Unfortunately, such a meeting never took place; all that was achieved was a preliminary step, viz. the visit of Lord Haldane to Berlin.
Owing to the lack of documentary evidence it is not possible to say who first suggested this visit, but it is clear that the suggestion--whoever may have been its author--was eagerly taken up by Sir Ernest Cassel and Ballin, and that it also met with a warm welcome on the part of Herr v. Bethmann. In reply to a telegram which Ballin, with the approval--if not at the actual desire--of the Chancellor, sent to his friend in London, a message reached him on February 2nd, 1912, when he was in Berlin engaged on these very matters. This reply, which originated with the Foreign Office, expressed the sender's thanks for the invitation to attend a meeting of delegates in Berlin and his appreciation of the whole spirit which had prompted the German suggestion, and then went on to say that the new German Navy Bill would necessitate an immediate increase in the British naval estimates, because the latter had been framed on the supposition that the German programme would remain unaltered. If the British Government were compelled to find the means for such an increase, the suggested negotiations would be difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, the German programme might perhaps be modified by spreading it out over a longer period of time or by some similar measure, so that a considerable increase of British naval construction in order to balance the German efforts could be avoided. In that case the British Government would be ready to proceed with the negotiations without loss of time, as it would be taken for granted that there was a fair prospect of the proposed discussions leading to a favourable result. If this suggestion was acceptable to Germany, the British Government thought the next step should be a private--and not an official--visit of a British Cabinet Minister to Berlin.
Perhaps it is now permissible to give the text of some documents without any further comment, as these latter speak for themselves. The first is a letter of the Chancellor addressed to Ballin, and reads as follows:
"We are still busy wording the text of our reply, and I shall not be able to see you at 11 o'clock. As soon as the text is settled, I shall submit it to His Majesty for his approval. Under these circumstances I think it is doubtful whether we ought to adhere to the time fixed for our appointment. I rather fancy that I cannot tell you anything definite before 12 or 1 o'clock, and I shall ring you up about that time. You have already made such great sacrifices in the interest of our cause that I hope you will kindly accept this alteration as well.