The Mena weekly star., 1908-03-12
BRITISH SUSPECT KAISER
Excitement Caused in England by a Letter from German Emperor
 Regarding Naval Affairs.
WANT INVESTIGATION BY PARLIAMENT
The Letter Was Received by Lord Tweedmouth, First Lord of British Admiralty, and the General Public Believes Kaiser Has Designs on In. dependence of England.

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 London, Mar 7.--"The letter iron the German emperor is purely per sonal communication. There is nc reference therein to the British maya estimates
 This is the reply Lord Tweedmoutb first lord of the admiralty. makes t, the request made by the Times Friday morning for the production of let ter Emperor William sent to Lord Tweedmouth on the subject of the British and German naval policy, to gether with the admiralty lords re. ply thereto. on the ground that Elm. peror Williams motive was to in. fiuence those responsible for the British naval policy in the interest of Germany.
 Lord Tweedmouth intimated that further information on the subject would be given out in the House of Lords on March 9.
 Lord Tweedmouth's statement that the communication from Emperor Will liam was personal and not sent him in his capacity of first lord of the admiralty has done nothing to allay British suspicious that Emperor Will liam is guilty of designs on the in- dependence of the country. The epi- sode has caused widespread excite ment. and there are insistent demands that the matter be fully aired in par liament
 It has been suggested that pos sible explanation of the incident is that the British government attempt ed to secure mutual limitation in the matter of warship-building by direct negotiation with Emperor William; in other words, to achieve by indirect diplomacy what the Hague peace con ference failed to bring about. The critics of Lord Tweedmouth, however, point out that any such negotiations ought to have been carried on through the foreign office, and there is con siderable anxiety to know how far the alleged irregular proceedings have gone.
 Arthur Hamilton Lee, conservative member of the House of Commons, was civil lord of the admiralty from 1903 to 1905, said Friday that the mat ter was too grave to be discussed without further information. T and my late ministerial colleague MT. Lee said, "are going to consider the best way to raise the matter officially"
 According to one version, Emperor Williams letter to Lord Tweedmouth gave executive details of the compara tive strength of the nayies of Great Britain and Germany. and passing his opinion on this comparison, the em- peror said he thought the German fleet could not be considered more than one-fifth as strong as that of Great Britain This being so, he thought Great Britain had no need to fear any rivalry in naval supre macy from Germany. and that con. sequently there was no need of in crease in the shipbuilding program of Great Britain.
 Lord Tweedmouth visited the lobby of the house of commons Friday after noon and was in earnest conversation with several of the party leaders. His object doubtless was to obtain their views for the purpose of communicat ing them to the cabinet It is thought probable that decision then fiill be reached as to whether or not Emperor Williams original letter, or how much of this communication shall be sent to parliament.
 This episode was practically the sole topic of conversation in the lobby of the house Friday but in the absence of more precise information responsi- ble officers declare the subject alto gether too important for the expres- sion of opinions for publication.
 In official circles 1t is pointed out that it would be contrary to all eti- cuette to publish Emperor Williams letter without the consent of the writ CT. It Is believed furthermore that King Edward will have to be consulted before publication is possible
 The incident of Emperor Williams letter had a slightly depressing affect on stock exchange prices when trad. ing opened Friday morning. Prices rallied subsequently. however. on Lord Tweedmouths explanation of the mat ter.
 Berlin, Mar. TIA considerable sen sation has been caused here by ale gations published in the London Times with reference to the letter sent by Emperor William in February to Lord Tweedmouth. first Lord of the British admiralty,
 The foreign office said 1t was quite correct that Emperor William some time ago wrote letter to Lord Tweed mouth but the assertion made by tho London Times that his majest, had endeavored to interfere in thu naval plans O. Great Britain was char