"A PERNICIOUS COSTLY NAVAL FEVER."

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXI, Issue 7913, 29 September 1909, Page 2

"A PERNICIOUS COSTLY NAVAL FEVER."

Per Press Association. —Copyright. BERLIN, September 28.

A retired German official, Herr Vonxath, m an article m the Deutsche Revue entitled "Reminiscences of Yon Holstein," shows that the distinguished chief of the political Department of the Foreign Office was a strong opponent of the policy of unlimited naval expansion. He was credited with approving of the campaign pursued by Vice-Ad-miral Galster and others against the big ships' policy. He declared, referring to one of Vice-Admiral Galster's pamphlets : "The main thing is to expose the lying, treacherous fallacy embodied m the statement that every fresh ship is an addition to German power when every fresh ship causes England, to say nothing of France, to build two."

Count Yon Holstein, m December, 1907, is reported to nave expressed himself as follows : ".In Germany a pernicious costly naval fever was raging, a dangerous disease fed upon groundless fear of an attack by England. The danger was between Germany on the one hand and England and France on the other, entering into the calculations of other Powers. Japan would take it into account m choosing the moment for the settlement of her difference, with America. Were the. German fleet destroyed, it would:'"be- at least doubtful whether England and France might liot join America m a struggle with the yellow race."