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ECONOMIC ASl'ECTS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN,WAR 215
.. sympathy with republican states. As the result, we
have to consider that the position of the British Empire
in the world is challenged in a way that has not been
the ~e at any time in its previous history, and that
at any time we may be called upon to fight for mere
existence by one or other of these great powers, or by a
coalition. This is the permanent condition; and, con-
sidering what some of these powers are, and the im-
mensity of their military. and naval preparations, we
are bound to recognize that the British Empire in turn
must arm itself on similar principles to those of Russia,
and Germany, and France, if we are to be secure. In
this view even the doubling of the Army Estimates
,will not,.,be sufficient. We should not be surprised
before long to find the Army and Navy Estimates of
the United Kingdom amounting together annually to
170,000,000 or £80,000,000 sterling, along witlt a
'great development of the defensive forces at home and
throughoutthe E nglish-speakingportions of the Empire.
Looking at the growing wealth and numbers of the
people, so great an addition to our expenditure would
not be beyond our powers, but the whole change in
our finances will raise new and difficult problems for
the public men and economists of the future. The or-
ganization of the British Empire for necessary defence,
, in the face of the military powers which are beside it,
will be a Herculean task indeed.

With regard to the third branch of the inquiry,
namely, the finance method$, which have been used in
the war, there is not a great deal to be said. The war
as yet has perhaps lasted too short a time to give oc-
casion ibr expert financial management. The Tra1lsvaal
and Orange Free State on the one side have been using
up resources which were accumulated before the war,
while on the other side the efforts of the war, as we
. have seen, have been on too small a scale to test the
capacity of our power. One or two points, however,
may be noticed.