ing, in that which was delivered
before the Reichstag by that famous strategist, our conqueror de
Moltke, on the subject of the proposed increase in the peace-footing
effectives.

One must read the whole speech to get an idea of the sort of nonsense
that "honorable" Germans are prepared to listen to. In urging the vote
of credit, "the Victor" said: "Confronted with the fundamental problem
of the army, the question of money is of secondary importance; for what
becomes of your prosperous finances in war-time?"

Having proved that conquerors are the greatest benefactors of the human
race, M. de Moltke goes on to declare that it is not the rulers, but
the peoples, who want war to-day. In Germany, it is "the cupidity of
the classes whom fate has neglected"; it is also the socialists who
decline to vote more soldiers because they desire to trouble the
world's peace and expect "to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives
in the next war and to threaten the existence of morality and
civilisation."

I do not know whether my readers can make head or tail of this
speech--I certainly cannot--but its intention is plain enough. William
II has been careful to emphasise it, by declaring that the increase in
the peace strength of the army is intended to reinforce the eastern and
western frontiers. Several officious newspapers (we no longer call
them reptile, but to do so would make them more authoritative) sum up
the matter in these words--

"The nearer the peace-footing of the troops on our frontiers approaches
to war-strength, the more effectively these troops are provided with
everything necessary to enable them to leave within _three hours_ of
receiving marching orders, the more secure becomes Germany's position."

Quite so! By next October there will be 200,000 men in
Alsace-Lorraine. As you see, the new law adds to the security of
Germany precisely what it takes from ours.

June 12, 1890. [6]

My readers will recollect that after a journey in Switzerland, two
years ago, I proved by statements which could not be (and never were)
refuted, that the Russian Nihilists established in Switzerland before
the Federal Government's inquiry, were all either deliberate or
unconscious tools of the German police.

On the one hand, M. de Puttkamer, Minister of the Interior, unable to
refute the evidence brought forward by the socialist deputy, Bebel, had
then been compelled to confess that the socialist agitators Haupt and
Sc