The Press. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. ENGLAND AND GERMANY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14109, 31 July 1911, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. ENGLAND AND GERMANY.

It ia satisfactory to see that the German papers, after tho straightforward and outspoken statements by Mr Asquith and Mr Balfour in the House of Commons, have seen fit to moderate the trnciilenco of their tone. The situation was undoubtedly getting very near to breaking-point, and cannot even yet be said to be free from danger. A few months ago, a -writer in tlie "Berlin Post," apparently writing under inspiration, pointed out that the Liberal Cabinet in England was "more '■'strongly entrenched than ever," which, he added, "denotes a certain, " if perhaps only a temporary guarantee "of a peaceful English policy. ,, "Eng"land, too," be added, "for the im- " mediate future will be sufficiently " preoccupied with domestic problems." The moral which ho drew was that "the track was clear for an activo "German policy" of expansion. Ho continued:—"We must either create " new territory or enlarge our industry "sufficiently to employ our increasing "population But the 'open door' "cannot secure us the required new " markets. Only colonies of our own " will afford euro markets and fields for "colonisation. What would England " b© to-day if she did nofc possess India " ami Egypt—countries which are com- " polled to buy English -wares without " being permitted to produce them- " selves?"

The etnphatio utterances of Mr Lloyd George, Mr Asquith, and Mr BaJfour, must havo convinced our German friends that in snite of tho peace-at-any-prico views of Mr Ramsay Macdonald, tho leaders of public opinion in England will always sink their party differences when confronted with questions of grave foreign policy, and that, in the matter of Morocco, Great Britain will stand by her ally, France. Apparently German aggression in Morocco is to be resistod at all costs, but a portion of Mr Asquith's speech has been internreted as hinting that if Germany and Franco could como to an agreement whereby the former would receive compensation in the Congo district, England would not object. It is always well, in diplomacy, to leave your opponent a bridge by which he can retreat , and wo feel sure that any suggestion of tho kind hinted at would not bo made- by Mr Asquith except with the approval of France. Until we know a little moro about it, however, it is impossible to say how far it is likely to prove a solution of tho difficulty which hae arisen.