The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-16
WRITES ON EUROPE'S GREAT CRISIS FROM GERMAN VIEWPOINT H. Schools Thoughtful Con- tribution to Age-Herald's
 Current Series
SLAVIC MENACE IS
 GREATEST CONCERN
Defends Emperor As Man of Peace and One Who Is Loyalty Loved and Admired By Ger
 man People

1 One of the most valuable and interest," ing communications on the European crises yet presented in The Age-Heralds
 series on the subject from among its
 readers is that of II. School, which is given this morning.
 Mir Soohel IS well known civil engi- neer, trained thinker, proud of his American citizenship. but also proud of 1 his fatherand. His kindly references to Germany's present enemies show his fair-mndedness and his review of the European situation shows long and care ! full observation. He writes as follows
 To the Editor of The Age-Herald. Agreeable to your request, l will try to give my views on the horrible situation in Europe, where two of the allies of the triple alliance are facing in deadly con tention the combined strength of the triple ! entente and other smaller powers, where Portugal. to stave oq the foreclosing of | the English mortgage, Is willing to fight Germany and where perhaps Monaco and San Marine will take sides with the triple entente next.
 Italy was to help Austria Hungary and Germany whenever they were threatened by Russia and France, but it seems that discretion is the better part of Italy's pol icy now, because while Russia and France were only threatening, Germany did not have the same discretion. but warded off the blow of her enemies by striking first.
 Why there should have been two such combinations the triple alliance and the triple entente is easily told. The gravest danger to civilization in Europe has always been Slavic Russia: dark, dcs- potic. cruel Russia, where every free ut terance is stihed by knout. deportation and death; where Protestants, as we'll as Roman Catholics, have been persecuted and banished for the sake of their faith. where advocates of temperance have been severely punished, because their teach ing diminished the profits of the Czar's own private monopoly. the vodka busi- ness. Russia, where aH progress Is ham, pered and where legitimate business can not be transacted without first bribing ever rapaclous, corrupt officials. and where even funds collected for charity are lost in the pockets of members of the Czars private household.
 Unholy Russia, with It's millions on mill lions of haf-baked Europeans, includ- ing the notorious Cossacks. and with it's untold millions of Asiatic hordes. Circas- ians, lSirgese Calmucks. Tartars. Jacuts and other Mongolians, worshippers of Mohammed. Confucus and Buddha. along with nominal Christians. this un- spealxable Russian Czar is a menace both to Austria Hungary and to Germany, and it was natural that they should form an alliance.
 (The name Austria means that it is the eastern bulwark against the barbarans).
 Germany also has unruly western neighbor France, which has never been reconciled to the fact that Germany has taken back the German provinces of AL sace-Lorraine. which France had held for about 200 years, having occupied if with out a sabre stroke in times of profound peace. when Germany was weak after the 30 years war Everyone knows that Ger many took them back only after her victory in war ftivolously started by France without shadow of reason.
 Falling Into Historical Error
 In an editorial of one of our evening papers, the brilliant writer explains that American sympathy with France in the present war is due greatly to German harshness in taking the French provinces away from vanquished France. It ap- pears to me that the writer is deficient in history as well as in geography. Any boy with a common school education in Germany. as well as France might have informed him. currsory glance at the map of Alsace. with it's names of noun tains, streams and cities, might have shown him that this province is peopled by Teutonic folk. It is true that the French have tried hard to disguise and Galicise those proper names, but they did not succeed very well. They call the Mose Moselle; the vogesen Vosges Zabern, Saverne. and Disdenhofc-. 1hion- vile, and that was cleverly done, but when they called Muelhausen, Mulhouse and Welssenberg Wiscembourgh. they be- came ridiculous. Shades of Moliere and Berangerl Would not they squirm In their graves at such French monstros- ities Metz, Woerth and Strassburg, they could not Frenchify. And the people are called Mueller. Schmidt Fels, Schulze and Dreyfus. and look like Germans; in fact, they rather glory in being "Dietch'' in- stead of French. no matter where their sympathies lie.
 And they have not forgotten their Ger man mother tongue l asked an old Ale sa elan once to give me a match. speak ing in French. and he answered me in German saying that he did not under stand French, not having served In the French army. and telling me that no one in his village could speak French except those who had served in the army And
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