Cheapest War On Record.

New York Times 100 years ago today, January 12, 1913:
The Conquest of Tripoli Cost Italy Only $150,000,000.
    ROME, Dec. 18.— In the detailed financial re-port that the Minister of Finance submitted to Parliament this week is an item denoting the cost to Italy of the Italo-Turkish war, which closed a month ago after a duration of about fourteen months. This is reckoned at the surprisingly small figure of $110,000,000, although a further sum of about $40,000,000 will he required before the account can be closed.
    The Minister announced an appropriation of $50,000,000 for the construction of two battleships, several torpedo craft, and two colonial cruisers. There had been a falling off of $7,200,000 in the customs returns owing to the increased price of freight on the State railways occasioned by the coal strike in England. Nevertheless he added that the budget of 1912 would show a surplus of over $10,000,000 as against $20,000,000 in 1911.