The Ohinemuri Gazette. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1908. GERMANY'S NAVY.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XVIII, Issue 2332, 1 April 1908, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1908. GERMANY'S NAVY.

Mr H. W. Wilson, the well-known authority on naval matters, points out in an article in the February number of the National Review that Germany is creating a fleet of such size and strength as to constitute an open challenge to British aspirations to command the sea. He says it is not only what is to be actually done in the year 1908 by Germany that is full of menace, for her plans are laid far ah«ad. The great programme of 1908 will be succeeded by as great programmes in 1909 and 1910. In the lastnanled year a fresh Naval Bill is officially foreshadowed. The further augmenting of the Kaiser's fleet in-, general outlines is generally} beingdiscussed in Germany. Mr Wilson asks if the two-Power standard of the British navy will be abandoned. That standard, he points out, means a superiority to the two next strongest fleets, whether those fleets be German and .American, German and French, French and American, or German and Japanese. This, he adds, is a historic principle which has governed the British policy in the past for the last 150 years. It must continue that policy in future, with the penalty, if it is abandoned, of an ever-present danger to the Empire, and to the independence of the United Kingdom. Until 1904 the British outlay on the navy was almost continuously above that of the two next strongest powers. Until about 1901 France and liussia were those two Powers. From 1902----onward Germany and the United States tobk their places throughout the .period. From 1902 the German and the American naval expenditures "steadily rose. From 1904 on the British naval expenditure declined. The foreign expenditure is falling, and in the financial year of of 1907-1908, which ends March 31st, the combined outlay exceeds that of Great Britain by about £0,000,000. For the year 1908----1909 the combined outlay will probably be about Mr Wilson adds that there can be no doubt that England stands at the parting of the ways.