ll things, so that a gun would probably be an
inducement.

The more one knows of the severe demands upon the officers of the
German army and of their small pay, the more one realizes that if they
are not angels there must be some further explanation of their
willingness to undertake the profession. First of all, the Emperor is
a soldier and wears at all times the soldier's uniform. Further, he
gives from his private purse a small allowance monthly to the poorer
officers of the guard regiments. A German officer receives
consideration on all sides, whether it be in a shop, a railway-carriage,
a drawing-room, or at court.

To a certain extent his uniform is a dowry; he expects and often gets
a good marriage portion in return for his shoulder-straps and brass
buttons; and in every case it gives him a recognized social position,
in a country where the social lines are drawn far more strictly than
in any other country outside of Austria and India. This constant
wearing of the sword is no new thing. Tacitus, who would have been an
uncompromising advocate of compulsory service had he lived in our
time, writes: "A German transacts no business, public or private,
without being completely armed. The right of carrying arms is assumed
by no person whatever till the state has declared him duly qualified."
It is the recognized occupation of the nobility, and, in very many
families, a tradition. In the army of Saxony, on January 1, 1911, out
of every hundred officers of the war ministry, of the general
commands, and of the higher staff, 44.33 per cent. were noblemen; of
the officers of the infantry, 26.19 were noblemen; of the cavalry,
60.92 were noblemen; and of the officers of the entire army, all arms,
24.98 were noblemen.

It is worth chronicling in this connection, for the benefit of those
who wish a real insight into German social life, that few people
discriminate between the old nobility, or men who take their titles
from the possession of land and their descendants, and the new and
morbidly disliked nobility, who have bought or gained their patents of
nobility, as is done often enough in England, by profuse contributions
to charity or to semi-political and cultural undertakings favored by
the court, or by direct contributions to party funds, by valuable
services rendered, or by mere length of service. This new nobility,
anxious about their status, satisfied to have arrived, jealous of
rivals, are the dead weight which ties