17 OCTOBER 1874, Page 1

It is stated that the new Bill on the Landsturm,

to be intro- duced at the next Session of the German Parliament, will include every man under forty-two in the " first call ;" that is, every man in Germany under that age, and not an invalid, will be liable to be drawn into the fighting Landwehr, many regiments of which, it should be remembered, actually marched into France and fought in the late war. It is calculated that with this addi- tion, and without new cadres, Germany will be able to mobilise 1,800,000 men. No such force can be necessary to defend her against France, and the Chancellor will scarcely carry his Bill without showing that she is in danger both from France and Russia, the latter a power which ordinary Germans dread exceedingly. Even the Chancellor's influence will, however, be strained by this Bill, unless he introduces clauses exempting the Landsturm from being sent out of the country. Germans do not want to be liable to service into middle-age.