Herr Miquel, the German Minister of Finance, declares that Germany
can quite well afford the expense of the Army Bill ; but the figures with which he sustains his argument are unsatisfactory. What is the use of saying that this and that nation pays so much a head for its defences, when the real question is how much it has in its pocket to pay with? The Austrian Government is wiser. It is asking for 2500,000 a year more, to be spent chiefly in increasing the number of its officers, guns, and horses; but then it is rich. There are surpluses in both divisions of the Monarchy. Bosnia at last pays the whole of its expenses—a triumph of good administra- tion—and the arrangements for re-establishing the gold cur- rency are nearly complete. Austria, therefore, is merely wasting its good fortune ; while the contention of the German Oppo- sition is that the new demands are pressed in exceptionally bad years. The increases do not appear to excite resistance either in Hungary or Austria, the dread of a Russian attack being much more sincere than in Germany. The Austrians have not, like the Germans, a career of victory so bright as to make them think that the Army is already invincible. They believe, on the contrary, that they never can have artillery and cavalry enough.
