The San Francisco call., 1904-02-14
Lieutenant BiLSe
W0U Accessible to
English Readers

y LIEUTENANT J. c. BILSE, until
recently an officer in the German
49, army, is now shut up in mill
tary prison for a term OF SIX
months, his connection with the forces
OF the Kaiser is at an end and he Is
blackmsted upon the books of the I'm
perial War Office. But "A Little Gar
rison." his novel which caused all OF
the trouble. though prescribed in Ger
many, is being read by all the world
with that unholy glee which always
characterizes the enjoyment OF piece
OF scandal about neighbor. The Fred
ericl1 A. Stokes Company of New York
has lust brought out the first English
translation. the work Of Wolf Won der
schierbrand. The publishers say that
the book is epoch making; the world
saws that it is delicious; Kaiser Will
helm says that 1t is blasphemous.
II cannot be thought that the young
army lieutenant deliberately undertook
10 make a martyr Of himself by writing
"A Little Garrison" Nor can IL be con-
sidered probable that he felt any high
motive calling him TO 80 forth like
Joan, saint TO be, and rescue his coun-
try from impending ruin at the hands
Of a rotten army. The deoonalr
Young lieutenant evidently saw the
need for the correction Of abuses, may
be he suffered from them himself; so he
sat down TO write what he knew. If the
Kaiser. the Government party in the
Reichstag and the War Office had not
taken such violent umbrage at the book
Lieutenant Bilse would never have been
known outside of his own regiment,
and A Little Garrison" would not have
sold sufficiently TO pay the publishers
for it's printing.
The "epoch-making" qualities of the
novel are due, then, to the aosolutism
Of the German system Of government.
Had Kipling laid the scene OF some OF
his tales Of Indian army life in Alsace-
Lorraine instead and given his Mrs.
Rawksby the title Of Frau Post Com
Inander. a roar OF equal amplitude
would have come from outraged ofil-
cialism in military quarters. Because
Bilse's book was about the German
army and written by an officer in that
army. follow the expulsion, the i'm
prisonment-and the large sales.
Rilse Laws the scene Of the book in
little frontier garrison Of Alsace-Lor-
raine. presumably Forsbach, for there
he himself was stationed. The plot, not
an intricate one by any means, cepters
about the social doings Of the officers
Of the garrison and their wives. very
unhealthy moral tone is shown 10 be
Dresent. Intrigues between two Of the
officers and the wives of their fellow
officers lead TO a duel in one instance
and a shameful elopement in the other.
one Of the characters is detestable
embezzIer and thief, another is british
IL cruel. All are drunkards. From the
standpoint Of literature alone. The
Little. Garrison" is ultra-naturalistic-
As 70 its political significance there
can be no doubt. Diatribes against
English and American army organiza-
ton have passed and may pass without
especial comment. But the German
army, as the main support Of the
sacred Kaiser, shines with q rejected
light of sanctity. With its sanctity is
coupled the awesome reserve which
clings TO holy things. That this should
have been broken and the inner Sc
crets Of the temple spread broadcast
TO the unhallowed gaze Of the world is
an egregious sin. That these secrets,
moreover, are none too ;potless adds
to the weight of the crime.
Speaking generally the skeletons In
the army closet which Lieutenant Biise
discloses 70 view cannot be said to be
90 much the property OF the German
army system itself as Of. the officers
who are enrolled In the army corps.
Bilse does not inveigh strongly against
theoretical lack OF ef1ciency-absence
OF patriotism. tendency to demoraliza-
tdon and such-but II is the moral rot
tcnness Of the army officers. their f-2------
bling, their incontinence, their gross
cruelty to subordinates, which he con-
demns. He shows that the present
army life breeds spendthr1fts, fosters
onerous bondage to usurers and en-
courages marriage for fat dowries.