The Standard's Berlin correspondent, writing on Thursday night, forwards the
following detailed statement, which, if correct, is the most important that has yet reached England :— " The German artillery is to be augmented by eighty-seven bat- teries, having three hundred and forty-eight guns in peace, and five hundred and twenty-two guns in war. In addition to this, eight infantry regiments, four cavalry regiments, and some odd rifle, engineer, and railway battalions, are to be newly organised. To supply the men for these formations, which, in the increasing financial exhaustion of the country, can be only temporary, the annual conecription is to be raised from one hundred and forty- five thousand to one hundred and seventy-five thousand men." It is simply inconceivable that even the German Government should propose so enormous an increase to the burden on the people, unless actuated by some immediate motive, or some immediate fear, but we suspect exaggeration.
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