In the German Reichstag on Thursday the Chancellor explained and
defended the Morocco Agreement with France. The Agreement, he declared, was worth more than all the discussions on arbitrations and armaments. That is true enough, but unfortunately the Chancellor's speech also con- tained a passage which we can only compare to "The Defiance" of the immortal Jefferson Brick. While declaring that the Franco-German negotiations had not been unduly influenced by any other Power, he added that " Germany had not retreated before any Power, and that the Kaiser held himself at any time firmly prepared to draw the sword." That is one of those remarks which are both fatuous and mischievous. No one has ever doubted Germany's readiness and power to draw the sword if her vital interests are attacked. But this braggadocio tone, meant no doubt for home consumption, eannot inspire any belief in the wisdom with which Foreign Affairs arc now conducted in Germany.
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