New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-04
To Guard or Duck Was a Sign Of
COWardiCe.
WAITER

The poor devil stood there, absolutely thun-
derstruck and wondering what it was all about,
while I grew increasingly abusive. Pretty
soon the station master came up to see what
the row was about. | explained the insult
had received.
What do you mean by speaking TO this
gentleman" roared the station master.
IL did not know it was Forbidden stam-
mered the unfortunate civilian.
Don't you know that that's no excuse at
all?" WhereUpon the station master repeated
most Of my previous remarks, with some addi-
tions Of his own.
How ridiculous that seems now, and what
an unbearable little nuisance | must have
been. And to think of that station master
backing me up, However that is modern
Germany.
Rules at the academy were many and strict,
but the unwrtten rules were even more so.
Our customs were iron-bound. Woe be unto
the cadet who broke his word ! remember
one boy who did. The older boys dragged him
out of his bed one night, laid him across a
chair. and gave him one blow for every men,
Der of the company. There were one hundred
and twenty members in that company, and the
boy Just escaped with his life, after fortnight
in bed
We were supposed to endure all pain with
indifference. And never. under any crcum-
stances, did the code permit US to show the
slightest sign of fear or reluctance to attempt
any feat, however hazardous We we're taught
to swim, for example, by being compelled to
dive off into deep water the first day. More
over, we must dive off with our hands at our
sides. We dived off on the end of rope il
we flinched, they let go of the rope
In order TO keep us ever jealous of our honor,
the school authorities encouraged fighting
among u.s. Somehow I cannot feel that this
was an unmixed evil The surest way TO keep
boy from being cowardly is TO get him into
fist fight or two. If he wins, he discovers
that an adversary is only human being after
all, not an invulnerable MONSTER if he loses,
he discovers that licking is not necessarily
fatal There was one feature about those
scraps, though, that would strike Anglo
Saxon as strange. We must strike at the face
only, and must not guard. To guard or duck
was a sign of cowardice. To act on the de-
fensive for the sake of dealing future blow
is not the German way. 1t is a method Of
1gnLng LndI he uOeS nOJ uHueIslduu. We
fought in school as the German army fights
to-day-on the offensive, always, without re-
gard for the damage that might be inflicted by
an opponent who was equally on the offensive.
TEARS OFFICIALLY PERMITTED ON
SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
Tears were unforgivable. no matter what
their cause-except upon one occasion. Dur
ing the twenty-four hours Immediately follow
ing ones return from furlough he was, by
common custom, suffered to shed tears to his
hearts content. Otherwise, we must be little
stoics After eight years of such training q
Prussian sub-lieutenant is prepared TO face
any danger, endure any pain, without finch
ing He hes learned that il is easier to die
in torture than to face an accusation Of cow
ardice. He does not dare be afraid.
was never good cadet. The life revolted
me. and / was forever getting into trouble
with my schoomates and the authorities. At
last, after five years, | could endure it no
longer protested so strongly and so per-
sistently that my family in despair, let me
have my own way. / left the academy. My
reception among my family and my friends
was a cold one, for I was considered a fall
ure. however, L Hdu ROl iIct VI bnc army,
and that was all that mattered to me.
look back on those five years as aight-
mare. But that is only because | got away
in time. Had I remained longer / would
probably be typical Prussan officer to-day
a fearless, arrogant, brutal, and utterly eff
cient instrument of killing.
WHAT WOULD YOU BE. GIVEN THE
SAME TRAINING?
And why not? Suppose you had been taken
by your government at the age Of ten; sup
pose that government had taught you, during
the eight most impressionabe years of your
life, that your race was the chosen race Of
the world, that your Emperor was infallible,
that you, as an officer were his incarnation,
that common soldier was a dog, that q
civilian was less than dog, and that your
sacred duty was to obey orders-blindly.
eagerly. unquestoningly. What would you be
at eighteen?
The captain of the submarine that sank tho
Lusitana was probably once a normal, good
hearted, mischievous youngster, not very iif-
ferent from any of the urchins that you will
meet swarming out of any New York public