September 18.
Tr is on the occasions when an article provokes the stern denunciation of those in high authority that the power of the written word, even when ips swell the mass of ephemeral literature of the present day, is appreciated. By allowing himself to be "interviewed " on the subject of an article in the current number of "The Quarterly Review" entitled "The German Peril" Prince Biilow has contrived to give to the writer's opinions a publicity which otherwise they must have entirely missed. Of this fact the German Chancellor was, doubtless, re; but he must have decided that such considerations were outweighed by the importance of not allowing the statements made to pass unchallenged. Prince Biilow's action has found its counterpart in a variety of other quarters, from the " exuberant impetuosity" of a youthful Britis ister to the choras of unthinking abuse that is hurled against every man who gives utterance to deep convictions. It is open to question, however, whether this striking article in "The Quarterly Revew" merits such wide condemnation. That its tenets should be unpalatable to the opponents, of whatever nationality, of British naval expansion is only natural, while it must necessarily arouse the resentment of those whose aims it seeks to lay bare. But by the pacifists of both nations it can only be welcomed; to this category!we all belong in Shanghai, where the exigencies of reeidon bring Britons and together, and national aspirations become rightly and inevitably dalled by the amenities of personal intercourse. The danger of conflict between Great Britain and Goer-many can arise solely in a tendency of either country to despise the other. As the first in ths field as an Imperial Power the position of Great Britain must necessarily offer a perpetual challenge to a virile nation, and as soon as we suffer our superiority in strength to be diminished or removed altogether, we impose upon y a temptation that she would be false to herself to resist. The day has gone by when one State attacks another for the mere lust of conquest; but the congestion of the world offers so many opportunities for international friction, that only a dread of the consequences. of war, and not sentimental argumenta, can intervene to prevent ultimate collision.
Much of the condemnation meted out to the writer in " The Quarterly Review" and others of his way of thinking by their own countrymen is based on the erroneous supposition that it is urged that Germany is planning an immediate attack on Great Britain. No
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.