American newspapers, perhaps. not unnaturally, are asking whether the German
Government have gone mad. If we may without offence intervene in this dialectical diepute, we should say that the Germans are suffering not so much from madness as from one of their periodical attacks of politecal 104410. They argue that to be at war with the Quited States would make no great difference to them, and that, on a balance of evils, it is better for them to have an absolutely free piratical hand than to be bothered by having to respect American rights. Besides, they are always hankering after those five million patriotic German voters in the United States. "You may talk big, but we have a splendid little German terrier in your own house who will bite your legs horribly and give you a dose of frightfulness if you dare to push us too far. Therefore, Beware!" In the Mat resort the Germane rely upon this threat to neutralize American annoyance at the paper blockade. It seems incredible, but German logic, when applied to ill- founded premieres, as it is always being applied in the case of dealings with any portion of the Anglo-Saxon race, leads to misunderstandings of this sort. If real trouble arose it would not take the people of the United States twenty-four hours or twenty-four minutes to chain up and muzzle the angry little five.million.vote terrier of which we have just spoken.
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