GERMANY. 



definite formation of the German army on tho 

 uiH'haiiKealilo IWMH of three years' active aer- 

 riee. ami <>t' -IIMMMIO men as the peace-footing 

 of tin- arn.y, thr. atoned to bring on a serious 

 i only tin- parties generally voting 



t tho Ciovernnient, but even tho Na- 

 -, regarded it as incontpatiblo 

 with constitutional government to fix forever 

 tho peace effective of tho army and thus with- 

 draw it from tho control of the Reichstag. 



.liii^ly tho first clause of tho bill fixing 

 the peace ctl'-vtive at 401,659 men was reject- 

 A speech in defense of the measure, by 

 Fi.-lil-Murshal Moltko, made a sensation in 

 Europe. He pointed out how necessary it was 

 for every great state, and especially for Ger- 

 many, to have a numerous and powerful army. 

 Ho added: " What we acquired in the space 

 of six months, we shall have to protect by 

 force of arms for half a century. France is 

 imitating all the German army arrangements. 

 llo\v, then, can we give up what our oppo- 

 noiits are adopting? Germany is opposed to 

 any kind of offensive action ; it is her duty to 

 act on the defensive." Count von Moltke 

 proceeded to enumerate the measures taken by 

 Trance for increasing her armaments, not- 

 withstanding tho fact that the majority of 

 tho French people were convinced of the ne- 

 i-os-ity for peace. He concluded by saying: 

 " We have become a powerful nation, but we 

 remain a peaceable people. Wo require an 

 , army, but not for purposes of conquest." The 

 prospect of a serious misunderstanding be- 

 t ween the Government and the Reichstag 

 caused some alarm in the country, and peti- 

 tions numerously signed, even by opponents 

 of the Government, were sent to the Reichs- 

 tag, asking the latter to avoid at all events a 

 contlict with the Government. The special 

 committee of twenty-eight, to which the bill 

 had been referred, adopted a compromise pro- 

 posed by Herr von Bennigsen, namely, that 

 the peace effective of 401,659 men should 

 be voted for seven years. When the bill came 

 up for its second reading, the Minister of War, 

 General von Kamecke, read a statement on 

 the part of the Government, declaring that the 

 leading object of clause 1 of the bill was not 

 to fix the peace effective at a certain figure for- 

 ever, nor to withdraw from the Parliament its 

 control over the budget. Its object was that 

 in tho present state of Europe the army should 

 be maintained at the strength which was ab- 

 solutely necessary for the preservation of 

 peace and the repulse of all attacks until such 

 time as a change in the number of men might 

 be agreed upon between the Federal Council 

 and the Government. In the course of the 

 debate, Federal Commissioner General Voigts- 

 Rheetz pointed out that the Parliament had 

 still great scope left for exercising control over 

 the expenditure, in the discussion which must 

 take place upon the military estimates. More- 

 over, he maintained that the German army 

 budget and the military effective were rela- 



tively lower than those of other great powers, 

 .any occupying, in fact, in this respect, 

 only tho third place. Tho German Empire re- 

 quired a powerful army in order to carry on a 

 vigorous policy, and an army that was feared 

 in order to maintain peace. For these rea- 

 sons, tho number of the military forces could 

 not be brought every year into question. 



Field-Marshal Count von Moltke stated that 

 his views upon the question were unchanged. 

 Ho regarded a powerful Germany in the centre 

 of Europe as the best guarantee of peace. In 

 presence of the shouts which had been raised 

 for revenge, it is necessary to keep a hand upon 

 the sword. Disarmament would mean war ; 

 but he hoped the wisdom of the French Gov- 

 ernment would avert that misfortune. Ger- 

 many, in the last war, had not abused her 

 power. She could have forced the French 

 Government to grant all her demands, but she 

 only exacted back the land which a restless 

 country had formerly torn from a weak neigh- 

 Dor. Count von Moltke added : " We must, 

 moreover, have full confidence in the army ; 

 we absolutely require the number of men 

 which has been proposed, and which Herr 

 von Bennigsen's motion admits. I believe 

 that the peace effective should be finally and 

 not provisionally fixed ; but laws are not mado 

 forever, and I shall vote for the provisional 

 arrangement because I believe that a patriotic 

 Parliament at the end of the seven years will 

 sanction that which is indispensable in the in- 

 terests of the Fatherland." The House then 

 adopted the compromise proposed by Herr 

 Bennigsen by 224 against 146 votes. The ma- 

 jority of the Progressists voted with the op- 

 position. After a third reading on April 20th, 

 the entire law was adopted by 214 against 123 

 votes. 



The third important measure discussed by 

 the Reichstag was the so-called Bishops' Bill 

 intended to prevent the legal exercise of cleri- 

 cal functions when the ecclesiastic has been 

 deprived by the special tribunal instituted for 

 this purpose. Should he profess to be still in 

 legal possession of his functions, he can bo 

 imprisoned in a particular district or locality 

 by the local police. If he goes further, really 

 exercising his former functions, or resisting, in 

 fact, the powers of the police, the central ad- 

 ministration may deprive him of his right of 

 citizenship, and expel him from the German 

 territory. He has a legal remedy in being 

 able to lay before the tribunal the bases of tho 

 charges of which he is accused. In this man- 

 ner ho may still be immediately imprisoned by 

 the police ; but the expulsion, with the loss of 

 the right of citizenship, is suspended till the 

 tribunal has decided on his appeal. The de- 

 bate on the third reading of the bill lasted for 

 three days, and was often very stormy. The 

 Progressive party, in union with the National 

 Liberals and the Conservatives, supported the 

 Government, and the bill was adopted by 214 

 against 108 votes. 



