The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-04-27

and tuoilees. ne must notalways speak a
Of SACRIFICES but must at least attempt q
to show some sign of good viii to-
wards the people. yj z,
Rrfnss Forward Little Bill.
So Just before ne began to speak Of
the; great patriotic sacrlacas TO be
made, lie brought forward the little d
olii about official ballot boxes. Atthe
beginning OF January 1t had become
known. quite accidentally. that the
RUSSIAN Secretary OF the Interior was
opposed to the Reichstag that wantAd a
OFFICIAL ballot boxes. and the voters y
asked themselves if IL were not -un v
dignifed for the imperial Secretary or Y
the Interior TO have his plans crossed II
by q Prussian minister. Now Hoft.5
pelprueck has carried his war through
anyway. and this. of course. is ALREADY
something. And still one cannot HELM 4
thinking that perhaps the Chancellor
has closed his eyes to Herr Delbrueck,s
scheme, because the elections to the
Reichatag are far OFF yet. What wax
really needed at present was r law
TO safeguard the secrecy of the Prus1s
sian ballot. but no such law came Ar
Whitsuntide. the Prussian elections
VIII take place under the old condi-
lions. and the voters will he exposed
TO intimidation equally from the parties
OF the Right and Left.
rue felchstSs, on the other side,
will joyfully accept even the smallest
gift towards Keeping the ballot secret..s
and viii quickly pass the bill concern -
Ing official ballot boxes But In Prus-
sia the Chancellor is unable to bring
about even this slight Improvement 5
AS was expected. the voters are. to
say the least. exceedingly reserved to-
wards the new military defense bills.
The general enthusiasm on which the
Kaiser and the chauvinist hot-heads
had counted has nowhere become APP
parent. Even the zeal OF many OF
those who have always advocated a.
STRENGTHENING of the army has become
quite frigd.
On the other side the clamor for 4
mucn-needed army reform has grown
very loud and persistent. The radical
parties are in very strong position
10 press their demands. and they will
UNDOUBTEDLY demand that when so
many more recruits are to be called
the length of the term of military
| service must be materially shortened
They will champion the right of the
private soldier ia complain about
abuses, and Will also demand that Il
shall be made possible for gifird and
conscientious noncommssioned Off
GERS to become officers. they will de-,
mand thorough reform OF the ofil5
Gers courts OF honor. and they will Also
demand the abolishment OF the bars
which prevent Jews from becoming
officers. These OF course. are ALI
minor demands, but they will help to-
bring the German army nearer to- the
ideal OF an army OF the people
Fails to Reconcile People.
In regard to the raising OF the neces-
sary amount for the greater expenses,
| II has daily become more plain that.
the government has carefully clint
mated everything which might recon
ellie the people TO the thought OF
! sacrifices. The widow who has to exist
on an annual interest OF $3.50. the smait.
| capitalist who is just able to providss
! for wife and children, even the owner.
OF a small annuity during his declining
years, bought through the greatest
economy in his younger days. all these
! are asked to make sacrifices, while
! citizens who earn good income arc to
! go free unless they simultaneously
| possess capital.
But all these mistakes will be clint
mated IL the radical Left do their duty.
\ Far worse is IL that the government
seems determined not to listen to the.
demand for an imperial tax on capital
and fortune. for II has evidently done
everything to get around this demand
| 1t is the duty of the Liberal parties To-
work against the government on this
| point. and the great political aues-
/ ton is now whether the National Lib
4
to join the blue black block IS
| But the Chancellor is beset by other
worries. Fate seems to have turned
against him. Immediately after he had
| issued warning to German Journalists
not to describe too many details of
! the Zeppelin airships, the newest aud
| most complete OF these, as all the
world knows. had TO descend on French
soil after an accident which necessi-y
tated the dismantling OF one OF the
motors. And what France does not,
now know about ZeppeIinse, is not
worth knowing. That country has al
ready begun the construction of fleet
OF these aerial dreadnoughts. so that
Germany's supposed aerial supremacy
will be thing of the past inside OF
twelve months.
Greatest Peril. 81
| In his recent great speech in the
! Relchstas on April q, however, the
Chancellor mentioned the peril which
causes him the greatest uneasipess,
the alarming growth of Pan Siavism,f
which makes German Russian war;
! in the near future almost certainty,
and In this war Germany will hardly
be able to count on any assistance
| from Austria. whose great Slav popu-a
lation would never consent TO lighting
against their national brethren.
! There are plenty OF omens which
point to an absolute overturn of tho
present European equilibrium which,
| 1t must be admitted. is OF very arr
! tifcial kind. not being founded on the
lines OF nationalties or friendships be-
| tween kindred people,
| 1t seems written in the book OF Fate
that the country which Will rule the
deatinies OF Europe, IL paralyziMg
blow be not struck against her before
J she gets time 10 organize her powers,
| is Russia. al the head of mighty
S.av union and closely allied to res
/ 1uvenated and virile France.
! Russia at present is working pcr-E
! sistently towards this goal. which she
i knows must be reached, but at50the
same time she is far too cautious 10
rush matters by giving in to thesstoo
| rash demands OF over-zealous Pan
| Slavst agitators, within her own
| frontiers. The fact that she wisely
assented TO the combined action of all
the great powers against Montene gro@