S64 



GERMANY. 



245,618,370 stamped wrappers, 578,611,143 

 journals, and 180,492,148 registered packets 

 and money-orders of the total declared value 

 of 18,116,304,652 marks. 



Education. Elementary education is general 

 and compulsory throughout Germany. In 1886 

 only 1'06 per cent, of the recruits of the army 

 could neither read nor write. Among 169,240 

 recruits, which was the number that entered 

 the army in 1887, there were 163,203 who had 

 received an education in Germany, 4,822 were 

 educated in some foreign language, and 1,215 

 could neither read nor write. In 1881 there 

 were 57,000 elementary schools, with 7,100,000 

 pupils, in Germany. In 1885 there were 347 

 normal schools, with 26,281 pupils ; 858 gym- 

 nasia, with 186,766 students; and 270 Keal- 

 schulen, with 49,196 students. In addition 

 there were, in 1887, 9 technical high-schools, 

 with 3,985 students ; and 4,346 industrial and 

 special schools. There are 21 universities in 

 Germany, with the following numbers of in- 

 structors and matriculated students in 1887-'88: 



In fourteen of the universities the faculties are 

 Protestant ; in four, viz., Freiburg, Munich, 

 Minister, and Wurzburg, they are Catholic; 

 and in three, viz., Bonn, Breslau, and Tubingen, 

 they are mixed Protestant and Catholic. 



The Army. The peace strength of the Ger- 

 man army in 1887-'88 was 18,936 officers, 

 471,007 rank and file, 90,492 horses, and 1,374 

 guns. The new army law of March 11, 1887, 

 renewed the Septennate, which is to continue 

 in force till March 31, 1894, and added 50,000 

 soldiers to the regular military establishment, 

 fixing the peace strength of the army at 468,409 

 rank and file, and 23,991 officers, surgeons, 

 paymasters, etc. The war strength of the 

 army is 1,567,600 officers and men, 312,730 

 horses, and 2,958 guns. To these numbers 

 may be added the Landsturm and one : year 

 volunteers, together numbering 1,082,400 offi- 

 cers and men, and the untrained men capable 

 of serving in the army, numbering 3,020,000, 



making the total available force in time of war 

 5,670,000 officers and men. The railway and 

 telegraph service in time of war numbers 1,238 

 officers, 7,000 men, and 5,400 horses. 



The Prussian contingent of the German 

 army had a peace strength in 1887-'88 of 

 361,902 officers and men. 



The empire is divided into nine fortress dis- 

 tricts, in which there are 17 fortified places of 

 the first class and 26 other fortresses. 



In the session of 1887-'88 the Government 

 introduced an army reorganization bill for 

 increasing the fighting strength of the nation 

 in war time by 700,000 men or more. The 

 Reichstag passed the bill on the third reading 

 without much opposition, on Feb. 8, 1888, and 

 approved a money bill to provide 281,550,536 

 marks for carrying it into execution, author- 

 izing a loan of 278,335,562 marks, while the 

 Federal governments furnished the remainder 

 in matricular contributions. The new army 

 law extends the period of service in the Land- 

 wehr, and provides for arming and equipping 

 both the Landwehr and Landsturm forces, and 

 for supplying them with barracks, artillery, 

 munitions, and other necessary war materials. 

 The organization of the Landwehr into regi- 

 ments and battalions is to be replaced by a 

 territorial division into infantry brigade dis- 

 tricts, and the subdivision of these into bat- 

 talion districts, which will be extended to 

 Wiirtemberg and Bavaria. 



When the Crown-Prince Friedrich became 

 Emperor, he announced in a rescript, dated 

 March 26, 1888, that, like his father, he should 

 devote bis immediate and unremitting atten- 

 tion to the army, and gave notice of intended 

 changes in drill tactics, made necessary by the 

 introduction of improved infantry weapons, 

 which rendered expedient more thorough in- 

 dividual drilling and stricter training in disci- 

 pline under fire. In order to enable the army 

 to give attention to these matters, he suggested 

 the discontinuance of the system of formation 

 in triple ranks, which is never used in war. 

 Wilhelm II, on September 9, published an order 

 directing that, in grateful remembrance of his 

 father, the new infantry drill regulations should 

 be put in force. The German infantry wear 

 lighter helmets than formerly, and no longer 

 march with their overcoats coiled round the 

 back and chest, but strap them to their knap- 

 sacks, in the French fashion. The cuirassiers 

 have laid aside the cuirass, and are now armed 

 with the lance, like the uhlans, and the same 

 weapon is being adopted for the hussars. The 

 new magazine rifles of the infantry are fitted 

 with small knife-like bayonets. In the autumn 

 manoeuvres a captive balloon was used for ob- 

 servations. 



Gen. Field-Marshal Count von Moltke, Chief 

 of the General Staff of the German Army since 

 Sept. 18, 1858, on August 3 asked the Emperor 

 to relieve him of his post and permit him to 

 spend the remainder of his days in rural retire- 

 ment, saying that, at his great age, he is no 



