The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-23 00:00:00

PBUSSIA.

the civilians, whom it -interrupts-in the pursuit-of
a livelihood, by imposing on them the ,necessity of
serving for a longer or shorter time in the ranks
After the battle of Jeha had given the deathblow
to the system, is Perfected under Frederick the
Great, and the reverses that succeeded that defeat
had compelled Prussia to submit to the restriction
of her military force to 42,000 men, Scharnhorst,
Gneiseneau, and others organized a plan on noble
and highly enlightened prineiplee, by which the
whole male peptilatlon shutild be'trained in the use
of arms, so-that when a favourable- conjuncture'
Offered itself, it might act in support of the stand-
ing army; but, as the ,obligations which: Napoleon
had. imposed upon Prussia included a fixedlimit to
the force of her army, this additional militia force
was not called army but Landwehr,, for the purpesee
of evading the letter of 'the treaty. Subsequently
the standing army,the Military force of professional
soldiers devoted to the pursuit of arms, was abol-
ished in Prussia, chiefly, from reasons of economy,
and a portion of the new system, which, iu its
original feral, as an auxiliary to the army, was ad-
mirable, was, now adopted to replace the army, itself.
What is now called the "Standing army" in Prusaia
is nothing More than the first or preparatory stage
of the Landwehr, in which every able bodied male
is -liable to serve for a short time, so as -to learn
the use of arms,, after which he enters into the
first,ban of the Landwehr, where he.is liable to be
called out to exercise for a few days every autumn
till'he has completed his 323 year. Every able-
bodied male, moreover, who has not been called
out to Serve in tho So called " standing
army" belongs, nevertheless, to the first an of
the Landwehr, and thus the only difference
between the . said " standing army" and , the first
ban of the Landwehr is, that it is kept under
drill for - a couple • of years or so, instead of ..a
few days, under the 'conduct and instruction of
able and intelligent officers, who are the only
stable element in this so called " standing army,"
The original period assigned for service in' the
active army was five years, but :this sacrifice of
the best years of every young man's life (from
20 to-25) was noon found to be too heavy a tax
on the productive powers of the nation, as
well as too oppressive to the individual, and
in 1814 it was decided that hi future, three
years should he the period of service in the active ,
army, and that during the following two, the
recruits no*: in the reserve should have every
opportunity of forgetting what they had then
learnt by riot being balled out to exercise at all.
In 1833 and 1837 this period of three years' service
was againreduced, out of feelings 'of consideration
for the popnlation, to two years for the infantry of
'the line, and this period, has. again been reduced
in general practice to one year and a half, by
calling out the recruits, six months later than
the law requires. The, various-: occasions in 1848,
and since , then, in. which the. military force
has come into requisition, have convinced the
more experienced among the . higher military
officers of the necessity of a longer period of
training, if the recruits here called-an army are to
have any chance when pitted againSt any foreign
army 'of veteran aoldiers, The memorial which
the Governnient has submitted to the Chambers in
justification of the increase of the 'army estimates,
incidental 14 the return to the three years' duralion
of services, adduces the longer period of service to
which the military of, other, nations, is subjected,
the greater fighting capacity (Schiagfertigkeit) they
thereby attain,the introductionof improved firearms
which make, a longer period of practice necessary
for the attainment.of skill with them, as grounds of
justification for the -measure, which is the .more
urgent in Prussia, as the habits of unhesitating
blind obedience whiela the recruit acquires 'in the
active army are expected to exerciser a lasting effect
on the remainder of his life, both as civilian and
landtrehrsmann; This'phtin statement of the. truth
on the subject of the army will be still more service
to the nation than the actual improvement of the
military fOrce by the lengthened period of service.
The enormous conceit of the people has always
hitherto been flattered by telling them thak-they
are so much.. more educated and enlightened
than the rest of the world, that, although 10, 15,
and 20 years may be a necessary period of service
for other soldiers, they, the Prussians, can 'acquire
all that is .necessary in
_a year
and a half, and, at the expiration of that time, be
ever 'ready to march into the field at au_ hour's
notice, More than ,a match for any man. This silly
delusion On the part of the bulk of, the people,
coupled with the ignorance of the real state of the
case on the part of other nations, is, in connexion
with the glorious traditions of the old Fritz end
Blucher times, the cause
_why we hear and read so
much rubbish about the Prussians still being a
military nation, if not indeed less so; while at'the
same time the knowledge on the part of their rulers
how very hollow arid
..unfounded all this preerimp-
...

tuous over conceit is, forms one of the many reasons
f:n• the pacific (a tout prix pacific) policy of Prussia.
This measure for improving the efficiency of the
army, and making the people pay for it, is a valuable
step in the right direction, and may embolden
future Ministers of War to go still further. With
better pecuniary means at command it would be
possible to raise at any rate a few regiments of real
soldiers out of men who enlist for a lengthened
period, and- who would thereby attain a certain
degree of firmness and self-reliance; with a compa-
ratively small force of this nature, acting indepen•
dently of the present Landwher and standing army,
and availing itself of the unusual facilities which

