ENGLAND AND GERMANY.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." I SIR,—As a reader of the Spectator for more years than I like to reckon, I venture to express the feeling, which I am per- suaded is shared by no small number of your readers, that if ever war should come between these two nations, the hands of the Spectator will not be as clean from bloodstains as its long-time admirers would desire. I refer not so much to the articles which from time to time deal with the relations between the two countries as to the selection of German news presented to us in " News of the Week." There we hear not the best and the wisest that is said or done by that great and wise nation, but we are given intelligence carefully selected and phrased with a view to belittling in every way the German nation and its ruler,—a policy of pin-pricks which, if the Spectator counts for anything in Germany, will some day
Kendal.
[We are not going to be deflected from what we believe to be our duty by the charge of bloodguiltiness, and we shall not deal with that allegation. We must, however, protest against the charge of belittling Germany. Again and again we have expressed our admiration for the German people and their high and noble qualities. Unfortunately these qualities are not relevant to the issue. The German people do not count in this matter, but only the governing caste. We naturally and rightly select news which shows the tendency of German Government policy. To keep people in the dark on such a subject would be a crime for those who hold the views we hold. We do not believe the German Government to be inspired by Sunday-school ideals, and we do not believe that to pretend that they are, work s for peace, but just the reverse. The way to avoid war is to recognise facts.—En. Spectator.]
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