OBJECT OF THE CRUISE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 189, 11 August 1908, Page 5

OBJECT OF THE CRUISE.

GERMAN OPINIONS. 'i/ : ; The German press has resumed its ' speculations with regard to the political aspects of the craise of the American Fleet. The Marine Rundschau, which is the subsidised organ ,or the German Imperial Marine Department, considers that the "coneen- .: tratioh of the American Fleet in the -Pacific" marks the beginning of the new epoch in the world's history which was foreshadowed by Count Yorch yon Wartenburg, Coun,t> Walctersee's Chief of Staff in China, in 1900, when he expressed the opinion that the trend of events lay in the direction of a union on the part of j the Continental and Atlantic Powers ! against the "Pacific hemisphere." In j the opinion of the German semi-official J organ, the United States have given proof of their determination to1 take ! an active part in shaping develop- [ ments in the Pacific, and, whether the American battleship Fleet remains m those waters ; pr returns to the Atlantic, the cruise will exert a political infUience.. This in|hienee; ought-to oe emphasised as^ much; as^possible, Smcej in-vieiv'-'of the-longlrifeisVfehing j expanses-of ocean, America has no other - weapon or instrument of pres- I \sitre except her navy. :It is. added | that- "America's political wishes will be recognised only if they are backed ' by the guns of her fleet, but the scotkj } or her desires will be bounded by the navy's radius of action;" The Conservative Kreuz. Zeitung endorses these observations with the remark that the American navy must- not only be ready to strike," but "ready to strike where ■.strategy- demands." General yon Zepelin, who is responsible : for. the article in the Berlin .ipurnal,- then proceeds to consider the ' lines of communication and the har- '

;. hour accommodation oh' tne west j L: coast of America and in £he Pacific, which, he pronounces to be inadequate I yandi insecure for a fleet "designed, for Offensive purposes:*? '" The orgair "of i theiChau^nist. PanVGejc^anie League), I the :A7lde^che-Blatter;^ea: rsiestly' S&-; jures •t-h& United States station the ' battleship fleet permanently in the Pacific, upon the ground that "both now and more especially in the future I ; an arrangement of this kind would be I of quite exceptional importance for j Germany, in view not only of Japan's •• predominance in the Far 1 East, but also more particularly because in the end England could not help finding herself compelled to divide her naval forces, which are now concentrated j in European waters." j