GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 231, 4 February 1911, Page 9

GERMANY.

THE MAIN OBSTACLE TO THE "WORLD'S PEACE." In an interesting article on "Germany: The Main Obstacle to the World's Peace," Dr. A. S. Hershey wrote in the New York Independent:— "Actions speak louder than words, but if verbal evidence be needed to show • that the 'German Peril' is no mere figment of a disordered imagination, it may be found in the 'Kaiser's 'Speeches,' as translated by Mr. Wolf von Shierbrand, and a volume entitled "German Ambitions.' "Von Schierbrand shows that up to 1895, the date of the opening of the Baltic Canal, the Emperor's speeches were pacific in tone, and that his activities were directed toward the maintenance of peace. ... On January 3, 18911, came the famous Kruger telegram on the occasion of th<> Jameson raid, which was followed, as might have been expected, by a perfect storm of abuse and criticisim in the English press. After that untoward event, the Emperor's tone changed completely. "In June, 181)7, he said in a speech at Cologne: 'We have great duties in the world. There are Germans everywlicre whom we must protect. German prestige must be preserved abroad. The trident belongs in our hands.' "In 1900, upon delegating to Prince Henry the command of the Oriental fleet: ' Imperial power is sea power. The two are mutually dependent. . . . Should

anyone fringe our rights, 'then use the mailed ifist and earn your laurel wreath.' "Again, on tho occasion of the baptism of the 'Wittelsbach,' on July 4, 1000: •The sea and sea power are indispensable for viermany's greatness. But it is the sea, too, which proves that neither upon the water nor upon the land, in far-away countries, decisions must be reached or events happen without the consent of Germany and the German Emperor.' "At the Hague Conference of 1899 Germany led the opposition to Russia's proposals for limited obligatory arbitration and a limitation of military and naval expenditure; and it was only with the greatest difficulty that the German Government was persuaded to consent to the establishment of the so-called permanent Court of Arbitration. At the Conference of 1907, Germany favored obligatory arbitration 'in principle,' but her attitude was reactionary in almost every other respect. i "How is the reactionary attitude and aggressive conduct of Germany during recent years to be explained? It appears to be due in part to the temper of the German Emperor, the autocratic methods of the German Government, the military and naval teachings of German historians, economists and philosophers. But these are, in turn, the results of historic traditions and economic forces.

"It should not be forgotten that the birth-pangs of the modern German Empire were accomplished at Sadowa and Sedan. Then did Germania issue forth a full-grown, united warrior-nation "born in the midst of smoke and battle—product of Bismarck's policy of 'blood and iron.' She has been nurtured in the midst of an armed camp of smokeless powacr; rapid-firing guns, and patriotic speeches by her 'War Lord.' Wedged in for a generation between France and Russia, who both had reason to fear and hate her, this nation of warriors has compelled others as well as herself to bear military burdens beyond a parallel in history. Feeling the needs of expansion, felt by every" growing and prosperous nation, she has found herself checked and thwarted in her commercial and colonial aims by England, the mistress of the seas. Relieved for a season by the paralysis of Russia from the pressure upon her Eastern frontier, Germany has become a menace to Europe, from which partial relief has been secured by British diplomacy through a network of alliances between Great Britain, France, Russia and Japan. Except for her alliance, with Austria-Hungary, Germany now feels practically isolated in Europe, but is determined to break the iron ring with which she imagines herself encompassed."