The new Secretary for the Treasury, while content te rely
for money temporarily on the abolition of the rebate, warned the Conservatives and Clericals that death duties are a certainty for the future. Herr von Bethmann Hollweg made one of his sober, reasoning speeches, in which be rebuked the Jingoes as a "noisy and fanatical minority." He disavowed all desire for war and said that in his belief no other great nation desired it. Nevertheless be demanded the proposed increases in the Army and Navy because the weight of German opinion in the affairs of lie world depended on the armed strength behind it. On Thursday the Defence Bills were referred to the Budget Committee, but the Bill providing for the abolition of the rebate was referred, owing to a majority of the Left, to a Special Committee. The Times correspondent suggests that the successful determination of the Left in this matter may have important consequences. Their arguments were not anti-militarist, but purely financial.
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