A FORGOTTEN FACTOR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17251, 19 August 1916, Page 8

A FORGOTTEN FACTOR.

Kjbkbbksce was mado in a cable message a few weeks ago to a letter from Sir Edward, Gosclicn, British Ambassador at Berlin for six years immediately prior to tho outbreak of war, dealing with the attitude of the British peoplo towards peace proposals. The full text of the letter, which, by the way, lias been published by many German newspapers, is now to hand. It constitutes a very clear and lucid exposition Of tho position from the British standpoint, and presents certain aspects of tho situation which are apt to be overlooked not only by the enemy but also by our own people. Sir Edward Gosclien’s remarks are made by way. of comment on tho statement frequently published in tho Pro-Gorman newspapers of neutral countries that Germany is victorious on land and sea, that sho is ready to make terms, and that Franca and'Russia, aro only prevented by Britain from discussing terms. Sir Edward replies that the Allies do not admit that Germany is victorious. Even on tho basis of conquered territory, the Allies have occupied 676,000 square miles of their enemies' possessions, while tho Central Powers havo occupied 110,000 square miles. Tliat, however, is of no' importance as a standard of comparison. The fact of cardinal importance is that Britain’s domination of- the sea is unbroken. Tho silent pressure exerted by Britain at sea eventually proved tho undoing of Napoleon, and tho lesson was not lost upon the people of Britain. If by some miracle every gun and every soldier of tho Allied territorial forces were swept out of existence it would still bo for tho Allied fleets, at their good pleasure, to determine whether a single Gorman merchant vessel should issue from, tho Heligoland Bight. They could wither tho whole growth of German oversea trade at the root, and put the clock back for Germany to the days when Germany was a purely agricultural country. The situation is not very different'from that which had developed at the beginning of last century, except that the would-be worlctconqueror of to-day is faced by a far stronger combination than the one that defeated Napoleon’s ambitions:—

Those who think that reverses weaken British resolution singularly misjudge tho British people. Consider the position in which Great Britain stood rather more than a century ago, in 1811. The Power which was then attempting to overturn the balance of power and impose upon Europe a military hegemony had to all outward appearance attained its end. Its armies had overrun, not two or three provinces of hostile territory, bub tho whole of Central Europe, together with the Italian peninsula. It had incorporated within its boundaries, or under its segis, Western Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Illyria, Spain. Russia was under French influence. Only Portugal and Turkey on the European Continent were independent of tho French Emperor’s will, and that merely because it was not his desire at tho mopfent to attack them. In England there was outspoken criticism of Ministers, criticism far more weighty -than any which is now being voiced. The Walcheren Expedition had proved a failure, costly both in treasure and lives. Yot in the words of tho historian of Sea Powers, Mahan:—“Amid all tho tramping to and fro over Europe of the French armies and their auxiliary legions there went on unceasingly that noiseless pressure on the vitals of France, that compulsion whose silence when once noticed becomes to the observer the most striking and awful mark of the working of Sea Power.”

When these things have been brought home to the German people and their rulers, Sir Edward concludes, thoy will be in a fit frame of mind to consent to terms that will include reparation for wrongs • committed and provision of means to reconstruct the world that the, Central Powers have destroyed.