The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 20. RATTLING THE SCABBARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 96, 20 May 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 20. RATTLING THE SCABBARD.

The English papers to hand by the last mail devote a good deal uf attention and space to the humilhvtion o.? Russia by Germany and Austria in connection with | the annexation by Austria of the .pro--1 vinfcefi of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It | appears that the German Ambassador . at ISt. Petersburg requested the Russian ' Foreign to recognise forthwith the annexation, though this was' the very thing which throughout the previous six months Russia had refused to do, except j in concert with tin* rest of Europe and at a conference formally summoned to deal with the matter. If Russia refused . to take the step required of her, it was . intimated that Germany would consider t the refusal an act of hostility to her ) Austrian ally, and therefore to herself, and that her troops' would at once cross the frontier. Further, Russia was made aware, no doubt with all the politeness possible in the circumstances, that a large portion of the German Army had already been mobilised 011 the Polish frontier, and that if the Russian Government did not submit, thfi German troops ■would be in possession of large tracts' of the Russian Empire before there would be time for orders for Russian mobilisation to take effect. Russia is stated to have asked lor time to consult the 'Powers with whom she had been acting throughout—namely, France and I Britain. To this request a peremptory, if polite, refusal was given. Russia was told that if she decided to yield she must ; yield at uiice. Russia, yielded. This j version of the facts is denied by the : oliicial Press iu Germany, .but these dej nials merely amount to an assertion ( that all the diplomatic courtesies and I loniinlities were obserwd. The Czar and his Ministers held that 110 other course was open to them, partly because the)' had been placed at what they believed to be an enormous disadvantage by the sudden and secret action of Germany and partly because they realised that the internal condition of Russia, he] financial position, and still more the con dition of her Army, would make it im ■possible for her to wage a successful wai against Germany and Austria-Hungarj combined, even though she received sup port from outside.

The situation, in fact, was very much like that which hats often been described m novels of adventure in tile American Wild West. A man, anticipating the likelihood of a deadly quarrel arising, suddenly draws revolver and covers tic man next liini nvith the words: "You must agree to my terms here and now. If 1 see your hand move towards your revolver-pocket, i lire instantly," In such circumstances the man who cannot | get his hand to liia revolver-pocket witht out courting instant destruction gives j in. JS'o doubt the analogy is not in | reality exact, because it is by no means' I certain that the Russian Army is so hi- ! lerior to the German as the Russians in their present pessimistic mood ars inclined to believe. Alter ail, they havj some eight hundred thousand men available who have seta active service. What is more, tllese men, notwithstanding exceedingly bad strategy, acquitted themselves 111 a remarkable way when face to face with some of the bravest and most efficient infantry in tiie world. Neither ill France uo r liritaiu has there been the "slightest tendency to blame Russia for not consul ting the other Powers of the Triple Entente. Great Powers forget and forgive much, and it is wise that ■they should; but the one thing which a Great Power liuds it difficult to overlook is when advantage is taken of her temporary weakness by a neighbor whom she had previously believed to be not unfriendly. As one English paper, the Spectator, put it, if, after the North Sea incident, Britain had demanded its pound of llesh from Russia, she might have been forced to pay it, but Britain's action would have left an indelible impression 011 her relations with the great Empire of the Xorth. The fact that she did not take advantage of the .Muscovite's momentary difficulties made '.t possible fo r England shortly afterwards to put her relations with Kussia 011 a friendly basis. For a great deal of Russian diplomacy the ordinary Russian cares nothing, lie cared, for example, very little abouL the check to Russian aspiration* in the Far East. Ife does not trouble himself very greatly uliout Persia. There is, however, one thiug which he docs' care about, and that is that Jtussia shall play the part of a gieat .Slav Empire, and be the protector of Slav interests and Slav culture throughout Europe. But what Germany did recently, when translated into the language which is understood by the plain Ulan, was to forbid Russia to play tnat part, or to life a linger ia support of 'what she considers Slav interests. Germany forced her to acknowledge before the whole world that she cau do nothing to help the South Slavs unless she is allowed to do so ,by Germany and Austria-Hungary. That was bound to seem a terrible humiliation to evcrv iuissian "who has pro-.Slav aspirations, and it is impossible to think that the Russian people will forget, or allow their Government to forget, what has happened. To put it plainly, tire new fact in international affairs i* that the old policy under which Germany was governed by the determination never to quarrel with Russia is dead and done with, and that we have entered upon a fresh epoch in European diplomacy. For the present, and probably for many years to come, ivu must regard AustriaHungary ami Germany from the military and diplomatic point of view, and also, we should add, from the naval, as 011 c. At the Jubilee banquet last autumn the German Emperor declared that a word Irom the Emperor of Austria could set German armies moving. That was a splendid compliment. We expect' that it will he truer to s'uy that henceforward a word from Berlin will sot Austro-Uun-gaiiau lcgiinents and ships in motion. In the matter of ships, if, indeed, not of men. this is a significant fact for Britain. Some few weeks ago the Spectator .requested Sir William W 7 hite, one of the ablest of living naval experts, to estimate the capacity of the Austro-lfuu-garian Fleet. He showed that that licet was strong and efficient at the momrtit, and that a programme was' being carried out which would make it still more formidable in the future. That licet must now in any calculation of comparative naval strength be added to the llect of Germany. This means that in the event of war we could not even temporarily 1 abandon the Mediterranean, but must keep there a licet sufficiently strong to seal up the Austro-Uuugarian Fleet if II '' 111 harbor, or to destroy it if it came out. Otherwise Malta, Egypt, a"'i Cyprus, and the whole of the British' shipping that passes through the Mediterranean. would b? at Austria's' luercv. 'this, again, means that when Britain is contemplating the necessity of keeping a. force at home sufficient to leave no doubt as to |,cr capacity to meet and overcome the German Fleet, she must permanently deduct a strong f o rc ( , f or 11*0 hi Hit' Meiliterrani'aii

