Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-10

youths who are so plainly common among
our battalions at home-lads of whom it is
impossible not to ask ones self Of what
conceivable use they would be In a cam
paign. That our weedy English boys would
fight well there is no doubt If they could be
taken down to the battlefield by train. and
given a big breakfast before they went into
action. They would, doubtless, give a very
good account of themselves. But cam
paigns are won not merely by valor. but
by hard. continuous marching, by the
power of resisting the effects of fatigue,
exposure. irregular and often insufficient
food. and in this respect 1t Is impossible not
to be struck by the superiority of the Ger
men regiments to those of our army at
home. And it must be remembered that
none of the infantry men who took part in
the maneuvers can be called old soldiers.
with the colors-in other words, half of the
men in each battalion are yearly trans
ferred into the reserve. The men join the
army at twenty. and leave it at twenty
two; thus. with the exception of the pro-
portion mot large one) of reserve men
who had been called out for the maneuvers,
none OF the infantry were more than
twenty-five years of age. Their drill is as
remarkable as their marching powers: 1t is
wonderful alike for its absolute steadiness
ana Tor its smartneSs You see a battalion
standing easy with the men lolnging
about. Just keeping in the ranks, ana no
more Ihey are suddenly brought to at
tention then they spring upright. and oe-
come a wall Of silent motionless figures
whose very eyes do not move
More Like Machinery.
Another word of command and they
shoulder their rifles like a piece of ma
chlnery, every man working absolutely in
unison with his fellows. In fact, they drill
as we'll as the guards and the best infantry
regiments in our army used to drill twenty
years ago. 1t may be said that this perfect
mechanical accuracy goes for nothing on
md s..
precision Of movement is concerned this
may be true. But this admirable drin is to
quote from the Prayer Book 1.-The outward
ana visible sign of inward and spiritual
grace, or its military eQuivalent-diSci-
pine; and troops who drill as well as the
Germans have gone very far toward ac-
curing that perfect steadfastness which
will alone enable men to face the hail of
projectiles by which the battlefield of the
future will be devastated
Not only does the individual German bat
talon work like machine; the whole Ger
man army seems to be a piece of mechan-
ism, in which every one knows his duty
and carries it out to perfection. The three
army corps Of 25,OO0 men which have just
been maneuvering in South Germany form
less than sixth of the whole of the kais-
erS army; on peace footing probably
there are always about 100000 men under
going their military education; when war
is imminent another 100000 Of highly
trained and disciplined reservists will by
the strength of the army. Behind the troops
with the colors will stand another million
of reserve men. equally well trained, ready
to fill up the gaps in the ranks caused by
the waste of war. For home service and
for work abroad If necessary there is the
Landwehr; and, last reserve for the defense
of the country, there remains the Land
sturm. This mighty engine of war, as adj
mirable as an army as fleets are as a
navy, is moved by the will of one man, the
kaiser; and it Is the master of the most
complete fighting machine the world has
ever known whom the French court-martial
have openly and grossly insulted by
fusing to believe him when, in the interests
of justice, he condescended to reiterate his
assurance that no German official ever had
dealings with Dreyfus. The impression
made in the German army by the verdict
at Rennes is very deep. There is bitter con-
tempt for the nation and deep indignation
at the cavalier treatment with which the
kaiser's statement was received. Among
the higher ranks of the army, indeed, the
belief is widespread that the incident will
lead to a complete change in the imperial
attitude toward France, and that the kais-
ers recent overtures of friendship to the
republic will never be renewed.