II, as a Prince, in his grandfather's time, said, "When I come to the
Throne I shall do my best to make dupes." This rumour of disarmament is
part of his dupe-making. The real William reveals himself in his true
colours when he awakens his aide-de-camp in the middle of the night, to
go and pay a surprise visit to the garrison at Hanover.

In Militarism the German Emperor finds his complete expression and the
emblem of his character. His empire is not a centralised empire and only
the army holds it together.

And for this reason William has favoured the army this year at the
expense of all the other public services, by increasing its peace-footing
strength and the number of its officers, by ordering more than two
hundred locomotives and a corresponding amount of rolling stock intended
to expedite mobilisation. Seventy new batteries have been formed. The
artillery has been furnished with new ammunition, the infantry with new
weapons, and the strategic network of railways has been completed!

Abroad, every one, friends and enemies alike, think as I do on the
subject of disarmament.

"This plaything of William the Second's leisure moments," says _The
Standard_ (although a fervent admirer of Queen Victoria's grandson),
"this disarmament idea, is a myth." Our faithful and loyal supporter,
the _Sviet_, says the same thing: "Disarmament is a myth, Germany talks
of it unceasingly, but she strengthens her frontiers, east and west. On
the north," adds the Russian organ, "she is converting Heligoland into a
fortress; on the south-east, she is increasing the defences of Breslau,
and holds in readiness two thousand axle-trees _of the width of the
Russian railways_."