A GERMAN VIEW OF DISARMAMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 986, 4 March 1910, Page 3

A GERMAN VIEW OF DISARMAMENT.

Admiral von Koester, the "Grand Old Man"'of the German fleet, who, in his capacity of president of the Navy League, acts as the moderating hand of the Government on that organisation and restrains it from impolitic candour, if not from excess of zeal, explained in a speech at Kiel what may be regarded as„the official attitude in that country towards the question of disarmament. He said:—"l have recently occupied myself a great deal with this theme, and read with interest all the articles upon it, and 1 can only say that I have not found a single article in which there was so much as a single tangible point in the vay of a practical proposal. It is said that we must disarm. Now, in the first place, the assumption would, in'my opinion, be that only the one who is absolutely the stronger can -disarm. But he doesn't do it. The vanquished can disarm. It is about the hardest condition that the victor can impose when he 'says to the vanquished, "Disarm!" and the German nation knows that better than anyone else, when it looks back to the heginnirg of the nineteenth century and observes how much bitterness and how much hatred this compulsory disarmament calls forth. Then there is the third idea, that of international disarmament. That sounds very nice, but what does it mean? International disarmament can only take place among all nations, for we are not building a fleet aeainst any one opponent, but against anyone who may attack us. Consequently, international agreement between all nations would be necessary. Now, do you believe that to-day the Japanese and Russians, Turks and Greeks, would be able to agree as to the de"termination of the strength of their fleets? Do you belie\e that that would ever be poss'ble? We should have to have a permanent conference which would decree: "One of you has from to-day the right to procure so many ships. Another one can now build one more torpedo-boat, becauses his commercial interests havj extended and his exports have increased by sca ldrso much." At any rats., for me, international disarmament is an alsolutely nebulous idea, for which I cannot obtain eludication "