ANGLO-GERMAN ALLIANCE AND MONROEISM,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12603, 5 March 1903, Page 5

ANGLO-GERMAN ALLIANCE AND MONROEISM,

> • 1 (Fkoh Odb Own Oobbispokdent.)' , ' LONDON, January 23i j Fondly it was hoped t-liab with the triple i' consent of England, Germany, and Vene-, i zuela to arbitration and to reference, firfifc ' to' President Hoosevelt and then to The J Hague Tribunal, the impending peril of j' trouble with tho United States had passed ■. away for the time. But apparently this was'I Hot Germany's desire. Monroeism hai al* 1 ways been a pill very repugnant to Geri many's taste, and nothing would play the German card more effectively than for the i navy of England to be combined with that of' ■ Germany in an attack upon America before ; tho United States could have a capable naval force in readiness for defence. Germany has taken well to heart tho lesson of the Anglo-French dispute over Fashoda. As I was in a position to Inform you at the time > - and to enable you, .unliko all the British newspapers, to publish in advance, England, ever since Lord Rosebery had warned France against an advance on the Upper Nile, had been secretly making tremendous prepara--tions for a sudden and overwhelming attack on the French coast and navy in case Franco. should prove to have disregarded that warning, and to have established herself at Fashoda, and should refuse to ' budge. Everything was ready, and had not Franco saved herself by timely submission to our, just demand, another 24 hours would have seen her powerless to offer resistance, That" is an historic fact. It has sinco been freely, admitted, by French Ministers that the easel was as I then stated, and due note has been taken of the fact by tho Kaiser and his Ministers. * Manifestly it has occurred to that astut® Imperial mind that tho only chance of knocking the bottom out of the detested Monroe doctrine which limits the aspirations of Germany westward, would- be to force on the United States its abandonment'. beforo an Amoricau navy could he got ready for its defence. A combined attack on the American navy and coast and ports by an ! Anglo-German fleet must almost inevitably succeed at the outset. But if the Americans wero given time to preparo they might quite conceivably and probably construct a floct able to bid dcfiance to that of Germany, and to offer a very tough defence even against the combined naval strength of Germany and England. Therefore if a. blow wero to he dealt at Monroeism it would need to bo struck as soon as possible. Another donsideration supposed to tend to "hurry up" Germany was the progress of touching the Isthmian Canal, whether via Panama or via Nicaragua. America lias very plainly intimated her determination to dominate this inter-oceanio highway of the future, object who nay, Germany strongly disapproves this idea. * With England ruling the other inter-oceanio canal, that at Suez, and tho United States - that across tho Panama Isthmus, the qucs- '■ tion suggests itself forcibly to the Kaiser: Wliero does Germany come in? And echo answers, "Where?" This does not at all suit German notions, because it fails on- - tirely to fit in with the cherished Teutonic . vision* of universal supremacy at sea. What. will bo tho use, it is asked at Berlin, of wresting the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal from British dominance if America is to be supreme on the passage between the Atlantio and Pacific Oceans? And so the feeling simmers and simmers in Berlin that America must bo " taken down a peg or' two," more particularly as in the United. States may be eecn Germany's most dangerous rival for the commercial supremacy, which, too, is to be wrested from England. : Isn't it fortunate, hy-the-bye, that "threatened men live long?" Well, this tame reference to arbitration did not at all please the German "Forwards." Some had to bo done for "glory" after sending a naval force to Venezuela; So one of the German squadron (the Panther) was set to bombard the fort of San Carlos—it has not yet been explained on what pretext? But " the best laid plans of mice and men oft gang agley," for, instead of squashing the Venezuelan fort,' the Panther got considerably squashed herself, the fort guns replying so effectively that the Panther had t» retire partially disabled after two .explosions had occurred on board. Whether er not it -were felt tka.t such a "nasty one in the eye" as this must-be avenged is not disclosed, but what happened ■was that yesterday three German men-of-war resumed the attack on Fort Carlos,_ and bombarded it furiously, also the adjoining villazo of the sane name, which was burned to tlie ground, with much slaughter and wounding of its inhabitants. This proceeding may ho susceptible of satisfactory explanation—l don't say it isn't,—but what is quite certain is that' it has produced an outburst of rage in America, where, although the feeling is mainly antiGerman, there has now arisen an unmistakable resentment against England, on the score of the alliance. Fortunately, the Americans, notwithstanding their irritation, still discriminate between German and British action in this matter. But, seeing that England stands pledged to support Germany. through thick and thin, .and not to withdraw from active alliance against Venezuela. save with Germany's consent, some difficulty : is experienced in discerning how England ia. to hold aloof if Germany insists on going ahead. But this bombardment of Fort Carlos does certainly strike the whole world —outside tho German Government, the pub- >. lie of Berlin as well as of Now York and London and Paris—as so strangely wanton and gratuitous that it is impossible to believe England will BUpport or even sanction such proceedings, treaty or no treaty of alliance. What makes the case so bad is that Germany's actioh has been taken while the arbi-. tration arrangements are still in progress, and an additional featuro of aggravation is , fouiid in tho fact that the German shooting ' was so desperately bad that very little dam--age seems to have been done' to the fort which tho shells wero aimed' at, while ths , unoffending population of tile adjacent villages, who there could have been no desire to injure, were slain and mutilated. ( Even tho most moderate of the New York journals are loud iti denunciation, and a demand id already raised in America that England shall administer a "sharp warning" to Germany not to do this sort of tiling. That would not be a pleasant task for the British Government, after the Kaiser having expressly borne over here and make matters so verysweet ! Biit in America the conviction is hourly gaining ground that Germahy's true object s not only to smash Monroeism, but also to make practical use of the smashing by acquiring a new Kiaochau on the American coast, which would enable a good, coaling station and naval base to bo established in timely readiness for the Panama Canal. Arid that is what America does not want and will not have, oven if she should have to strip and fight for bare existence.