GERMANY’S HUGE ARMY

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 July 1913, Page 8

GERMANY’S HUGE ARMY

BILLS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

SIXTY THOUSAND RECRUITS,

MONEY FOR AERIAL ADVANCE

(Per independent Cable Service.)

BERLIN, July 1

The German "'Parliament has definitely agreed to all the provisions of the new army hills, and 'has consented also to the provision of six additional cavalry regiments ashed for by the Government. Unanimous consent was given to a measure mitigating sentences passed under military penal law in cases where extenuating circumstances might arise. The financial provisions were agreed to. The Chancellor, ,Dr Von Bethmami. Hollwegg, afterwards thanked the members. and Parliament adjourned until November 20th. PROVISIONS OF THE BILLS. The new German Army Bills demand big increases in all directions, and the proposals are almost startling in theii magnitude. An increased enlistment of 63,000 recruits every year is one of the provisions, bringing up the peace strength to 117,000 soldiers, and this will mean raising the strength of the non-commis-sioned officers by 15,000 and commissioned officers to 4000. The infantry will be augmented by 18 battalions, the engineers by 11 battalions, the transport troops by 15 battalions, the cavalry by six regiments and the foot artillery by three regiments. The re-strengthening of the fortresses on the eastern frontier is to be carried out, the non-commissioned officers • are to receive a higher rate of pay, and the victualling system will be improved. Much more extensive attention is to be paid to the aerial branches of the service, and £2.500,000 is to be allotted to the naval side and £3.950.000 to the army up to and including 1918. The military academies are to be enlarged, and two new schools started for non-commissioned offi cers. All these matters will mean a yearly increased expenditure of £9.200.000 and an increase to 1m spread over the whole period covered bv Rill nf £52.590,000. of which total £11.500.000 will bo devoted to barracks and £10,500.000 to improving the fortress system. About £50,000.000 is to be raised by the “wehrbeitrag” or lew on capital, and a very imnortant portion of the Bills deals with the aerial arms of the naval and military ser-1 vices. AERIAL PROGRESS. When the aerial proposals were First made public tile London 'limes, commenting on this phase of the new measures 1 , said : “To ourselves the portions of the Gennan scheme which relate to aviation, military and naval, are of special moment. The article from our military correspondent which we publish to-day shows how real the ‘airship menace' already is. Our Beilin correspondent's telegram shows how greatly it will be intensified under the new Army Bills. The pregnant remarks in the German official communications on the employment of the new arm for purposes of naval attack will be particularly noted, and the proposed disposition of the rew air fleets has its undoubted and very serious significance for ns as well as for others. We have no wish to use the language of alarm on this or on any other vmint of our defences. But it is plain that, while we have hitherto done but little in preparation for warfare in the air, the ‘next greatest naval Power' has done much, and intends forthwith to do a very great deal more. That is a grave fact which it would be the height of folly to ignore.” SOCIALISTS AGREE. The debate on the Bills has been marked throughout by the opposition of the Socialists and allied parties, and the eventual triumphing of loyalty over party feeling and anti-war sentiment. To this end the eloquent argument of the Chancellor. Dr Vqn Bothmnnn-Hollwegg, has been valiantly used Only last week when , Herr Scheidemann (Socialist) said that Germany was driving other States to competition in armaments, and that Socialists had not been convinced of the necessity for increased armaments, the Chancellor replied': “Yon Socialists accuse us of not doing our duty. Wo are doing our duty in trying to convince vou of the necessity of the Bill. But will social democracy ever allow itself to be convinced?”

Herr ScheHemann argued that if the Bill were dropped Franee would drop her Army Bill in 24 hours, and, referring to military penal punishment, he denounced as inhuman the court-martialling of seven Socialist reservists, who, during a drunken affray in Erfurt, insulted a policeman and some civilians, and who were sentencedthree to five years' penal servitude, two to fi\" years’ imprisonment, one to a year’s imprisonment, and another to seven months’ imprisonment. The Socialists. Radicals, National Liberals, and the Centre insisted on ah alteration to admit of consideration of mitigating circumstances in such cases, and. as the above cable intimates, this w r as done-