"He'll have reason to think about it a good deal. He'll be working day and night to pay for it. It costs a heap of money to slash and slaughter [enemies] under the conditions of modern warfare and if we had to pay for it ourselves, it would dampen our ardour considerably. But instead, all we have to do is borrow [from the moneylending rich] at a higher rate of interest than is ever paid for any other sort of loan, and present the bill to Baby as soon as he is born.

"But is it a fair deal, think you? Because we bring him into the world – without consulting him – must we also load him up with our debts? If we will have wars, if we will insist on killing one another, why shouldn't we do it at our own expense? Let each generation pay for the blood it spills, and the blood it drinks. The poor give their lives – make the rich give their lucre.

"Unfortunate Baby! In Great Britain alone, if the war ended tomorrow, he will have to bear the burden of usury on two thousand millions! Baby is going to grow up round-shouldered, weak-chested, and bandy-legged, carrying on his spinal curvature an intolerable load of debt."