GERMAN ANGLOPHOBIA.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—There is an aspect of the German Anglophobia held by many commercial men upon which I have never yet seen any comment in your columns, and if not founded upon fact, may at least show " what might have been." I have often discussed the ill-feeling towards this country on the part of the German Press with well-informed German manufacturers, who have sincerely assured me that these opinions do not represent the true attitude of this important section of their community. When confronted with the question, "Why, then, do you support this class of paper ? " the invariable answer is that " they are only read by the official and working classes; we never read them, nor is it advisable for us to discuss politics in our own country." If this is correct, it is certainly clear from whence this abuse emanates, for in the absence of any moral restraint or protest, it may very well be inferred that if not instigated by the German Government, at least it advances their political aims, and so is allowed to continue unchecked. Now if this deduction is sound, it is clearly seen that by encouraging and sympathising with the Boers for the past twenty years they have been trying to propitiate the European Dutch with the much - desired object of including Holland in the German Empire, thereby giving Germany a status on the shores of the North Sea which would be of incalculable advantage to her Navy. Had the Boer War taken place in the future instead of the past, Germany might have accomplished her object, and would then have been more than a passive spectator in the struggle. Supposing this to be an accomplished fact, and the Boer War coming on some years hence, we should have had a more Moult task to perform, and one which some experts reasonably say would have resulted in our downfall in South Africa. What, then, would have been Germany's action? Encouraged by the Dutch feeling at home, their own pro- fession of moral support and sympathy during the struggle, Germany would have offered the protection of her then Powerful Navy, an important consideration for South Africa for which Germany would have obtained advantages detri.. mental to the welfare of this country. In the alternative con- tingency—that of the Boer War taking place before the inclu- sion of Holland in the German Empire—Germany's action would have been only reversed by using her Dutch South African influence to bring about the absorption of Holland. Here then is a reason for Germany's haste in creating a Navy, and also an explanation of the bitter rhetoric in the German Reichstag caused by disappointment at our success, which shattered their South African ambitions.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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