involve the building by this country of forty-four such vessels in the
same period, toward which the Government was only providing two in the
current year. It was also stated that in the year 1911 Germany would
possess thirteen dreadnoughts and Great Britain only twelve, which
statement was founded upon reasonable assumptions. Could Germany reckon
upon the continuance of such a relative position, the advantage to her
would be very great.

It was at this critical moment that the German Emperor indited his
letter to the First Lord of the Admiralty, which is printed below. When
the fact became known there was a good deal of public feeling aroused
both in this country and abroad. Lord Tweedmouth stated that the letter
was a private letter and purely personal. Prince von Bülow informed the
Reichstag that the letter was of both a private and political character,
adding some remarks concerning the "purely defensive character of our
naval programme which," said the Chancellor, "cannot be emphasized too
frequently."

The German Foreign Office officially announced that "in his letter the
Emperor merely corrected certain erroneous views prevalent in England
regarding the development of the German fleet."

Readers are now in a position to judge for themselves the accuracy of
these statements. It should be remembered that the reduced navy
estimates of 1908-9 were followed by national alarm and the publication
of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford's shipbuilding programme and large
increase in estimates of the following year. Here is the letter:


The Kaiser's Letter.