Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-10-26


will be difficult to obtain coal at many
times during the coming winter.
KEEPING GERMANY "LoYAL."
In view of the statements of Marie
Bonini Brown in her articles which
appeared recently in The Courier. re.
garding the fear among the people OF
Germany that the British and French
armies will commit atrocities in Ger.
many such as those of which the Ger
mans have been guilty in Belgium and
France, an article from the Frank
furter Zeitung is of particular inter-
est.
1t is written by a Heidelberg profess
sor, Max Weber, who not long ago got
himself and the Zeitung into consid-
cradle trouble with the kaiser and
his government by writing severe
criticisms of the German system of
warfare. Now, it seems, Professor
Weber is a candidate for succession
to Professor Brentano's much disput-
ed chair at Munich university, and he
has trained his pen to write loyalist
words as readily as it formed criti-
cisms of the throne in other days.
Aside from the authors individual
case, however, the article has wider
significance. 1t evidences the fact
which Marie Brown mentioned fire.
quently in her articles, that the Ger.
mans are impelled to fight for the
kaiser by their fear, not only of him,
but of his enemies and their ven-
geance. The doglike devotion with
which the Germans have been credit,
ed apparently is wearing out under
the steady pressure of wars hard
ships, but the Potsdam powers are
building up in its place sort Of sub
stitute loyalty which feeds on fear.
Professor Weber, of course, is care
less of truth. He accuses the Russians
of having committed crimes during
their brief occupation of small sec
ton OF Teutonic territory, but he does
not refer TO the terrible crimes
against humanity and civilization
which distinguished the occupation of
Belgium and France by the depraved
soldiers of the German emperor. He
knows, however, that the people Of
Germany know the nature, though
possibly not the extent, of these atroc-
tiles, and his article is clever warn
ing that they may expect their own
country to be violated in reprisal "
the armies of the allies are successful
in reaching German territory.
The following extract is said to be
admired extremely in Germany:
At the head of some of the en-
envy powers are coarse rascals and
adventures, who cannot speak Of
US except in terms of undignified
abuse, and who make demands of
us which no people with a sense
of honour can even discuss;
meanwhile, they speak of the war
in the language of a circus boxer
(sic), and above all the crush
down by violence the longing for
peace of their own peoples and
of the allied peoples whose free
dom they violate. And all this is
merely because they have to fear
for their own persons the day of
reckoning after peace, and so
they would like to postpone peace
in the mad hope that the will Of
the German people to maintain
itself may yet collapse. AS long
as they can keep up this madness
there will be no peace. But the Ger
man people knows the fate that
is prepared for it. The enemy
armies are composed to an in
creasing extent Of barbarians. On
the western front there is today a
scum OF African and Asiatic saw
ages, and all the robbers and ras-
calls of the earth are there to-
gether under arms, ready to lay
thn GrcS
moment when there is a falling
off in the adequate supply of our
army with munitions. The bestial
atrocities which were praoticed
by the undisciplined Russian
hordes in Their temporary pene-
tration of country in part inhabi-
ted by comrades of their own race
recall the medieval Monaghan
Age. A part of the governing
classes in the enemy countries
seems to have gone entirely mad
with hatred In France. some OF
the university classes have the
habit of splitting at defenceless
enemies which elsewhere is only
conceivable among prostitutes.
Nobody therefore, can doubt what
would be the lot of the German
people Id the event of any slack
ening of it's readiness for war es-
pecially as the schemes of sys-
tematic plundering and per-
nent enslavement of Germany in
the event Of victory have been
publicly discussed among our enc
mics without any objection being !
made.
9 1t will be interesting to learn
whether this effort of Professor Web
ber's will win the professorship
at Munich Certainly it entities