The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-11-27
THE MENACE OF GERMANY.

A good deal has been made i'll the
English papers, especially the London
Spectator of the hostility of Ger
many to the United States. Ger
many is looking to South America for
an outlet for her surplus population.
She already has a large colony i'll
Brazil, which, though nominally UNI
der the Brazilian government, is as
matter of fact practically autonomous
She would like to take over this col
ony and large slice of South Ameri-
can territory besides, should one of
those frequent South American revo-
lutions furnish her with a preteXt.
Our Monroe doctrine stands i'll the
way of carrying out this scheme. Be
fore Germany could do anything of
the sort she would have to reckon
with us. On the other hand Germany
fears our industrial competition
abroad and the invasion of her home
markets by our products and manu-
features She also fears, if the en-
peror was correctly quoted the other
day, that through our trusts we shall
secure a monopoly of the ocean carry
ing trade and put her at a further dis
advantage in her policy of invading
foreign markets.
When attention has been called to
these things by journals of the stand
ing of the London Spectator, most
Americans are disposed to see in the
warnings the designs of English craft.
England in her isolation needs
friends, and is disposed to strengthen
the understanding between Great Brit
ain and the United States by cultivat-
ing American distrust of other CONT
mental powers, more especially of Ger
many. In view of this sort of argu-
ment it is interesting to give the i'm
pressions of an American, man of
some prominence and very good stand
ing in Connecticut, who has lived off
and on, for twenty years, months at
time, i'll Germany, who is i'll personal
touch with many leading Germans
and who knows the situation there at
first hand. For obvious reasons this
American would not care to be quot
ed by name. He says that some of
his best friends in Germany, and he
holds them very highly as friends,
make no secret of the fact that the
future German navy is especially in
tended for any possible misunderstand
L..
States.
Not only do Germans speak of this
frankly i'll conversation with Ameri-
cans but the newspapers refer to it
more or less openly. Germany today
fears only two powers, Russia and the
United States-Russia for it's mill
tary menace and the United States for
it's commercial menace. Germany is
united today as it never has been be-
fore on the emperor's policy of mill
tary and naval development When
this American was in Germany
years ago, the matter of serving i'll the
army was usually referred to as bur-
den, one that the country would be
gladly rid of, if it could see the way
to it. Now Germans speak of mill
tray service not as burden, but as
policy that justifies itself quite apart
from its value on the military side.
The discipline every German receives
by service in the army is valuable
asset to the nation. 1t makes him a
more efficient worker and better
citizen, for he understands the mean
ing of authority. The duty of sacri-
flee for national interests is thus in
culcated as something no citizen can
escape.
All this is of great interest as veri-
flying what the best posted foreigners
have to say of the future relations of
Germany and the United States 1t is
something that we ourselves must take
into account in considering the ques-
tion of increasing our navy and of
making our army efficient, if not
larger. Just so far as we can keep
ahead of Germany i'll the number of
our warships by just so much are we
safer from possible German attack,
because Germany is too wise to strike
until she is confident she can crush.