It will be asked perhaps why Germany has acted as
she has mated. We believe the answer to be a very simple one. She felt she must do something against Britain, and a paper blockade was about the only thing left for her to do. The choice of this exact moment was probably due to the fact that some of her new submarines were completed and that they wanted a sensational send-off. According to a Copen- hagen telegram published in Friday's Daily Mail, the Germans have completed one hundred and twenty big mine- laying submarines during the last six months. Each sub- marine is alleged to be able to carry more than one hundred mines, which are placed on the deck so that they can be dis- charged quickly, and the weight of each mine is believed to be about twelve hundred pounds. The Kaiser, Prince Henry of Prussia, and Admiral von Tirpitz are said to have left Berlin on Thursday for Wilhelmshaven, Heligoland, and other naval stations to direct the arrangements for the blockade of Britain. Time will show what is the truth about the numbers of these new craft, and also as to their capacity to do damage, but we shall be very much surprised if their bark is not a good deal worse than their bite. We must not, however, yield to the German temptation of prospective or paper boasting. Meanwhile we await the effect of Germany's new policy with what Dr. Johnson called " frigid equanimity."
