PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

» ±~- . GERMAN INTERESTS V. BRITISH INTERESTS. i According to the cables in last week's Witness Mr Winston Churchill has been ridiculing the idea that there can be any war between Germany and Great Britain, and at the same time he said "there was no collision of primary interests between Great Britain or Germany in any quarter of the globe." Again, "Germany was .among our very best customers." The quotations are from the cables, and though not Mr Churchill's exact words they, no doubt, express accurately enough -what he said. Are these statements true? They are no:-, according to the July number of the Navy League Journal. In it the statement is made that German merchants are -looking forward to a war as profitable from a commercial point of view. Do their interests clash? Read the following, taken from one of the Navy League Journal articles: — The most superficial acquaintance with

ancient and modem history, the policy of " nations; and the tenets of political economy serve to convince the impartial observer that Germany has perforce embarked upon a career of world expansion the end of which no man can foretell. At almost every point hex interests clash with those fjf England- Her ports, few in number, ! are of questionable value in view of the j shallows with which hex western littoral !is infested. That magnificent waterway, the Rhine, is exploited to its utmost capacity, but for iresels to reach the sea on its broad bosom they must contribute to the revenue of a foreign Power, Holland. The Dutch and Belgian harbours present such a tempting bait to Germany that to gain possession of these- alone a costly and sanguinary war would' be politically justii fiable. Great Britain alone stands in the I way of their annexation, for Germany would have little to fear from c coalition of Holland, Belgium, and 1 France. Her desire — nay, her imperative need — of colonies is hampered at every turn by England, who, rightly or wxongly, is accused of having- confiscated practically every promising area on tine face of the globe. I have mentioned only two of the vexed questiona existing between the two countries. There ! are many others, but either on© of the 1 two would be sufficient to bring strained 1 relations to a climax. This fact is recogj nised in - Germany, - where the ostrich-like policy of -evading danger by ignoring it is never .favoured. . There- the probability — and, in some quarters, the certainty — of war with England is calmly discussed on tie » lines of - a mathematical proposition. Prophetic war novels may be numerous in England, but they exist. in their hundreds over herte. -I have previously, mentioned in these columns . that an . armed combat with Great Britain "is looked upon by ,level-headed German commercial men as a possible lucrative venture, for always before their eyes is the huge indemnity wrung from France in 1871, now lying in the treasure-vaults at Spandau. I/et it not be forgotten that, although Prince Bismarck is gone, his policy is etill strictly adhered to in Berlin. Hostilities with Denmark, , Austria, and France were not entered into fxom any vainglorious motives, as their results very plainly demonstrated. In one • case -a 6trip of desirable territory was tifoe objective, in another the crushing of a powerful neighbour was advisable, in the third! the consolidation of the embryonic Empire was the high issue at stake, but - the fourth — as yet unrealised — if successful, would gain an infinitely more valuable U prize than >the three mentioned, a prize described in Sir Walter Raleigh's immortal dictum. If we take a German view -'of the commercial and strategical value to Germany of Denmark, Holland, and Belgium — per- - haps France might 'be allowed to hold Belgium in the meantime, — and the necessity ior Germany controlling the mouths of the Rhine, which carry so much German trade — I repeat, if to oaoi see the position from a German point of view, then we must- see that our interests must clash with those of the Germans. THE GERMAN NAVY LEAGUE, • From the history of the past we know that statesmen are •indavidiaals who have no deeper" grasp of questions of Empire than many an ordinary citizen; and it ie possible "that Mr Winston Churchill and other British statesmen are unable to projec| themselves into the future, and by the past read the history that is to be written. Are we retrograding? We have seen Holland, Spain, and Prance disappear from their position among the great Powers, and we have seen Germany, the United States, and Japan come rapidly to the front. Have the British ceaeed to be the controlling factor in the Pacific. Is it true, as was said in Auckland, that we are to be defended, by the United States fleet? The last, hardly so, we hope; but what about the former? Again, is the British Empire within measurable distance of having its supremacy" in the "Atlantic disputed also? Not long since we were undoubted masters of both the Pacific and the Atlantic. The Japanese and the Americans are possibly spoiling 1 for a tighten the Pacific, and Germany is apparently hoping for the time in the near futuic when she will be spoiling for a fieht with tis. But my heading is the German Navy League, and I use it because I am extracting particulars concerning it appearing in the Pall Mall Gazette. I am 6orryl cannot give the whole article. If readers want to read more upon the Germany Navy League and the' distrust of Germany which exists in thoughtful minds at Home, I refer them to the Navy League Journal written of in these notes — the July issue, — and I think if my readers do so they will find much to make them feel concerned for the safety of our Empire. -The German Navy League has been adroitly pushed by taking advantage of the human weakness of the man in the street to be actually and personally associated with aristocratic personages. . . . The league was furnished with a highly-aristo-cratic organisation and government, including Prince Henry, Prince Wilhelm of Wied, and the beloved Grand Duke of Baden. Under these were ranged nobility, high officers and officials, aristocrats, generals, admirals on half-pay, oi .retired Secretaries of State, who, as agents and officers of the league, were prepared to receive 'nto co-operation every class, age, sex, rank, party, oi creed. In fact, all the high officials c-f the empire, representing tho governmental machiT.«ry of all Germany, were placed at the disposal of tho league. ... In effect it hae become the largest and moft influential patriotic association in the woild. It numbers 820,000 members, with o\er 40G0 branches in Germany alone. It has an income of over £50, C00 per annum, which is nearly all available for purposes of agitation, chiefly, as I have pointed out, virulently anti-British. Its journal. Die Flotte, possesses a larger circulation than all tho other German monthly periodicals ' combined, and may be eeeu in almost every cafe, inn, barbex'6 shop, and private house-. In addition to the home branches, there are about 100 in various foreign countiies excepting the United States and Russia, the German Consuls being very gene-rally the presidents. The contributions of these foreign branches amount to about £2000, or ..equal to the whole year's taking of our Navy League throughout the Empire. A curious fact in this connection is that, whereas Germans in the British Empire send ■comparativeiy small sums, within the

