Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-07-21
War.

Leopold Tor the throne or Spain, mas al
last been made on the pretext of an in
civility to the French Embassador a
Berlin. The difficulty on the part o
! France has been from the first fraudu
lent quarrel, and il is fitting that il
should culminate in diplomatic false
hood so gross that the world can hardly
feel seriously angry at it. War between
France and Prussia has been inevitable
ever since the reorganization of Ger.
many. The Bonaparte dynasty can
maintain itself only by tickling the
French passion for glory, and all Eu-
rope has felt that Napoleon must soon
make some desperate movement to re-
cover the prestige he lost during the
seven weeks war OF 1866 land the dis
astrous experiment of the Latin empire
in Mexico. The question of the Span
ish throne was his first convenient pre-
text; he has waited just long enough to
inspire his people with visions of con-
quest, and excite their brains with the
roll af drums and the blaze of red trows-
ers, and now he hurries toward the
Rhine. The original cause of complaint
has been removed; the King of Prussia
has refused to sanction Prince Leopold g
nomination; Spain has offered to reject
it; the Prince himself has formally
withdrawn; but these circumstances
have had no weight with Napoleon; the
question of the throne is forgotten, and
Spain is contemptuously motioned aside
as if the quarrel, begun ostensibly on
her account, was one with which she
really had nothing to do. The battle
now is for territory, not principle.
The war we suppose will be a severe
one, though it is not likely to be long
Europe nowadays cannot bear contests
of years duration; war is too costly, the
politics of the continent are too COM
plicated, and dynasties are too infirm.
A few weeks of fighting in 1866 destroy
ed the old German empire, made Aus
tria practically second rate power,
effected new confederation of the Ger.
man States, and raised Prussia to such q
threatening pre-eminence among the
military powers that her rivals hastened
to make peace on the best terms they
could. A few weeks more will probably
decide whether Prussia shall retain her
precedence, or the first place hereafter
belong to France. So far as we can
judge from statistical returns, the two
powers are almost evenly matched, but
the victory will remain with that one
whose reserves can be the more readily
modified and whose organization will
work the more perfectly in practice
Theoretically every able-bodied adult
both in France and in Prussia is SOL
dier during his prime of life; but in
France there are many exemptions and
in Prussia there are few. In Prussia,
moreover, there is larger population to
draw from than in France, for in time
of war all the forces of the non-confed-
Grated States of South Germany will be
at Prussia's absolute disposal. In the
course of the debate the other day in the
French Corps Legislatif on the proposal
to reduce the contingent of 1871 THAT is,
the number of new troops to be raised
by recruiting ard conscription) from
100000 to 1000, the Count de la Tour
said: Even with an annual contingent
of 100, 900 men our military forces are
inferior in number to those of ofGermany;"
and in another part of his speech he
stated the effective military force of
France to be $4,000 men and that of
Germany 1905 200. Practically there
will be no such disproportion as this
between the armies which the two ma
items can bring face to face in the field,
and we shall not be far from the truth if
we place the effective force of France on
war-footing at $50, 900 men, and that
of Prussia (including South Germany
at $40, 900. Both are admirably organic
ed and equipped In the war of 1866
Prussia required only fourteen days to
mobilize her entire resere, and tits prob
able that both she and France will be
able to move with equal or greater
celerity now.
| But If Prussia has preponderance OF
strength on land, France has an over
Iwhelming superiority in her navy. To
the Improvement of this arm of the SER
vice she has devoted during the last few
years enormous sums of money, and
there is no fleet in the world, except
that of Great Britain, which can cope
with hers for an hour. The latest i'm
provements in naval ordnance, armor
plating, and new systems of attack and
defense, have all been adopted. Splen-
did turret vessels, fit to rival the Eng
lish ships Monarch and Captain, rams,
gun-boats, floating batteries, eighteen
iron-clad frigates mounting from II to
80 guns each, and a multitude of smaller
vessels, are included in this splendid
maritime force. Prussia also has some
magnificent armored ships, but she is
no match for France on the sea, and
Napoleon can easily carry out his pur-
pose of blockading most of the Prussian
pOl0>s IL 10 OOuUllitl IL any StT1OuS ell
gagement takes place on the water. The
brunt of the campaign will be borne on
the Rhine, Al the midst of that net
work of fortresses upon which tile mill
tary engineers of SO many generations
have expended their ingenuity. Here
Prussia has the advantages of previous
possession and the most minute ac-
Quaintance with the country. For years
her officers have traversed the provinces
back and forth; her soldiers have march
ed over all the roads-we might almost
say have drilled in all the fields. Ever
since the first threatening of war she
has been concentrating her armies in
these strong places, and when the clash
of battle comes she will have in her
favor almost every aid which military
science has devised for defending
force. She will have patriotic and en-
thusiastic people supporting her, and a
just cause to give her confidence. From
present appearances it would seem that
the odds are all i'll her favor; but how.
well she is really prepared for battle,
how well she has preserved the admira-
bic organization which gave her such
a superiority in 1866, are questions which
can only be answered by the test of war.
". Y. Tribune.
From then. Y. Tribune of Friday 18th.
The XLIst Congress.
The XLIst Congress closes its second
session to-day. 1t has been a most
| talkatiye BODY: and vet we cannot denv