The agitation of the German Navy League for an increase .
of the present considerable shipbuilding programme is a new anxiety for Prince Billow. The agitation is being carried on in the Press and in the Reichstag, and hot personal attacks on the Secretary for the Imperial Marine, Admiral von Tirpitz, are apparently the usual weapon. While the members of the League demanded more ships in the Reichstag on Monday, Admiral von Tirpitz had to defend himself against the charge of unwarrantable expenditure brought by the Socialists. Admiral von Tirpitz, according to the Times correspondent, declared that personally he was inclined to a still more rapid rate of construction; but as it was; Germany was building faster than France, America, or even Britain was building the corresponding ships. Herr Bebel prophesied that it would be impossible to check the ship'-' building programmes, and that a heavier burden than ever would be put on the country after 1912. This prediction is already in a fair way to be verified, as the Navy League is demanding the amplification of the skeleton scheme for 1912-17. We notice that General Keim, who was a bitter opponent of the Centre and Social Democrats at the last elections, has been elected president of the Navy League. It can hardly be said now that the League is a non-party organi- sation, and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria has resigned his membership as a protest.
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