last two year 3 there have been large Boer ■ contributions, actually amounting in 1905 to nearly £700. The social side of the league is pushedi for all it is worth. ,r, r ... Thus its general yearly meeting is distinguished by State dinners in royal palaces, brilliant receptions, and entertainments, with special performances at the opera, all of which aTe exclusively confined to members of the league. ... . . All the year round am army of lecturers wifch cinematograph apparatus, on the lines of "Our Navy," penetrate the provinces in allotted directions and familiarise the country people with the idea, of naval power. It has been ascertained that these lectures draw as many as 150,000 people every month. Theatrical plays are written setting forth the same theme, and the league has published a book of popular naval songs comprising no less than 67 appealing to the sentiment, "Our future lies OH th© water." IPlaoawis, also, exhibiting Germany's relative sea-power, and devised to impress all with her bitter need of a stranger fleet, are distributed broadoast'. . . . . . . The league especially busies itself with the schools, stimulating interest by lectures, pictures, naval exhibitions, and brings to the sea something like 5000 children of thie inland towns and districts. - The children and their teachers are munifioMitly' entertained, condflcted over the warships, and taught the imperial bearing of all they see. The league's numerical strength and influence h&ve more than trebled in the last four years. It is stronger than any single political .party in the' Empire, and is even gradually causing* party differences to disappear before the ambition to dominate the sea. Even Social are drawn into the meshes of this tremendous organisation. When the word 1 goes forth . from j Berlin it rains pamphlets and articles paint- i ing Germany's position in the blackest of colours, as being surrounded by watchful and jealous enemies, chiefly Anglo-Saxon, anxious to efface her and her commeroial competition. In fact, Germans are systematically reminded with almost wearisome iteration that Great Britain is bent on. de-^ stroying the German fleet.