NEWSPAPER COMMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 19

NEWSPAPER COMMENT.

LONDON, March 7. The Daily Telegraph says that the letter declared that the German fleet was

only one-fifth the size of that of Britain, and that therefore there was no ground for the bitterness. The Times says it considers that it may construe Mr Asquith's remark as a repudiation on behalf of the Cabinet of official impossibility in the matter. The Morning Post holds that there can be no relation between a foreign sovereign and a British Minister who is a servant of the King and responsible to Cabinet. The Spectator says, that assuming that the letter was an attempt to influence the • na\ al policy, Lord Tweedmouth's proper course was to tell the Kaiser politely that the matter -was not one with which he could deal and to suggest the Foreign Office as the vehicle for the conveyance of the Kaiser's pacific assurances. The Chronicle severely criticised Lord Tweedmouth for not communicating the letter or his reply to the Cabinet, but proceeding to talk about the matter. "The Kaiser was," says the paper, " indiscreet in writing to a Minister on topics closely relating to the Admiralty. Friendly discussion between the two Governments relating to armament* hai repeatedly been desired by the British Government, but no favourable response came from Berlin. Private correspondence between the Kaiser and Lord Tweedmouth is quite another and a less desirable thing. If the incident prepares the way, for official communications towards the arrest of new naval construction both nations will have equal reason to rejoice."* The Daily Mail saye the letter arose from Lord Esher's letter to the founders of the Impei ial Maritime League, datedJanuary 27 and published on February, 6, declaring that there was not a man in Germany from the Kaiser downwards who would not welcome Admiral Fisher's downfall. The paper adds that the Kaiser trenchantly commented thereon, scarifying Lord Esher. The Westminster Gazette (G.) agree* with the general principle that it is not conventional for a Sovereign to correspond with the Ministers of another Power. But the Kaiser is unconventional, and when he departs from tradition he must nowise be assumed to be guilty of some Machiavellian design upon the innocence or independence of his neighbours. Nothing could be more absurd than the suggestion that Lord Tweedmouth was influenced towaTds economy by the Kaiser's represen tations. Other newspapers ask for more light. March 9. The Standard' 6 Berlin conespondent re. ports that as the result of an informal I exchange of views between the British i und German Governments a mutual conviction is recorded that the incident ought not in any way to exercise an unfavourable influence upon the Anglo-German relations. The Standard adds that the Kaiser's letter was a general reply to alarmist, views expressed in parliamentary and other utterances and articles in British reviews and newspapers, the attacks on either side being a secondary feature. The Morning Poofs Berlin correspond dent says that the leading newspapers ex\ press great satisfaction at the genera' uttitude of the English press. BERLIN,- March 9. Mr Asquith's statement dealing with tin Kaiser's letter incident has reached official circles in Berlin. The newspaper comments thereon consist partly of wholesale abuse of The Times and partly of an attempt to minimise the letter, but the Berliner Tageblatt, recalling the Kaiser's famous tele-, gram to Mr Kruger during the Boer war and other incidents, argues that vigiInnce ought to have been exercised, but apparently Prince yon Bulow, like others, was taken by surprise. ** Sa *~- __________