VISIT TO KIEL

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8810, 13 August 1914, Page 7

VISIT TO KIEL

WHAT IT DISCLOSED STRENGTH OF GERMAN NAVY. (Sydney “Telegraph” Correspondent.) PERTH (W.A.), August 4. The Berlin correspondent of “The Times,” telegraphing on July sth in respect to tne British naval visit to Kiel, refers to the increased striking force of the German navy. He says: Kiel, with her magnificent harbour, js the child of the navy, the chief home of the navy, and, thanks to the Kiel Canal, the fairway of the Baltic and North Sea. It is also the home of the new breed of Gormans the naval typo. Already it is almost impossible to distinguish between the British and German sailors. And the German naval officers, tho younger they are the less they resemble the Prussian lieutenants tho imitation of England has been no less deliberate in regard to personnel than ships and guns. There were no policies at Kiel, and it was not considered inopportune to announce at Berlin on June 28th a further increase of tho striking force of the German navy and naval representation abroad. German politicians have argued themselves into a very comfortable state of mind. There is a general admiration of tho brand new formula invented for the last Reichstag debate by Dr. Heckscher, a Radical deputy and director of tho HamburgAmerican line, “a detente between England and Germany has been possible only because Germany has provided herself with a strong navy.” On the other hand, if Mr Winston Churchill had accepted the German invitation to Kiel he might have heard what the new semi-official “Nauticus” puts ns follows; “Navy panic artificially created in England in 1909 was followed until quite recently by attempts ■to influence the German naval policy. Arithmetical formulae were invented. ‘The holiday year idea’ was produced. Germany was branded as the promoter of larger armaments and increased displacements. The reduction of the English programme of construction was suggested as possible. All this in order to obtain influence over tho development of our naval armaments and break down, and destroy the navy law, so that tho Government in power would ho free from- its financial anxieties and domestic difficulties and English taxpayers be saved still heavier burdens, but in reply the German press uttered quietly, decisively, and almost unanimously its unacceptable public opinion, and refused absolutely to ad-‘ mit_ any further interference with the nation's right to decide_ for itself.” Thus German politicians, , blandly assuming that British opposition is finished, have provided themselves with a new theory/, capable perhaps before long of reading, ‘'the larger the German navy, the better Anglo-German relations will be.” The most remarkable feature in the German navy estimates, and the best index to the growth of Germany’s actual strength at sea, is the rapid increase in the expenditure on keeping ships in. commission. The amount had doubled in seven years. The total votes in 1908 amounted to £1,836,000; in 1909, £2,149,000; 1910, to £2,200,000; in 1911, to £2,362,000; in 1912, to £2,670,000; in 1913, to £2,905,000; and for-the present financial year the figure is £3,410,000. Germany will, before the end of tho present summer, have together with the fleet flagship three squadrons of equal strength in commission. The first squadron at Wilholmshayen, consisting of seven of the earliest Dreadnoughts, the second squadron at Kiel, consisting of the Dreadnought Westfalen, and either kyo or six. older ships; and the third squadron, also at Kiel, consisting of seven quite new ship*, while the three-squadron fleet is so nearly complete as to make the entire completion appear an urgent necessity. The reserve formation naturally wears a neglected aspect, especially as there are no reserve ships in' commission at Wilhelmshaven. To most fruitful argument of all, however, for more personnel and more ships, in commission, is found in’ the need espied at present, especially in the Mediterranean and the Pacific, for a better naval representation of Germany abroad, without interference with the units at home. Upon the whole, it may bo said Germany is now shifting tho sphere of competition from ships to men. An increase of personnel may more easily be secured before another increase of the peace strength of the Gorman army. It is undoubtedly believed, notwithstanding all assurances to the contrary, that England’s difficulties in tho supply ot men are considerable, and -will become more serious.