I3ERLIN, FEB, 18.
trclhla session of the Pruseian Diet—it is next to
to call the two Houses Chambers any longer
Hounds the Ministry, in one respect, in a worst posi•
tiiTl vis-a-vis the country and its representatives,
e any other session since 1848 has done. It is
• t:l,Pelled to ask the country for fresh or increased
11,0'8; without being able to point out any one or
th:e °vents to which they can conveniently ascribe
14;tleeessity for increased taxation ; and, although
iossiQ
is the lightest taxed country of which we
"1 "ariY statistical information, • such is the
a4l°.rant impatience of taxation" prevalent here,
480 faulty the
,system on which the objects for
4`;ic'n are chosen, that th© task of raising a
,feetealter revenue out of the nation, although per-
die Able to afford it, may be likened to that
the cult undertaking known in popular phrase as
h. 4‘ extraction of sunbeams from cucumbers.
:reviti 'extreme difficulty of raising an increased
/3-I„erlie from a people that knows but one
it;,,,-"e.'Ple of economy. viz., that of not part-
with money on any consideration, is
tit,`.,.'4lldV enhanced by the necessity the Ministers
er of informing them at the same time of
.tilfgteat defects that exist in two branches of the
:41‘,.?,..LadministratiOn, which every good Prussian is
-1/411,Iptt up to believe to be faultless, viz., the army
tti f;„-Le finances. The same trouble that is bestowed
:tixter.",_
the
National Schools in teaching children their
tcisma and collects is bestowed here on impress-
:l()W" " young idea" with a conviction of the fault-
:lttfi;eBB and supreme excellence of the Prussian
system, and of Prussia's financial aclminis-
',9olo-: ; in consequence, every good Prussian
tia4,',es' in these latter fictions far more devoutly.
lat}he does in his Bible, the authenticity of which
'ltitlior„llaa.V be treated or not as "open question,c;
Iltib"--t any injury to his standing,as a citizen an
leut.
tie e events of 1843, and the eight years that have
,trcie'eded it, have completely deprived the high er
thers of Prussian officials of their devout faith in
Cilli,"',nances and military organisation of their
atipirY ; but such is the care with which such
Def,,sillaant notions have been kept back from the'
*hti't e' that now that Ministers openly admit
Ihisa unbiassed persons long agO knew, the sur-
N4034,11(1 disgust '©f the people are added to their
'Nek;:litional dislike to put their hands into their
.1.111,1 as (for the purpose of taking anything out),
Just--114 a most unusual amount of resistance is
ProD,TOW being offered here to the Ministerial
11111C"ala for increased taxation. One of the
' ses for which increased pecuniary means
'Lae. „
.„,41vv being required is an improvement in
tl▪
rpTl.teiency of the army, and to this ono subject
ilia
-fctr the present confine my remarks.
r4,s...assian army, like many other things in
is i 8 a " makeshift ; " properly speaking, it
t•
iq- an army at all such as a European State
Possess if it makes any claim to be one of
~_'l.tio'reapt. Powers of Europe. The military organi-
wilicil Of Prussia is a cleverly arranged system, by
I')Tati.,,, large 'Apportion of the able bodied male
5h,,,,,"‘"°11 is drilled and taught the use of arms for
1,1 4,411' Period, but it is not one that is calculated
hand au
mostarmy of soldiers ; while, on the other
" most injuriously affects the prospects of

the Prussian railroads offer as all concentrating in
Berlin, they might do much more efficient duty in
the provinces or ou the frontier than five times the
number. of men, taken as they now are from their
civil employments for a period of three years, with
all their thoughts and interests inseparably bound
up in the employments they have just left, and to
which they are soon to return.

THE NORMERN TIMES.--pLIVERPOOL, MONDA

those present at-- dinner, and, after dinner.;
Count Cavour proposed the health of the
Queen of England. 'Sir James 'Hudson then
gave the health of King Victor Emmanuel, and
afterwards that of the Emperor of the French,
Upon which the Duo de Grammont proposed the
health of the Allied Armies, for which General
Della Marmora returned thanks in a short and
soldier-likJ speech. 13aron Seabach, Envoy Extra-
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the
King of Saxony to this Court, arrived in Turin
last night . from Paris. Some students of the
University of Rome have sent 250 f. as their sub-
scription towards the guns for the fortification of
Alessandria, accompanied by an address expressive
of their patriotic feelings,

PERSIA.

The Gazette of Teheran of the Bth of January
contains a new manifesto of the Persian govern-
ment. The concessions offered by Persia to Great
Britain, was again alluded to, and a contrast is
instituted between the friendly disposition of
Persia and the determined hostility of England.
The manifesto concludes in the followingterms

PARLIAMEIINTA_RT_BUS2IV_ESS FOR THE
_
PRESENT TVBEI.

Seeing after this the frititlessn7ss of its friendly' advances
and loyal efforts, and being persuaded that England will
not refrain from carrying further its domineering desires
and unjust views, the Persian Government finds
itself obliged to - appeal to the favour of tha
Most High, and to use all the means in its power
to defend the' county and people, and to resist an
insolent enemy; and to submit to any sacrifice for the
welfare and honour of the nation, that these Objects, its
holy religion, may not be lightly exposed to ignominy and
dishonour. It is clear that the Per-ian government has
had-no- intention of offending a powerful ally,, or of finding
pretexts for infringing upon treaties, nor a desire to revive
slumbering. grievances or to see the sheddiug of human
blood. Which of the two parties will have provoked this
great calamity the Most High will jadge. The Persian
Government has not neglected, nor will neglect, anything
in the despatch of commanders, and Sufficient
military forces and artillery, or iii the adoption
of all suitable measures for the iepulsion of the
enemy. Amongst others, ' the illustriOns Mirza
Mahomet' Kahn, ' Serkchiktchi Baccbi (chief of his
Majesty's corps of Guards), and the illustrious Emir-i-
Toumati, Fezi-Ali-Chae'Beglarbegi, haVe been sent into
the provinces of Fars, supplied' with necessary material.
Confiding in the goodness of God, they quitted the capital
on the Ist-for their deetination, and if England persists in
its groundless hostilities, the other points and localities of
the said province will not be foilnd unprevided with the
means of defence, as in the cage of Benders-Buschir, and
will serve for something more than a place of exercise for
English troops. Supposing England. to return to peace,
this expedition will not entail greater Josses than those
which would result from English conquest. 7