698 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Septemher J, 1913. 



for the horse column. A horse-drawn 

 provision train to supply any army con- 

 sisting- of four army corps and two 

 cavalry divisions which was some eighty 

 miles from its base of supplies would 

 require 4900 men, 8100 horses and 4050 

 wag-gons, while a motor train could do 

 the same work with 550 trucks and 2200 

 men. 



After a good deal of experiment, the 

 German War Department fixed on an 

 ideal type of motor transport, consisting 

 of a truck, with trailers, which, weigh- 

 ing about seven and one-half tons, and 

 with a thirty-horse-power motor, could 

 carry six tons at a speed of five and one- 

 half miles an hour with metal tyres and 

 seven and three-tenths miles an hour 

 with rubber tyres. This outfit was 

 capable of a daily mileage of from 

 fifty-five to seventy miles, and could 

 carry fuel, if petrol-driven, for 150 

 miles, and for fifty miles if steam- 

 driven. In order to develop this type of 

 motor vehicle, a subsidy was established. 

 By this system, which is now in force, 

 the owner receives a primary payment of 

 ;^I90 and an annual payment of £^/ 

 for five years, in return for which he 

 ]iledges himself to place one of these 

 light army transportation trains at the 

 disposal of the Government in case of 

 war, and to permit inspection of the 

 equipment, as to its readiness for war, 

 several times each year. Some 350 wag- 

 gon trains are held under the terms of 

 this subsidy, according to the latest 

 figures. The subsidy in 191 o amounted 

 to ;^ 5 0,000. 



The German army has put a similar 

 plan into operation in regard to passen- 



ger automobiles. An organisation 

 known as the Volunteer Automobile 

 Corps was founded in 1905. It is 

 headed by Prince Henry of Prussia, and 

 commanded by the Duke Adolf of 

 Mecklenburg, most of the membership 

 belonging also to the Royal Automobile 

 Club. Its members have pledged them- 

 selves to put their automobiles, which 

 must be of approved design, and of at 

 least sixteen-horsepower, in the field in 

 time of war and to serve in manoeuvres 

 for at least three periods of ten days 

 each during four successive years. Dur- 

 ing service they are paid 33s. 6d. a day, 

 and are furnished with the uniform of 

 the corps, khaki-coloured, with red sleeve 

 bands and turn-down collar. Their 

 machines are intended to be used chiefly 

 for carrying orders and messages, and 

 to transport higher officers, such as those 

 of the staff and general staff. Under 

 this s\'stem some Sooo motor cars are 

 available. 



For orderl)' work and scouting, the 

 army can also command the services of 

 a large number of motor-cycles through 

 the Volunteer Motor-Cycle Corps. Its 

 membership is pledged to put their 

 machines in the field in time of war com- 

 pletely ready for service. The Govern- 

 ment may buy the machines at its 

 option. As compensation, the corps 

 members receive £g los. outright, a dail\' 

 payment of 9s. 6d. in the field at home, 

 or IIS. 6d. in foreign countries, free pro- 

 visions and medical attention, and is. 

 a day for the upkeep of their machines. 

 In case of disabilities, the members are 

 entitled to all pension privileges. This 

 corps can put in service some two thou- 

 sand motor-cycles and cycle-cars. 



FREE TRADE IN AMERICA. 



Mr. Edward Stanwood has a most in- 

 forming article in the Edinburgh Re- 

 view upon the coming revision of the 

 American tariff. Theoretically the 

 writer is a Protectionist, and believes 

 that, despite 'its incidental evils, the 

 policy of Protection in the United States 

 has been enormously beneficial in the 

 past ; but he recognises, in short, that 

 the need of protective duties has wholly 

 ceased for numerous branches of Ameri- 



can industry ; that the number of such 

 branches increases year by year ; and 

 that there has never been a time in the 

 past when the impending experiment 

 could have been made with so good a 

 chance of success as it has to-day. His 

 point of view, then, is that of one who 

 looks forward without serious apprehen- 

 sion to a time in the not distant future 

 when the United States can safely estab- 

 lish itself on a Free Trade basis, and 



