Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1915-01-25
TEE MOST SHAMEFUL ERA IN
ENGLISH HISTORY.

TEE MOST SHAMEFUL ERA IN
ENGLISH HISTORY.
By Thomas C. Hall, d. d.. in the
New York Sun.
Americans resent the charge that
they arc misinformed about the
world war. And yet why do they
not look up their past information
in the light of recent events2 Do
they now pretend seriously to believe
that "the German Emperor caused
the war" or that the Crown Prince
forced the Emperor into war" or
that "Licbllnecht with 500 Socialists
was shot on the streets of Berlin"
or that Germany is only historic
memory, or that Belgian children
are running about with both hands
hacked Off. or that 1.-The Crown
Prince is killed" and "the Emperor
is insane" and "Breslau is taken"
and Krakow is burned? Yet all
these lies about a thousand more
they received with o docilo subjec-
tion from the hands of a London
press. whose screaming yelowness
and infinite capacity for Dragging
and untruth is one Of the most
shameful novelties Of this sad new
era in English history.
German papers may not even enter
Canada or England. Yet while I was
In Germany / read the English,
French and Dutch papers and then
passed them on TO eager German
friends quite freely. 1 have yet to
find q serious misstatement In any
German official telegram, or any inn
portant omission OF retreats or re-
verses. Have any serious minded
Americans any such confidence in
"Petrograd" or "Paris Special" or
the London Colonial dope" as il
is called in London clubs? Moreover,
If any careful Americans viii take
the trouble to 80 over the Berlin
reports as given to us in the papers
and compare them with the actual
official statements i'm the Cologne
Gazette or Frankfurter Zeitung they
viii be warned Of a carelessness or
worse in transmission that again
iustfies the charge that we do not
know the facts. If so grossly mis-
informed in the past about the go
ings on under our eyes, if we have
been so carefully and deliberately
lied to by our London sources, is it
not just possible that the trend and
inner meaning Of this world struggle
has boen equally misrepresented to
as? We get our opinions and our
facts" from the same contaminated
sources.
For instance, we are taught day
In day out that Germany was the
aggrossor; and blue books, yellow
bools and white books are cited,
though / fear seldom really studied
70 maintain this position. But tho
official documents are elaboratoly
edited to make out q case. Evident
m.stranslatiOn in some cases, and
probable mistranslation ia others,
mars them all, and in the early re-
print Of the English white book, most
widely used. there is some misdatine
that looks like deliberate fraud and
has mislcd one OF the most widely
read analyses OF it. These books do
not even pretend to give all the doc
uments. and in fact only begin at
the end Of ten years diplomatic
struggle.
Whatever may be said of Austria.
emphatically il may be maintained,
and history viii sustain the contcn-
at this time nor wanted nor caused
tho war. For ten years Germany
has been struggling in a bad diplo-
matte mess to ward off from her
self and Austria what she knew was
the covert attack Of military clidues
in France. Russia. England and Bel
gium. She has not been well served
by her diplomats Germans have
known that for some time. But she
supposed she had passed tho danger
point and was breathing freely in
glad thankfulness that it was SO. M
Andre Tardiou, writing six years be-
fore the war and from o pronounced
ly anti-German and pro-French
pOint Of view. as he himself saws in
his preface, remarks England
who il France had been willing
would have made war In 1905, had
seen in Gormany's success a fresh
motive for acting in conjunction with
us for the purpose of establishing
the European balance OF power
| C'France and the Alliances 1908,
page 194). And NJ. Tardieu hard
ly tries TO disguise the fact that the
coalition against Germany was the
result Of the wornded vanity Of
France, beaten at Sedan; of Rus
sia. beaten by Japan on the plains
Of Manchuria and the field of diplo-
macy by Austria. and England,
beaten by Germany on tho field Of
commercial expansion These
things linked with the vanity Of
Sorvia's and Bolgium's Kings, VINO
wanted to play the part of world
| Powers" made the war possible.
This ean1o London Drocq has