17 OCTOBER 1891, Page 2

It is stated that the German authorities are still dis-

contented with the magnitude of their resources in men. They need greater multitudes of soldiers to meet the coalition between Russia and France, and are inclined to try whether- two years' service in barracks would not sufficiently dis- cipline their troops. Orders have accordingly been issued to try the experiment with two regiments now quartered at Metz, which will be composed entirely of recruits, who will be- steadily instructed for a year by officers who will have no- leave. If the experiment succeeds, it will add largely to the numbers of the trained reserve, and popularise the conscrip- tion ; but success is still doubtful, and any sacrifice of disci- pline would diminish German force. Our puzzle is, what the German Staff think they want with such tremendous crowds. Nobody can feed or direct or manceuvre more than a certain number of men at once. It looks as if they expected a long war, during which masses of soldiers will be successively used np, as was the case in the later Napoleonic wars. That is an encouraging prospect for Europe.