The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-11 00:00:00

Conservative leaders condemn the Government for
reducing the regular troops by 20,000 men, or for
not increasing them by 20,000 men, they are simply
misleading the public. Our regular army is but a frac-
tion of the continental hosts, and by the addition or
subtraction of 20,000 men it remains a fraction still.
The only means by which Great Britain can possess
a force not equal to that of France or Prussia, but
one of adequate proportion for the defence of
the country, is by the system of
great reserves. So long as we possess
a large body of well-trained troops ready to take the
field when wanted, the smaller the number actually
under arms the better, A large standing army is
only a standing danger. It is contrary to the essen-
tial principle of military reform to condemn the
reduction of the standing army in time of peace as
bad policy. It is only by keeping a small standing
army that we can have a large reserve without ex-
cessive charges. If the reserve principle be properly
; carried into practice, the military estimates need not
be increased at all.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

WAIL 'A OUTRANCE.

Touching the present elections in France, it is
needful to guard against the error committed by
some contemporaries of identifying the Republican
with the war party. The war party consists wholly
of Republicans, but all Republicans do not belong
to the war party. Most of the most moderate
and respectable advocates of Republicanism have pro-
nounced in favour of peace—among these being MM.
Simon, Favre, and other members of the present
Government. In Paris, where scarcely any
Monarchists were put in nomination, not a candidate
pronounced for war. M. Tillers, who has joined the
ranks of the Moderate Republicans has been well re-
ceived all over France. The election of M. Jules Simon
for Bordeaux, where a few days ago he scarce dared
shew his face in the streets, is a very promising
symptom.

SWEDEN AND GERMANY.
A telegram from the Times Berlin correspondent
says :—" A letter from the King of Sweden to a
French officer, prisoner of war in Germany, has
fallen into the hands of the authorities. It is remark-
able for warmly sympathising with France, and ex-
pressing great animosity against Germany." The King
acted very foolishly in sending such an epistle to a
French prisoner in Germany, where it was almost
sure to be seen by the authorities. But, though a
highly unkingly proceeding, the declaration conveys
no information. The sentiments of the Swedish and
Norwegian peoples are at one with those of Denmark
with respect to Germany. All three countries
regard with jealousy the formation of an overwhelm-
ingly powerful State on the southern shores of the
Baltic. And it seems that the jealousy of Denmark
has not been without cause.

BISMARCK AND CAV OIJR.
The Turin Gazette says that the secret of
Bismarck's political conduct before and during the
war consists in his consciousness of a power which
he thinks no one can resist. Since Napoleon the
First, who expressed his will with decision,
and expected everyone to yield to it,
there has been no similar instance of
a statesman who planned such extraordinary
schemes and carried them out in such an arbitrary
spirit. Count Cavour did not possess less energy
than Bismarck, and his ideas were equally great, but
he wanted skill when it was necessary for him,
instead of overcoming obstacles, to adapt them to his
purpose. This difference will be all that the historian
will recognise in discussing the characters of the two
greatest men of the age. The pitiless energy of
Count Bismarck is an error which obscures the
splendour of his character, and it is one of those
errors which sooner or later conduce to the ruin
of those who commit them. The abuse which Bis-
marck intends to make of the German victory is not
only unjust but imprudent, and opposed to the
interests of Germany, because no peace can
be lasting which springs from the material
and moral crushing of a nation which ought
to be one of the first Powers of Europe. Moderation
in success is as wise as it is commendable, awl if the
Counsellor of the new German Emperor seeks to
render too complete his triumph over his ancient
rival, ho will go the way to prepare the latter for
making, sooner or later, tremendous reprisals.

THE QUEEN'S SPEECH AND THE TELEGRAPHS,
The' length of the Queen's Speech has been very
generally commented upon, and it contained in fact
1,780 words, or more than double the number of the
speech of 1870. Its transmission by telegraph was a
very important matter, and some very inte-
resting experiments were made, testing the powersof
the various instruments. The speech transmitted by
telegraph was sold in Edinburgh and Newcastle at
3.45; in Dublin at 3.47; in Cork at 4; in Jersey,
with two transmissions, at 4 ; in Belfast, with two
transmissions, at 4.28; in Inverness at 4.40; in the
Isle of Man at 5. The highest speed attained was to
Bradford, where it was sent at the rate of 94
words per minute. The Morse printing instrument
was used for Brighton and Southampton, females
being the operators in both ainstances; and it is be-
lieved the speed they attained, over forty words
per minute, is the greatest ever reached on the
Morse printer for that length of time. The trans-
mission to Brighton took forty-three minutes and
a half to Southampton, forty-five. To Liverpool
the speech was sent by the Hughes type-printing in-
strument, which prints its messages in ordinary
Roman type, and the speed attained was thirty-seven
words per minute. For many places the Wheatstone
Automatic Transmitter was used, which punches out
the messages on a separate instrument and passes
the punched ribbon through the transmitter. It
was the first time on which a message of this kind
has been forwarded by the automatic instrument,
and the length of the ribbon punched for a single
copy was upwards of 111 yards.