NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Daily Mail of Tuesday published an extract from the Berliner Neueste Nachrichten (a newspaper directly associated with the great firm of Krupp's) which prophesies that when Great Britain has adopted a 13.5 in. gun—the largest -yet tested—Germany will probably meet the challenge with a 14 in. gun. Of course we do not know for certain that a larger gun'than a 13'5 in., or than our present 12 in. gun, is desirable. That is a matter for experts. But the article is not pleasant reading, for it goes on to say that Englishmen are once again blowing the disarmament horn because they are convinced that they will soon be outmatched by German armaments: Is it not time to admit that the invariable reception which talk about a reduction of armaments receives in Germany makes such a proposal utterly unreal, and, if the prospect of a reduction be taken as an excuse for slackening in our naval programmes, extremely culpable as well? Such rhetoric' as that of the Nachrichten is fed by what is regarded as a sign that Englishmen are weakening in the struggle, and with their expiring breath are trying to bluff their rivals.
