The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-02
THE ARMY TACTICS INTEREST EUROPE Much Talk About American Troop Maneuvers RUSSIANS PATRIOTS For the Moment Every Subject Has at Heart the Country's Welfare.
 Furious Controversy at
 Oldenburg
By FREDERICK WERNER

berlln,, Aprll l-tSpecldl.)-lL IS ilol too much to say that during the last three weeks the diplomats of Europe,
 with no urgent international problem their hands, have occupied their minds | almost entirely with the events follow | ing upon the sudden and unexpected | mobilization of American troops on the Mexican frontier. Here in Germany even the return of increase to power In France, which momentarily created q | great sensation was forgotten. Most | statesmen here are inclined to think that what has just taken place in America | is merely a forerunner to the great clash | between American and Japan, which IS considered inevitable and Count Revent- | low one of the most expert and talented | students of international politics has | voiced the general opinion in diplomatic | circles in an article in which he asserts | that the statemen of Japan are con | vinced that absolute naval supremacy l can only be assured by a great naval victory over the United States.
 | For the moment, the material well-be- | ing of the Russian Empire is source of
 Joy to every patriotic subject of the Czar. The Duma received the tidings with deaIenng cheers Two abundant harvests following one upon the other
 have fed the population and filled the | imperial treasury with gold.
 | The Budgetary committee of the Duma I
 with a surplus of about forty-three mill
 lion roubles. which may possibly be used
 to pay off part of the national debt. A real surplus! And yet the expendi-
 ture on cultural needs has grown sensi- bly,. Three years ago, for instance, the amount spent on education was but
 forty y-seven million roubles. This year 1t | is ninety-two millions. And if the com | ing harvest turns out as plentiful 1S | that of 1910, Russia will work wonders. | Even now the finance minister antici-
 pates that at the end of the year the | free balance will reach the total or SO million roubles
 The amount available for imperial de-
 fences is accordingly growing. Three years ago the needs of the army ab-
 sorbed four hundred and seven million | roubles. This year the state Is spend- | ing four hundred and thirty-two mill | lions for land forces and does not feel | the burden. Alone the navy remains | pious desire.
 But the voices are many and strident | that are now calling for formidable
 navy. Among them Admiral Skdydloff | is playing the part of a socialist. This | yotary of Nepture and Mars was twice l commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Squadron, and 1t must be admitted that he never had a serious accident with any of his ships. His maneuvering was
 unique in the Russian navy. A few days | ago he uttered words of warning in
 Odessa. which were flashed across the
 wires to every nook and corner of Rus
 sia,. and will certainly move the gov ernment of the Czar.
 | Look at Turkey" he said, land draw practical conclusions from what you sec | there The Turks have no surplus In | their Budgetary estimates. They have
 no such heavy cultural items in their expenditures, as we have. They lack | hard cash But none the less, they are
 determined to create a fleet and to get
 the needful money by hook or by crook l And they are doing it, too. They are preparing for a war, not with Greece or | Crete, but with Russia. They look upon 1 Caucasus, with it's flourishing Mosem
 population as part of their lost and un-
 redeemed dominions.
 | .sThe growth of the Austrian navy is proceeding perceptibly. At the same tlme l the Turkish fleet is increasing. What | is the casual nexus between the two | phenomena? Tt is the same as the link | between the movements of Japan ana l the seeming quiescence of China. The | two Mongol states are using each other | and cooperating one with the other against Russia. So 1t is in Europe.
 Austria steers clear of an armed con
 test with us, but she is egging on Fur
 key to brandish her scimitar. And, stirred lup by Austrian intrigues, the Turks are | eager for the fray-it behooves us to make haste. If the Ottoman Empire IS
 not formidable at sea today, the pal ance of naval forces may have changed | to our detriment tomorrow.
 | s'For the second time it has been my | lot to come forward as a prophet. TWO years before the Japanese campaign, l I was in minority of one in the Mill l tary Council There l warned the wee
 roy of the far east Alexeyeff, or the | calamitous result of our unpreparedness
 in the Pacific. Now, again, l deem IL my dlty to come forward and point to | tbe countless horrors that will overtake l Russia. if she be entangled in another | armed conflict, unless she has made
 ample preparations and left nothing to | chance
 That is Admiral Skrydloff's common
 sense view of things And if one con-
 siders the aims of the strivings Of re-
 generate Turkey. one cannot but ac-
 1uiesce in his judgment.
 Turkey is in truth bent upon creating
 a fleet which will upset the balance of
 naval power in the Black Sea. Whether
 her motive is furnished by the necessity
 of self-defence or by desire to act
 unon pressing advice and make herself
 q worthy mate of her Teutonic friend Is
 a question which will be answered diff
 ferently by different people. The fact | remains that strenuous and successiul
 endeavors are being put forth. AS the government HICKS liit luhN' iiSN~s,.' .e
 realize the scheme. private initiative 's
 coming to it's assistance. A national l Navy I league has been formed like that
 of Germany. and the ways and means 1t emnloys give one the measure or It's ] determination to achieve success | A furious controversy is raging m
 Oldenburg over the project to take all
 unmarried persons. l The project which is before the com mittee of the I4andtag, is to impose | supplementary income tax on incomes ot | the unmarried which exceed SLIGO year. 1 only persons between thirty and 1itty | years of age will be subject to the tax Hitherto all such taxes have been lm- | posed on men alone. but the chivalrous | Oldenburg Legislature proposes not to | spare women. This is the main cause of
 the opposition Opponents of the tax de- clare these women are usually not them
 selves responsible for their unmarried blessedness, and they ask how can a government decide whether a woman has done her best to get married or not. Dr. Mittler, fierce enemy of the pro- ject, declares that if the law passes. the government will have itself to act as marriage agency. In the interest of jus tice it will be obliged to give every wo-
 man a chance of refusing a husband be-
 fore it taxes her for obduracy
 eff the state provides tolerate wooers.
 says Dr. Mittler, "every woman will
 marry. and the tax will yield nothing, |
 while if 1t taxes women merely because 1
 tha,- ,af,,ca renuouaut or tpdp sira ,le |