Second Edition. Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 6, 6 September 1915, Page 6

Second Edition. Great Britain

—— V : GEHMAMY’S NAVAL POLICY OBJECT OF THE NAVY BILL OF 1900. FIRST LORD’S LETTER. United Press Association. (Received ,1.5. pan.) London, September 5. The Hon. A. J. Balfour (First Lord of the Admiralty), in a letter to a correspondent, states: Germany first pioclaimed the policy of building a fleet againsi Britain in 1900. From the standpoint of her own ambition, the. policy was perfectly sound. She aimed at world-domination, against which ; the British Fleet has been the, surest protection since the time of Queen Elizabeth. the Germans had every reason to be aware of the fact that without the British Fleet Frederick the Great" must have succumbed to his enemies, and Prussia would scarcely have shaken off the Napoleonic tyranny. Whatever may be thought of the freedom of the seas, freedom on land wa s due in no small measure to the British Navy. German statesmen were too wise to suppose they could call a Navy into existence immediately they were able to contend on equal terms with the Power which was the most formidable obstacle to their aggressive projects, but they calculated that a powerful, though inferior fleet would render Britain impotent, since the British Government would not dare to, risk a conflict. whWi. however successful, might leave Britain’s naval forces inferior to a third Power. This policy clearly, though cautiously, expressed the famous preamble to the Navy Bill.