Germany Accepts British Fleet Ratio.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 8, 1913:
NATIONS NEAR UNDERSTANDING.
London Applauds the Notable Advance Toward Friendly Relations.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Saturday, Feb. 8.— Reports which reach here concerning the speech before the Reichstag Budget Committee by Admiral von Tirpitz are being-welcomed as tangible evidence of the improvement in the relations between Germany and England, which, as has been pointed out, had come about since the two countries began to work together in the interests of European peace menaced by the Balkan troubles.

The Daily News says:
    "Von Tirpitz's statement implies first a renewal of Germany's assertion that she does not desire to contest British supremacy on the sea; and, secondly, an entirely new declaration that a ratio of 10 to 16 between the German and English fleets secures that object of self-defense which Germany has in view. The statement, therefore, brings England and Germany very much nearer to an actual, though not a formal, understanding as to naval armaments. So long as the German Government took the line that the German programme was drawn up independently of what any other country might be doing it was impossible to expect that Government to state the ratio of German needs for security in terms of the British fleet.
    "That stage has been passed, and for the first time we have German naval needs expressed in terms of the British fleet. What is more, we have a formula, put forward by the British First Lord, accepted. If these be the fruits of Mr. Churchill's very candid statement last year, he can justly claim the credit for a notable performance."

The Times, commenting on Von Tirpitz's statement, says:
    "Should it happily prove to be the case that Germany is now willing to accept the kind of understanding on which Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, was ready to enter last year, this country will heartily welcome her decision. The growth of friendly relations between us, which the cordial co-operation of the two Governments within the last few months has done so much to foster, should enable both countries to discuss a naval policy without the bitterness and suspicion of the past. Our policy is known and fixed. We mean to maintain at all costs our supremacy at sea, which is vital to us, and our Dominions mean to help us to maintain it."

The Daily Chronicle says:
    "The news has been well received in Austria, and The Neue Freie Presse hails it as signaling the removal of one of the most dangerous features from the European situation. Anglo-German rivalry has had bad effects everywhere. The budgets of all the great powers have felt it. With its disappearance relief will be general and welcome, and in the new era, which we hope is heralded, the forces working for world peace will receive still more powerful support and reinforcement."