“THE GREATEST PERIL THE NATION HAS EVER FACED!

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 811, 12 February 1910, Page 3

“THE GREATEST PERIL THE NATION HAS EVER FACED!

WARNINGS OF A SOCIALIST. MR BLATCHFORD’S APPEAL.

Of many extraordinary incidents that have marked the present election campaign, writes a London correspondent, not the least remarkable is the publication by the Daily Mail of the series of articles on the relations of England and Germany, by Robert Blatchford, the prominent Socialist leader and editor of The Clarion.

On the question of the relations of England and Germany the Daily Mail has been rudely outspoken. Only a few months ago Lord Northcliffe (who has risen from the Commons on the success of the Mail) despatched a notable wire from Berlin, warning the English against the folly of insulting Germany by rushing into panics over phantom airships. Within a month or two he was in Canada, declaring in the bluntest terms that war between England and Germany was inevitable, and to-day we have the Harmsworth journal publishing a series of articles which practically declare that Germany is about to attack England, and that England is unready to meet the blow. The significance of the authorship is the fact that the Socialists of England and Germany have repeatedly declared their determination to preserve the peace between the two nations, and that Mr Blatchford is one of the most representative Socialists of England. An old soldier himself, he visited Germany during the autumn to report the military manoeuvres lor the Daily Mail. He was at the time palpably impressed with the organisation and efficiency of the German Army, but he gave no indication then of the more serious impressions which he seems to have received during the same visit.

‘T write che.se articles because I believe .that Germany is deliberately preparing to destroy the British Empire; and because I know that we are not able or ready to defend ourselves against a sudden and formidable attack.” There, in a nutshell, is the burden of the story. It is almost a pity that this powerful writer pauses after the first few sentences to deprecate “the criminal lunacy and waste of time and strength in chasing such political bubbles (as the Budget, the Peers and the Election), when the existence of the Empire is threatened by so brave and powerful and indefatigable a nation as Germany. What motive could Germany have for attacking us ? The motive that led her to attack Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866, France in 1870. Simply that we stand in the way of her ambition of world-supremacy, that vve have colonies which she needs, that we bar her way to the open sea, and that vve command a trade that she desires. Britain is the last barrier to the realisation of her destiny, and “Germany will strike out at the first sign of danger. . . . She has an army of four million men, and a fleet second only to ours, and she will strike out with these.” Whether this is true or not nobody who knows his England can dispute Mr Blatchford’s statement as to the frame of mind in which England regards the menace: ‘‘The British people do not believe it. . . . The

British people do not want to bother, they do not want to pay, they do not want to fight, and they regard as cranks or nuisances all who try to warn them of this danger.” The writer goes on to describe that vital difference between the Navy League of England and that of Germany, the latter an organisation of a million members, enjoying from the first the patronage and support of all the Royalties. And then he reminds us of “ that toast drunk every night in every German warship, ‘To the Day’— a friendly and pacific toast to the day when the German fleet shall defeat the British fleet in the North Sea.” This statement called forth a storm of indignant repudiation. Officers who know the German Navy, journalists who know Germany, Prince Henry of Prussia himself, characterised it as a fantastic invention.

In one or two chapters Mr Blatchford sums up very strongly the evidence of facts which proves that Germany is making her preparations solely against Britain, Two years ago we could outbuild and outgun Germany with ease. To-day it is doubtful whether we can build as rapidly or arm as rapidly as she. The German fleet is constructed (or no other purpose than to fight in the North Sea. The ships have not a sufficient steam radius to attack any other nation than England. Mines have been made in vast quantities. How many submarines and torpedo boats “ have been built and hidden away in the ports and rivers, Germany’s secrecy makes it impossible to say.” Germany is working feverishly and at high pressure. She is fortifying Heligoland, and is working day and night at a harbour there. She is widening the Kiel Canal, and constructing seventeen docks capable of holding ships of the largest class. It is the German method, Mr Blatchford says, to prepare for war while professing peace. She is now preparing for war more thoroughly than she has ever done before, and on a greater scale, and she is professing peace. ” Weighing the evidence calmly and dispassionately, I feel it my duty to declare my conviction that the British Empire is to-day confronted by the most tremendous danger that has ever threatened

its existence. And I must confess with sorrowful misgiving that the nation is blind to its peril and is proving itself impotent to meet the danger as it must be met if the Empire is not to go down in complete and irretrievable disaster.” The Socialist leader is satisfied that there is no middle course. The German policy is the Bismarckian one of blood and iron. She means business, and it we do not want war we must want peace. Every man knows that there is much truth in the charge that the English “want to keep the Empire without sacrifice or service,” and most people will admit that Germany is incomparably the better organised and the more diligent nation of the two. To put Britain into a position to meet the attack it is essential that the Army and the Navy should be re-organised by vast votes of money and by the enactment of compulsory service, and that the morale of the nation should be improved by an official appeal to employers to employ British subjects in preference to foreigners. The articles form a very striking and impressive appeal for an awakening of national responsibility in England.