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— —. Swansea Conservatives, acting on the lead given by the Executive Committee of their Association, kept, away from the mock non-party meeting on Friday evening; the members of the Labour Party, with or with- out direction, did likewise, and the Albert Hall was left to be occupied by what an American would can the "hard-siiell" Radi- cals and the members of t.he Violet League, who appear to have rallied strongly, judging by the exceedingly la.rge proportion of women present. It is to be hoped that a tolerably com- plete list has been compiled by our local con- temporary of the notabilities present, for lliis in years to come will have some histori .;¡ I va llli, ft. will not include the men of J' :v> bo appreciate tha.t we v;l war ? 11th' t?c Germans;-—the m?st puthte?, h??- ,? dious and persevering beIlierent that hM; fver afflicted tho human race—-not only on the battle fields but also at home. In the opinion of competent judges, if the war lords of Potsdam had been able to ret train their impatience for world-mastery until twenty years hence, the Germans would have so honeycombed and undermined this country financially, commercially and politically, that tho -conquest of the British Empire by them would have been an easy task. We are in the ha.bit of talking of this meaiace of German "penetration" a <.In ab- ?tiaction hwing no direct or practical mean- ÍLb for us, whereas it is encountered at a dozen different points locally. It would amaze the people of Swansea and neighbourhood if tiiey Knew how many of our local Mdu?tr?s coombuted to German control of metals en- riching the Teutonic Empire and weakening our own corrcKponding)y for the war and L;,unornic competition allke. The sacrifice of our manhood in France, Flanders, and elsewhere, on an appalling scale, will go for naught if, through easy- going. complaisant and time-serving poli- ticians, we continue to tolerate the Internal cancer eating into the national vitality. German influence of a.11 kinds mttst be fought down and eliminated. It is of no use talk- ing of killing Prussianism in the costliest of fashions whilst any considerahlc proportion of the electors, in deference to old shib- boleths, or from ulterior considerations even Ie-sf; entitled to respect, can be induced to foster the German element in any form what- ever. The popular instinct is sound, and it is irankly anti-Germa-n, and the blandish- ments of the wealthy and the artifices of the skilful organiser will not avail to neutralise or defeat it. Sir Alfred Mond is too shrewd to entertain the delusion that Friday even- ing's meeting, which did not contain a fifteenth part of the electorate, represented the feeling in the borough. The voters who determine elections stayed away, many of them Liberals who now recognise that there arc higher obligations than those of party. The war has obliterated for these, as for Conservatives, the dif\tindivc partv foi, Ccn?5er\,atives, the di-tlii(.tlvc party In hundreds of Swansea homes there is grief over the 1-oss of men who were deprived of a fair chance to live because by reason of national unpreparednes.s for war they had to face foe in overwhelming numbers had neither the guns nor the necessary am- munition to make- a fair fight of it. Sir: Alfred Mond was of those who assured the country that nothing was to be feared from Germany, so that .we could ,afe?y disband batteries of artillery, reduce the Army, and save money by neglecting to create a H.¡;,erve I of munitions. Also to support the abandon- ment of the Cawdor naval programme, by which a certain number of units were to be added annually to the fleet. Some of our readers may recall the ridicule poured by the local organ of the borough member-upon the late Lord Cawdor and Lord Charles Oeresford for emphasisint; the imperative | need of safeguarding the command of the M'a upon whic? we to-day depend, not only tor immunitiy from invasion, b?t also for for ininiujiitiy fr(?m iti,a ?s.ifp, I>tit ai,,o for It may be suggested that the British Navy despite the curtailments of a Govern- ment- not unhoedful of the protests of Sir •Toll n Brunner—the Britisher of Swiss origin who wanted us to trust, not to arma- ments but to interiiational laws, which the Germans treat as scraps of proved ample. Yes, because Mr. McKenna,, in the most creditable episode of his. political career, threatened to resign if the naval estimates were cut down below the safety line, but more especially because instead of having to confront alone the joint navies of Austro-Germany we have on our side tho Frerieb. Ittliaii, and Russian sea forces, which tact, not provided for in the ni e. The Agdidir incident, which led to I v, h.olesa'e withdrawal French money from 1 i Germany. nearly Involving a financial ('01-1 lapse, df?clo?sed to the Kaiser and Ms en- tourage the mo.t vulnerable part of the elaborately armoured Germaat Empire. This war, sprung upon the wotld at the selected moment, was preceded by cunning financial arrangements designed not only to strengthen Germany financially, but also to embarrass the prospective enemies. London was Hooded with German bills to such an extent as to drain it of gold. At the time the general belief was that French financiers, who had made advances to the Balkan Powers, wcro compelled to liquida.te their liabilities by disposing of their German and other securities. Now we know that the German baH ks having had the official foro- word, and with the aid of the cosmopolitan circle in London ready to make money un- restricted by patriotic or any other worthy consideration, deliberately planned a.n a.t- tack meant to completely upset and de- moralise London as the ciearing-house of the world. The Government, }>ajtlv by extend- ing the August Bank Hobday for a week, defeated the purpose of the scheme. But it was a close shave anyhow. Thi. was; but one of many instances of el-nia ii thoroughness in craft. Belgium was so completely organise d for a German i-n- vasion that the sites for heavy guns were concreted in advance, aid the invading troops had as officers men, who, as old re- sidents, knew every rood of land and every street of the city or town occupied. And it was known to every intelligent member of the -invading foroe that the captu.ro of Antwerp, Dunivirk, and Calais—concurrent ly with the irreparable smashing up of the French Army—was (mly the prelinwwry measure to the attack upon Great Britain, the objective frankly foreshadowed in the I literature of Germany for more than a de. cade. Professors, publicists, and politicians, have for years been engaged in persuading the German people that they are a. Goti chosen people whose mission in the world had as principal impediment a decadent, slothful, and utterly impotent people—the British, who held nearly all the desirable places on the sjlobe. Sir .Alfred Mond, who must have known the direction of German thought, made light of the German peril until it materialised in war. and then, when the knowledge had become useless, declared that he knew that fGermany had for years been preparing for the event. Why did he not in time, give the. country of his adoption the benefit of the knowledge thai the country of his fore- fathers was on the war-.path waiting for the favourable moment to make the springe To so well-informed a man, it cannot base been unknown that Germany was deferring the Armageddon until the Kiel Canal had been so widened and deepened as to permit of Dreadnoughts passing from the North Sea to the Baltic, and vice versa. But Sir Alfred Mond kept this knowledge to himself, and the Westminster (iazetie —he was then chairman of the small syndi- cate owning it was permitted to openlv j pose as the medium for German official. aiKnoumwrnents in this country. This paper fraiiKly ;<dYoe;.r,ed a pro German policy, 11 Vh tc. France ajid Biissia. With this iivovitable resuIt-that when one was prostrated and the other paralysed hv the Austro-Germans, we should be" faced by Germany holding Antwerp, Dunkirk, and Calais—with the iuidesUx>yod remnants of th-o I"?Tnrh fleet—and invited to turn out the Germans at l:ast in a position to dial- j Jenge our command of the sea. Tin's was the logical outcome o.f tlie policy of the "Westminster Gazette" if the Ministry had been coerced or coaxed to adopt it. Ha ppiiy, the Ministry decided otherwise. But and this is the main consideAition for Swansea electors — the Westminster Gazette, in August, 1914, Htrenuougly urged the British to follow & path that urged ?ti,e Briti,n tofo,110,, to rij?n alid

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