The Fighting Power of France and Prussia.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 1, Issue 46, 28 September 1870, Page 7

The Fighting Power of France and Prussia.

—I) [.l ri/nx, September 2.] Foi all purposes of offence, and defence, the various States of Northern Germany— Prussia, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, and Baden —constitute one nation; and the whole of the forces they can raise are placed under the command of the King of Prussia. The Fed'eral Constitution fixes the peace foot ing of the army at 300,000 men, or 1 per cent, of the population. Its composition is as follows:—lnfantry, 212,171; cavalry, 53,412; artillery, 31,493; pioneers, 6559; train, 2951 ; not otherwise enumerated, 3405 ; and 73,313 horses. The reserve and landwehr may be computed at 800,000, thus bringing the total force up to 900,000. But this figure does not include the ErsatzReserve, which comprehends the flower of the Prussian youth. The Bavarian army numbers 72,000 combatants, and 500 noncombatants, a reserve of 25,000, and a landwehr of 60,000 men, Wurtemburg has 12,000 men on a peace, and about 26,000 on a war footing. Baden could put 8000 men in the field at once, with a reserve of 18,000 to fall back upon. The late telegrams informed us that Hesse had made common cause with Prussia, which would add 11,000 on the military strength of the North-German Federation ; so that, with all the reserves called up, Prussia could bring upwards of 1,100,000 men into the field. The Prussian navy, at the end of June, 1869, consisted of six first-class ironclads, nine ironclad frigates and two gunboats, two paddle steamers, and three corvettes. Besides these there are some sailing vessels, including three frigates. The largest ships are the Konig Wilhelm, 5938 tons, 1150 horse-power,carrying 23rifled 96-pounders; the Fritz Fredorich Karl, 4044 tons, 250 horse-power; the Krenprinz, about the same size, carries 14 steel breechloading guns of 7 tons each, and two pivot guns. The active army of France numbers 448,711 men. who are thus distributed : In France, 378,852 ; in Algeria, 64,531 ; in Italy, 5328. By the law of the Ist February, 1868, which created a Garde Nationale Mobile, every Frenchman between the ages of 20 and 25, who is not comprised in the contingents of the active arm/ is liable to serve in this garde, to which is assigned the duty of garrisoning the French fortresses, and providing for the domestic defences in the time of war. The available strength of this body is 381,723 men. Besides these, there is a reserve of 198,548; so that the total figure of the French army reaches 1,028.982 men. Of the 448,711 men spoken of above as constituting the active army, 114,431 were on furlough. The French navy, at the end of last year, consisted of 62 iiouclads, 20 being of the first-class, and 27 of them floating batteries, and 7 coast-guard vessels; 264 screw steamers, of which 30 are ships of the line, 3 paddle-steamers, and 113 sailing vessels. The most remarkable of the iron-dads are the Magenta, Solferino, Covronve, Normandie, Invincible, and the cupola ship, Taurean. The Magenta and Solferino are twin ships—two deckers; their armament consists of rifle breech-loading guns of a size corresponding to the Armstrong 100pounder. Their distinguishing feature is that they have a ram or spur which projects under water ; it is of steel, and of great size and weight. The Taurean is a steam ram of peculiar construction, of a very light draught, and rising only a few feet above water. Her prow terminates in a point, and this is armed with a massive bronze cone. She has two screws, and carries but a single gun, which weighs twenty tons; but she has but one deck, and that is plated from one end to the other. The largest iron- clad in the French navy is the Roehambeau, 5090 tons, 14 guns of large calibre : a ram built for the United States, and purchased by the French Government for £400,000. The farmers in the Taieri district are anticipating a rise in the price of grain. Holders of oats are refusing 3s per bushel. The Chinese of California aspire to the swindles of civilisation. A band, said to number eight persons, has been visiting the washermen (Chinese) in San Francisco and levying black-mail, under the pretext of a license to carry on business, for which they demanded five dollars, enforcing the demand with threats of death. Having succeeded in obtaining a good revenue at this rate, they raised the price of their license to lOdol., which proved too much for endurance, and a dissatisfied victim, Wing Lung, obtained the aid of the authorities. The arrests of Ah Tuck, Ah King, Ah Lung, Ah Chow, Ah Loop, and All Quong, all of deteriorated morals, are reported. Ah !