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The Review of Reviews. 



that any Empire can desire. That may be so, but it 

 is only another argument in support of the theory 

 that England is a force for peace — an argument on a 

 low plane, if you like, but none the less an argument 

 for. What we feel is that the greater our privileges in 

 the past, the greater our present duty towards the 

 world and the cause of peace. Because we have intro- 

 duced the pax Britannica to many parts of the world, 

 why should that be held to be prejudicial to our aiding 

 and maintaining peace throughout the world ? 



A WORLD IN MINIATURE. 



The very fact that the British Empire is a world in 

 miniature is one of the surest of guarantees that Eng- 

 land is, and alwavs will be, a power for peace. A world, 

 even in miniature, cannot even think of a war where a 

 nation, centralised and localised, often even dreams of 

 one. Inevitably the more the various British nations 

 across the seas become powerful and have a sa)- in 

 Imperial affairs, the certainty that the policeman of 

 peace will not be otherwise than a force for peace is 

 much increased. Our oversea dominions may be trusted 

 to clip the claws and still the shrieks of our music- 

 hall Jingoes. It is for this reason that all friends of 

 peace should welcome the establishment of an Imperial 

 naval patrol and ever-increasing intimacy in naval 

 matters between the five British nations. It is well to 

 remember that the British title to hold is like other 

 such titles, not of much use for aggressive action, 

 however invincible for defence. 



OUT OF THEIR OWN MOUTHS. 



Did we desire further proof of the peaceful ideas and 

 ideals of this country, we have only to seek it in the 

 mouths of the most rabid of German Chauvinists. 

 These say with pride, when referring to the develop- 

 ment of the German navy, that after 1916 (or whatever 

 other date they may fi.x) England will not be able to 

 attack them. This is a sufficiently obvious acknow- 

 ledgment that until that date it is to England's advan- 

 tage to take the aggressive. And every year for the 

 last decade or more it has been to our advantage to 

 attack, and we have not attacked. Surely it does not 

 denote a very warlike frame of mind to avoid advan- 

 tageous war even at the risk of later disadvantageous 

 conflict. We do not think that anyone can uphold 

 seriously any other contention sa\'e that lingland is a 

 force for peace. If this is so, then England must he 

 strong. 



A rUNDAMF.NTAI, DIFFERENCE. 



Mr. Winston Churchill, speaking at the Academy 

 banquet, said : — " The best way to make war impos- 

 sible is to make victory certain." Nothing could better 

 show the mental attitude respectively of this country 

 and Germany, and proves that we are well fitted to 

 take up our ride of policeman of peace. No German, 

 even the most pacific, could have uttered that sentence 

 without both feeling ridiculous and being laughed at. 

 To the German mind it would present itself as follows : 

 — " The certainty of victory is the certainty of war." 

 Now we can see clearly the difference between the two 

 i-vntalities. 



THE GERMAN PEOPLE AND GERMANY. 



Here we would say a word about Germany and the 

 German nation. This because all questions of peace 

 and war at the moment resolve themselves into ques- 

 tions between London and Berlin. And the difference 

 between the ideas of the two great Powers is that set 

 forth relative to Mr. Churchill's dictum. " The German 

 nation has never been our enemy," writes Mr. Balfour, 

 and that is perfectly correct. We hope also that the 

 (ierman nation at heart may never be our enemy. We 

 hope this, even should Germany be at war with England 

 at some future date. This may happen should England 

 not be strong, even though the vast majority of the 

 German people do not desire it, and althoc.gh the 

 British people do not think about it. Friendship with 

 the German people is excellent, and must be fostered 

 and encouraged, but it must not be allowed to blind 

 us to the fact that it is not the friendly majority which 

 holds the reins of power in Germany. 



THE GERMAN PEOPLE NEEDS A STRONG ENGLAND. '■ 



It is the reactionarv, military few, with ideas of 

 divine right and consequent autocracy, who direct 

 German policy, and it is this reason why only strength 

 in England can appeal to Germany — for they rule by 

 "divine right," and not by right. The Germans them- 

 selves admit this, as do they that Germany may go to 

 war with England against the wishes of the German 

 people. A strong England is the only means of rescuing 

 the German people from the danger of such a war, and 

 therefore the German pacifists also raise the cry, 

 " England must be strong." This is, perhaps, the most 

 significant feature of the whole situation, and should 

 never be forgotten. We do not wish this attitude of 

 distinction between rulers and ruled in Germany to be 

 taken as any encouragement to the voters to elect 

 Social Democrats rather than any other candidates ; 

 we only insist that the law of facts shall not be ignored. 

 It would be a splendid if not a readily practicable 

 plan for a great thinker such as Mr. Balfour to go to the 

 German people and tell them in unmistakable language 

 that, while we do not think of war, we are determined 

 to keep peace. 



WHAT BRITISn ARMAMENTS MEAN. 



Mr. Churchill has well summed up the reason for 



increased naval armaments : — 



" What lies behind this development of force and 

 war power ? Behind it lies all our right and claim to 

 our great position in the world ; behind it lies all 

 our power to put our own characteristic and dis- 

 tincti\c mark upon the unfolding of the civilisation 

 of mankind.'" 

 We think it well to reproduce here some striking 



lines from Mr. Balfour's article on Anglo-Ornian 



relations from the Nord nnd Siid : — 



" If Englishmen were sure that a German fleet 

 was only going to be used for defensive purposes — - 

 i.e., against aggression — they would not care how 

 large it was ; for a war of aggression against Germany 

 is, to them, unthinkable. . » . Without a superior 

 fleet Britain would no longer count as a Power. 



