Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-09-20
The HYMN of Hate.

Because allied civilization declines to clasp
hands with the murderous Hun at the moment
when it is pressing him straight down the
road to defeat and surrender. the kaiser bewails
what he terms the foes cruel hate. Who was
it," he asked with crocodile tears in his recent
speech to the Krupps gunmakers, who was it
that injected terrible hatred into this war? 1t
was the enemy That is to say according to
the HohenzoIlern answer. Belgium kindled the
flames of hate by defending her honor against
German invasion: France added to the fire by
striking back at her brutal assaiIants England
in refusing to stand cravenly by while law and
Justice were being dragooned; and America by
asserting her elemental rights and coming to the
help of humanity. Not the savage aggressor but
the upholders of treaty obligations, the defenders
of freedom are responsible for the red tides Of
hate that have poured the world. So the
Potsdam butcher contends.
Now there is no gainsaying the intense and
righteous hate which Germany's crimes against
mankind have aroused. Her deeds and her spirit
are abhorred Ioathed and implacaby hated
wherever conscience, that deity in mans BOSOM"
holds sway But it is important that dis
tinguish between this natural and truly righteous
wrath called forth by German deeds themselves
and that self-evOIved hate which the Germans
from the very beginning of the nursed in
their hearts and made national propaganda
Belgium did not go to war for hate, nor did Eng
land nor France. Italy, nor the United
States They all went TO war for the vital prn-
cipIes of their existence. But the Hun made
hatred his raIlying point from the first The
Louisville Courier-Journal aptly recalls that "Gott
straffe" was the Germans war cry. and that they
had hardly set foot on Belgian soil before they
found a mouthpiece in Vieroradt and the whole
nation acclaimed, as never before an expression
of the German genius, his Hymn of Hate
Thus sang the Huns laureate of war:
20 my Germany. into thy soul thou must
etch a deep and indelble hate. Retribution,
vengeance fury are demanded; stfle in thy
heart all human feeling and hasten to the
fight. o Germany, hate, Slaughter thy foes
by the millions. and of their reeking corpses
build monument that shall reach the
clouds. o Germany hate now. Arm thy
self with steel and pierce with thy bayonet
the heart of every foe; no prisoners! Lock
all their lips in silence; turn neighbors'
lands into deserts Germany, hate Sal
walton will come of thy wrath. Beat in their
skulls with rifle butts and with axes. These
bandits are beasts of the chase, they not
men. Let your clenched fist enforce the
Judgment of God. o Germany, the time to
hate has come. Strike and thrust, true and
hard Bsttalions, batteries, squadrons, all
TO the front, Afterwards thou. will stand
erect on the ruins of the world, healed for
ever OF thine ancient madness, OF thy love
for the alien
The notable fact is that these savage words
voiced the soul OF the German nation. Beat in
their skulls with rifle butts and with axes" (and
spare not the women and children There we
hear not simply the wild solo of Potsdam in
spired bard. but the chorus Of an entire people
gone mad with greed and hate