Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-04-22

3 neXed people should forget France. , that they should have only one pride and one glory that of being German. 7 "l was a student al Straussbnrg F after the war of 1870 and saw the be- ginning of that new and painful era , for Alsace. My first preaching was 7 done there. l soon discovered that, if : ] remained. l could scarcely be any thing more than corporal of the , emperor. ] left because 1 didn't want to become a spiritual eendarme.' CanE.,t Understand Character. , "The Germans failed utterly 10 understand what Was noble and worthy in the Alsatian character and
 how they might have made themselves
 accepted. They were blind to the
 painful situation of the tenacious and
 obstinate Alsatian people, holding to
 old affections. and to whom, remain
 ing faithful to France in her msfor-
 tunes, Germany appeared all the more
 excessive in her eXultations. They had not the tact and discretion of
 successful victor. The consequence was that Alsatians attributed the re-
 suit of the war of 1870 more to cir
 cumstances than to Germanys super iority.
 "The great contrast they were obliged to draw between the Germans
 who emigrated from other provinces
 into Alsace after the war and their l ideal German, destroyed their confi- dence in the much vaunted German
 organization.
 "The Alsatian lives well and drinks 1 good wine, but he is ashamed to be
 seen drunk. The absolute absence of
 dignity in this respect by the iln1nigat-
 ed Germans made it impossible for i the Alsatian to associate with them. l 'The younger generations became
 more indifferent than the old by force of circumstances, but the partial con- I quest of this younger element was not ] a spiritual conquest. It was simply
 because the population was becoming
 habituated to new rulers, as an old
 woman becomes habituated to her
 false teeth, to her failing beauty, without in any sense becoming enam-
 cured of her old age. Germans Needed a Napoleon.
 ''The Germans needed a Napoleon l to complete the military conquest of l 1870 by the spiritual conquest of the 1 people. He would never lay a hand
 upon institutions particular to Alsace and Lorraine He was chaffed once about the generals on his staff who spoke German. Tt is true they do speak German he said 'Kellermann
 swears in Germany, but he fights in
 French Napoleon knew that the 1 spirit of the Alsatian was French and | that he need have no anxiety on the score of the language. In fact. the French policy since Louis nv had been never to touch anything in AL sace. The country was left with 1 language that was not national. Ger l man and French were taught, but the
 old patois was the substance. French
 penetrated the province like per- fume instead of like a projectile as did German institution. "A curious result of the German effort to stamp out French in Alsace was that in proportion as the Asa tians forgot French they became more Alsatian, while they never approached any nearer to being German. In less than fifteen years after the beginning of the German occupation, an Alsatian literature had sprung up. The Ger
 mans permitted it. not understanding that that provincial patois was sort of a fortress behind which Alsatian characteristics were sheltered" Passing on to general questions re- garding the war and it's effects after
 ward. Pastor Wagner expressed the opinion that the world will be spiritu- ally better for the great trial through l which he has passed. Invisible Things Count.
 '"The world will have observed" he
 said, "that there are things that can- not be put into the balance, invisible
 things that count and from which good will come. Good will come even from the formidable exposition by
 men of bad sentiments that will make | the rest of the world sick of living among them. Germany's abuse of power is a great object lesson that | will be useful to future generations. America even, that great refuge Of
 liberty, was finally forced to rebel against it. The lessons of the sacri- l fices that have been made by the
 young will improve the spirit of youth
 by emulation, while older people have
 been renovated mentally. The world generally will not longer admire the
 same things that it did before or will not longer admire them in the same
 way. It is not only my opinion but my sentiment; I feel myself being spiri- l tually renovated. "The Perfection to which Germany has brought the organization of false hood will in itself disgust the world
 with lying beginning with false
 hoods regarding the first use of suf-
 locating gas, falsehoods at all times
 and on all subjects, prepared and dis | seminated with all the perfection of German method. will make the world
 hungry for truth and candor. O "It has been asked whether the re-
 suit of this war is going to develop hatred between peoples that will be detrimental to our spiritual experi-
 ence. If we cannot detest actions that are loathesome, how can we de- fend ourselves against all that goes
 with them? It will be necessary to
 kxtract all sensibility from the hu- hnt