that all members of the Independent Labour Party assisting the government in the present recruiting campaign be expelled. Another asks for an expression of regret that the National Labour Party did not call a conference at the outbreak of the war to determine the policy of the party.”

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Notes:
[1] Ibidem, p. 46 —possibility of a protest of the soldiers when close together in the trenches.— Lenin