The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-15

yf&fetff{ sent millions of people mad !;
Europe is in a state of bel
licose psychosis nearing paranoia;"
''the war is more like medieval mass
obsession than rational international
struggle for power and glory"
These are the conclusions of DR.. Alexis
Mslsteff, expert in psychiatry and hon.
orary member of Munich Medical So
ciety, who is preparing a giant in
quiry into the psychology of slaughter.
1t is "a record of the moral and in
tellectual perversions of the present
war" The record is based on official
reports: on tales of wounded and in
valided; on reports of surgeons; on
stories by such unwounded men as
have returned
DR.. Malsteff is a thin, sharp eyed
man who has seen fighting. He served
with the Chinese troops of Yuan Shi
Kai; and, until stricken with ague, was
with the Russians in East Prussia. At
the battle of Hohenstein in this cam
paign there took place an event which
set him thinking. A soldier from ST.
IBERIA who was known for his courage
and devotion was found dead in a
trench beside another soldier also dead.
The Siberian had his hand under the
blouse-tunic of his comrade, and the
hand was tightly gripping the comrades
red handkerchief In which were tied
silver 20-kopeck piece and some cop
pers. There was no doubt about the
fact. The dead. Siberian was killed
while picking the pocket of his neigh
Dor. Through the heads of both went
the same enfilading bullet Maltseff
was struck by this grim incident 1t
proved he says. that even in moments
of deadly peril. even in hearts inflamed
by honest patriotism, mortal weak
nesses and passions survive.
Judging by a lecture read on his be-
half at odessa DR.. Maltseff came to
some striking basic conclusions. First
is that all Europe is mad. "Yevropa
soshla suma"-Europe has gone out of
it's mind. "As far as mere madness goes
civilians are worse off than soldiers"
With civilians the chief features of
bellicose psychopathy are ferocity,
credulity and hysteria. That IL shown
by the newspapers. THE soldier is
saved by action and work from these
excuses" But very few soldiers go
into battle in a normal psychic state.
Only by assuming abnormality and
temporary alienation can one explain
the ferocities alleged by both sides.
when war turns a mans character
topsy turvy all 7extremes come out. I
heard of a good soldier. whose nation
atty in order to avoid prejudice I de-
cline to state. He wept before going
to the front because his yard dog
whined and could not accompany him.
Il fortnight later he was caught kill
ing the wounded under circumstances
so atrocious that his own men in dis
gust drove their bayonets through his
back"
when men go into slaughter" says
DIR. Malsteff. there Is q curious pas
sion for exaggergation which entire
ly suspends their judgment and often
is the cause of victories and defeats.
This extreme form of bellicose psy-
chopathy is shown in wildly exagger-
ating the enemy's losses and numbers
Some wrongly put this down to in
territorial official lying. Malsteff proved
by experiment that man who has
been in battle often loses all ability
to calculate and render a truthful &C.
count This experiment was tried on
II soldiers in Moscow hospitals.
Twelve of these soldiers were intel
ligent." meaning that they could read
was assistant to a surveyor; he was used
spaces; and had testimonials declaring
! conservative" He gave Maltseff an ac-
the Kovno-Insterburg railroad. which took
the battle of Tannenberg. Maltseff had
dier's account. The soldier put at the
end r. -tnyonet tussls which was at the
beginning and said he knew the Ger