ANGLO-GERMAN RELATIONS. (To rug Emus OF TEE " SPECTATOR.") Sin,—In
your first leading article of November 25th ycli ['ro THE EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR."] write Sift,—Mr. W. G. Brittan will find the figures he asks for in "We rave Germany Heligoland; yet ever since that cession of the Times of December 12th and each month in that paper
territory the hostility to Britain among German politicians and the German governing class has increased by leaps and bounds."
Does not this statement ignore what is surely the historical fact, that Heligoland was not "given" to Germany, but was exchanged for a protectorate over Zanzibar, and that many Germans at the time (1890) thought that we had a good deal the better of the bargain ? May I venture, as a constant sub- scriber to and reader of the Spectator for some forty years, to deprecate the general tone of the article in question, and of the paragraphs on the same subject in your "News of the Week " ? We have just, it may be hoped, surmounted a difficult and dangerous crisis in our relations with Germany. Is this a seasonable moment for a rather acrimonious reitera- tion of our grievances against her, and for dilating on our power to have sent "150,000 troops of better physique, better training, and better equipment than any troops on the Continent" to fight against her However open to criticism German foreign policy and diplomatic methods may be, this is surely not the way to bring about that "cleaning of the slate" and that more friendly understanding which should be the aim of all who desire to promote peace and goodwill among the nations.—I am, Sir, &c., II. C. I.
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