lint though this is an important Jess'on for Itritain. there is one far more important to lie found in the secrecy, suddenness, and ellicieyey with which tile German military force oil the Russian frontier whs mobilised and held ready for instant use. The Hermans did not show any diplomatic signs of i|ie action they were going t» take an hour before the_\ took it. 'there waff no wordy debate ill tile German Reichstag 171 which Russia was warned that she must ]lot do this or I hat. or Austria-Hungary was assured that Germane would take'such-and-such action. German official newspapers maintained (heir old police of saying nothing to nrovoke ill-l'eeling in Russia or to give any warning of "the coming blow. Germany outw-ardly'mai-.i.' tained the most perfect eahn till the'

'cvy moment when she struck, and .truck with nil Her strength. The only lews iu regard to the frontier was what m may call a contra-indioation. A great nany telegrams were scattered throughjut the Continental Tress at the liefirming- of the week in which Germany icted describing how Russia hail mobilised her forces on the Prussian frontier. Russia liad done nothing of the kind, lint while Russia was' alleged to he doing what in fact she was not doing, Germany was doing that very thing so efficiently md secretly that the first news of it to roach St. Petersburg was the polite :omniuuicatioii made by the German Ambassador to the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs. We can be almost sure that no such communication will ever be made to Britain provided she organises her resources for the building and equipping of ship 6 to the utmost, and then makes the most complete use of those resources. If, however, she fails ia this respect, she may be sure that notion similar to that taken by Germany towards Kussia will sonic day bo taken towards her, and, from the German point of view, quite rightly. Then ive s'liall have to choose between the dternatives of lighting ut a tremendous lisadvantagc and national humiliation. An autocracy, as the Spectator cou:lud«s!, may be able to choose the humiliition. A democracy, and least of all a British democracy, can do 110 such thing. Hie people in such a dilemma will always choose the sword.