896 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Sovcmhcr 1. if>l3. 



THE FOREIGN REVIEWS. 



GERMANY'S POSITION. 

 An unsigned article on the position of 

 Germany in Europe appears ni the 

 Deutsche Revue. The writer says that 

 in discussing the Foreign Policy of Ger- 

 many we must take into account posi- 

 tive factors and negative factors — posi- 

 tive because they serve an active policy 

 and negative because they serve a defen- 

 sive policy. The negative factor of 

 German polic)- is the Triple Alliance. 

 As to the positive factors, they are 

 chiefly those which concern Germany's 

 future relations with the \\ estern Powers. 

 It is characteristic what bad calcula- 

 tors and politicians Germany has, that 

 just those people who again and again 

 ask the Government for a more active 

 policy, always bring into their calcula- 

 tions the negative factor and agitate 

 against the Western Powers. The posi- 

 tion of Germany, however, is not so bad 

 as some people make out. No power 

 desires a war with Germany. 



IN CASE OF WAR. 



M. A. de Tarle, in the Correspondant, 

 writes on the food supply of Germany 

 in case of war. While France in case 

 of need might be able to supply herself 

 with food, it is a very different matter 

 with Germany, who imports a large part 

 of the necessary articles of food. Quite 

 a number of German publications have 

 discussed the problem, and the writer in 

 the Correspondant explains the various 

 proposals to prevent famine. Some 

 suggest granaries to store corn, the con- 

 struction of silos, etc. ; others desire to 

 create a movement for the development 

 of the natural wealth of the country in 

 such a way as to equalise more the indus- 

 trial and the agricultural output 



TAXATION IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 



Writing in the Grande Revue on the 

 Budgets of France and Germany, M. 

 Rene Lauret institutes some interesting 

 comparisons between the national ex- 

 penditures of the two countries. Many 

 attempts have been made to ascertain 

 the exact average amount in taxation 

 per head of the population paid in each 

 country, but the results are too contra- 



dictory to make it possible to accept 

 them without reserve. M. Y. M. Goblet 

 puts it at 165 francs in Germany, and 

 142 francs in France. M. Jules Roche, 

 again, estimates that the Prussian pays 

 59 francs against 98 francs in France. 

 The Bulletin de Statistique et de Legis- 

 lation Comparee makes the amount paid 

 by each person in Germany 51 francs, 

 and the writer thinks the last two esti- 

 mates nearer the truth than that of M. 

 Goblet. Much depends on the way in 

 which the amount is reckoned, the items 

 included, and the different articles taxed 

 in each country. Railways in Germany, 

 for instance, form almost a State mono- 

 poly ; in France tobacco is a mono- 

 poly. Military expenditure in Germany 

 is higher than in France, but, comnared 

 with the population, it is less. Germany 

 spends more than France on foreign af- 

 fairs, but less on colonies. Public 

 powers and administration, justice, etc., 

 cost more in Germany, or, at any rate, in 

 Prussia, than in France. The expendi- 

 ture on education seerbs pretty equal in 

 both countries. France sacrifices more 

 on behalf of commerce and public 

 works, and Prussia more for agriculture. 



THE EUROPEAN SITUATION. 



In Nord und Slid Helmut Hiitter 

 writes on the National Balance of Power 

 on the Adriatic. In future the Adriatic 

 is to be enclosed chiefly by three coun- 

 tries — ■Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Al- 

 Iiania. By a neutral Albania under the 

 protection of the two Great Powers, the 

 latter will be enabled to preserve their 

 routes into the interior of the Balkan 

 States. Apart from the hostile attitude 

 of the Czech Radicals, and especially 

 that of the Southern .Slavs, in regard to 

 the German Empire, the writer draws 

 attention to the danger which may result 

 from the Drang of the southern Slavs 

 towards the sea, which in recent times 

 seriously threatened the Italians in 

 Trieste, Istria, and Dalmatia. Dr. B. 

 Ischchanian's article in the same review 

 on the Armenian population in Turkey 

 is an interesting contribution to the dis- 

 cussion on the Reform Question in Asia 

 Minor. 



