GERMAN NAVAL CRUISE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1947, 2 January 1914, Page 7

GERMAN NAVAL CRUISE

BATTLESHIPS VOYAGE. A NEW DEPARTURE; Berlin, Xm ember 15. The Gorman naval authorities have determined to dispatch shortly tw.i great warships, the Kaiser and tho Konig Albert, as well as the small cruiser Strassburg, to the coasts ct West Africa and South America. these tbi'eo battleships will be absent from homo waters for three or four months. Never sinco tho "Boxer" movement in China, that is to say since the summer of 1900, has such a considerable part of the Gorman fleet been sent away for such a long period, and so far from home. Although in this case it is only a question of three warships, yet (writes Iho Sydney "Sun's" Btilin correspondent) all theso vessels are of the njpst modern construction, especially the two ships-of-thc-linc, or super-Dreadnought;;, as tliey aro frequently called, which represent almost the strongest type of lighting unit known to our modern naval constructors. Formerly only two small cruisers, or training ships, for such they reallv wore, although the.v were officially designated, as large cruisers, wero stationed off the coasts of West Africa and South America; so low was their fighting value t'hat their absence from homo waters, was of little consequence. ' Tho fact that Germany, out of her none-too-numerous fleet of modern battleships, is dispatching two of her largest and most up-to-date vessels to remote foreign stations is a sure sign ot tho material improvement that has taken placo in the relations existing between Germany and Great Britain. This is a proof of far greater value than any number of grand speeches or usits from statesmen or peace delegates.. AH sections of the German press, quito irrespective of existing political tendencies, havo united in describing tho cruise as a political event of tho first magnitude, and all dwell upon the fact that tho despatch of three modern German, waiships to tho Soutu Atlantic is a practical sign that tlio long hoped for rapproehement between the Governments ot Berlin and London has become an actual fait accompli. A P a l' er ll!; ° tho ultra-Conservative "Kreuz-^oitung writes: "Tho fact that wo have determined to weaken our fleet for sevcial months to como by sending important fighting units of this class into distant foreign waters is a proof that AngloGerman relations have taken ;v turnwhich renders such an experiment possible." In liko manner, tho ",Taglicho Rundschau," a paper whose Pan-Ger-man tendencies are only too well known, publishes an article in which the intended cruise is hailed witn every sign, of approval, similar expressions of goodwill have been expressed by all the more important organs of liberal opinion in Germany. In reality the tension between Germany and i.ngland, which at tho time of the Morocco crisis had reached high-water mark, bc«an to relax after tho visit paid by Lord Haldane to Berlin in February, 1912, and S'neo t'hat timo the feeling botw'een the Governments and peoples of both countries lias become of a distinctly more friendly nature. ' Furthermore, the dispatch of the two battleships to the Atlantic proves, despite all tho French Press may s»y to the contrary, that Germany has no aggressive intentions against Franco. Even without these two battleships and tho small fleet,, it is'true, is at tlio present moment superior to that of Francebut a nation which briny superior forces to beai, and always" be able'to strike a sudden and annihilating .'. blow ."against the enemy; coiisequeptly, a., country with such intentions will, before planning such an assault, not weaken its forces unless absolutely compelled to do so. Had Germany, in reality, any aggressive in-, tent-ions against France, as it is evident that such a war would be carried oil not only on land but at sea, she would certainly not bo sending two of her most. valuable and up-to-date battleships to far-off lands, from which, as a matter of fact, they could not return homo wider three weeks from the date of tho dispatch of a telegraphic message ordering their recall. The political importance of this, cruise lies objectively in the fact that it proclaims a real improvement in the relations existing between England and beimany, whereas, subjectively, it proves tho peaceful intentions of Germany towards France. But hand in hand with its political .significance como otlier reasons of a purely sentimental nature. Germans abroad aro always complaining that, whereas mighty battleships of every other nation frequently take up .their moorings m the harbours and ports of their adopted homes, tho flae of tlio German warship is seldom or never seen. Pride of race is not peculiar to Germany nlonc; bo tlio exile , a German or a citizen of any other land, it is essential that he should be able to hold liis head high in tho country of his adoption, and hitherto the Germans havo suffered much in this respect. German emigrants and settlors in Kio Janeiro, * Buelios Ayrcs, and elsewhere wk> had long been clamouring for a sight of tho German naval ensign in their harbours, wero overjoyed when they rcceivcd telegraphic communication of the intended dispatch of German battleships. At last the moment was to arrive when thoy would be able to show their friends in Brazil and the Argentine Itepublic tho mighty battleships of modern Germany, and demonstrato ad ocoulos what the German Kaiser, tho German Government, and tiio -German people havo done to develop the fleet into an instrument of defence worthy of tho extensive, maritime interests and the great lunpiro it represents. On tile other hand, there is cverv reason to suppose that tho authorities of tho different countries visited by tho German warships will only see in such an act a proof, as well as a courteous recognition, of the friendly terms upon which their respective Governments stand to tho German Empire. There can bo no doubt but that the visits of German warships can only help the good cause, and aid m developing still more friendly realtions between the countries concerned. Hitherto the inhbitants of .South America havo been chiefly impressed by tho superiority of German military organisation and methods, as a proof of which numbers of young officers from the Argentine liepublic and Chile have of late years been studving the art of war in our German military high schools; but now tlio sight of the Kaiser and the Konig Albert (adds the correspondent) will convince our friends in those latitudes that the German fleet is second to none in matters of efficiency and discipline.