Germany Accepts British Fleet Ratio.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 8, 1913:
Berlin and London Interpret Admiral von Tirpitz's Speech as Sign of Peace.
TEN TO 16 THE FORMULA
Statement of German Programme in Terms of British Naval Strength a Triumph for Churchill.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    BERLIN, Feb. 7.— Speaking yesterday before the Budget Committee, which is discussing naval estimates for 1913, Admiral von Tirpitz, the Naval Secretary, informed his hearers, according to the semi-official Lokalanzeiger, that a "sensible agreement" between Great Britain and Germany with reference to the strength of their respective navies would be "something to be welcomed."
    If he is accurately reported, his declaration is the first official admission from a responsible quarter that Germany regards an agreement of any kind with Great Britain within the range of practical politics.
    Von Tirpitz's statement to-day before the Budget Committee regarding German and British naval strengths is equally remarkable. Referring to the statement made in March last by Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the British Admiralty, that a proportion of sixteen British to ten German dreadnoughts had been adopted by Great Britain, the Naval Secretary said he was convinced that from the standpoint of the German Admiralty there need be no misgivings regarding the maintenance of such a standard of naval power between the two countries.
    Herr von Jagow, the new Foreign Minister, gave the Budget Committee a résumé of the international situation in general and of Anglo-German relations in particular, but what he said in detail was not made public.
    The Vossische Zeitung treats von Tirpitz's statement as a formal announcement that an Anglo-German naval agreement has actually been reached.
    The Neueste Nachrichten, the organ of the German Navy League, states that Germany is on the verge of "a decisive change in her entire naval policy." It urges Parliament to weigh well whether it would not be better to retain "freedom of action."
    To-day's deliberations of the Budget Committee were surrounded by extraordinary secrecy. On entering the committee room, the members were confronted with a peremptory notice reminding them that they were about to participate in a highly confidential discussion, of which not a syllable must leak out. They even agreed to take no notes. The communiqué, given to the press, is understood to have come from Herr von Jagow personally.