The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1917-07-20
GERMAN BARBARISM NOT
BARBARISM TO GERMANS
(From The Manufacturers Record)


You must not imagine that the bar
barianism of the Germans in this war
is barbarism from the German view
point" was a statement made some
days ago by wealthy retired Ger
man-American to Mr.. William C. Sed-
don, a Baltimore banker.
while l recognize, now that | un-
derstand the civilization of this coun-
try, that Germany is guilty of bar
barism, l also understand, because l
was born and raised in Germany, that
the German people do not look upon
their acts as barbarism. | will illus
trate whole case by own experience
| When a young man at school in Ger
many l beat up and manned for life
another student, in order to take from
him something that belonged to him,
but which l wanted. When 1 went
home my parents patted me on the
shoulder and commended me for hav-
'rg fought for what l wanted, al
though | manned the boy in getting
it. They were merely following tn.
universal thought and custom in Ger
many, where in family life, in schools
Fand in government, people are taught
that might is right and they must
take whatever they may desire with
out regard to how they may MAIN or
lnJure other people in the getting of
| it.
"This spirit has ran through the
whole of German life. 1t was the
spirit which dominated Germany
when | grew up, forty years or more
ago, and it is the spirit which eX-
plains why the German army can be
guilty of what you and the people of
this country call barbarism, without
their own recognition of the fact that
they are doing anything that is bar
barrie or anything that has not been
bred into their very being through
their whole life.
Years ago, after / had reached
manhood, | came to this country, and
after l had caught an understanding
of the life and atmosphere of Amer
lea | saw things in an entirely di;-
ferent light | then realized that had
committed crime IN manning a
school boy friend for my personal
qualification, and for 22 years | have,
as some slight atonement been sup
porting that man. If had continued
to live in Germany, however, it would
never have occurred to me that I
had done wrong, or was under any
obligation whatever to look after the
man whom l had thus so seriously
injured. You can see, therefore, that
the viewpoint of the people of Ger
many Is diametrically opposed to the
viewpoint of the people of this coun-
try. What we in this country call
barbarism is not SO regarded by Ger
mans, who have been trained from
infancy to think and act exactly as
they are doing in this war. They
commit acts which Americans (and I
am now an American in thought) call
great crimes, but the Germans do not
look upon them as crimes, but as the
natural carrying out of the life they
have been taught to lead"
This personal statement of an in
telligent man, born and reared in Ger
many, but now living in this country,
retired from active business, illumi-
mates that whole situation and shows
that until this spirit of barbarism,
trained from infancy into Germans in
Germany, has been conquered there
can be no peace for the world. For
20 years or more the training of the
German people in schools, in family
life, in military life and in govern
ment affairs has been to take what
you want regardless of how you get
it, whether by brutal physical force
or in other ways. Here is the Ger
man philosophy which has made that
nation, once honored and respected by
all the world nation of barbarism;
nation so trained to barbaric deeds
that the world shudders as their fear
full work in Belgium and France is
understood.
This personal testimony is in di-
rect line with the teachings of some
of their great philosophers and writ
ers, such, for instance, as NietZche,
one of the foremost philosopher lead
ers of Germany, some of whose
statements, taught in the schools of
Germany, were quoted in the Manu-
facturers' Record recently, as follows:
The book also held that any nat
ural inclination was all right, be-
cause it was stimulated by nature, and
that anyone who curbed such inclina-
tons was weak and unfit. And so
Berlin changed into one of the most
immoral capitals in Europe, and so
illegitimate children were made legal
by the imperial State. That is to saw,
their production was encouraged. 1t
meant more soldiers for the Kaiser
and his war lords. And they saw to
it that book was thoroughly read bv
the educated classes"
How shall we deal with a country
whose teachings are so contrary to
all civilization and which, alone, lead
to such fearful crimes as German