The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-31
NATIONAL DEFENCE BILLS ARE PROBLEM Must Avoid Opposition To
 Government
 A WAR STILL GOES ON Italian Press Somewhat Aroused Over Conditions Among Powers-Pope Is About to Issue Decree
 on Reform

| arousing too much opposition against the imperial government is the most difficult problem the chancellor has to face at
 present and the leading ministers of all ! the German federal states have during
 the last two weeks had several important conferences in this city for the purpose | of discussing ways and means. The
 change in the political situation, and more | particularly the conversations with Eng
 land, have had no influence on the char | acter Of the bills, Germania, the leading
 organ of the center party, declares; but | though German tax payers would un- doubtedly be glad is, as a result of dlplo- | matic negotiations, the German empire | could do without any new army and navy bills. the paper points out that it is not | England alone which must be considered, ! but also Germany's relationship towards
 other powers. At a recent meeting Herr
 Bassermann, leader of the national liberal party. stated in his speech that the bills
 would not come before the rechstag sor
 some time yet, because differences of opn- | ion have arisen among the minister's This
 may possibly lead to the fall of the cab | inet or radical changes in it's present makeup.
 Rear Admiral Kalau von Hofe, retired, writing in the Magdeburger Zeitung, says
 that according to the published informa- | tion, the following arc the main points of
 the new navy bill: First, the formation
 of third battleship squadron in the ac- 1 tive fleet; secondly, three new battleships
 and two small cruisers; thirdly, improve
 ment in the running of the whole fleet, | and, fourthy, some new submarines and afrships. The whole of the new work is | to be extended over the years 1912 to 1917. 1 The cost of the extra demands described
 as non-recurring, namely, for ships arma-
 ments. submarines, airships, etc, amounts,
 he adds, to sSo,0O0,O0o and the extra perma-
 nent cost to s20,ooo ,o00-that is s50.ooOoO0 1 spread over six years.
 | The active battle fleet will thus con- sst, he continues, of one flagship, three
 squadrons each of Eight hattleships, eight | large cruisers and IS small cruisers as re-
 connoitering ships. The reserve battle | fleet will, as before, consist of eight bat tleships, four large and p small cruisers,
 and the foreign fleet remains as fixed by the navy act of 1908, namely. eight large | and 10 small cruisers.
 In the opinion of Rear Admiral Kalau, | it is evident that the new navy bill has been drawn up to meet the wish ex- 1 pressed, half as a request and half as a | threat, by England, that the German | navy programme and budget may not be | altered and increased in such a manner | that another turn must be given to the | taxation screw in England It Is, how ever, he adds, hardly to be believed that | "our government has limited its naval de- | mands in such manner unless England l has for her part declared herself ready
 to restrict her armaments for the same | period in such manner that while Ger many reduces her construction of capital
 ships from four to two, England will not | continue to force the construction of l 'Dreadnaughts as she has hitherto done We certainly wish to live at peace with | England" the Admiral writes, and are | ready to accept an adequate basis to be l proposed by England for the mutual re- striction of armaments. It is a matter of course, however that, although we have no thoughts of aggressive procedure against England, our fleet must remain and become such an instrument of power
 as to insure for our just wishes now and in the future that sufficient measure of respect and consideration which England
 unfortunately has hitherto frequently re- | fused" He believes, therefore, that the
 
 government will meet with condemnation in patriotic circles.
 The war in Trpoli still goes on and there is little prospect of it's coming to an end either by an armistice leading to | peace or by any sudden sensational under | taking on the part of Italy to crush the l power of Turkey and make It ask for peace. The war, indeed looks to become | a In taI fu tr.,.x | the popularity of the war is gone, but | there is an increasing feeling of animosity towards the powers, which is clearly ex-
 pressed in the leading Italian papers. 1 The Corriere dele Sera, commenting on
 the attitude of the powers towards Italy, l remarks: '"rhe truth is that in Paris and | in London. as in the other European zap | itals, what people really like was an inert | Italy. without initiative, outside colonial
 competitions, and especially outside the | scramble for the African coast of the | Mediterranean. This was an Italy which, | while remaining in the triple alliance, l did not oppose the designs and the action I of France and Great Britain in that sea. 1 London and Paris are not yet accustomed l to this new Italy, which proclaims her | sovereignty over Libya and wedges her
 self in between Egypt and Tunisia." ." | The Messaggero discussing the same | theme. is much more severe to 'the all | lied'' than to ''the friendly powers" From
 the latter Italy, as the Roman democratic | organ admits, has no right to expect more than ''an attitude of benevolent neutral l ity," but from her two allies something
 over and above that Accordingly the Mes l saggero urges the Italian foreign office | to speak clearly and strongly at Berlin | and Vienna so that Italy may know
 how to shape her present and future pol | icy.
 | The prevailing feeling in Rome is that
 the attempt mediation by the powers for l peace will not be successful. It is practi- cally certain that Italy will not accept the offer of mediation unless she is formally assured that Turkey internationally rec ognizes Italian sovereignty in Tripoi and Cyrenaica
 On the other hand, if the powers are unwilling to bring pressure to bear on Turkey, but merely offer their good sery- ices Tn the hope of ending the war, their intervention will not alter the situation
 Public opinion as echoed in the press. is not favorable to mediation, which Italy has not solicited and does not need she will be able sooner or later to cripple Turkey on land and sea and, unaided. en. force peace on her own terms
 There Is no doubt that Italy will con- tinue to insist on the recognition of her sovereignty. but 1t Is reported on good atl- thority that she may refuse to state the conditions indispensable to her acceptance of mediation unless assured by the DOW CTS that their offer of mediation is the re- suit of negotiations with Turkey, who is willing to accept Italy's terms. It is pos- sibie that as the result of the attempted mediation the war may be intensified in- stead of stopped.