German Naval Ambition.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13397, 21 September 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

German Naval Ambition.

———— -w^ei———' : ' First place in the July " Quarterly " 'is given to an article discussing the 'effect of German naval ambitions upon British maritime, supremacy. Though the sVs.paihies of the " Quarterly," are avowedly Tory the writer carefully refrains from th.e alarmist criticisms which an influential section of the Unionist prey's in Great Britain has directed against 'the naval policy ot the Imperial. Government. Generally speaking, -and-.especially' iff its reorganisation of the fleets, the,' Admiralty has, "he admits carried-out "a great anrlEssential work of -reform." He regards the constitution" of the Home fleet, with its-'fully commissioned division of 12 armoured: riiipa atthe Nore as a forward step,, arid.declares JrfL - LS - years m °dest-shipbuilding' Programme , s not, in the. present favourable circumstances,- inadequate. "There is a lull m foreign construction, and it would be an. economic -error to'build beyond, the two, Power standard liberally interpreted » lie chief fault fc has to find with the admnustration it ; te continued fa lure to Sr& d S ff^ d «P?Mn S fa iC aiti« on are in ll T -°- EnglailcL Sucli fa «Hties are in. Jus opinion, urgently misled as a GeSnV- T* attack from Orermauy His special purpose is to emphasise■ Ihe imminence of a'crisfe threap. me British supremacy in the North fi-a Do not let the advocates of disarmament diveiu your attention from the German menace," that is the burden of his mes sage to Ins countrymen. "No ~ impartial ■observer op. cither side of the Atlantic k," he points out, "ignorant of the. fact that behind the brooding silence winch has ioU lowed upon the war in the Par East there are. disturbing whispers from one part of Jiurope; and it is-these distant rumbling, of struggles for territorial conquest and even more imminent, for economic-advan-tages, which have driven peace-loving peoples like the French, the Italians, and Americans in particular, to lav out vast sums in preparing to .defend "themselves against aggression. It is no exuggcntion to say that the' on 0 great 'disturbing :«. fluencei of the world to-davis .leniiv.-v "•■ Germans aie seeking fresh fields fur* lhe settlement of their surplus population and fresli markets for their and their Emperor has persuaded.-tliem that, if /they follow his lead, they will" by diplomacy or force of aim's acquire a land of promise where Germans can find wealth and happiness under tbei national flag. The great danger to peace lies in .the system under which German armaments ( are centralised under the supreme control of one Warlord; This one-man rale, is virtually absolute over the fleet. "The German navy is differentiated from all other navies in. the world, in that it; is the personal instrument of the imperial will. The Emperor is'.de- facto and de jure the Comman-der-in-Chief of the Imperial German. Navy, and the Reichstag merely holds the purse : strings. The Emperor, with or without the advice of a complaisant Chancellor, may any morning decide.that German in-

terest-s are menacJed, and may press an electric button which will send the fleet, massed at Kiel, or even more likely at Wilhelmshaven, to sea prepared in every detail to fight." In a recent brochure written by a German naval Captain to-, popularise the Emperor's forward naval policy, an imaginary picture of such" a sudden attack upon Great, Britain lias been vividly presented to the German people. The Emperor has won life people over to his naval ambitions. Twenty years ago the German fleet was of no importance as a fighting force. During the next ten years naval (enthusiasm in the empire was but slowly aroused. The development in the last ten years has no parellel in modern history. * " Within three or four hundred miles of the east coasts of England and Scotland a wnr'fie«et, at least numerically imposing, is being manoeuvred where a dozen year's ago hardly a single man-of-war has* been from year's end to year's end." Yet, according to the "Quarterly" reviewer, the British Admiralty still hold the trump cards in the, contest for naval supremacy. "It is essential," lie urges, "that they continue to hold them, and be ready to plav them if need be." 'Germany failed to score with her programmes of 1898' and 1900 because she was building inferior battleships; but now she has entered upon a new p-haae of the struggle, and in a comparatively few years will have a, fleet of 38 battleships, including 18 "Dreadnoughts" and about 15 armoured cruiseis, massed opposite the British eoa*ts. This mighty weapon wielded absolutely by one man will make it imperative thali Great Britain shall have always in its

home waters an equally effective weapon ready for immediate u.vj. The temporary delay in carrying out the German sohiine of construction is a valid reason for curtailing the British -shipbuilding programme for this year; but, says oirr l'orieww. at least a portion of fh" mmi-ty saved ought to be spent on an ea.:i. coast naval base—the urg ; «t ne-.Vt of to-morrow.