The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-26

served his year with the colors as an ar
tilleryman at the garrison at Pirna,
near Dresden, where his ShreWd pow
erS of observation and retentive MEM
ory supplied him with the material
with which he was destined to win lit
erary renown. The garrison of Pirna.
under another name, is the place at
which the scenes described in Jena or
Sedan" are supposed to have occurred.
The interrogatory title of the book
was chosen by Beyerlein to indicate
that Germany must choose between
another "Jena"-the great battle at
which the PruSSianS were crushed by
Napoleon-and another "Sedan''-the
fight in which they worsted the French
in 1870-if the Fatherland is to remain
an invulnerable military power. His
conclusions. of course, are that the
country is headed for another Jena,
unless the abuses which he depicts are
radically arrested. Howls of protest,
tauntS of traitor and Social Demo-
crat" greeted Beyerlein when Jena Or
Sedan" first appeared. He was ac-
cuSed Of malicious .eXaggeratiOn of
army abuses and of striving for SEN
sation, but people took him so seri-
ously that the army authorities them
selves were finally stirred and, in re-
sponse to public sentiment which i'm
mediately began to crystalline, they
were forced to order a rigid investiga-
ton of the most serious charge Boyer
lein had made-namely, that abuse Of
recruited men was common and wide
spread among the kaisers troops.
Court-martial after court-martial re-
vealed the truth Of the authors
charges. Dozens of brutal sergeants
were tried and sentenced for brutality
in barracks. One non-c commissioned
ruffian was convicted of over 1000 in
dividual cases of maltreatment of men.
Such revelations naturally caused an
upheaval of popular resentment, for
the best families in Germany, under
the inexorable conscription system,
send their sons into the army, and the
liberation of such practices was brand
ed as barbaric.
The authorities found themselves
compelled to withstand an avalanche
of criticism from every quarter, and
the stamping out of brutality in the
army has become within the past year
the subject to engroSS the closest at
tention of the kaiserS commanding Of
ficers His majesty himself has, of
course, felt the weight Of public opin-
ion and has expressed himself forcibly
upon the necessity for treating enlist
ed men humanely.
Reyerlein's friends resent the impu-s
tation that he lent himself to revolu-
tionary uses in writing Jena or Sc
dan" They assert he proved his patri-
otism by calling attention to the evils
of the army system, and point to the
revelations and reforms the pubiica-
ton has precipitated as proof of the
good work he has accomplished.
Last winter Beyerlein added to his
fame by writing the military play,
''Zapfenstreich." AS "Jena or Sedan"
emphasizes one evil of army life, bru-
tality to soldiers, "Zapfenstreich" NOR
alizes on the deadly caste distinction
which respect for the officer class
breeds in the German people. A charm
ing love story, with a tragic ending,
throws the veil of romance around the
story which is in reality a merciless at
tack on militarism, the very bone and
sinew of German life. The crown
prince attended the opening perform
ance of .Zapfenstreich" at the Lessing
theater w Berlin, and was severely
reprimanded by the kaiser for doing
so. AT many garrison cities the mill
tary authorities have forbidden either
officers or men to attend the play,
which is now being produced every
where and arouses tremendous enthu-
Siasm.
Beyerlein's best days are before him
and admirers of his Oold style predict
a still more brilliant career for the
young author, who has chosen the
most vital theme of German life as
vehicle for his talents.