RE-GROUPING OF POWERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14925, 24 February 1912, Page 7

RE-GROUPING OF POWERS.

BERLIN PRESS COMMENTS.

THREE EMPERORS ALLIANCE. RUSSIA TO QUIT ENTENTE. BRITISH INTERNAL STRIFE. By Telegraph.— Association.—Copyright. London, February 22. '• From a well-informed source." the Daily Telegraph learns that the foundations of an understanding between Britain and Germany have been securely laid, but the difficulty at present is that the German Government, with its full knowledge of British policy, has advanced beyond the most influential German public opinion. It only remains to convince Germans that there is no substantial cause of difference between the two nations, and also that an understanding would tend to check rivalry in naval armaments and would promote closer commercial relations. Berlin, February 22. The Kreuz Zeitung states that it is Britain's policy to hold firmly to her intimate relations with France and Russia, and to hem in Germany. The Berlin Post, representing the military party, urges the breaking off of the negotiations with Lord Haldane, and the establishment of a " Three Emperors Alliance" between Germany, Austria, and Russia, giving Russia a free hand in Persia, Mongolia, and the Dardanelles. This plan would injure the position of Britain and France in the Mediterranean, would destroy Anglo-Russian friendship, and would gain reliable friends for Germany.

The Vossiche Zeitung comments on the coal crisis, and declares that the domestic situation in England, the imminence of a terrible Labour struggle, and also the revolutionary struggles about Home Rule and reform of the House of Lords, explain the sudden desire for an arrangement with Germany.

The Lokal Anzeiger confidently reports that the Anglo-German negotiations are proceeding satisfactorily. It is improbable that armaments or important colonial questions play any leading part in the discussion.