The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-05-18


f6 man spirit has found of its
~ most classical expressions in col
lection Of poems published by n German pastor
honsistnrialrat Dietrich vorwerk under the sig
hlhcaht title Hurrah and Halleujah,' and / find
in THIS combination something absolutely char
hceeristic of the German spirit that have adopted
1t as the title for this book"
This book in the opinion of Ralph Connor who
mas written the preface 1t, CONSTITUTES the most
terrlhc arraignment of Germany through her in
teectual and religious leaders which has yet been
put forth Out of her own mouth II Is that she
stands before the world condemned And the
tragedy Of Ii all is In this, that these men (whom
Doctor Bang quotes) are sincere deeply pas-
sionately sincere. And herein consists the awful
nemesis that has after 80 years pursuit at length
oVertHken the German soul. For the crime of
Germany today Of which these sermons and lee
lures convict her is not hypocrisy; but the long
practice of hypocrisy has induced In her a spirit
unl blindness which has become at once her
calamity and her curse"
The allies" says Doctor Bang, have denounced
the 'ernnns us barbarians If this were meant to
Imply thAt Germany was not a civilized nation
thulturhau"n) such an accusation would of
course, be absurd. Germany is unouestionablv n
civilized nation and of the Spokesman of
the allied powers would think of denying that she
has produced rich treasures of 'Kultur' Wherever
the German mind has abored wonderful riches
have been the outcome. In the most diverse do
mains, but especially In those Of music of liter
AIur", OF science ana religion 1t would be easy
10 mention names that shine with the luster Of
renoWn throughout the whole world Bur the
charge of harhnrism points In entirely different
direction. It points 10 a development within Ger
many which has been going with headlong
rHpldlty especially during the last so years. Even
the highest kultur turn barbarism when
It becomes subservent to utterly false and i'm
moral ideas In Germany such craving for
power, such n worship for strength has
taken root and grown, that the claim of right to
be determining factor in international relations
hpl hp4p rfrp1, uI,nI
ever increasing standardization, belief in the
glory of all things German the surprising merits
of the German nature (Wesen). which alone has
the right TO rule the world cynical, brutal asser-
ton that in relation to this claim all existing
treaties. all appeals to international law all CON
sdcraton for weaker peoples, are of no signih-
canoe whatever-all this have witnessed with
shudderng establishment.
Foretod 8eIeum's Fate
THE first place is due to Ernst Mortz Arndt
the great German patriot of the time of the War
OF Liberation. AS early as 1884 he declared In one
Of his writings that the neutrality of Belgium
could not possibly be maintained in future war.
He wrote:
Belgium, the granary and armory, is predes-
tined to be the battlefield in the struggle for the
Mouse and the Rhine. l ask any general states
man who has seriously considered the problems
of war and politics whether Belgium remain
neutral in European war-that Is to say, can be
respected as neutral any longer than may appear
expedient to the power which feels itself pos
sessed of the best advantages for attack
The German writer, G. Traub makes the fol-
lowing inmitable comment the above:
THUS Arndt has, far back so years
ago, given us absolution for this so-called breach
of neutrality. having foreseen that 1t Is here
question Of higher necessities and that Belgium
herself that half French country" cannot pos
sibly remain neutral
THE second German prophet is the well-known
philologist and theologian, p. de Lagarde. Already
in 1874 he expressed the view that Bismarcks
creation of the German empire only cpl
sode the way to the formation of the Great Mid
die European state. He calls the German empire
Little Germany Even at that time Lagarde a
German has lately put It, formulated the national
demands which the Germans, not with unblush-
ing arrogance, but realizing the inherent neces-
sity of the case must consider the ndispen-
sable foundation for the German peoples cooper
alton In the history of mankind. These demands
extensions of frontier both towards the East
and the West.
THE greatest and most popular of all the new
German prophets is however the poet Emanuel
Geibel, whose centenary has recently been cele-
brated (born 1915, died 1SS4). 1t is he who has
given the classic expression to the new German
hope of Germanys victorious march through the
world. This has been achieved in the lines to
which l have already referred, and which
quoted times without number In the newest Ger
man literature:
"'Und mag deutschen Wesen
EnInal noch die Welt genesen!
THE world may yet again be healed by German
ism? The hope here expressed has become a GER
tainty for modern Germany and the Germans see
In this the moral basis for all their demands. He
says,
".Germany had set her mind upon building her
house in peace but then came her hereditary foe,
pulled up with venom and envy. The blood SO
crtminally shed shall be upon him and his brood.
We do not dream Of an easy victory this war Is
world Judgment, and strong Is the spirit of lies;
but he who once the stronghold Of our fathers
will again see us safely through 1t. be assured Of
that!
God who went before In the fame Of fire,
now grant our people strength Tor the last VIC
tory. strength to root out the dark seed of lies,