Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-14
(COntinued.)

| There is no DOUBT tnat the war
was planned and made possible by
the militarsts and the Junkers, and
/ that every effort was made TO con-
ceal from the people it's real pur-
pose and ultimate goal; but if any,
/ one imagines that the people at
! large would have been held back
/ had they realized the truth, he fails
/ to understand the underlying spirit
of the Teutonic race.
| The Germans are the most quar-
relsome people in the world. 1t is
misleading to speak of the German
miltarists. All Germans are mill
/ tarists. The records of their civil
! courts tell the story. In 1913 there
were no less than 100000 petty
! cases tried in the courts, and as
every cast naturally involved at least
/ two parties, the astonishing fact is
disclosed that some 100000 Ger
mans, or one-seventh of the entire
population, appealed to the courts
! in a single year.
The bellicose character of the peo-
I pie was evidenced in countless other
ways 1t was the natural result OF
what I believe to be the most pro-
nounced national shortcoming-self-
ishness. The average German is the
| most selfish individual in the world.
| He thinks of himself and his own
comfort first, last and all the time
l have noticed on the street cars, in
the theaters, in the public highways,
| in the restaurants and hotels, where
people congregate. Everybody looks
out for himself first and pushes aside
| those who stand. in his way. In civil
. life, just as in state of war, the
| German practiced the principle that
might makes right.
Chivalry, courtesy, magnanimlty
are as foreign to the German make
up as they are characteristic of the
| French. A keen desire to make
something out of nothing is another
national trait of the Germans, if my
observation has been accurate. What
is commonly referred to as German
thrift is only a polite name for Ger
man stinginess, and 1 have seen so
many illustrations of the petty
/ meanness of the German people that
it seems idle to specify single in
! stances.
Just by way of example, however,
I may mention a particularly afro
! cious case of this common falling
among the Germans. One Christ
mas 1 presented my wife with a set
of furs and had them sent to the
house of a friend, where my wife
! was staying for the holidays L
afterward learned that my wife's
/ hostess had ferreted out the name of
! the furrier and had demanded a
commission" on the sale!
! One of the first impressions l re-
! ceived about the German people,
when I went to live among them
! fourteen years ago. was the lack OF
comradeship among them. Glass
! distinctions are drawn so fine, and
| there are so many gradations, that
! it was almost impossible to find two
| Germans on the same social plane.
! One was always the others supe-
rior. After my fourteen years eX-
perience among these people, I can
not say that that early impression
| has been removed; if anything, it
| has been deepened.
Another early impression that
| has remained with me was the prev
| alence of the military spirit in civil
| life. 1t was evidenced by an atmos-
phere of oppression, which was per-
haps more imaginary than real, but
which was most appreciable Just the
same. Practically every public Of
| fetal was a soldier. His military
/ bearing and outlook colored his
every act, and the civilian always
! felt more or less at a disadvantage
| in dealing with him.
! This state of affairs was brought
about by the fact that while every
male German is supposed to serve
| two years in the army, unless he
passes the higher examination for
/ the one-year service, many serve an
additional ten years, and thereby
| become entitled to a position for
life in the civil service-the police,
fire, railroad, telegraph, post office,
/ tax, customs. or some other similar
| goVernm entail department. The great
majority of these officers are army
veterans and they never allow the
| civilians to forget it.
| Anyone who has lived in Berlin.
and is familiar with conditions in
other European capitals, will bear
me out that the German policeman
is the most arrogant police official
in the world. His word is taken in
court in preference to that of six
I civilians. and his power is such that
it might very easily be used oppres-
| sively; but strangely enough. de-
spite the cupidity of the German
character. graft and corruption
among the German police and other
officials were practically unknown
before the war
An illustration of the power Of
the German police system was af-
forded in the outrage committed by
a German policeman in the course
of a strike at Breslau a year or two
before the war. To dispense the
crowd the police slashed right and
left with their swords. An innocent
boy, endeavoring to get out of