SHOULD GERMANY FIGHT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16487, 28 February 1914, Page 10

SHOULD GERMANY FIGHT.

Why the tiflgic nonsense of an anonymous contributor to a German newspaper should he cabled at great expense all tho way to New Zealand is a mystery that will remain unsolved, wo suppose, to tho end of time. If the Chancellor of the Empire had put his name to the suggestion that immediate war would be the best possible policy for his country there might have been some point in sending the news broadcast, if only as evidence that the Chancellor was losing liis sanity. But as th* identity of the

author of this alarming proposition is concealed • under the broad cloak of “ a writer,” the purpose of the message is not immediately apparent. The natural assumption i 6 that “ a writer ’ is an agent of the armaments trust cf which we heard so much a few months ago. Tho intention in that case would be rather obvious, but by this time tho schemers doubtless realise that the great mass of the public does not pause to consider the bona fides of printed matter. The German article appears on the faco of it to have been written with a view to foreign consumption. It would bo telegraphed to tho halfpenny newspapers in London, where 't would appear under sensational headings, and would provoko angry remonstrances. This is, in fact, the method by which tho mutual distrust of Britain and Germany has been developed, and as the only people who profit by the existence of international bad feeling are the armament manufacturers, it is difficult to escape tho conclusion that the journals that keep the resentment alive are subsidised, directly or indirectly, by the big gun firms. The suggestion contained m this latest article, however, is real'v too absurd even to serve the purpose of the war-mongers. The idea that a country can make herself great end prosperous in these days by crushing her rivals has been utterly exploded. If the situation of Germany is intolerable it certainly cannot be improved by the 6word. Still, it is worth remembering that there are shrewd students of history and of international politics, not only in Germany, but also in every other country in Europe, who believe that the existing boundaries of Continental Powers are only temporary and that in the regular course of events thoro must be more or less violent efforts to reach a less artificial adjustment. As the most unsatisfactory national position, however, is held to be that on the Austro-German frontier, and as Austria and Germany are firm allies at present, the prophecy of what is sometimes termed a “ philosophic” or “ scientific war does not appear to be in any immediate danger of being fulfilled.