finance since the beginning of the war, and indeed even if she had only herself to finance now, it is quite possible she would not have needed to borrow at all abroad." LOSS IN PRODUCTIVE POWER The extent of the withdrawal of productive power can only be judged by figures. Of the 7,500,000 men serving in the British Army, 4,530,000 were contributed by Great Britain, 900,000 by the British dominions and colonies; and the remaining 1,000,000 by India and the various British African dependencies. Production went on to a remarkable degree, but this production was largely for war purposes. It was secured by recruiting female labor to an unheard of extent in the munition factories. According to the London _Economist_, the financial side of the British administration was anything but satisfactory. It speaks of waste and faulty methods: "On the financial side our record is by no means so satisfactory. We have, it is true, poured out money like water, but much of it has been raised by faulty methods, and the amount of it that has been wasted is appalling to consider. In the matter of borrowing, our methods have lately been greatly improved; and the recommendation of the Committee on National Expenditure, that the system of raising money by bank credits should be checked as far as possible, is being brought within the bounds of practical politics by the great success of the War Savings Committee's energetic and ingenious campaign for prompting the sale of National War Bonds. Perhaps also we may claim some small share in that success through the adoption of the principle so long advocated in these columns of a lower rate for money at home combined with special terms for money left here by foreigners. But successful borrowing, direct from the investor, instead of in the shape of money manufactured by banks, is a welcome, but not sufficient, improvement. We have to raise much more money by taxation. We have also to do much more than has yet been done to reduce the wicked waste of public money and support the efforts of the Committee on National Expenditure to husband the resources of the nation. A correspondent in a provincial town in which a Tank has lately been busy asks: 'Is it not pathetic to see widows and children scraping together their shillings and pennies to help the Government, while we have tens of thousands of pounds being squandered by a profligate Ministry of Munitions!'" [Illustration: Copyright Underwood & Underwood A Woman Doing Road Construction Work Of the 7,500,000 men serving in the British Army, 4,530,000 were contributed by Great Britain. Yet production was speeded up by recruiting and training the labor of women.] EQUALIZING LOANS AND TAXATION