GERMANY'S NAVAL EXPANSION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10031, 29 April 1910, Page 4

GERMANY'S NAVAL EXPANSION.

Will Germany be able to support the financial strain of an increasing fleet at the rate laid down by the existing Navy Acts? British optimists have frequently belittled the German naval menace, stating that it will 'prove to be impossible for Germany to provide sufficient money to carry out her ambitious shipbuilding plans. Cautious viermans, too, have warned the German Government and naval enthusiasts among their countrymen thatmore moderation must be displayed in this direction, otherwise financial disaster will unavoidably ensue. Professor Dr Bernard Harms, the eminent scholar, who occupies the chair of political economy in the University of Kiel, contributes to the March number of the Deutsche Revue an article on "England and Germany," in which he demonstrates that Germany can quite easily find the necessary money for continued naval expansion. He states: "I believe that in spite of arguments to the contrary, means for building the fle-st exist, and can be obtained, it is only necessary to adapt taxation to the remarkable development in industry and trade, and there will be no lack of means for fleet development. Our taxation has not Kept pace with the increase in our industrial and commercial prosperity." Profes- \ sor Harms then indicates what further sources of revenue can be tapped in order to provide more money for the ntw German Dreadnoughts. In the same article he elaborates a stroDE appeal for a big navy. It is significant that an article on these lines snoulJ be entitled "England j and Germany." <