The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-02-18


ApoIogized nor Fled, but Still Was
Vanquished--The Civilian as n
Stage Clown.
From the Sun.
The Bruesewitz affair has come to be
regarded apparently as one of the
CrOWning atrocities Of German militar-
ISM The spectacle of an armed officer
assassinating on the spot an unarmed
civilian whose original offence was to
bump chairs with him accidentally in
restaurant has been held up to view by
the press of all civilized lands as an il
lustration of what the German people
must suffer at the hands of their own
standing army. The man who knows
Germany and the Germans would be
quite likely to think. after reading of
this assassination: The brutality of
officer toward civilian could go no fur
ther; no more striking example of mill
try oppression in times of peace could
be given by a highly civilized people.
Yet anybody who has lived in Ger
many in recent years knows that it is
not the Bruesewitzes who do most in
that empire to oppress and torment
lerns. 1t is not the officers stamping
about with drawn swords and furious
threats in the saloons, nor yet those
ever ready with their cards to demand
meetings with swords or pistols, who
make the self-resDectng civilian long
for other lands and less tempestuous
scenes. Such men of action are rare
in the German army, or, if not rare,
take pains to hide their true natures.
1t is not the military aSsassinS stab
nor the military bullys challenge that
harnesses the ordinary civilian in Ger
many. 1t is rather the load of class
contempt which the officers corps puts
upon the backs of the rest of the nation.
That is the burden that kills. You may
resent the insult of any one man in
Germany. If you are a German, you
a least can fight duel and save your
self-respect at the expense of doctors
bill. If you are an American, you can
thrash your antagonist to your own
satisfaction, even though your style of
revenge does not suit anybody else
But who can face and demolish
the front of a whole army
corps? Who can stand out against
the thousands of commissioned
officers, entrenched in the vest
tu DllNllbSeS Ol dCllNt StINlCt anu re-
enforced by tens of thousands who have
gone into the reserves with the same
ideas of position and prerogative? 1t
is like trying to upset centuries of Prus-
sian military tradition and to revolu-
tionize with one mans strength the
whole political and social fabric of the
German empire. From the present
point of view the effort is hopeless
Most German civilians, outside of the
titled class, must compromise with self
respect and take things as they come.
Most foreigners much choose between
similar course and helping them
selves from difficulty to difficulty, until
the neighborhOod becomes too hot for
them and they move on to France or
England to escape a series of duelS or
phariah's life, far even from the civil
ians smile. The aim of the writer of
this article is to give few instances
of what civilians In Germany bear, how
some bear it and others do not, and why
man who intends to become acclimat-
ed anywhere between the Vosges and
the Vistula must prepare for OCCASION
al crises in his continental career, es-
especially if he be an American with
the temperament and temper that an
American usually is born with. AS the
intention is not to illustrate the tragic
side of the subject, the doings of Bru-
esewitz and his fellow assassins will
not be considered; only the unheroc
everyday side of the everlasting con-
flict will be touched.
A SPECIMEN INSTANCE.
Early in this month the Berlin news
papers published Ia brief narrative.
t..l
dents, is well calculated to define the
principal features of an encounter be-
tween a German reserve lieutenant and
a German civilian. The two saw each
other for the first time during the din
ner hour on the fast express between
Dresden and Berlin. The civilian was
Chemnitz merchant of considerable
prOperty-one who, in New York, would
pass as an influential business man,
and would sit on platforms to lend dig
nifty to political demonstrations. He
finished his meal in the dining car be-
fore the lieutenant reached the des-
Sert. He threw back his coat front,
lighted his cigar, and leaned back to
puff 1t at peace with his soul. The lieu
tenant laid down knife and fork and
looked at him. The merchant blew out
smoky rings, all unconscious of the
brewing storm, and apparently did
not know there was an officer in the car.
Several Of his fellow travellers became
uneasy. They feared trouble was COM
ing. They saw that the lieutenant had
fixed" CiXirD the merchant; that is,
had fastened his eyes upon him so in
tently as to give cause for the fateful
question, "Why do you stare at me?'
etc, to the fighting point. They tried
to warn the merchant of his danger,
to motion to him that he was offending
the lieutenant and would do well to
cease smoking for the time being, but
in vain. The merchant smoked on in
serene obliviousness, and the lieuten-
ant stared on with growing wrath
After five minutes suspense, the lieu
tenant broke the painful silence with
the sharp, rising, nasal tone which is
used by lientenants tC betoken anger.
He brought the waiter to his side with
call that reused even the merchant