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Wairoa Bell, Volume V, Issue 200, 2 June 1893, Page 5

The absurd waste of money which has appeared so necessary to the existence of European notions for many years past,— namely the spending of such vast sums on the maintenance of large armies and navies, and the manufacture of great machines good for nothing else than the slaughter of men and the destruction of property has at length received a check, which though in itself slight, will it is hoped lead to greater results. Militaryism in Germany has attained such dimensions that it cannot be very long before it over-reaches itself. The strain upon the nation must De an immense one, for not only are the earnings of the people wasted by millions upon unproductive works, such as those named above, but thousands of her people are withheld from useful and profitable labour in order to he prepared for war, and her industrial and social progress is thereby greatly interfered with. Militaryism has happily received a strong check from the action taken recently by the Reichstag. Considering that the rejection of the Army Bill followed close upon the rejection of the proposal to extend Kiel Harbour and build six new warships, the Emperor William must begin to feel that his task is a hard one, if he seeks to continue ruling on the old haid lines. If Germany were to set the example of reducing her army instead of augmenting it, other European Powers would speedily act on the same principle. We, in New Zealand, have a great deal to be thankful for in the fact that we are not troubled with any close neighbours likely to cause such a scare among our people as would lead them to sink a large proportion of the produce of their labour in preparation for war,