GERMANY PREPARING FOR WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14214, 10 November 1909, Page 8

GERMANY PREPARING FOR WAR.

LORD NORTHCLIFFE'S VIEWS.

BRITISH PUBLIC" APATHETIC.

Loan Northcliffe," managing owner of the London Times, in an interview in the Chicago Tribune of 'September 29, says: — ; "The Americans are so busy with the affairs of their own gigantic continent that they have not the time to devote to the study of European politics, which are more kaleidoscopic in. their changes than are those of the United States. .'■■;.'"■■■

: " There is an impression in this country that some- hostility exists between the people of 'Great Britain and of united Germany.

' I know the Germans intimately. From nildhood ■ I have travelled extensively throughout most of the German States. I have many German family connections, and I .venture to say that, outside the usual Body, of Anglophobes one meets in every country, there is little hostility to the British on the part of the Germans; and, on the other hand, there is ;,; in England no dislike ofGermany, au contraire, our statesmen are adapting German legislation to our needs, and if imitation be the sinmerest form .of flattery the Germans must be well pleased with- our proposed reproduction of their working men's insurance, the labour, bureau, and a great many other legislative improvements, that, it appears to me, would be just as vital to the United States as they seem to be to Great Britain. ' "' ' '"' \"~' i J. , '.'-, . .";

: "Why, ' then, if 'so , happy a state of affairs exists between ■ the two nations', should there be' any section of people in England to suggest the possibility of war?

: "Turn back ,1869. '''; Was there any friction , between France and • Prussia? There was no hostility on either side. But any reader,-of Busche's 'Bismarck,' or other standard authority 'on. the great German Empire- binder, will acknowledge there was immense preparation on the part of Germany—-a preparation that was kept secret, as far as possible, and which also, as far as possible, is 5 being kept secret by Germany to-day.

"As to that which is ; transpiring in the >rman shipbuilding yards, we,more ;or less know that.by 1912 Germany, in ships of the super-Dreadnought class, will be the equal of England.,. . ./. r "If- we were in your position, able to grow- our own food on our"; own acres, it would matter; little to us if we had merely an ornamental ■; navy. But ; how 'few ] Americans realise that our food is brought J to us from Australia,- Canada, much of it from this city of Chicago and your Westem twheatfields, from, the Argentine Republicnearly all of it.from over the sea? ;{■•■'" Two or three days ago I was at San Francisco, where your Government has spent an immense sum of money in fortifying the Golden Gate against an imaginary Japanese attack. - • Throughout the greater part of your Pacific Slope the Japanese, depleted as they are 1 by a great war, infinitely inferior as they - are to you in population," situated an immense distance from you, with 'no coaling < station on your shores, *, are" looked upon as ; a dangerous opponent. ■■• ; ' ' "vif"Even"if it were, possible for them to cross j the- Pacific to * attack you—a more than ridiculous assumption, having in view a hundred and one contingencies, including the Anglo-Japanese alliance—what damage could they do? . • ■ "Now, assuming that the Japanese are 11 hours' distant, 'have a population. onethii'd larger than your own, and " are constructing a navy as rapidly as you, would it riot be wise" to give some- careful consideration to your position? ; ' ' •J; • .'"I-see it is suggested in the American papers that-there is some kind of > a scare in England.;.-! wish there were. Our public has'been warned by the Prime Minis- •' ter, by, the Minister for, Foreign Affairs, -by many; of our leading public men,; such as , Mr. v Frederick ' Harrison ' and Lord ! Roberts ; by - prominent journalists, includ- ; ing Mr. Stead, ~ and by others, -~> but they have not yet, as you say, begun, to - sit up and take notice. .*• , , <.„, _ ,-.•

"Leaders oh that side of , politics to which I belong, including, I hope, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Balfour, and Mr." Chamberlain, have also directed attention to 'the need for national precaution, but without avail. ~ '■■.-;.. : , "' , ~. "

"We have to-day a superb navy; we , have in the line of battle war vessels such as the Indomitable or the Inflexible, now in New York, which are as efficient in their, sphere ■as our ~ Mauretanias and Lusitanias are in theirs. We are not wasting time on aeroplanes > and gas bags, but are developing submersibles and wireless. ■ "Why, then, worry? Those of our people who think as - I do are looking ahead.; : , ' r ".„.- : ,

"We have the official : figures of the German naval programme up to 1912, which are serious enough, but we know that these figures are ' just as inaccurate as were the figures made public by Germany prior to the Franco-Prussian , war in 1871. \We know that the German press, unlike that of the United States and Great Britain, is prohibited from telling the truth about these matters. We know that at .The Hague Peace Conference Germany. declined to discuss the limitation of armaments or the use of floating mines at sea. •' " These are a few of the reasons why many of .our younger men think it , time that Great Britain should respond effectively to the naval programme of Germany. -~ * ' "As to the attitude of the United States, I have no doubt that it will be strictly impartial as was ours during the SpanishAmerican war. We do not • expect assistance from any outside source. .-.'.-•.■...! .:-.-.■■'• .--;■' t " Already our colonies have shown much greater alacrity in preparation than has the Old Country. Little New Zealand is taxing itself 20 dollars a .head: for man, woman, and child. : Australia is raising an army of 270,000 men, and has offered a handsome naval contribution. ; Canada is discussing a navy, which in no way could be antagonistic to the United States, but will enable it to protect the St. Lawrence on the one hand, and on the other British Columbia, where we already have a magnificent station at Esquimault."