Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-03-08

NWfUtcfi Dy ASlidtHuS NaiidSt, IL
German Socialist who secured an as
signment to visit Germany has just re-
turned to Zurich, Switzerland after
six months of travel i'm his FatIlerIand,
and reports his tragic experiences"
exclusively to this newspaper.)
When it was agreed that my mis-
sion to Germany should be financed.
this short and rather curt instruction
was flashed to me:
American editors do not care about
one mans observations proceed on the
mission You have proposed stay in
Germany as long as necessary to find
out what the German masses are say
ing and thinking about war and
peace
Before proceeding with my report lei
me make plain this much: | am high
ly connected with my fraternal organi-
ZatiOnS throughout the fatherland.
Through Il serious pretence of making
necessary viSifations | finally succeed
ed i'll having ways and means arranged
for my extended travel in Germany,
which | had not visited since the early
part of 1914-s0me months before the
outbreak of the war
In the following chapters | will not
attempt to give information regarding
military matters in Germany. [ will
not violate the confidence of friends
who have helped me to secure informa-
ton, military and otherwise, and who
made it possible for me to interview
men and women of working classes
soldiers and civilians; junkers of all
shades and colOrS: Socialists of all
hues and tinges; and last and perhaps
not the least, clergymen and educa
tors.
Tragic Scenes IN Germany
After six months have returned to-
the atmosphere of Zurich with heavy
heart. | find that it is not possible
TO report only what other Germans are
today saying and thinking everywhere
i'll the fatherland. As a German II
find il impossible to simply relate
what others say and think. | as a Ger
man. too and a German who has lived
i'll Germany these last six months can
cause what good is a German who can
cause what good sa German who can
not tell others what he thinks, and he
is bad Socialist who will not analyze
the causes and effects of the sins OF
my native land
/ stayed i'll Germany six months
| saw with my own eyes sights that
| can never. forget.
| heard with my own ears German
children by the thousands cry for
bread. and German workers curse. their
rulers. In the secret confine of more
than one wOrkingman's conference.
heard the very name of the Kaiser
cursed to the deepest hell.
Curse Kaiser Through Clenehed Teeth
| interviewed judges of courts Of
Justice talked with educators men of
many professions. lawyers and clergy
and | heard with my own ears men of
every walk in life curse the German
rulers through clenched teeth.
| moved about from place to place, a
mute and unwilling witness to the
tragic sufferings of my people until,
Notwithstanding my age | was tempt
ed to stand on street corners and call
the suffering Germans to rebellion.
On entering Germany / first could
not persuade myself to believe that
was travelling in my land OF birth.
Wartime Germany is a land different
from peace time Germany. | found
the German transformed. deteriorated.
physically. morally and intellectually
l found South Germany suffering
privatiOns that were beyond descrip-
tion.
/ found people lean. salow-colored.
and sad as though their country were
invaded and they were suffering under
the heel OF the invader This was not
the Southern Germany | had known
The sight of the incapacitated sol
dierS on the streets the prematurely-
aged young women; the total absence
of young men III civilian clothes: the
almost total absence of old men and
women, and above all the lack of babes
in German cities overwhelmed me with
the heaviest grief and discouraged me
at once. | wanted to escape from fur
ther mental torture | wanted to re-
turn to Zurich | wanted to give up
my mission in dispair.
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