GERMAN ARMY 10,000,000.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

GERMAN ARMY 10,000,000.

WAR OFFICE ESTIMATE.

COPENHAGEN AS GERMAN DEPOT.

Ik the course of the suit of the Crown, asking for the condemnation by the Prize Court in the Admiralty Division, presided over by Sir Samuel Evans, of four Scandinavian steamers and.' the greater part of their cargoes on the ground, among others, that the goods were contraband or conditional contraband, to be sent to the enemy by -way of Copenhagen, which port, it is alleged, it was intended to make a depot for German Government supplies, some interesting figures were given of the War Office estimate of the German Forces.

An affidavit sworn by Major Eric Fitzgerald Dillon, now serving on the General Staff at the- War Office, ran — To the host of my knowledge and belief the following may be taken as an estimate, approximately correct, and probably an underestimate, of the numbers of persons now serving in the German Army and under the control of the German Military authorities : (a) Under arms on the two fronts, in garrison in Belgium and on the lines of communication, 4,000,000; (b) training in German}', 750,000; (c) casualties, including constant temporary wastage, 2.000.000; (d) on railways (all of which are used and organised specially for war, and are tinder the control of the military authorities), 500,000; (e) at Krupp's arsenals and factories and other arsenals and factories concerned in the manufacture of munitions of war. at a low estimate. 750.000; and (f) in coal mines, factories concerned in the making of army boots and clothing, and other articles necessary for the equipment and provisioning of "the army, 2,000,000." It would be seen, said counsel, that the grand total was no loss than 10,000,000 persons. The Preside/it asked to what period item '* c " referred.

Thp Solicitor-General replied that it reared to any period—six months ago or to-morrow. The affidavit concluded — " From information in my possession it appears that- separation allowances are issued by the German Government to the wives, children, and other dependents of non-commissioned officers and men on active service at the rate, for a wife, of nine marks per month from March to October, and at least twelve marks per month for the rest of the year; and for each child or dependent of at least six marks per month. A supply of flour, potatoes, and fuel may be issued in lieu of money. The authority for the statements and -figures in this paragraph is the " Gesetz betrefend die Unterstutzung von Familien in den Dieust eingetretener Mannschaft-en' (Law concerning the support of the families of men who .have entered the Service)." Dependents on the German State. Continuing, tho Solicitor-General said that the population of Germany was between 000.000 and 70,000,000, of whom 30,000,000 were, and the remainder might be, in the last resource, absolutely dependent upon the State for their rations. The President—That is approaching the proposition with reference to the wives and children.

The Solicitor-General argued that it was necessary to take into consideration the wives and children when one was considering the probability of goods, which were imported in large quantities, being intended for the civilian population, or the. counter-proposition of their being intended for official or Government use. When you had a Government which had undertaken the responsibility of 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 soldiers, and which had in its employment some 2,500 000 or 3,000,000 other persons, you started with the enormous figure of" 10,000,000, • which meant that one-seventh part of the-food supplies ' must be • intended for Government employees, and--probably double the number of dependents must be added. As for the large quantity .of foodstuffs with which the present proceedings were concerned, and which was intended to be introduced into Germany, the presumption was that it was meant for official and hot private consumption. . In further " argument the Solicitor-General said the documents showed ■ that the American packers and' : their agents at various places in Holland and, Scandinavia were all engaged in a gigantic scheme to smuggle contraband goods through to Germany, and were constantly reporting to one another at what point there was the most likelihood of success at the moment. - When the goods' were seized all the claimants insisted that the goods -jvere only destined for sale in Denmark, until they became aware of the incriminating documents to which the Crown had obtained access through the , Censor's Department. Example Set by the Foe. • He referred to a recent decision of the German Prize Court in the case of the Dutch steamer Maria, which, while on her way to Dublin and Belfast, was seized and destroyed by the Germans, together with her cargo of wheat, consigned " to order." A claim was made in the Prize Court at Hamburg on behalf of both the shipowners and the cargo owners. The case was argued on the basis, so far as the German authorities were concerned, that Belfast and Dublin were fortified places or places that were -used by the English fighting forces as bases for operations ana supplies. These allegations were denied on behalf of the Dutch neutrals, whose further contention was that the cargo on the Maria was not intended for Government consumption, but was to be sold to private persons -and not to British Army forces. What the German Court in effect did was to say that both Belfast arid Dublin being vouched for by the General German Staff as being bases of operations, they would draw the irresistible inference that the goods were intended for the British forces. While that was not a decision which his Lordship would treat as being per se authority, I it, was not without interest when dealing i with the question of destination in the I preSent case. The ships were condemned. I