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298 ECONOMIC INQUIRIES AND STUDIES
A great deal is made, in the discussions on these
subjects, of the fact that in France and Germany,
owing to conscription, 'the outlay stated in the Bu~get
is much smaller than the real burden on the pf!ople,
because the soldiers are obtained at less than cost
price, and although the Government does not pay the
money, the nation sustains the loss of the withdrawal
of so many hands from employments where they would
be paid more than they recei;ve in the Army. I cannot
find, however, that any addition to be made to the
expense of Army and Navy in Germany and France,
on this head, would really 'be very material for the
purpose before us, while it is also maintained, in Ger-
many especially, as you are no doubt aware, that the
training in the Army is economically beneficial to the
recruits who are conscripted, and that, finally, there is
no loss at all to themselves or to the nation in connec-
tion with the conscription. With regard to Russia, the
case is, perhaps, more serious, because here the margin
for taxation, in proportion to the gross income of the
people, is, probably, much less than it is in the case of
the three other nations referred to. As far as I can
judge, the margin of taxation in Russia must be very
small indeed. Still, even here, there is, apparently, no
question as to the expenditure on armaments trench-
ing on the capital of the country. There is no reason
why the whole amount should not come out of the
annual income.
These statements might be followed in detail by an
-examination as to the growth of indebtedness in the
different countries, no matter what the cause may be;
but I am anxious to concentrate attention on the main
point, and the question of debt brings in so much the
question of financial management that it would en-
cumber a paper like this to discuss it in detail. There
has obviously, however, been no such increase of debt
lately as to involve any formidable addition to the
annual burdens on any of the people concerned. Of
our own debt I need say nothing. The French debt