South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-03-03

EruTe ID Dcrr--U ruG ne ruUugut uTmsC4- 8
victim Among his new and highly comic Dos
lures OF pacihsm the one j Ike best Is the
chivalrous attitude (actually taken up IN he
ChancellOr's speeCh) OF economically rescuing
the poor Balkans from the pressure" OF their
pitiless enemy Russia. like that one; they
will never do anything better than that
But as the Germans apparently cannot eK-
press what they mean. We must try 10 express
Il for them II is made harder because tIeir
meaning is masked by a fog OF mere praise OF
the TeutOn. IN which Il is hard 20 trace the
outline or any definite idea. For the TeCto-
maniacs all virtues are the special Teuto1ic
virtues. They do not allow anybody else 10
specialize In anything. And this extends TO
Commanders who are not even Germans.
Compare let us say, Mr. Houston Chamberlain
defending Germany with Mr. Maurice Barring
defending Russia. Mr.. Barring suggests some
where that many Russians really shrink from
obtaining political liberty. because ther think
n means losing social liberty. This is q sug-
eestion a suggestive suggestion: IL is an idea
and distinction; one can test It rs a hjpoth-
ess
Turn TO Mr. Chamberlain and you ind him
merely saying: THE Germans love of liberty
e living thing that nils his whole being -
the brain fills the skull which hides and
velops t. etc etc. etc" Without nQurils
into the particular case Of Chamberlain own
brain (which possibly does MI his skull 50
vast are its convOlutOns) | wish 20 pOint out
that this remark is distinguished frua Mr..
Baring's remark by the fact that it is no use.
Il does not note any Characteristic; u does
not give any guide IL merely tells MS in ex-
travagant language that the German love- lib
erty: which every man does I'm some manner
or degree. Even an Englishman who a31red
Germans would agree that this statement does
not explain them This at any rate. is not The
difference between English and GermaI GUS
toms: this throws no light on the fact hat
English chimneys are swept when TIE house
holder chooses and German chimneys when
the town council chooses.
But this tiresOme trick Of praising Tho Teu-
ton as the complete human being only con
ceals the real truth; that he is very iacom-
plete human being who honestly thinks him
self superhuman The nearest TO a colorless
statement OF it is that the Prussian is an ex-
ception trying to force himself ss the rule. II
is simply lie to say that in this case Ger
many was attacked. But il is true to say that
she more or less expected TO be attacked,
because she moved among men man
moves among beasts. She guessed that she
was unpopular. and she guessed right Let US
congratulate her upon this and let us frankly
admit 10 the Chancellor Tin return for his
own sl91Kness) that II we are talking OF
pleasure, as apart from principle, almost any
people in the world would al any time have
taken pleasure in knocking the stufing out OF
Prussia.
Let MS give him the full benefit of the full
confession. that wherever there were liber-
tracts, wherever two or three were gathered
together 10 trade equally to argue honestly.
there really wcS an unconscious conspiracy
against Prussia In all heartiness and sim
plicity let us own TO the Chancellor that
Prussia not only poisonous to all mems
principles and ruinOus to all mems souls; let
us own that she was also rabidly and incur
ably destructive Of all mems practical inter
csts. This complete confession should surely
satisfy the Chancellor. In this sense it is true
that Prussia is engaged in war OF defense;
in the sense that only could defend any
thing so indefensible.
There is some institution called The Some.
thing Of Democratic Control doubtfully sup
ported b. some OF the most hopelessly undem.
ocratic people know. It processes a frightful
fuss about secret diplomacy" It regrets that
Sir Edward Greys communications with our
Ambassadors did not originate in a spontane-
Gus uprising Of the whole populace as did the
Insurance act with all those public retOCings
among the poor which hailed the docking OF
their wages few years ago. All such talk of
secret diplomacy is discounted by a simple
fact. II the democracy had differed from the
diplOmatists II would certainly have been
in being more bellicose And as all the demo
OcratiC classes are more anti-German even
than the aristocratic classes. so all the more
democratic countries are more antiGerman
than the aristocratic countries
And the more enlightened the democracy Is.
the more anti-German it Is Few will deny
that the Frenchman knows more about French
foreign policy than the Englisman about Eng
hsh foreign policy And because the French
man knows the national policy more fully he
also supports il more fully. II is idle to talk
Of letting the people know; the more IT knows
the more 1t hates All alternatives all eva
sions fail before one inexhaustible fact Of ex-
perience. which can be modified from Mr. Bel
lOc's immortal couplet-
conquering Teuton, does II ever strike you
The more We see OF you the less we like your