There is no news from Eastern Europe, where all military
movements have been arrested by an abnormal depth of snow, which has impeded necessary supplies to the Russian troops, and has, it is reported, stopped the march of 50,000 men from the Army of the Caucasus ; but the German Government has at last revealed the magnitude of its Military Bill. The total additional number of trained men who will be available in case of war is 700,000, and their first equipment will cost £14,000,000, which is to be raised by a 31 per cent. loan. The permanent cost besides the interest, or £490,000 a year, will probably be thirty shillings a head, as the necessary officers cannot be all dismissed, at once, when war is over, and uniforms, &c., must be renewed; and the addition to the Military Budget will, therefore, be at least £1,500,000 a year. The Minister at War, moreover, distinctly refused to pledge the Government to make no further demands on military account. Nevertheless, it is believed that not only the Bill but the money will be voted without a division, the whole people being con- vinced that the danger is most serious. It is, in fact, difficult to believe that a frugal and sensible Government like that of Germany would make such demands, unless it felt that a desperate contest was close at hand. The mere demand for the extra men, all mature, and most of them fathers of families, disturbs all civil society, and prevents an infinite variety of arrangements.
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