The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-12-26

people at large would nave nei0 Dach
had they realized the truth. he falls to
understand the underlying spirit Of the
Teutcnlc race.
The Germans are the most quarrel
some people In the world. II Is mis-
leading to speak Of the German mill.
tarists. All Germans are m~illtnrists,
The =, cords Of their civil courts tell
the story. In 1913 there were no less
thnn 5,OOO.0O0 petty cases tried In the
courts. and ms every case naturally IN
volved at least two parties, the aston
ishing fact II disclosed that some TO-
100000 Gerrsans, or one-seventh Of the
entire population, appealed to the
courts In n single yearl
The belllcose character Of the people
was evidenced In countless other ways.
II was the natural result Of what I
believe to be the most pronounced ma
tional observation-disclosures. The
average German Is the most selfish In
dividual In the world. He thinks OF
himself and his own comfort first. last
the street cars. In the theaters, In the
public highways. In the restaurants and
hotels, where people c~ongregnte.
Every one looked out for himself frst
and pushed aside those who stood In
his wny. In civil life, just as In a stnte
of war. the German practiced the prin.
ciple that might makes right.
Chivalry. courtesy. mngnanlmity are
rs foreign to the German makeup as
they are characteristics OF the French
A keen desire to make something out
Of nothing Is another national trait Of
the Germans. II my observation has
been accurate. What Is commonly re-
ferred to rs German thrift Is only q
polite name for German stinglness. and
have seer so many Illustrations OF
the petty Of the German peo-
pie that II seems Idle 4 specify single
instances.
One Of the first Impressions I re-
ceived about the German people. when
I went to live among them fourteen
yenrs ago. was the lack Of cOmrade-
ship among them. Class distinctions
are drawn 80 fine. and there are no
many gradations, that It was almost
impossible to find two Germans on the
same social plane. One was always the
others superior. After my fourteen
years experience among these people.
I cannot say that TINT early impression
has been removed; II anything. It has
been d%eepened.
Such were the people behind the
kaiser when the great war started.
shall never forget the sentiments ex.
pressed to me by private individuals
In every walk Of life rs the vsri0ua
phases Of the val developed.
No measure that was taken BY Ger
many. no matter how atrocious OF In
consistent with the worlds kica Of
: what Is permissible In clvillsed war
fare, ever brought q word Of c0ndem
nation from the German public ~
whole. although, Of course. there ~ert
, some notable exceptions. The gren'
majority Of Germans who discussed
!, these matters with me, however. no
only defended everything Germany did
but complained because more rigorous
measures were not taken.
Merely by way Of example. and no
o because her suggestion was any wors'
A thnn hundreds of others raised by m.
! German patients. l may mention tn
: surprising viewpoint expressed by tn
Z Countess Slerstorpf, n relative OF Vol
r Henckel-D onnersmarch. II was afte
Italy had Joined the allies and wheI
q German resentment against that I'd
ton run very high.
i "What we should do ut the very frs
d available opportunity" she declared
us to destroy every single work Of Al
d In Italy. Not q single Que OF thei
!. landmarks or art treasures should b
left standing. Then when the war
d over and Italy no longer derives tn
l. enormous revenue she has been co
Z lecting for years from tourists. she wi
be sorry for what she has done I
d Germany"
Did the German people co~untenane
B. the submarine warfare and the slsugl
ter Of innocent women and children. |
T. defiance Of all rules Of internati0ni
II law and the dictates Of common hi
le manity3 They had only one critlcis'
n to make OF lit was not compreheI
sIve enough! II wns absolute folly.
r. not a crime. they said. for German
to prescribe safety lines for neutr'
N vessels to use. The whole world shou
n have been declared a wal zon tn
D. death and destruction might be dea
0: wherever and whenever the 0ppOrta
e. ity offered. Every ship that salt
TX should be sunk. and every Americs
Mt who ventured within range Of a Ge
y" man gun. On sea or land. should
n shot. That wal the universal sen
ment.
~ The suggestion that q continuatis
~ Of the submarine warfare would J
~ evitably bring America into the vi
~ did not perturb the people In Il
slightest.
H. -~.l~> 40 an -n~a hes