CRITICISM.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 8 September 1917, Page 2

CRITICISM.

THE BRITISH TALISMAN. Dr Solf, the German Colonial Secretary, having no colonial business to attend to on behalf of Germany, is devoting a good deal of attention to British colonial policy. In one of his latest articles, which appears to have been syndicated to quite a number,of German he says:— “Every Englishman is born into the world with a wonderful talistnan, which makes him lord of the earth. Whenever an Englishman wants to get possession of anything he never says so openly. He waits patiently until —heaven knows how—the profound conviction grows on hirh that it is his moral and religious duty to subjugate those who are in possession of the thing that he wants. He is never at a loss for a good working moral pose. As a great champion of freedom and of national independence he conquers half the world, takes possession of it, and calls it ‘colonisation.’ When he needs a fresh market for his worthless Manchester goods ,he sends out missionaries to proclaim the gospel of peace to the savages. The savages kill the . missionaries and eat them, and the Englishman rushes to take up the sword in defence of Christianity, He fights for his faith and wins > and then takes posse'ssion of the new market as a divine reward for his piety. He makes war out of patriotic motives, and reduces nations to slavery in the name of his Imperialism. I have before the war frequently spoken with Governors of African colonies, with those of the English, too, on the subject of the treatment of natives } and I have always maintained that the German idea, which is to further by all means the solidarity of the white race in those regions, is the only sane and healthy one. This principle has been destroyed by England’s war politics. England’s native policy is not only a violation of the honour and respect in which the white race should be held, it is also a crime against the black race, who have now been granted the truly English freedom of being permitted to be killed for England in battle against the whites.” The German policy is much more direct. It is comprised under three simple heads—Murder, and Slavery.