The sun., 1897-12-05
TIE KAISER WANTS NAVY
so INSULTS TO GERMANY WILL BE
ACCEPTABLE JUST NOW.

Ustttunny'n Present aOurne IN Cutnh ana HhyN
-Wuaata'a Attttude-Detertorntion er Eng
Iish ActinE-The secret or Long Iire-A
whist Lament - Tho New HousebOat.
LONDON, Nov. 26.--Thero can be no doubt that
II tho friends Tor enemles) OF Germany in few
remote corners OF tho earth could manage to
tncito hore and there IN insult to the Vatorland,
or an outrage on some wandering subject OF tho
Kaiser, the action would bo esteemed a great
personal favor by Emperor William. The MUIR
der Of two or three missionaries at Kiao Chou
was q great boon TO him, and tho stiff.necked.
moss OF the Haytians was nothing less than de.
Hight to his martial soul The obvious inference
from these remarks is wrong one. The Ger
man Emperor is not spelling for fight He
has told the world over and over again that
peace is his sole object and aim in life and the
world must not even In thought commit the
hideous crime Of l6se mdjcstG by dsbeleving
him.
The real reason why the Kaiser would bo
grateful for few foreign insults just now Is q
distinctly peaceful one. He has set his heart
upon the creation OF a great navy. He wants 1t
simply as guarantee of peace-to defend peace
in all It's phases and possible dsguises He
knows very well, II he understands his own peo-
pie. that they will not give him this gigantic
peace-fashioning tool unless possibly its urgent
necessity should be demonstrated before their
eyes In some more or less startling way. He is
trying to furnish that demonstration at the pres
ent time, and have sufficient sympathy with
his laudabe and peaceful design to induce me
to cooperate with his Majesty by conveying this
hint to his admirers In the United States A
natural impulse impels me also TO call attention
in connection with this matter to scurrilous
comparison made by the London Times which
referred to the Sovereign Of tho German EN-
pire yesterday very like the little boy "who
put in his thumb and pulled out plum. and cried
What q good boy am T." Now this remark
alone, II II had been made by the editor OF the
Times in Germany, would have been sufficient to
send him to prison for the rest of his natural
lnt. But he made his offence far more heinous
by explaining that "one understands that in the
little boys own estimation there was about his
exploit an audacity, splendid recklessness,
which somehow failed to impress his elders, and
had to be explained to them by his vehement
claim to excellence"
This and very much more in the Same i'm
pious vein has to do with the action Of the Kali
ser's ships in seizing Kiao Chou and the diplo-
matte situation which has resulted therefrom.
The ridicule which 1t is sought to heap upon The
Emperor is entirely misplaced. From the Ger
man point of view, the Kaiser has done q very
clever thing There are $1,000 German sub
jects scattered over the earth, according to the
Berlin press, and the Emperor has demonstrated
that his navy is not large enough to protect
them all in the magnificent Kiao Chnu fashion.
1t should be noted that he somewhat ostenta-
tiously abandoned the Haytian quarrel when the
Chinese affair became critical on the avowed
ground that the ships were needed elsewhere.
This feature of the situation has made quite
strong popular impression in Germany, accord
ing to the latest Berlin advices So perhaps, af-
ter all, the Emperor will partially gain his OBJ
Ject in urging the Rechstag to provide o strong
er navy.
And then in Its international aspect also, the
Kiao.Chou affair promises to turn to Germany's
advantage. Sne has nothing to lose by it, and
there are large possibilities Of gain. Perhaps
there Is something childish In the manner in
which she is looking around to discover what
anybody may be going to do about 1t. OF
course, nobody in the diplomatic world is de-
ceived into believing that Germany cares Q rap
about the missionaries who conveniently got
themselves murdered at just the right psyche
logical moment. Missionaries, as q whole, by
the way, owe an immense debt Of gratitude to
these two dead German colleagues. European
diplomacy has long regarded missionaries as
one Of the greatest obstacles, not to say evils,
with which it has to deal. Their poten-
tialities for mischief In Asia and Asia Minor
are infinite Now. at last, two Of the despised
fraternity have served q great diplomatic pur-
pose and Germany at least has reason to be
thankful to thom.
But Germany Is trying to discover. in some.
what childish fashion, as have intimated. how
far she may safely go in following up her bold
action at Kiao Chou. OF course, she has not
hinted officially any intention to remain in pos.
session longer than to secure proper reparation
for the outrage. but the impression Is very
strong in diplomatic circles that 1t will require
very strong pressure from more than one of the
other European powers to induce her to re-
tire from the foothold she has gained in China.
The press of both Continental countries and
England has been remarkably reticent with
regard to the matter, and there is rea son foI
believing that the various chancellories have
likewise been silent thus far. This appar-
ent indifference has evidently nonplussed the
Berlin authorities. and they have been try
ing In various ways for the past few days to
draw criticism. The most interesting attempt
is a long article in the Berlin Post, which is
usually regarded as semi-official journal,
The German Foreign Office has been at pains
to deny responsibility for tho article. but the
disavowal does not count for much In the esti.
nation of well-informed persons. In this arti.
Gle the purpose to hold on to Kaio Chou and to
increase the territory in German possession is
plainly intimated and especial attention is de-
voted to the effect Of his probable action upon
Russia. Such language as this, for instance,
is almost amusing in its disingenuousness:
I'VE could have had no interest In seeing the
colossal Chinese empire divided among the
great naval powers, was for some time the
English suggestion. Nor could we have the
slightest interest In maintaining English infu-
ence unimpaired in those'waters. The sole OBJ
ject of German policy must be to maintain the
balance of power among the various competi.
tors in the sphere of transmarine affairs and to
do above all In Africa and in those portions
of Asia where German commerce is involved" I"
II Russia's policy be dictated by wisdom IL will
always endeavo- to treat Germany's interests
tenderly in matters Of dispute throughout the
world. For Russia is also one of those States
which aspire to be naval powers and which
have TO suffer from the maritime predomi.
nance of England. It will not be forgotten in
St. Petersburg that Germany not incon.
Venient In her behavior as an ally at the time