THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1908. GREAT BRITAIN'S FOREIGN POLICY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9172, 21 August 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1908. GREAT BRITAIN'S FOREIGN POLICY.

A very striking article, by Mr J. Ellis Barker, in the "Nineteenth Century," deals with the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The writer comment? on the great change which has taken place in Britain's foreign policy during the King's reign. "Foreign statesmen used to think that London lay outside the main currents of international policy," he say 3. "London Embassies were sinecures, where secondrate diplomats grew grey in attend ing to routine work. . . History, which used to be made in Vienna, at St. Petersburg, or at Constantinople, is now made in London." During the period of political effacement "chance, not the ability of our statesmen, preserved us from a war with all Europe." At present our ententes ara enabling us to save many millions on naval expenditure. They are understandings made with the object of securing peace, not with a view to facilitating wars. While most of the Government-inspired papers have endeavoured to depict the Reval meeting as a visit of cour-

tesy, devoid of political import- | ance, many of the independent journals have complained that Great Britain tried to checkmate and isolate Germany, and to hedg-3 her in with a network of ententes in order to raise a European coalition against her. Imitation is the sineerest form of flattery. Germany could hardly complain if such were Great Britain's policy. However, she is mistaken. As Great Britain is a peaceful country it is clear that the object 01: the Triple Entente is not war but peace, and it must be assumed that its aim is threctold. It aims at creating a counterpoise to the Triple Alliance, in order to preserve the balance of power in Europe it aims at taking from the European Power the temptation of breaking the peace, and it aims at settling, preferably by a friendly arrangement and without war, some of the great probkrns of Europe which pos.ioly may come up for settlement in Ihe near future.