ger
for war, now sings the praises of peace"? And there are others who
earnestly implore us to think no more or war "now that William of
Germany no longer dreams of it."

Now I ask, is there a single reason to be found, either in the
tradition of his race, or in his own character, or in the logic of
Prussian militarism, which can justify any clear-thinking mind in
believing that William is a pacifist?

During the past fortnight a pamphlet has been published in Germany
under the title _Videant Consules_ (a pamphlet having all the
appearance of a Berlin semi-official, or officious, document) which
gives us the key (my readers will agree that I have already placed it
in the lock) of William II's sudden affection for paths of peace.

The illuminating pages of this work are written with the object of
preparing the honorable members of the Reichstag to vote an annual
credit of twenty millions (it is said that the Minister of War and the
Chief of the General Staff originally asked for fifty). This money
will be asked for to provide 474 new batteries, to bring up to 700 the
number of the German battalions on the Vosges frontier and to increase
the peace footing strength of the army. According to a statement made
by William II, in his speech at the opening of the Reichstag, the
special object of those twenty millions is to strengthen the defences
of the eastern and western frontiers.

_Videant Consules_ tells us that Bismarck created the Empire by war,
but that his later policy threatened to destroy it by peace; for this
reason the young Emperor deprived him of power. According to this
pamphlet, the ex-chancellor allowed France to recover and Russia to
prepare her defences, whereas he should have crushed us a second time
in order to have only one enemy--Russia--to deal with later on.

Therefore, Germany's present task is to prepare in haste for the
struggle against Russia and France united, and for this reason it
behoves her (says _Videant Consules_) to increase her forces by a
superhuman effort. As matters stand, in spite of the Triple Alliance,
in spite of the sympathy and support of Austria and Italy (ruinous for
them) William II is by no means confident in the future success of his
arms.

Now this hero is not taking any chances. In order that might may
overcome right, he wants to be quite sure of superior numbers. And
this explains why the Emperor of Germany is a "pacifist" to-day!

But things are likely to b