Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-08-28

hours before, signing the lmper1al or
der for the mobilization Of the Ger
man army-4,o COO, 900 strong. It was
the cool, calm, calculating judgment
of the wisest heads of German off
ciald6m, which had been working ov-
er the situation for decades and
which had all the details marked out
years before with all the perfection
and nicely Of Teutonic thoroughness.
II, was only the minute for putting
thaE machinery Of marvellous prepar.
edness into operation that was left
undecided upon-and Kaiser William
selected that minute.
Realizing the absolute dependence
of Germany on the. outside world for
food. supplies and recognizing that
home ?made" colonies were the best
means for absorbing overflow Ger
manic population and for giving Vat
erland material support in days of
stress, German statesmen, for the last
thirty years have been working out
two problems, namely, the, establish
ment Of German colonies and com
merce, and the means for protecting
those colonies and that commerce.
No one, except the officials immedi-
ately concerned, Aknows what secret
agreement Germany and Austria had
when the latter SO impetuously de.
clared war against Servia. Common
sense, however, would lead to the be.
lief that wal was not declared with.
out a long existing understanding be-
tween the Kaiser and Emperor JOS
eph. 1t must be evident to every dis
terminating mind that the policy of
Omitted we stand; divided we fall"
appeals with peculiar force to the
German-speaking races of Europe to
day-surrounded as they are by ever
increasing peoples of foreign and hos
tile temperament. With Teutonic
Austria Joined to the German Empire,
the Kaiser would have invaluable sea-
ports at his disposal in the Adriatic,
which would vastly simplify the prob
lem of maintaining vital communica-
lions with German East Africa, the
chief hope of comprehensive German
colonization. With Servia and Mon
tenegEO added to- Austrian domain,
this prospective German-Austrian en-
pire would bring the East African col
ony substantially nearer to a German
seaport.
Relation Of Present War to Germany's
West African Colonies.
And what is the :AsraIation of Ger
many''s African colonies to the pres.
ent war? Holland Is a nation using
a language more closely allied to the
German tongue than to any other II
the Germanicsraces, of Europe are to
unite for teMpreservation-as they
must 1eSins thssnear future, or be lost
in the other and greater, racial tides
that are sweeping over Europe-the
loWlandA Dutch naturally would come
into that union. With Holland a part
of>thesGerhan Empire, the first and
most dangerous stage of a voyage
from present Germany, to her African
colonies,9wouldslb e largely eliminated,
for theaKaiseE'ss craft then would be
half wayspSsfsthe coast Of her great
est commercial rival-England.
That the. discriminating statesmen
of Germany Who for years have been
going over each detail Of Germany's
development With microscopic intelli-
gence-should have failed to note the
advantage Of, adding Holland to Ger
many's seatqastsa Is beyond reason.
The unproyoked violation of the neu.
trality o fthe Netherlands by Ger
many in this war, would seem to be
part Of a plan to bring that country
into the German Empire-in cas- the
Kaiser be successful in the present
crisis.
Belgium Invasion Not Intended 40
Permanent coRquess.
It is not likely that Germany enter
tainedsthe same designs on Belgium
as she may have on Holland. The
Kaiser's invasion of Belgium territory
while undoubtedly premeditated. was
not likely. toFhave been fraught with
design Of permanent conquest of that
nation. Yet the unexpected obstinacy
of defense of the Liege. forts and the
subsequent capture by Germany cav.
airy Of Brussels afford ample excuse
for the permanent German occupancy
of that country-always provided that
the Kaiser be victorious. Belgium is
not a. MISUNDERSTANDING nation, and,
urld0tbfsdly.f&a vas not included in the