Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/318

 310] FOKEIGN HISTOKY. [1899.

States represented were Eussia, France, Turkey, Germany, the United States, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Holland, China, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro and Siam. M. de Staal, the Bussian Ambassador in London, was chosen as president of the conference. It was decided to deal with armament, whether naval or military, as one question, and to consider the subjects laid before the conference in three sections — disarmaments, humanitarian measures and arbitration. As regards the first point, the general feeling of the conference was that any reduction of armaments would be impracticable. The most remarkable of the speeches made on this subject was that of the German delegate, Colonel von Schwarzhoff. In reply to the Bussian delegate's remarks as to the burdens of obligatory service, the colonel said that the German people is not over- burdened and overtaxed, is not being dragged towards an abyss, and is not drifting towards exhaustion and ruin. Far from it. Public and private wealth is increasing, and the common welfare and the standard of life are annually improving. " With regard to obligatory service, which is closely associated with these questions, the German does not regard it as a heavy burden, but as a sacred and patriotic duty, to the accomplishment of which he owes his existence, his prosperity, and his future. . . . The question of effectives cannot be considered by itself apart from a number of other questions to which it is almost subordinate. Such are, for instance, the standard of public education, the term of service in the ranks, the number of officers and non-commissioned officers, the effective of bat- talions, squadrons, and batteries, the number and duration of trainings with the Colours — that is to say, the military obliga- tions of discharged soldiers, the localisation of the troops, the system of railways, and the number and position of fortified places. In a modern army all these things hold together and constitute in their entirety the national defence, which has been organised by each people in accordance with its character, its history, and its traditions, taking into account its economic resources, its geographical position, and the duties incumbent on it. It would be very difficult to put an international convention in the way of this eminently national work. The limits and proportions of any one part of this complicated machine cannot be fixed. It is not possible to speak of effec- tives without taking into account the other elements above enumerated. Moreover there are territories that do not form part of the mother country, but which are so near that the troops stationed there would certainly co-operate in a continental war. And how about countries across the sea ? How can they consent to a limitation of their forces if the colonial armies, by which alone they are threatened, remain outside the con- vention ? "

"In Germany," continued Colonel von Schwarzhoflf, "the figure