The Washington herald., 1915-06-07
MUNSTERBERG DISCUSSES
u. s. ROLE AFTER THE WAR
Says American Industries Are Crippled While Those of Ger
'anany Are FIourishns-Sees Lack of Sympathy
for United States Among Allies.

arbiter. The President saw 1t clearly
The future will recognize II as one OF the
greatest historic mistakes OF the nation
that 1t did not follow its leader but threw
the glorious prize away.
Sees No Cause for Mediation.
Those who read the European papers
especially the German, Austrian, French
and English newspapers and magazines
and do not see only their distorted re-
Elections in the American press. must be-
come aware that the talk about Ameri-
can mediation has slowly become fainter
and has now died out.
The average German sees in the Amer.
lean nation today the one from which il
has most to fear. since the American
munitions Of war are practically making
the battle against Germany possible
Does he exaggerate the case? Certainly
not.
Few men in America know the world
situation better than Col. Harvey, and
few are more embittered against the bar
barian Germans, the enemies OF civiliza'
ton" In his momentous letter to the
editor of the London Times reprinted In
the March number of the North Ameri'
can Review he says In unmistakable
words:
Il wonder II your people in common
with your government and. of course
yourself. are fully aware that their allied
forces are drawing their rifles, theil
cartridges and their munitions of wal
from our factories. and that but for the
supply thus obtained they could hardly
hope ever to triumph
But even If the Times and the govern.
ment were not aware of this undenia bic
fact the German nation Is now aware
Of 1t to the last man. Everybody there
asks himself: Why does not America
feel the moral impulse to shorten the
war by forbidding the export of weapons
to all bellgerents?
He may be mistaken, but he sees only
two possible answers. Either the nation
does not want to be neutral and insists
on this export because II knows that
only the allies can profit from 1t and
not their opponents. and that it thus
has the power to fight the battles of the
allies without officially declaring war, or
the nation is politically Indifferent and
considers the commercial profit more i'm.
portant than all the striving for peace
which has been its perpetual program.
No Moral Sympathy for L. s.
But the most unexpected feature of the
situation Is that the allies. who profit
from this American anti-Gcrmanism
hardly hide in their own papers and mag.
azines their lack of moral sympathy with
Americas transactions. Where they
speak for home consumption. they leave
no doubt that they see only selfish mo-
tives in American policies, even where
they are exclusively to their ADVANTAGE
Could ever such injustice have developed
II every American had remained loyal to
the noble declaration of the President?
Only one thing more would have been
needed to protect the country agains,
this lowering in the Judgment of the
world. American sober intelligence
ought to have resisted the calumnies
which the English censor furthered and
ought to have insisted on seeing the
cables which impartial Americans sent
homo.
Col Edward Emerson, the famous
American war correspondent who really
saw the events In the West and the
East. sent seventy cablegrams in
the first months in which public opinion
was being formed. Only three of them
went through unchanged; all three spoke
OF German reverses.
A fourth went through. but was so
sarbled by the censor that the news ia
voraole to Germany was turned into its
exact opposite: and the seventy four
other cablegrams. all of which would
have awakened sympathy and friendly
understanding for the German side. were
all suppressed in England and not one
of them reached New York
The English and French papers are
hardly masking the fact that most of
the denunciations Of Germany are writ
ten only for the neutral countries, and
what they really mean is for the one
great neutral country. where the indigna-
ton must be kept alive
Yet may 1t not be said here. too. that
the question Of the tomorrow cannot be
answered today? 1t may be that the
American nation will stick to its present
role and will not free itself from the tenn
per of the hour. But It may be that he
fore the sun sets over the last battlefield
of this war. the great change will have
come. signs OF which suggest themselves
daily more under the surface.
American Youth Calm.
You cannot fool all the people all the
time. They are tired of their papers and
disguised with the way in which they
have been misled. But most promising
Of all signs. the youth of America shows
the right moral fiber
The student body has been splendid
everywhere. The purity OF their youth
oie ehVh ioNc lOT fairness IN sport nave
kept alive their sense of justice. They
feel the thrill Of the great time and they
instinctively grasp the true meaning of
a gigantic struggle between two noble
nations. each of which deserves the high
est respect Of mankind. Theirs Is the
true voice Of tomorrow.
Americas public opinion will change
just as Ensland's changed with regard to
Americas civil war. England treated
Lincoln exactly as America is treating
the German Emperor today. Who dared
to repeat those calumnies OF America $
great President a few years ago? Eng
lana did its utmost to strengthen the
Confederates against the Union. as
everybody who wants to be in the social
stream tries to back the allies today
against central Europe
Gladstone boasted OF his purchase Of
Confederate bonds. just as American
bankers today do their best to fill the