GERMANY V. ENGLAND.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 520, 29 May 1909, Page 6

GERMANY V. ENGLAND.

AND THE DEEENCE OF NEW ZEALAND. (Bit E. Boeohetti, M.D.) ' jThe views expressed in thia artlclo aro tne personal opinions of tho writer, and this Super ie not ■ in any way committed to iem. They are eiven space in our columns because we bc-lievo that it will bo of interest and of value to our readers to havo Placed before them the observations and eonclusans o£ a gentloinan who has been v for many years roetdont in Europo, who has .made a study of tho conditions existine in some of the countries of which he writes, and who in statinr his caeo is uninfluenced by any • sentimental regard for British ': prestige. His conclusions may bo unpalatable to many, bat if they assist to a better aiid i!£ ad «..Vf4erstanduiK of our' national re.srtSMMi not .ha™bDeDwitil- - glance at tho map of Europo will show that the nations which lie at the periphery ] —England, Franco, Spain, Itussia, and Tur-' key-Hiavo, or havo had Jv moro than their fair share' of the wealth of the world, and that those nations which are situated in the centre have nothing but a very limited area for their huge populations to live upon. What accounts for thisP Tho surroundings, nothing else but the surroundings. In Qie eternal struggle for life, those nations which are at the poripheryj being wholly or partially protected by the sea against outside interference, have been in a position to bring about their national unity sooner than those which'are open on all sides to the attacks of their neighbours, as the other nations, of Enrobe are. National unity means strength, and that strength the nations at the periphery have quickly turned to account by expanding abroad, thus mortgaging to their advantage most of the wealth of the world. > It is on account of this, that Spain has been in' a position to expand in South America, Turkey in Asia, France , in North Africa, Russia in Siberia, and England all over the world. Here, then, we have an important fact to record: the nations at the periphery have the exclusive monopoly of all outside lands where xthe white man can live and prosper. -

The Creed for Land and Its Effects. '. And what is the use these nations have made of the land 'Nature has ; put in their way? In the case of"Russia we know that the whole of Siberia is still practically a huge vacant land, and so are the beautiful colonies France possesses in Northern Africa —Tunis and Algeria—and also those which England possessos in the Pacific —Australia and New Zealand. Spain, as we know, hae lost all her possessions in South America, and-as to' Turkey the treatment the Christians have received till now at the hands of the fanatical Mussulmans in Macedonia and in Asia Minor.speaks for itself.. Here, .then, .wo havo another .important fact to record. Tho nations at the periphery have failed to mako tho. best use of the land which Na-' ture .has put in :their" wey.- But this is not all. . Throughout, history we can Bee that in their. greediness 'for more land the nations at the , periphery, have shrunk before no adventure, however: risky it was,' and wo know that ,only. recently England and Russia have carried on most bloody, wars for the.,i>ossession of more land', in Africa and Asia re-spectively-i-ithat France, camo near to Betting all .Buropo;ablaze over, the Morocco question, whicn is nothing, else than a question of. annexing more, Land, and that, aooording.to pur late Premier, , England's duty was to take-possession, of aH.tbe little islands,.which he .around Australia and New Zealand. Thus wb havo one more fact to record: ..the nations, at ] the periphery know no limits to their; greed for. more land. And thoro is something,more. ■ It is a fact that the nations at the periphery have' long', ceased to: propagate; or if., they do. still propagate, tho unfit among thorn do so at. a faster rate than, the fitter element of society;' while those' nations which are in the centre of Europe still show a_ healthy , high birth-rate. Hence the paradoxical fact which is bound to havo a disquieting influence in,the world's politics: the nations in the centre havo the .population,'but not the "land: those at tho periphery have the land, ,but not the population; "■ One ' last"fa6f _is ; that by means of •protective or preferential tariffs' tho nations ,: which ■ control : the land, may exclude all other nations from; trade competition for the .reason' that he who oontrols thol.land controls also i the, ..market. Landlessi Ambltlons. ' '

