The German Government, it would appear, has in one depart-
ment been arming for a considerable period. According to the Military Gazette of Berlin, it has so far perfected its prepara- tions that the whole of the Army on a war footing—that is, the entire standing Army, but not the Reserves—has now received the repeating-rifle, which, with its eight cartridges, weighs. five kilogrammes. No other Government will be quite so ready for a year at least, and possibly two, the difficulty, out- side France, being to find the money for the change. If this statement is correct, it is of incalculable importance, for a greatly superior rifle does not merely add to the killing-power of the soldiers using it. It daunts their enemies, and justifies them in their own eyes for running away. It was the needle-gun, that is, the comparatively rapid breechloader, which broke the heart of the Austrians at Konigsgratz ; and now the German gun will, it is said, fire three times as quick as that. If that is true, and the Prussian Staff know their business, that is massacre for opponents, and in battle the result would be vast numbers of " prisoners,"—that is, of men who have surrendered not from necessity, but in despair.
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