THE FEAR OF WAR.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2085, 14 August 1890, Page 4

THE FEAR OF WAR.

Referring to the recent speech of Count von, Moltke on the position of Germany, the Spectator states that it brings into strong relief one element in the Continental situation which ip England, protected as it is by the sea; is too often forgotten—the terrible strain under which the 'nations must be living. This apprehension of waij war which will not be short—has lasted, said the Field Marshal, for 10 years; and for all that appears, it may, last for another 20. Actual war is only prevented by the preparations, made to resist it, and those prepara-j tions of themselves keep up the fear that -it must one day occur. Imagine; the strain which that situation must; of itself produce, the constant anxiety,; not only among soldiers but among alii whose business would stop in the event of invasion, the constant watchfulness; of all neighbors’ movements, the international hate which a protracted fear of invasion must necessarily produce.; We know what it .was here between 1805 and 1813, and the English were islanders, and could, by destroying; fleets, make invasion a physical 'im- ; possibility; while the Germans can do ; nething except prepare ever largerand larger forces, every addition to i which takes something from their happiness. The body of the people have all the anxieties of soldiers, without their hopes or incentives, and must feel as if life were always overhung by a possibility almost as depressing as a known’ liability to madness or some dreadful disease. It is a sad situation for Europe if the Field Marshal ia right, and one which mav make observers doubt whether the arming of the nations is really such a triumph of civilisation. It did not help between 1795 and 1815 to keep off war, and it has not helped between 1880 and 1890 to mitigate a strain which is only better than the actual invasion which, after all, it may not prevent. The situation is bad enough even in France; but Germany, with enemies on both sides, is paying a monstrous price for the privilege of keeping two provinces the losses of which she bad in 1870 forgotten except in histories, and which even now, 20 years after their capture, would give a plebiscite in favor of reunion with their old masters. It ia a useless question to ask, as well as a conventional one; hut still, in it lies the kernel of much of European policy; How much has Alsace-Lorraine cost Germany, in cash and recruits and energy, since 1871 ?