Say what you will, the Prussians have not yet acquired either wit or good taste!  There is proof of this not only in the speeches of William II at Konigsberg, but even more convincing, 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 Schneider were his agents in Switzerland.  On the other hand, at the inquiry into the proceedings of these socialists, there was the evidence furnished by letters seized on Schmidt and Friedmann, associates of Haupt and Schneider, that Schmidt had been commissioned by M. Krueger of the Berlin Police to commit a crime.  In one of the seized letters, the following words were actually used by Krueger:  “The next attempt upon the life of the Emperor Alexander must be prepared at Geneva.  Write to me; I await your reports.” [7]