Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-04-26
Suicide IN Germany.

"Such events occur almost daily"
are the concluding words of dispatch
from Berlin announcing the fact that a
military officer committed suicide in the
1hlergarten there The statement is.
IN exagEeratio9 blt there is a strong
astratunfef truth atthe bottom Of it-so
much 90 that the German press has de-
voted columns to the subject during the
past few months. Germany has long
had an unenviable reputation on &C
count of the frequency of self-nurder,.
but lately the number of cases has be-
come quite appalling, especially in the
army.
The complaint is general in all civ
ilized countries that suicides are largely
on the increase owing to the break-neck
speed at which the human machine is
driven in this age of progress. The
pace Is too rapid for many bright fell
low, and rather than undergo the
tcrtures of apprehension he jumps off
on the way. There are peculiar condi-
lions In Germany, however, which lead
men to this desperate act. In the mil
ltary service they are especially con-
spicuous. The, German, army officer is
almost invariably a wefl-educatediiw we'll
connected person. but. he Is also very fire.
quently as poor as were the soldiers Of for
tune of old, whom he resembles in moth
ing else. Heretofore this caused him
bat little Inconvenience, the respect
paid to the man in uniform with sword
by his side enabling him to go through
the world in tolerable comfort even if
his purse was empty. A change has,
however, come over the spirit of the
Germans dream lately. The passion
for wealth and the good things that the
possession of wealth implies has entered
the national soul, and the military caste
has not been exempt from the con-
tagion. PUT money in tAyspursenz has
been the motto of many q poverty
stricken fellow of high position. Of
course many time it happens thatethe-
way in which he does it will not bear
investigation, and flight being much
more difficult to him than to the Amer
= lean bank cashier he blows. out his
j brains. 80 - 81 -
s.Anotller reason for the extraordinarv
. prevalence of suicide in the German
army is the harshness, the brutality of
the discipline. Many one feels life to
be burden simply because he has to
submit for several years to routine of
daily duties that brushes out every spark
of individuality. Among the men in
the ranks there are, of course, many
more cases of self-murder prompted by
this circumstance than there are among
their commanders. In fact, the vast
majority of privates who annually
slaughter themselves are brought to it
by the treatment they receive from those
above them. And the number doing
SO is something to astonish foreigners.
while it has alarmed the Berlin, authori-
ties to such degree that some very
radical changes win mall probability
be made shortly in the soldiers duties.
That religious skepticism has great
deal to do with the high average of sui
cides in Germany is not to be denied,
but it makes itself felt simply by offer
ing no restraint on the mans natural
impulse. In Catholic countries and
among women suicies are much lessfre-
Guent thanin Protestant countries and
among men, simply because Catholics
and women both have more fear of the
hereafter.
According to Prof. Morselli, the for
mutation of character is the only cure
for self-slaughter. One thing, how
r ever, will lessen the number of cases in
Germany, ~nd that is the making of
the soldiers lot a happier one. The
pay of the officers is not enough to sup
port them respectfully in the changed
conditions ct life that have come in
during the past ten or twelve years, and
they are put to all sorts of acts to make
ends meet, while the private is made to
lead an existence that is little, if any,
better than slavery.-N. 7. Graphic.