320 



The Review of Reviews. 



PEACE OR WAR? 



ANGLO-GERMAN RELATIONS. 

 Secret Diplomacy to Go. 

 After the great symposium in Nord mid Sud on the 

 relations between Germany and England, the sym- 

 posium by English M.P.'s on the same subject in'the 

 August number of the -Deutsche Revue seems insigni- 

 ficant. 



WHO IS TO BU\ME. 



Mr. Arthur Ponsonby contributes an introduction, 

 and he is followed by Mr. Noel Buxton, who states the 

 diplomatic side of the question. At the present time 

 the people in each country, conscious of their own 

 sincerity, do not, he says, recognise the dangers and 

 apprehensions which justify the attitude of each nation 

 to the other. If the two nations understood each other 

 they would take steps to assure each other of their 

 peaceful intentions, and would make their naval expen- 

 diture as light as possible. The trouble is not that the 

 people lack understanding, but that they are not told 

 the facts. Mr. Buxton cites as causes of irritation or 

 suspicion to the Germans the Jameson Raid, the Boer 

 War, the Moroccan Affair of 1904, the debate on the 

 Navy in 1909, and our intervention in the Franco- 

 German business of last year. On the other side, the 

 Germans are asked to remember that the British have 



AeM.MUrA Anglo German Friendship. tZu,i.l,. 



Lord Haldanp. : " WmII. up, «;ilk ii|i ! Horc istlic grtalcsl 



m.in of the century, the (juintcssencc of Geinian spirit I " 



. cause to comjilain of thei'r methods ; for instance, the 

 telegram to President Kriiger and the Agadir Affair. 

 In both nations, in fact, the people blame their official 

 representatives. But it does not follow, according 

 to Mr. J3uxton, that individual official personalities 

 deserve reproach. They are the victims of a system, 

 and the State is to blame which allows the svstem to 

 continue. The nations must show that the time has 

 come for the people's views to be heard, and for 

 diplomacy to be as representative as other State 

 departments. 



WANTED — MORE LIGHT. 



It is left to Mr. F. W. Jowett to give Labour's point 

 of view. The working classes in this country, he repeats, 

 do not believe there is any antagonism between 

 England and Germany to cause either to arm against 

 the othes". They are quite convinced that all the mis- 

 understandings between European nations are brought 

 about by the secret character of diplomacy. The people 

 may desire peace, but secret diplomacy, inspired 

 no one knows how, intriguing no one knows how, and 

 often working in close contact with interested financial 

 magnates, weaves its net of intrigues, and keeps the 

 nations in mortal fear of one another. While millions 

 are now being spent on battleships and deadly weapons 

 of destruction at the behest of permanent officials, 

 whose advice is followed blindly by Ministers and 

 Parliament, Members of Parliament are denied access 

 to authentic sources of information. Is it, then, to be 

 wondered at that there is so much difference between 

 the attitude of the nations to one another and that of 

 the Governments to one another 7 It is absurd to 

 think that Germany and England would attack each 

 other's colonial possessions. What the peoples of 

 Great Britain and Germany need is more light and less 

 secrecy in regard to inlornational relations. They ha\ e 

 no quarrel with each other, and there is no reason 

 which, when it has been discussed openly and truly, 

 could cause a war. 



OTHER VIEWS. 



Mr. A. C. C. Harvey's contribution deals with the 

 naval question. He is still of opinion that it was 

 England which set the pace of shipbuilding a few years 

 ago. So far as the protection of commerce at sea is 

 concerned, there is plenty of room for an understand- 

 ing, he says. One thing is evident. For the sake of the 

 peace of the world, tor economic reasons, for lh« sake 

 of human development, there must exist between 

 iMigland and Germany the most complete mutual 

 understanding. He bclie^-es the peoples of both coun- 

 tries are inclined to such a course, and that statesmen 

 can accomplish it if they will avoid every appearance 

 of aggressive ambition, conduct their foreign policy 

 openly, and encourage moderation and mutual esteem. 



The economic side is voiced by Mr. W. H. Dit>kinson. 

 The more one thinks of the consequences of a war 

 between England and German}.-, he writes, the clearer 



