«5-' 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Novemher 1. 191S. 



■sponsible for the war with Turkey, is 

 immensely popular, and finds himself 

 again in office, with a large majority be- 

 hind him. The old Regent of Bavaria, 

 Prince Luitpold, who died recently, al- 

 ways refused to have the insane King 

 Otto deposed, but his son, the present 

 Regent, had no such scruples, and has 

 now formally ascended the throne ; Otto, 

 brother of the more famous madman, 

 Louis, the patron of Wagner, being de- 

 prived of the title of king. Prince Lud- 

 wig is well liked in Bavaria, and he cer- 

 tainly should have the official position as 

 well as the real power. Prince Ernest of 

 Cumberland is, after all, to be made 

 ruler of Brunswick, despite his refusal 

 to formally renounce his claims to the 

 throne of Hanover. Family dissensions 

 appear to have followed this decision of 

 the Kaiser, and the Crown Prince, now 

 more popular than his father, is again 

 more or less in disgrace. Owing to the 

 increase recently made in the compul- 

 sory period of service — from two to 

 three years — in the army, France has 



Kladdcradatich.] [Berlin. 



IN THE POLITICAL CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND. 



The Fat youngster tries to make-believe, by 

 drastic manoeuvres, that the sea belongs to him 

 alone. 



found herself compelled to borrow no 

 less than ;^40,ooo,ooo to meet the addi- 

 tional cost. In addition, largely owing 

 to military expenditure, the yearly 

 budget shows a deficit of i^3 1.760,000. 

 This reintroduction of the third 

 year's service was strenuously op- 

 posed in France, but, as usual, the people 

 were not consulted, although, just as in 

 Australia, they are supposed to have 

 control of such matters. 



The Cost of Armaments. 



The eight great powers, Britain, Ger- 

 many, France, Russia, Austria, Italy, the 

 United States and Japan, are spending 

 tne huge sum of ;^i 70,000,000 on naval 

 armaments alone during 1913-14! A 

 colossal sum this to pay annually for 

 marine insurance. In addition Russia 

 contemplates spending no less than 

 ;£" 1 00,000,000 on naval construction dur- 

 ing the next ten years. Mr. Winston 

 Churchill has again made the sugges- 

 tion that there shall be a holiday in 

 battleship construction. Once more the 

 German naval authorities, to whom the 

 First Lord addressed his remarks, reply 

 that he carefully omits Australian and 

 prospective Canadian battleships from 

 his calculations. They also point out 

 that Germany must go on with her 

 policy of naval construction already 

 laid down, and that this cannot be 

 affected by the number of ships Eng- 

 land chooses to build. Canada is still 

 undecided as to the policy she shall 

 pursue with regard to naval matters. 

 Sir Wilfred Laurier, a strong advocate 

 of a local navy, insists that there is no 

 immediate danger to British naval sup- 

 remacy. The question was made the 

 chief issue at a recent by-election, and 

 the Government candidate was defeated, 

 the Liberals thus winning back a seat. 

 Canada certainly does not need a navy 

 as long as the Monroe doctrine exists, 

 and in her case a contribution of ships 

 to the Imperial navy would clearly be 

 the most practical course to adopt. 



