THE ANGLO-GERMAN UNDERSTANDING.

Evening Star, Issue 10808, 17 December 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE ANGLO-GERMAN UNDERSTANDING.

ITS EXISTENCE CONFIRMKP,

The first official admission that there is actually in existence a secret Convention between Great Britain and Germany was made on October 19 by the Imperial Chancellor (Prince Hohenloe), who, writing 'o the secretary of the' German Colonial Society, said:—"The German Colonial Society, in the memorial addressed to me on the 3rd inst., stated that according to their information profound disquietude had been created in colonial and also in wider circles by the intelligence published in foreign journals concerning an agreement between the German and English Governments. The society further requested that the contents of the agreements should be made public entirely or partially without further delay. I am not in a position to comply with this request, . since not only established diplomatic usage but also important political considerations continue for the present to prohibit the publication of the agreement. The Imperial Government will not hesitate to make the agreement pdblic so soon as this course seems possiblo and desirable without endangering Gormany's own interests. The obligation effectivel- to maintain these interests in all circumstances constitutes for the Imperial Government the sole standard of their conduct, and I am confident that the German Colonial Society, whose ■ patriotic efforts I gladly acknowledge, will also come to the conclusion that the conductors of the policy of the empire have duly fulfilled their task." The Committee of the Colonial Society, on receipt of the Chancellor's reply, adopted a resolution (says the correspondent of 'The Times') expressing the hope that in the agreements just made, or about to be concluded, the colonial interests of the Empire will be maintained in their entirety. The Committee will therefore await further developments, and it requests all the members of the Colonial Society to follow the same course until the official publication of the agreements in question takes place.