The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14. GERMANY'S MAILED FIST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 184, 14 November 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14. GERMANY'S MAILED FIST.

Germans are poor colonisers, but goo< colonists under flags other than thei their own, and the administration of th Fatherland in its oversea dominions i always notable for blatant military oific ialism and loss of revenue. The Germai colonies serve largely to supply military officials with billets, and the civil admin istration and commercial progres languishes for lack of the real element: necessary to expansion. Germany is a present having some trouble with nativi workers in South West Africa, where shi has territory aggregating over 300,001 square miles, with about 130,000 inhabi tants, only 12,000 of whom are whiti folk. Of the 9,000 Germans in thi: colony 5000 are soldiers, so it is easy t< understand that Berlin finds it necessarj to send more supplies to the colony thai the colony sends to Berlin. The colon] applies with great regularity to thi Homeland for money supplies, and las year the public expenditure totalled ove: a million and a half sterling, more thai half of which was sent from the Home h>'nd. Germany is unable to settle it c&lonial disturbances either by diplomacy or force of arms. Its "litttle war' against the Herreros (a particularly fightable class of gentry), was entirely unsuccessful in 1907, and the Herrero: were neither beaten nor satisfied. Then is no tribe of natives in German Afric* that loves the administration and noni that would not openly revolt if i' thought it had a chance of smashing the German troops. The Herrero anc other tribes in 1907 cost the country nearly £4,000,000, and the result gav< ibsolutely no return for the expenditure for the turbulence did not subside. II is probable that if Germany desires t( tiold this particular territory she wil either have to increase her army, anc therefore her expenditure, or will hav< to take a leaf out of the book of a sistei lolonising country and be a little lesi military and a good deal more humai md commercial. The Union Parliament )f British South Africa used the presenci jf armed German forces as a peg or which to hang compulsory service. II s perhaps not seriously believed thai ;he German army which is fully occupied n dealing with native turbulent 3 intends my attempt at expansion to territory vhich it cannot administer and cannol ifford to hold, and it is certainly nol ikely that Germany would have any sufr ess in inducing native levies to take uj rms on its behalf. A feature of Britisjl olonial administration is that it is gen irally able to obtain the confidence and he devotion of large numbers of natives md Britain has shown in India, Africa sgypt and elsewhere that she can make oldiers out of most unpromising mater al. A remarkable instance of this abil ty is shown in the New Hebrides {i >lace at present under discussion) vhere the Anglo-French native military >olice has been organised and made effi lent by a New Zealand officer. Germar ffßcers are often persuaded to lick some lody else's troops into shape, but in th< landling of natives of its own colonies t lacks something that cannot be de ined. Except for the winning of terri ;ory, German's naval and military ex )ansion seems useless. The winning o: ;erritory to be used merely as military >ases and which, in the absence of tin ipirit of colonisation, meant merely th< ;xpendiuure of money, would be unpalat ible to the German nation. There is, o :ourse, a possibility that the same spiri vhich animates the Britisher and force; lim out into the world to colonise wasti ipaces may yet animate the German am ;hat he may become as successful i :oloniser as his relatives of Britain There is woful discontent in the Father and at the increasing burden of arma nents, and extra taxation for the up ceep of existing colonies that do not pai 'or their own maintenance is not likel; ;o increase the cheerfulness of the people The most peculiar phase in regard t< withdrawals of Germans from thei homeland is that they show a greate: lisposition.to enter other dominions thai ;hose under their own flag, and it is alsi peculiar that outside the iron domina :ion of the military caste, they frequent y excel those of other blood in thosi essentials that make for progress in nev ands. In her colonies Germany appar ;ntly needs less uniform and more shin ileeve, more ploughshare than sword, less )f the mailed fist and more of the guidng hand. If Germany could transplant ts real homclife into its colonies and •salt the settler over the soldier it would ioon be a rival to the greatest colonising lation. It is because at present Germany lacks this quality that Britain need lot fear her fleets or her armies. When he great men of Wilhelm's empire use heir gifts for a solution of colonial irohlems, both for the colonies Germany iow holds and those she hankers after, he real rivalry between two related lations may begin.