The discussion upon the German Navy Bill was resumed in
the Budget Committee on Wednesday, and it is evident that the rural electors have sharply warned their repre- sentatives that they dislike the proposal. Member after Member rose to say that the Bill was wholly opposed to agrarian interests, as the new men-of-war would protect a great foreign trade in corn to the disadvantage of the home producer, and would, moreover, make a severe drain upon the labour of the country districts, already thinned by the rush of population to the towns. They demanded, therefore, definite assurances that when the commercial treaties expired there should be farther protection. The Government tem- porised, fearing that if they yield the Socialist classes will accuse them, as Herr Richter does already, of paying for an increased Navy out of a new tax on bread, but they were told that they must be explicit. Even the Clerical speakers who come from the manufacturing Rhineland insisted that there must be further protection, and it is probable that the Emperor will give way, though with bitterness, as he likes to be thought the Kaiser of the poor. The severance between classes will be greatly increased by a new tax upon bread, and so will the cost of provisioning the Army.
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