:■' All those facts,, which must appear quite natural to the nations at the periphery, must seem to those m the centre, and''above_aU ■to Germany,' something like social injustices which, ought to be abolished by all • means. And, indeed, is. it mot an injustice that 'the land,' which' is as essential to life as tfhe' air wo breathe, should be set out for cattle, or: be allowed to lio waste' whilst elsewhere millions of people practically Btarvo for want of ispace in wnioh. to'expand? In Central Europe alono there are more tian one hundred and. sixty, millions of people, half of them Germans, who' own no oraer land but that on which they live, and their number is steadily increasing "white the land remains tho same. Up to'the end of the last, century these , landless millions of Central , Europe were bent iipon ; attaining their national unity, and could'not pay attention to what was going on,in the'outside world, but eince that national unity has been attained £hey have becomo dissatisfied,with their poor lot:,they too want to havo a share of the wealth of tho world, i.e., land , where they can expand and markets for their industries. ■ And here is where the trouble is bound to come in. We frequently hear of Socialism on the Continent, but I wonder whether the British people really-know what Continental Socialism is. To put it briefly, there are on tho Continent two kinds of Socialism-ra little and a groat one.- If wo look' at Germany, for instance, wo will see' that the workers there are most emphatio in their denunciation of the protective tariffs and tho ..military service. They want free trade and brothorhood: brotherhood'with" them stands for the suppression of war by land, because war'by'land is national suicide.- This is the little Socialism, tho Socialism' of the workers of all with tho.' Germans in the forefront. This Socialism is directed mainly against tho capitalists; -, ■: ■ . How to Break tho Monopoly. ' Hard pressed by the rising Socialism, the capitalists turn to tho workers and practically address them.in this way: "What you ask is quite legitimate, and wo are qnly too sorry that we are not.in a position to grant your request.■■ Tho reason is that the bestlands all over the world, and with them also the best markets, aro monopolised by othoi nations against .whom we cannot compete but by under-selling thoni. Our protective tariff euables us to keep but their goods, and we cannot drop tho tariff without either loworing tho wages or killing our industries, and also our trade. You cannot think of this.' But there is one way out of the difficulty. Tho nations which monopolise the best lands i and also the best markets are those which f jio at tho periphery. They havo all expanded at tho expense of other nations because this is the law of Nature: tho strong nations must oppress the weak ones. It is j the law. of the survival of the fit' applied to communities.; By monopolising ,as thoy do the bt-st lands,' and also the best markets, to their advantago, fho nations at tho periphery .practically oppress us, and we in turn must opprtes you. As you see, our national weakness during past centuries has been taken ad. vantago or, and this accounts for tho: fact that wo have no land where we can expand. But we too at-last havo acquired our national unity. /We too are now strong—strong for the co-operation of,all our onorgies on tho land, whilst our oppressors are all declining. The easy life is killinK thorn. Now it is our chance to expand at their expense. In doinn so we comply with the law of Naturo, ' which requires that tho unfit-should bo got rid of, be they individuals, nations, or races. Foi this wo need a> strong army and also a strong navy.- Tho army is necessary ' to warn France and Russia out of tho way, tho navy to meot England at soa. This is our Socialism: to do away with tho social injustice that Germany alono should have no land in which to expand. Wo too need expansion, expansion of men and expansion of trade, and we shall have it. Through it wo will grow stronger and woaJthior, and then disarmament and free trado will follow.as a natural consequence. As you sec, your Socialism depends on our success, and our success depends on your co-operation. Lot us mover forget that Vhatoyer our differences may bo must stand- or fall together."

Why Tharo Cannot Bβ Peace. \fhoso Wo kinds of Socialism—the little ono < of the workers which tends to f roe trado and brotherhood in tho 6enso I have just osplained, and tho groat ono of tho capitalists,which tends to expansion abroad —are to bo found not only in Germany, but wherever population has outgrown tho' carrying cap-. acity of tho land, and consequently in ailCentral Europe, as well ns in China, and Japan. Of Central Europo I know that i< is so. Of China and Japan I havo reason ta beliovo that it must.also bo so, because tho. • laws of tho moral world —tho same as thoeo of tho physical world—are universal and always'work' out tho samo result: ihe equilibrium of forces. That this equilibrium in tho , moral world has boon broken is proved by the fact that thero* is an avexago of * thTOQ hundred and twenty inhabitant to th« square mile in all Control Europe, in China proper and in Japan;.and only twonty-sovon • in the Turkish Empire, scarcely nine in Now Zealand, and only one and a fraction in Australia. . It is sufficient to think of this to understand why thero cannot bo peace in tho world. And yet there aro people who think —if they can think at all —that this anomaly should last for over. Tho wonder is l thai it' las lasted so long. Howovor, there are only two ways to re-establish .the equilibrium to normal: either tho landless of the world kill ■ ono another, ■ or they arrange to expand together. To think that tho nations of Central ■ Europo will start on wholesale butchery among themselves, and that those of Asia will do tho same in ordor to got rid of their ■ \ surplus population, is to credit them with a small; amount of common.sense,and with » , still smallor share of Christian fecUng. No, the nations of Europo will not commit suicide any more than those of Asia win, for' the simple reason that thore is stall plenty of vacant land in the world to-accommodate ' 'them'.oil."' "■_ ■ ■ •■■■:" ' . '•'■",:..' What May Happen. ' > In my opinion, the day is near when, lie ' nations of Central Europo, under the leadership of Germany, will advance through iht Balkans into Asia Minor, and tho nations oj , Asia, into Australia and New Zealand, tiro* dealing a vital blow to both the British and the Turkish Empires. 'Then it will become > apparent that wealth and Dreadnoughts avail nothing against tho law of Nature, just as wealth and military power availed nothing to Rome: And yet there are ,poople in New Zealand who tliink that we pigmies, born yeeterday, t« dio tio-morroiT, can pcrpetnaio the existing anomaly that China ana Japan should,have the population and we the ant land by simply enforcing upon this country some form of military training. Billos and guns will avail us, for the purposes of defence no more than a dam can avail to prevent tho waters from flowing towards the sea.: Nol The defence" of Now Zealand ie not a simple problem, it is a complicated one, because its solution is with the . problem of our national existence, and,'consequently, it is not a matter of how to defend only,but also of how tobuilddutablyfor our children and grand-children down to tho . remotest'generations'. Tor this wo must investigate deep into the laws of Naturo and build, according. to them, because all work which.is not.in accord'witn those" laws Jβ ~ doomed to utter failure: What those tan. ■ are we will see later on; so far wo know that . the first" thing to do in the mattor of defend ■ is to settle'theiand qnickly. and thickly, before the opportunity to do it ourselree slips away.'from us. ■•'. '' '"' '.',.'[ (To bo.continued.); , , '