GERMANY AS "AGENT-PROVOCATEUR."
LTO TUE EDITOR OP TUB " SPECTATOR.I
Si,—As an Englishman of German extraction, I should regard it as very unfortunate if the sentiments, indicative of
supercilious contempt for the mercantile and political sagacity of this nation, expressed by " Anglo-German " (Spectator, May 31st) should be looked upon as in any way representa- tive of the mind of those who happen to have German blood in their veins, and yet live contentedly and happily in this free country. Your article of May 24th strikes me as being one of remarkable political insight. Your correspondent, Mr. Ballen (May 31st), seems to me—I say it with the greatest respect—to misapprehend the Times's charge and your leader on it. The charge is not primarily that Germany is endeavouring to foment British distrust of American methods in order to get the sea commerce of England, but that Germany is doing her best to prevent the amicable relations at present existing between Great Britain and America from further consolidation in such wise that any serious misunderstanding leading to possible warfare between the two countries shall become as absolutely impossible, humanly speaking, as warfare between, say, England and Scotland. But perhaps I am treating " Anglo-German's " letter too seriously. There is a strong vein of naivete in it which suggests to me that he must be a lineal descendant of the friends of my schooldays, the sieben Schwaben. If the Englishman, the "Britisher," is so incapable of managing his business, so careless to defend his interests, so imbecile in his political capacities, how came he into possession of such a world-Empire ? Surely not, God knows, by the grace of Germany, or of Russia, or of Prance ! If the English " cousin " is such a "child in mundane affairs," all I can say, when I look at Egypt as it is and as it was, is that he is a very tine "child," and compares quite favourably with the Con- tinental " man " ! The fact remains that although our educational policy may need revision, yet it is not necessarily quite inept because it differs, say, from the policy counte- nanced by Germany in the education of Polish children. Any difficulties connected with our Colonial policy are not likely to be overcome by the acceptance of Belgian or German methods of colonisation. The strength of the British Empire lies not in a formidable array on paper of military statistics, but in the free and undaunted spirit of her sons and her daughters distributed all over the globe. Perhaps England has been " sleeping " ; the envy and maladroitness of her Continental " cousins " and " friends " have, however, awakened her. She is entering upon a new and a glorious page of her history. Those who have disturbed her repose naturally view with concern the an- expected results of their machinations as they remember Shakespeare's lines :— "Come the three corners of the world in arms,
And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true."
Weston-super-Mare.
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