South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-03-16

YRS. Grace FINK Davis sang "Wnen
the Boys Come Home" in such an
artistic manner that she was forced
20 give an encore
a touching incident occurred
when Chairman Frank r. Herring
announced that he had with him
young subject OF King Alfred Of
Belgium who spoke not a word OF
English. This youth was Private
Lapeurt. among the defenders OF
Antwerp, and also took part in the
battle or the User. When the chair
man escorted aim 20 the front Of
the stage and explained his dilemma
10 the audience. ali stood up aud
, save him an ovation which made
the white pillars OF the auditorium
rattle. Mr.. Herring also announced
that on March 29th Sergeant Bald
win. author Of Following the Flag
Will deliver a lecture at the audi
forum.
suffer At German Hands.
All the nations in the world have
suffered at the hands OF the German
imperial government America has
suffered; England has suffered;
France has suffered: Belgium and
Serbia have suffered much more.
But the one nation which has SUI
fered more than all others is the
German nation. We have lost prop
erty We have lost lives But the
I Germans have lost their national
character.
For hundreds or years the Ger
ms
humane people They have given
us the loveliest Of our fairy tales;
/ they were the first 10 develop the
great modern interest i'm child-life;
! they gave US the Kindergarten. and
/ Yet these were the people who sent
/ 10 their doom the little children
\ who were crossing the sea on the
Lusitania. Back in the middle ages
/ and ever since then-the Ger
mans have been famous as peo-
| pie Of honor. In the Nibelungen
Lied, when two men struck hands
/ the deepest, darkest disgrace that
could fall upon either of them was
that he should break his word The
! tragedy Of that great national effort
/ lies not in the fact that one man
murdered another but i'm the fact
that the man betrayed his friend.
And yet il was the descendants of
| these medieval Germans who tore
/ in pieces soIemnly signed interna-
! tional treaties and spat upon them
! as shreds of paper.
Whole Nation Regimented.
/ What is il that has happened to
4
their national character? For more
than a generation they have been
subjected TO a carefully planned sys-
tenn of administration and educa-
ton. The whole nation has6 been
regimented In the nursery, in the
school, in the shop, i'm the army,
people have been taught 10 believe
what they are told. and TO do as
they are told. This obedient atti-
tude, the faculty for fitting into a
certain place without asking ques-
tions has been bred into their nerve
centers. into the very fibre of their
/ beings Ii has affected all classes.
Even the revolutionists in Germany
I have. during recent years been nice.
orderly revolutionists. In order TO
! realize what a great chance has
been wrought one must remember
that only a short time ago the Ger
mans were a very individualistic
people
I'm order to understand the war
/ and 10 know what il is necessary TO
do at the present time. we must go
I behind this German system of
| training. Why was il, and how was
| il. that government found il adj
visable and possible TO subject a
great nation TO the process of regi-
mentation? In order 10 answer this
question, which is a fundamental
one. we must understand something
of European geography and his
tory.
scan Map OF Europe.
Imagine "A map of Europe-Eng-
! land 10 the west, then France, then
Germany. Now, with this picture in
your mind. remember a very simple
/ fact. What YOU think and how you
act depends very largely on where
/ YOU live and what kind of people
YOU live with For example. poo
pie who live i'm large cities or on i'm
portant lines Of transportation are
quite different from those who live
+ i'm remote and isolated places. In
I olden times there was great differ
ence between dwellers by the sea
and inland folk. The sea was the
\ worlds highway. Inhabitants of
I seaports received visitors from all
over the world. Their goods went
TO all parts and they We're able to
purchase the products of other
/ places. Men who dwelt i'm the wide.
/ level valleys of the great rivers were
/ also comparatively free TO move and
/ consequently rather intelligent and
Z progressive. Those. on the other
hand. who lived in the higher val
/ leys or among the mountains were
I generally provincial and unprogres-
sive
/ English Lead World.
IF we bear these simple facts in
mind IL is easy TO understand why
I the English have led in the modern
/ civilized life of Europe. Because
/ England is insular il developed