I and my honored corulers are still of the opinion that the means necessary for the reorganization of our military equipment can be raised properly, and without overburdening the people, in the manner brought forward last autumn in the draft of the proposed taxation bill. Nevertheless, the question of making good the deficit is still the object of continued discussions. I expect that a proposal will be set before you by the beginning of the next winter session in which is expressed, even more strongly than in the former bill, the principle that the providing of the necessary means must be carried out with the utmost regard for the individual's ability to pay and with as little draft as possible upon our power of levying taxes. Until the expiration of the present official year the contributions from the various states may be drawn upon to cover the excess. Honored Sirs, we have succeeded in the difficult task of welding the German race into a strong union. The nation honors those who have given their possessions and their blood for this work and who have brought the Fatherland to political and industrial prosperity--a prosperity which is the pride and the pleasure of their contemporaries and which, if they build in the same spirit as their fathers, will guarantee to the generations to come the greatness and the happiness of the empire. To protect the glorious acquisitions with which God has blessed us in our struggle for independence is our most sacred duty. We can, however, only fulfil such a duty toward the Fatherland by making ourselves sufficiently strong in military power to defend ourselves, so that we may remain a reliable guarantor of the peace of Europe. I trust that your patriotic, self-sacrificing assistance in the pursuance of this aim will not fail me and my honored corulers. The Emperor followed the formal address from the throne with the following: And now, gentlemen, go forth. May our ancient God look down upon you and bestow upon you His blessing to the end that you may bring to successful issue an honorable work for the welfare of our Fatherland! Amen. ARRIVAL IN METZ METZ, SEPTEMBER 3, 1893 On the 3d of September the Emperor, accompanied by the Crown Prince of Italy, paid a visit to Metz. To Burgomaster Halm's speech of welcome the Emperor replied as follows: It is with a heart deeply stirred that I enter the city of Metz, and if I could not come last year, as I wished,[7] I see, nevertheless, that the reason for my remaining away has been rightly understood. [7] The Emperor came to Metz ordinarily to review the Eighth and Sixteenth Army Corps. Because of the cholera scare, the imperial manoeuvres had not taken place in the previous year, 1892. The Emperor, who was anxious to conciliate his subjects, had taken up a domain in Urville.