THE GERMAN BOGY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1879, 13 October 1913, Page 11

THE GERMAN BOGY.

A SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW. BY A GERMAN-BRITISHER. "Though I an g naturalised British subject, educated at Dublin, and have lived, the greater part of my life in the British Dominions, I cannot got it out of my German head that tho attitude of many Englishmen 011 tbo Gorman question—if there bo a question—is strangely wrong or madly inconsistent." So spoke Mr. Hubert Boeken, inventor, who has come to Now Zealand to eco what he can do for the flaxmilling industry.

"Nearly every other Englishman 1 meet blames Germany for doing cxactly and precisely what has been the means of making tho English the greatest nation on earth—by building up a naval fleet that will.be Btrong enough to protect her shores and property at Home and abroad, 'l'ho extraordinary view that this is a heinous plot to destroy England and the peace of the world is surely a distortion of the bram ; fostered by certain papers and societies, to \vhom Such ideas are as fuel to the boiler. "Anyone who knows anything about history is perfectly aware that England and Germany have never, been at war with each other. Tho two nations have alwaj'3 stood shoulder to shoulder in times of stress, and, in my humble belief, always will. We have tho same blood in our reins, the blood of England, that came out of Friesland and from the lower Rhine, and is fho same blood that flows in the veins of GeorgQ V and Kaiser William. It is the blood that built great nations, and that one is trying to emulate the other should hot engendor all this ridiculous resentment against a sister nation.

"Not for one moment do I believe that there will ever be war between Germany and England. The British Empire is Germany's greatest' customer commercially, and I believe Germany is England's. So : at the first blast of war between the two nations they are to shatter trade relations on which tho life and very existence of both largely depends—trade on which both nations draw taxes which they could not well do without. Such relations to-day are not to bo so lightly- dismissed as they were, say, a hundred years ago. During the last century tho commerce of the world has grown so enormously, that commercial considerations are now really national considerations, and as the act of war is to bring ruin and destruction to countless persons and valuable property, it must bo an issue to be avoided. Tho Germans aro not by naturo a wealthy nation. They aro tho toilers of the world if you like, _ and wherever I go in tho British Empire I find Germans amongst the leading colonists. "Not being a wealthy nation, the German pcoplo would not submit to be taxed for the big navy and armybills were" there not some very Btrong reason for it. Here is a nation surrounded by half-a-dozon other nations, with most of which she has at ono time or other been at war. Old war sores ever rankle and it is imperative that sho should maintain a large standing army for hor domestic safety. In doing so sho insists on n system of' compulsory military training, which makes overy oitizen a soldier and builds him up physically during those years when such training is best for the man himself, best for tho family he is to father, and therefore best for thp_ national stamina. A Germany without a largo standing army would mean a nation in decay. .That Germany is not, the world admits. During tlio past half century Germaily has como right to the front industrially, and vies with England and America in catering for tho trado of the world, and that often in the face of serious handicaps and stiff tariff walls. Her mercantile fleet continues to grow enormously, and that fleet and the goods it carries to and from the -ends of the earth must bo protected. There is only ono way to protect it, as civilisation at present exists, and that is to have as big a fist as any other. Seriously, I do not think that tho big fleet idea would ever have developed at all had England agreed at The Hague Pcaco Conference to agree to respect private property afloat in time of war, just as it is respected and protected in timo of peace. Tho proposal was ono that would •ensure that no acts of piracy wore committed on the high seas in time of war botweon two nations—acts for which any'men or set of men would bo banged, drawn, and quartered in time of peace. This arrangement or understanding England would not permit herself to he bound to, so Gormony'a fleet became a dire necessity. She has argosies on every, sea which demand protection, and tho ,nation has to be taxed (just as tho English are taxed), to provide a fleet that will give the mercantile marino of the country some measure of security in insecure times. Then the Germans are told how dreadfully aggressive they are, and how wrong it is for them to show just a suspicion of tho spirit that mado England "tho mistress of the Seas.' "

"In England tho stories of the Germany bogy are too funny for anything, and yet tho people, or at least a great proportion of them are just like children, and boliove all the mad imaginings of sensational story-writers and irresponsible pressmen. At one time London Was seriously scared at tho report that some 90,000 German waiters in London wero really an organised army, and' that somewhere in the bowels of the earth undor London they had burrowed a bigj arsenal that was full of rifles and big guns. That as a given signal this army was to assemble in Trafalgar Square, and capture London and all England Wonderfulll And do you know that many people just as intelligent as you or me belibfed it. Germans aro alleged to havo a dull senso of humour, but this—oh, well, never mind."

"I was in Palmerston North the other day, wlion my tongue happened to botray the land of my birth in the prc6enco of a nuuibor of ladies. Ono of theso charming women asked mo quite seriously if there was any truth in the rumour that Germany had taken possession of eoveral islands off tho coast of Now Zealand, as the basis of a fleet to invade and capture Now Zealand. I told her that not only was in true, hut I oven wont so far as to instruct hor how Germany happened to gain possession of tho . L informed her that Germany had so~many millions of Zeppelins lying idle that tho Kaiser had conceivod tho idea of creating islands near England's most valued possessions by means of scooping up the sands ol tlio Sahara Desert and dropping them in selected spots, until islands were made. And she notually believed it 1" "Thut is no more remarkable than tho Zeppolin scare in England of about two years ago. One would then have thought that Gormany had some thousands of Zeppelin ailships employed in hovering over England all night and every night. All England whispered to each otlior every morning—'Did you see the lights in the sky last night?' or 'Did you hear the whirr of the engine!' The wildest and most improbable Btorios ivero readily believed by those whom ono ordinarily would give credit- to for more intelligence. All tho time the British War Ollice knew cxactly liow many Zeppelins there were, where tlioy wore, anil what they woro doing, and yet said not a word. "My only desire in talking like this is to point out how very erroneous and imfaii'~uu-DritiGh, 1 micht sav—it is Iq i

put a wrong construction on a nation's actions, when that might endanger tho peace of the world, which Germany possibly more than any other nation wishes to preseryo. Those who know what bus been taking place within, say, tho last ten years, are probably aware that there have been occasions when tho mailed fist of William 11 conld have struck a smashing and effective blow, but, in his desire to preserve peace, that blow was not struck. During tho twenty-fivo years of his reign, William 11. by the constitution of the Empire, Germany's absolute War Lord, has shown himself to be indeed tho "World's Peace Lord."