The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1917. GERMANY'S DEFENSIVE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 January 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1917. GERMANY'S DEFENSIVE WAR.

The latest pronouncement of the kaiser on the subject of the war will Is found in this morning's cables. It U cast in the usual mould, a mixture cf cant, hypocrisy, spurious indignation, and hutred against Britain, but it i? firefly remarkable for the significant admission that Germany is now on ih>. intensive. How are the mighty fallen? forty years' labor to build up armies unci naval forces to conquer the wuril' absolutely wasted, the flower of

German manhood a mere wreck, and the resources of the country drained to satisfy the insatiable lust of power of ;),e German Emperor. There is no mention in the Kaiser's latest outburst as to being forceei into the war. Let >is •lope that miserable subterfuge is nou rust aside as utterly worthless. We. ure quite prepared to believe that t.liu German military clique, of which ilie. kaiser is the head, is still determined ind angry, but the knowledge of this .■•tutu of affairs has already forced itsolf on the attention of all observers. By a uiincideuce that can scarcely be .a Med .iccidental, the Kaiser's assertion that .lie struggle is a defensive war ciimc.s jI a time when there are reiterated iop> rts of demands for a maximum of frightfulness and a relentless submariapolicy, while, the activity of tie piratical raider in the Atlantic is cr<3.iling no smali sensation. There avo also reports of preparations on a vast rcale by Germany for an offensive movement in the near future, so that it :s difficult 'to reconcile the contradictory statements. On land Germany is still a foe to be reckoned with, for she still possesses a striking-power that nust not be despised; but the tide has turn • ■•d, and she is, as the Kaisr truthfully ifor once) observes, on the defensive Her only hope of getting a cessation of hostilities is centred in her submariiw> uid raiders. The German submarine as an instrument of piracy and assassinaiion is not new. tt has been utilise! to its full, and that at a time when the liritish Admiralty was not so alert as it is to-day. And it ."ailed. The oatcome of the Tlvpitz submarine blockade on the British coasts was the loss of t> comparatively and relatively insignificant number of ships; the cold-bloj'tl killing of thousands of harmless men, women, and children; the destruction of

many Gorman submarines; tlie utter failure of tiio so-called "blockade"; and Hit crowning o'. the German Kaiser anil IhSi satellites with an immortality ot infamy. Vet this notorious "blockade" .vat entered upon with an arrogance .'.'.d ruthlessness us determined as any '.hat have since governed a similar policy. Tlie Uritish Admiralty is quite citpnble. of dealing with the submarin■na policy, and will assuredly do so. - here is not me slightest occasion f<jr alarm at the German threats of wli.it I hey are going to do, the real object being perfectly j iain Germany is play. 'r,g a desperate game to bring about a :e~sation of hostilities. How hope.tss (list vision is we all know. Among the many inexplicable actions of Presid" lit W-lson there is not, one so remarkably peculiar as that of taking the imumai course of personally addressing tlie Senate and setting forth his most recent views of peace. What influences have been at work it is impossible to C'. iijecture, but the very idea of peae - withont victory" could not be evolved by any but a hopeless visionary. It i? Germany's business to throw dus;, in the eyes of the Allies as to her probable ea.npaigns in the near future. 'Hie Reiser's latest statement is all part of a piece, and may be dismissed as behg of little impoitance. What does nnitt"i- just, now ;s that the Allies ut'.H.se the whole of their resources in prepar; >ng to deliver a crushing blow on the enemy, and so take heart out of Germany's defence in the same way that ';?r offensive movement was broken.