The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1898-08-14
d KAR WITH GERMANY.

by our war with Spain, perhaps the
possibility of a war with Germany
growing out of it is the most pre-
posterous, says the New York World.
By the constitution of the German
empire, the emporer is not in Ger
many. While the emperor can de
clare war if defensive, to declare war
if not merely defensive he must have
the consent of the Bundesrath or
Federal Council. The fifty-eight
members of this body are appointed
by the governments of the respective
states of the empire, Prussia's seven
teen members being outnumbered by
the delegations of the three king
doms of Bavaria, Saxony and Wur-
temberg, with the grand duchies of
Baden and Hesse, or by the twenty
one members from the smaller politi-
cal divisions. In order to involve
Germany in war with the United
States the emporer would not
only have to get the consent of the
varying interests in the Bundesrath,
but he would also have to get the
consent ofEthe public opinion, which
is the greatest force of al.
If Germany bad a just cause of
war no doubt the national feeling
would respond. But without such
injury to the national interest as
would constitute a just cause, and
without an appeal to the national
feeling or prejudice or honor, the in
teiiigence and self-interest Of the
nation would assert themselves
against war. But assuming the I'M
probable, what could Germany do?
Send her armies to this country?
Absurd and ridiculous! How could
she do it? Where would our navy
be? And what would be her posi-,
tion at home?
She would imm ediately have
France across the Rhine, and trouble
possibly with Russia, Austria and
even Denmark. No country in
Europe is more powerful than Ger
many, but none is more exposed to
danger. She has not sincere friend
on any frontier. In spite of her
triple alliance, she knows that she
cannot depend on either Italy or
Austria. And even within her own
domain she has a great many ele-
ments of danger, such as the French
in Alsace Lorraine, the Danes in
Schleswig-Holstein and the Poles in
what was formerly part of Poland.
German statesmen know how little
they can trust their neIghbors and
how much they have to look out for
France, and they are not foolish
enough to make crazy experiments.
AS to mere naval struggle be
tween America and Germany, hardly
any comment is necessary. Ger
many has during the past twenty
years built some very good ships.
In numbers and on paper her navy
is formidable. But the real power
of navy is not IN tonnage or even
in guns, but in trained aptitude of
the race, in the education, develop
ment, heredity and breeding pro-
duced not by twenty years but by
centuries. Before the Franco-Ger-
man war Germany practically had
no warships. In fact, so destitute
was she of naval aspiration before
that event that there was not even a
secretary of the navy in any of the
states of Germany.
The whole suggestion of a war
with Germany is, as we have SAID,
preposterous. Nowhere outside of
Germany is the true German char
acter better understood and appre-
ciated than In this country, and
our sure reliance for the continue
tion of our friendly relations rests
on our knowledge of the good sense
and intelligence of the German peo-
pie, who would be almost unanimous