William II had in 1889 divided the admiralty and appointed a naval officer to act as head of the organization and development of the fleet. It was only in the late nineties, however, after the appointment of Admiral Tirpitz, that this work began to go forward with leaps and bounds. That German sentiment was quick to follow the lead of the Emperor is shown by the immense enthusiasm which has made the German Navy League (organized in 1898) so great a success. In 1907 it already counted a million paying members, and its journal, _Die Flotte_, had a circulation of over 370,000 copies, which is about as large as that of nearly all other important German monthlies combined.[26] Shortly after the disaster of Spion Kop Admiral Tirpitz spoke thus: "We do not know what adversary we may have to face. We must therefore arm ourselves with a view to meeting the most dangerous naval conflict possible." The preamble to the German navy bill of 1900 reads: "Germany must have a fleet of such strength that a war against the mightiest power would involve risks threatening the supremacy of that power." Emperor William protests, and there is no reason for doubting his sincerity, that this policy of increasing the navy was not primarily directed at England. It was necessary to protect Germany's commerce and increase her prestige. On this point his famous interview given to the _Daily Telegraph_ is interesting. Undoubtedly, however, this rapid increase in the navy, which began with the navy bill of 1900 and which happened to coincide with the events of the Boer War, did much to heighten the ill feeling which had already begun to spring up between England and Germany. The idea of increasing the navy met with more general support among the people than any other policy of the Emperor's, though it called for very decided increases in taxation. How keen was the Emperor's personal interest in the matter we may judge from the fact that in 1897 he sent to all the members of the Reichstag and innumerable other officials a memorandum comparing the naval strength of Germany, France, Russia, America, and Japan. The appropriation bill of that year calling for 240,000,000 marks was voted with a slight reduction. The sense that the struggle for naval supremacy with England was impending made necessary immensely larger appropriations in the bill of 1900. [26] These are the figures given by J. Ellis Barker in "Modern Germany." "BITTERLY WE NEED A POWERFUL GERMAN FLEET" HAMBURG, OCTOBER 18, 1899 The _Kaiser Karl der Grosse_ was launched in Hamburg on the 18th of October, 1899. It will be noticed that the Emperor is always careful to observe the anniversaries that commemorate the military prowess, the birthdays, and the achievements of the members of his house. The present date is again an anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 1813. In the evening the Emperor spoke as follows at the banquet in the Rathaus: