South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-14

so far as western European prob
lens are responsible for the catas-
trophe.
When the Panther suddenly ap-
peared off Agadir, in the summer of
1911, German public opinion was
caught entirely unprepared. But
anybody who had taken the trouble
to follow the propaganda and pub
LEGATIONS of the Pan-German society
might have predicted months be-
fore that some day a world crisis
would come as punctually as any
Of the issues of the weekly organ
of the society, the Pan-German
Gazette (Alldeutsche Blatter). To
readers of this paper the act of
the Panther was as comprehensive
as the arrival of their favOrite
sheet-they had been, so to speak,
subscribers for six months TO one
as well as TO the other. And it
may be remembered what a joyful
cutlery there was in the press, es-
pecially in provincial papers, over
the act of deliverance' of the Pan
Their. What had previously been
urged only by Pan-German sheets,
from their hiding places, was now
taken up by the great papers They
sought TO make the incident lead
TO the uttermOst extremes. In vain
the semi-official ones tried TO re-
assure themselves; for months the
press agents of the Pan German
society proved themselves the
stronger. The publisher Of the
Grenzboten, CleinOw, a trusted ally
of the foreign office, spoke in those
days of the activity of a Krupp
press agency And when the re-
sponsible heads of the government
succeeded once again in calming
the storm a renewed passionate
agitation Of the Pan-Germans be-
gan. Under the immediate pres
sure of the unwelcome Franco-Ger-
man agreement, Gen. Won Bern
hardi wrote his fateful book, Ger
many and the Next War.
The program of the Pan-Ger-
man society is simple and clear. The
'nationalistic' Pan-German illus
sions are merely an idealistic by
product for the delectation Of
teachers and professors affiliated
with the society. The real goal Is
the acquisition of colonies where
Germans may settle. where Ger
man peasants may cultivate the
soil, Of colonies that may supply US
with raw material for our manu-
features and use German products
in exchange. That is the sure
market the dream Of the German
export trade"
(Kurt Eisner, IN Die Neue
Zeit, trans, New York Times
History. VI, 674-675.
The Defense association (Weh-
reverein) has opened the eyes of the
German people to the fact that we
can not hope for victory unless we
have a strong military force. The
navy by itself alone is of no avail,
and the Germans have no guaran-
tees that victory must always be
theirs. The famous Prince Leopold
Of Dessau once said that God was
always on the side Of the strongest
battalions But these strong bat
talions are no longer at our dispo-
sal. We must all realize this. Our
people ought TO be permeated with
a sense OF responsibility. That the
Defense association was necessary,
that il has been moving in the
right direction and has demanded
only what was absolutely indispen-
sable. is proved By the third army
bill. in which all those demands
which the Defense association con
sidered necessary have been en-
bodied. We must insist on the fact
that it was we who took the lead.
and who recognized the needs OF
our people in time. Our
schools ought TO reform their cur