New-York tribune., 1919-07-24
The &c rman Idea
Is Prodde d
Neso York Tnbuns
Foreign Press Bw,eoy

NEWSPAPER duel fought recent,
IN IN the columns Of the "vossiscb.
zeitung" by Karl Schefier, the -
nous Berlin critic, and Wally Zenn1s-
well-known Socialist author, furnishes ..
interesting illustration of the strueel. M
raging between the old German. or ra+h..
Prussian, school Of chauvinistic mecaI.-
mania, the adherents Of the "chosen neon,.p
notion, on the one hand, and, on the otha.
by the little but growing army of d;sen'
chanted intellectuals, those urging soha.
self-examination and prepared to confos.
and repent.
In his article, headlned made in Gov.
many" Karl Scheff1er reasserts the ste-o-
typed German theory that Germany is N.
country of the pure idea" This "purc
idea" is then stolen by the other great ma
tlons like the French and English, and. dis
guised with a new label, advertised as hom..
made French English product.
The Kultur Notion
According to Schefler the two great ;d...
which at present revolutionize the worldv
the idea of league Of nations and the ,d..
of international Socialsm-are both of Ger.
man origin. They have merely been apnro.
priated by the French, English American.
and Russians, distorted by them and "bereft
of their original meaning Western "democ.
racy" and liberalism" has 'vulgarized" tn.
Kantlan idea of perpetual peace secured
by an ideal league of nations, vulgarized, that
is, 'by grinding it through the economically
oriented imagination of the mercenary peo-
pies"
Al
of German idealism it is an idea of the dsy
before yesterday, so-called truth trans~
formed into lie in the hands of the un-
clean; Germans ought to be too proud even
to touch it." Similarly, the German idea Of
socialism has been rendered materialistic
and thereby vulgarized," this time by tho
Russians. The present task of Germany Is
Ito evolve, out of itself, new idealism."
For, Herr Schef1er says in conclusion, I'VE
may say without unduly emphasizing our
own Importance that the peoples of West
and East have lived, so far, to great extent
on the German export of ideas. This, of
course, reduces ad absurdum our striving
for external world power. For he who
labors with the retorts of ideas cannot. at
the same time tend the machine of world
politics."
4 Socialist Reply
This theory is cmphatically denounced BY
the Socialist authoress as lacking all foun-
dation on fact. Neither the idea Of per
petual peace and the league Of nations as
its safeguard, nor the idea of socialism are
Of German origin she writes. THE first
practical suggestion of a peaceable settle
ment Of international quarrels was made
by the French jurisconsult Bodin in his
book, Six livres de la Republque,' published
in 1877. He was followed by the famous
grand plan of the Due de Sully. then by
William PENIS Essay Toward the Present
and Future Peace of Europe and by the
Project de trate pour rendre la paix per
petuelle entire les souverains chretiens" Of
the Abbe de Saint-Pierre-all works pre-
cedng kant's treaties Eternal Peace.
Similarly, Marx and Engels them selves tes-
tify that MARKHAM socialism roots in the
writings of the great French Socialists
Saint-Simon, Fourier, Proudhon and the
Englishman, Owen"
But Frau Zeppler objects not only to the
distortion of historical facts, but even more
to the spirit manifested by Karl Scheffler's
intellectual annexationism. at is the spirit
she writes, (which ought to be battled with
the greatest energy by all who are capable
Of thinking straight: the spirit Of self
elevation and untruthfulness which, propa-
gated by certain group of German littera-
teurs and professors, has eventually concen-
trated on Germany the hatred of the entire
world. We had to stand by and look on jus.
long enough while the German people was
being discredited before all other nations
through this kind of literary rubbish,
equally arrogant and untruthful, about
German spirit and the German soul The
German people, however, is, in its over
whelming majority, not responsible for this
product Of tiny literary upper class, for
whose conceit now the blame falls on all.
1t is absolutely necessary that this should
be constantly borne in mind by ali serious
thinking German men and women, who
ought to do their utmost for bringing TO ex-
preston that mental attitude of unaffected
humanity, truthfulness and justice which
lives in Germany just as in other countries.
They would, by such efforts, also help de-
stroy that propaganda of international
hatred which has contributed SO much to
the events of latter years."