ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1912. THE RIGHT REPLY TO GERMANY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 120, 18 May 1912, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1912. THE RIGHT REPLY TO GERMANY.

Those worthy people ■ who ' are apt to imagine that a Liberal Government such as that headed by Mr Asquith cannot be trusted to see that the Navy is maintained at an adequate standard, of strength and efnciency should note the promptitude with which Mr Winston Churchill, tho British First Lord of the Admiralty, lias replied to Germany s latest move. It had been supposed that the increased, strength of the Liberals aiid Socialists in the new Reichstag would liave spelt a decrease in the: Naval Estimates'; but' apparently the Kaiser's 'dream of eminence on. the ocean doniinateQ eVen the! most .arderit,of Germany's social ;reformersV *, Despite' i!ie 4 fact that, the nation, is' being practically bled to death by excessive;, taxation, in order to keep up> the mad rivalry with Great Britainy; the Reichstag has not only passed the;; ordinary Naval Estimates, but hasl actually, so it would .appear, ,<jqnfLrmed the proposal to make the curi;"e.iit year's building programme even- ; more exiensive tha.n was at first cpnteriiplated,. Clearly, it is the belief, of [the : German ■ people that Great Britain,-can be vanquished on the sea, : aifd, that it is the duty of every patriotic. Teuton to make every possible sacrifice to ensure that end. It is, of course, a^ most^ deplorable thing that* two great nations such as Britain and (ieiynany cannot come to some mutually satisfactory understanding to cut down the present ruinous expenditure on naval armaments; but if Germany_ is resolved te press on with, her naval construction to such, an extent as to menace the naval supremacy—and more than that, the very existence—of Great Britain as a free country, she must be prepared :to see Great Britain strain every nerve te maintain her Navy at such a standard as will ensure national safety. i ' :.

'_ Fortunately^ for England, her financial position ,is so much superior to, that of Germany' that she can give a prompt and emphatic reply to the latest challenge;, that has emanated from :th-e War; Lord at Potsdam. This year's Budget showed a splendid sur-i plus, and i^> wp.s^vith a wise prevision of probable evejats that a'large portion of the surplus was earmarked for naval purposes—if required. Outside a little dismal wailing from such peace-at^any-price organs as the Daily News, which is owned by the Cadbury Cocoa "kings" and is apparently blind to the!-course of air events outside the sacred village of Bournville,,there will,be little objection, we think, made by the British press to Mr Churchill's -project of asking for Supplementary Estimates for the Navy. Lord Charles^ Beresford, than whom a' LiberaFAdministration could have no keener and more unsparing critic upon nav^l7masters, has recently expresse>d satisfaction with the reforms in Admiralty administration introduced by Mr Churchill; the Minister need > have, no fear, we consider, of there; being any. very serious opposition to his plan of; meeting the "extra", expenditure of the Germans -by..a..corresponding, outlay on the British Navy. .: . ~.;■ ' ■-~.- .- • . .'; :..-,. 1 That the. Minister has a firm grip of the; -ji.ayal ; situation, both immediate and in its future developments, was shown by Hvs statesmanlike speech the other night .at a City, banquet. It is in the hopi,e seas;—the North Sea or the English Channel—that the British Navy will have to fight out tho, question of .England^ safety from foreign conquest; but1 : Mr>: Churchill wisely warns jthe. Overseas Dominions that/ there .are>'possi.bi.lities' of attack upon isolated* parts of the Empire: in the combating of which the assistance of oversea 'naval squadrons would be of the highest value.