AN ENTERPRISE FORESEEN.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 6

AN ENTERPRISE FORESEEN.

' GERMANY'S COLONIES. The steps taken by Australia and NewZealand to acquire the German colonies in the Pacific were clearly foreseen, "Q.uos Deus vult perdere prius dementat." Such will undoubtedly be the view taken in the oversea Empire (says a writer in the "Standard of Empire") with regard to the astounding action of Germany in setting herself not only against two of the most powerful military nations of the world, but also against the peerless fleet of Britain. And it is not alone the British Isles that the Germans have drawn to the support of France and Russia by their acts of aggression on small neutral States. Surely Germany must have forgotten that she has an oversea Empire too, and one which is absolutely at the mercy of the Greater British States. Rather more than a million square miles- of German territory in Africa and in the Pacific Ocean, with a native population of over 12,000,000 are open to immediate attack. Australia and New Zealand will, no doubt, attend to German New Guinea and the various small islands owned by Germany in (the Pacific. South Africa, probably aided by Australia, could seize German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, the Kameruh territory, and Togoland.' , It is fairly certain that Germany, in the event of a successful issue to her military operations on the Continent, and in the anticipation of Britain refusing to take part in the conflict, had at least half an eye open to the possibility of annexing the Belgian Congo, which would, with German East Africa, have formed a compact German block stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Now, unless all the portents prove hopelossly_ wrong, this Teutonic dream must vanish. Instead, an "All Red" Capo to Cairo railway, the possibility of which was apparently destroyed when Lord Salisbury allowed Germany to annex her Enst. African colony, will once again be rendered practicable.

Tho British Empire would never havo gone to war to secure the necessary territory. But, having been forced into the conflict against .its .will, it would be foolish not to tako an opportunity that presents itself to secure compensation for the terrible losses in men and material winch the present' ru e&h) must inevitably, entail.