The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1909. THE GERMAN PERIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2696, 29 December 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1909. THE GERMAN PERIL.

To many it may seem paradoxical to claim that Mr Robert Blatchford, who has been rousing England to the necessity of increasing her fleet, is really preaching the cause of peace, yet such, is undoubtedly the ease. Nothing but a demonstration of overwhelming strength on the part of Britain can guard lier against attack in the near future by. Germany. A few months ago another famous Socialist, Upton Sinclair, the author of “The Jungle,” wrote a stirring appeal on behalf of peace. He claimed that if the Socialists of England and Germany would only unite and refuse to train or to fight against each other there could he no wars. The ideal is an excellent one and at first sight it seemed to suggest a possible basis for action. Mr Blatchford, however, in a reply published at the time, pointed out a fatal defect, namely that Mr Sinclair had magnified the power of the Socialist party in political affairs. If the Socialists in Germany are not strong enough to prevent the expansion of the naval programme, what chance would they have of preventing war? The same remarks apply to England. Mr Blatchford put some of his views thus:

If the Socialists of Britain tried tomorrow to nationalise the land, they would fail. No one pretends that they could succeed. But in a demand for the nationalisation of the land the Socialists would have the support of millions who would oppose any attempt at disarmament.

At present the British people do not believe that Germany is actually preparing for war. But once let that idea become general in this country, and any attempt to interfere with preparations for defence would be crushed out ruthlessly. Do not let us blind our eyes with theories; let us face the facts. Socialism is not yet nearly strong enough to abolish war.

We are making progress; the idea of international friendship is making progress; but as far as we have got the only way to prevent war is to make ourselves so strong that no other nation will care to attack us.

Mr Sinclair’s article is only a pious opinion, a noble wish. It will not stop the driving oi' one German rivet, the loading of one British cartridge. Mr Sinclair gives it as his conviction that the Socialist movement has power to prevent war between nations. I wish it had. .But it obviously has not; and until that power is gained we have no hope of peace but in the power of the British Fleet. Since the above was written Mr Blatchford has visited Germany and the result of his visit has been to emphasise bis views upon the danger that faces his country. In this connection we can also refer to an article which appears in a recent issue of “Everybody’s,” a leading American magazine. This journal gave a prominent ex-Con-sul of the American Service a commission to go to Germany and ascertain the real facts about the European trouble. The correspondent, after a thorough inquiry, now reports: “The fear of a German invasion is no delusion bred from fear, no jingo rallying cry; it is the deep-seated belief of all that is clear-beaded and sane in Britain. . Everything considered, I think that England has good cause to lie awake o’ nights. Twice has the Kaiser declared in public that the future of Germany lies upon the sea. Repeatedly has Germany refused to discuss her vast armaments or to give any reason for the frantic hasti with which they are being increased-, the whole of her shipbuilding yards are. engaged in an unparalleled scheme of naval construction; scores of her leading writers make no secret of her intentions; history lias shown that on previous occasions she has made unprovoked and sudden attacks on other nations, and, most significant of all, the coal-carrying capacity of the ships she is building so hurriedly and which, she insists, are designed solely for the protection of her trade routes, limits their radius of action to the North Sea. There is the disquieting-fact. To-day the ambitions of the Kaiser are boundless. ■ He seeks to dominate the world. Look at it any way you will, there can be but one end to a race which is impoverishing both nations, and that end is war. If England wins, she will have secured herself for half a century to come. If Germany triumphs, her victory will give her the position that England holds now, it will make her mistress of Europe, it will place her in a position where she can make free trade in England one of the terms of peace; it will -give her a free hand in the Balkans, in Mesopotamia, and in Persia; will give her the pick of England’s colonies over-sea, and a billion dollars indemnity with which to build a navy that will overawe the world.” From the foregoing it will be seen that impartial critics have been able to come to no other conclusion than that Germany meditates an attack upon Britain whenever she considers herself strong enough to make the attempt with any reasonable prospect of success. The situation is one fraught with deep concern for every citizen of the British Empire.