Semi-weekly herald., 1914-08-24

empire-builder, Cecil Rhodes, planned
a Cape Cairo railroad, but this
magnificent scheme was blocked by
the German and Belgian possessions,
which formed broad band across the
middle of Africa. Then Germany
turned her attention to Asia Minor
and secured concession for rail-
road from the Bosphorus to the Per-
sian Gulf, with twelve mile strip of
land for colonization all along the
twelve hundred mile route. This
would have given through line from
Hamburg to India. but Great Britain
put stop to it by seizing the head
Of the gulf and forming an alliance
with her ancient enemy, Russia, for
the partition of Persia. In China,
Germany occupied Kiao-chau; Eng
land countered by taking Wei-hai-wei.
When France took Morocco, the Ger
man ''Panther' appeared at Agadir.
1t was, in fact, on the question of
colonies that the break finally came.
According to Sir Edward Grey's re-
cent statement to parliament, Ger
many agreed not to annex any terri
tory in Europe, but would not give
the same pledge in regard to Africa.
The attack on Liege is blow at Bel
GUMS ownership of the Kongo. Now
England has been loudest in her COM
plants that the king of the Belgians
took the Free State of the Kongo by
fraud and treated the natives with
unspeakable cruelty, and one of the
many ironies of the present situation
is that England by sending troops to
the continent is defending Belgium's s
title to this African territory. Eng
land has alreday seized German Togo
land, adjoining her Gold Coast cor
ony. st
The effect of Germany's amazing
progress upon England everybody
knows who has been reading the Eng
lish' papers in recent years. The Brit
ish found themselves losing all
around; beaten by the German men
in business. beaten by the German
women in birth rate. A wave of
hysteria and Teutonophobia swept
over the land. The people got to
seeing things at night" Zeppelins
in the air and submarines in the sea.
The empire was drawn together, as
Kipling puts it, "by the ties of COM
mon funk" The fleet was gathered
from the seven seas and placed on
guard over Germany. The hotheads
even called upon the government to
strike without warning or pretext,
because this was the last chance and
the only way to destroy Germany.
Such an unprovoked attack was
rightly rejected as incompatible with
England's honor. The British people,
rallying from their temporary furry,
set themselves resolutely to prepare
for the time when Germany by some
act of aggression should provoke the
conflict as she has now by invading
the neutrality of Belgium, and so Civ
ing England diplomatic grounds for
taking up arms against her. In 1912
the British admiralty issued an off.
cial memorandum calling upon the
oversea dominions to assist in bring
ing the navy by 1915 up to strength
sufficient to meet the Germans in bat
tie OF to overawe them so that they
would not then dare to fight. In ex-
planning the reason for this, Premie.
Borden, of Canada, fresh from con.
ference with the British war office,
declared that "these ships are urgent
ly required within two or three years
at the outside for rendering aid upo.l
which may depend the empires fu-
ture existence" The 'Ides of March
have come, but not gone; the three
superdreadnoughts which Canada was
asked for but failed to furnish with
in two or three years" of 1912 are
now needed, for this is der Tag which
the German officers have long been
toasting. The question of the su
premacy of the seas is being decided
by naval instead of merchant vessels
Tho Independent