The Washington herald., 1915-09-26
THE OPEN FORUM
In Which Readers of The Herald Give Their Views
on Current Topics.

| Editor. of The W Nashingto Herald: 1t
ma" be presumptuous for the Individual
to attempt to discuss the war, which is
| now raging In Europe. or the probability
CT the United States becoming involved
in war in the near or remote future. But
considering the persistent claim. MADE
, by the Germans. that the allies are de-
feated arc that German Kultur is ID be-
como a dominant ana controlling innu-
epce throughout the world is il not time
TO-. the citizen to enquire what this i'm
portant Il; ment is that the people of the
United State will be compelled to con-
sidc:. The Germans in America are
demanding that their language be taught
and everybody instructed to speak it. 1t
| is the forerunner of that most remark
able thing called Kultur. My idea OF
Kultur. according to my Interpretation
of the German meaning. is that it fol-
lows an idea to the ultimate dividing II
into Its component parts. with view OF
reaching out for and getting the best
that can be obtained. 1t is refined
efficiency. controlling every effort oe the
mind. and Is guided by an individual
whose Kultur is of the highest order
and whose authority and power is un-
limited. 1t Is the invisible impulse that
impels the multitude to action.
Prof. Hugo Mulsterberg says that the
herman parents anu the 1eEIIidn SCHoo-
teacher. who taught the children dis
cipline and thorouShness have won this
war. He also says that this country
can never train an army successfully at
Plattsburg. The training must begin
at home. These are the rudin,ents OF
Kultur.
In this country We sing Il Did Not
Raise My Boy to Be Soldier In Ger
many they sing When My Country Calls
My Boy Is Ready" We are said to oe
too proud to fight When the ocean is
Germanized and her victorious fleet. aug
mented by the captured allied fleets,
sweeps down the Atlantic coast and
lands her invincible cohorts upon our
shores and then continues the voyage
and knocks the Monroe doctrine into an
inactive condition We Will be compelled
to fight. All this may seem overdrawn,
but any one who has read the books and
papers, written by German authors, viii
soon get the idea well fixed in his
mind. that the Kaiser would some day
make an effort to obtain a foothold in
the Western Hemisphere. Prof. Schmol-
Ter. DIR. Hotzsch. DR.. Unold. Dr. Vintner
and many other prominent German Kul-
turists have said that Germany must
pursue a policy Of expansion and obtain
for Germany a land whose energy and
industry would make her a power greater
than England or the United States
Prof Schneider says that the German
fleet will be able to secure for her the
future which should be hers in South
America. Egoism is a disgusting char
acteristic and German Kultur is nothing
more than egoism carried to extremes.
1t will never be accepted even as a
theory in the United States and when
Dr. Unold says: The Germans are
morally, intellectually and mechanically
superior and, for these reasons. destined
to rule the world" he simply shows him
self an egotist. The Germans are the
wolves of Europe snarling. biting. tear
ing. but their fangs will be drawn and
they will become as harmless as rabbits.
H. GILBERT.