, 1880-02-01

In most Of the Western States In recognition
| Of the change in supply and demand. Ban1
rates and current loans are lower In proper
! ton. II Eastern money-lenders desire tut
| ure Western investments they must be 8atis
fed with the rates they get at home, witt
! the difference Of better security in sec
ton Of the country which is constantly
growing in population, production, ant
| wealth. -.
! TIE WAR POWER OF AUSTRIA AND GER.
MANY.
| The recent alliance between Germany ant
| Austria has been followed by signifcan
! military legislation In both Empires. Tht
| legislation is rather paradoxica1, when it !:
| constd dered that the statesmen of botl
Empires have declared repeatedly that tlt
object Of the alliance is to secure the peace
Of Europe and immediately diminish the
+; prospect Of war. The object, perhaps, might
be more correctly stated If It were said thai
both Germany and Austria are suspicious o1
attack from Russia or France, or both com.
bined, and have increased their armies as a
precautlon for safety. In Austria, the long
struggle in Parliament has been settled. A
writer in the New York, Nation gives some
very interesting details of the recent legisla'
tion touching the strength Of the army. The
Ministry proposed a measure which would
continue certain sections Of the law Of 1865
i'll force for ten years from the present
time. These sections fir the strength Of
the standing army ut 10000 men,
and forbid any change in this stand
ard for the period Of ten years. The ten
years were UP in 1878, at which time the
grants were continued only one year. Re-
Gently, however, the Ministry came forward
and demanded a grant for another ten years.
The Minister Of War made a strong asgu-
ment in its favor by showing that, as COM
pared with Germany, France, and Russia,
Austria had the smallest standing army, the
smallest number Of annual recruits, and the
smallest proportion Of men under arms, ae-
cording to population; while the Liberals,
who opposed the measure, contended that
Austria could no longer bear the strain Of SO
large an army, The struggle was long and
bitter one, and the Liberals we're beaten, not
wfthstanding it was conceded that they had
the advantage in the debate. The only result
they secured was small reduction in the
peace footing, from 25aa, 600, the present num-
beT, to $4,000. The standing army will re-
main at soo, GOO until 1883, and Parliament has
surrendered for that time all right Of making
any changes in the military law.
i. While the number OF the standing army is
not increased, it is of course immensely ad~
Vantageous, In military sense, to Austria
that It cannot be diminished for ten years to
come, while, in caso Of WIZ, the increase
would be sure to come If 1t should prove to
be necessary. Germany has gone step fur
ther, and made small increase to her al
ready colossal force, and has supplemented
1t With increased orders for heavy ordnance,
With the repairs Of old Notifications and the
construction Of new ones, with the larger
accumulation Of war material and stores,
and with taking possession Of the entire rail-
road system, SO that in case Of war. she can
transport her troops to the frontier without
any unnecessary delay and at the small
est possible cost Of transportation, be-
sides having the additional advantage
OF close connections on all the
roads,. Whether this is a practical method
OF securing the peace Of Europe is exceeding
~ problematical to say the least. It certain
1y does not tender an ollve-branch to the
other Powers; but, on the other hand, looks
very much like a huge menace, which may
be- resented in q moment of desperation, OF
when the other Powers find themselves suf-
fcient1y strong to hazard the chances of war.
The most important question that arises
from these; considerations is, How much
longer can Austria and Germany endure the
enormous expense arising from their mill
tary establishments How much longer can
they bear the fearful strain upon their re- |
sources which withdraws in the two Empires |
nearly 600, 600 OF the able-bodied from the va |
rious industries for greater OF lesser periods? !
In Germany the increase Of the army has !
been followed by Increased taxation, such !
IS the taxing Of newspaper advertise !
nents, Of all persons not actually in |
he service, and other sources Of rere- |
lue; which goes 10 show that the reve-
1ue from the new tariff system cannot be ]
elfcd upon to meet the army expenses.
Austria is poor country, and much less
Ible to endure the strain than Germany. It
vas stated in the debate upon her military
aw by the Liberals, that either tic debit side
i the budget must be- brought down to d
evel with the credit, or the country must
|eclare itself bankrupt, She Is already 1,5o0
Millions of dollars in debt; has deficit,
which has been steadily increasing since
$40, and now amounts to ss,ooo, 900; while Of
erincome 90 per cent goes to pay the inter-
st on her debt and keep up the army, and
ut 4 per cent for education and / per cent
or the national industry. Il the military
leasuges Of the two Empires are in the tn-
efests OF peace In Europe, then the tax
[dden and suffering people are paying a
ost which entities them to the admiration,
not TO the ptty, OF the rest Of the world.
THE FARWELL DAMAGES. j.
Daniel Webster, or some other great law
er, once said that there was nothing un-
nown to the Almighty unless it were the
ec1sion which a petit jury might reach.
his was superior to His on1ntscience. The
ardonic character Of the remark is we'll