The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-04-07

dozen times session, and always rouses
| the same enthusiasm Every old and
| shop-worn argument is trotted out and
| cheered. II has never occurred TO the
Germans that on the other side OF the
fence there are fairly good arguments to
support Frances retention OF these prov.
| inces.
The junction with Austria provokes an
almost equal enthusiasm, and il would
almost seem as if half the speakers in.
sert it in their speeches for that purpose
alone. A eountryman from farthest east
Prussia can be sure of bravo" if he
mentions the brethren in Austria yearn-
! ing to become the tail end Of the Ger
man kite
The Schleswig Holstein question has
come TO the front lately and Germany is
| filled with propaganda to show that
Schleswig should and must remain Ger
| man.
| No speech is complete without at least
reference to Poland and Czecho-S loya-
kia, and the longer the reference, the
more braves. Yet not one of the speak
ers but knows that these questions will
be settled, for good or i'll, by the peace
| conference.
The failure of the German to change
materially is in no way better to be OBJ.
served than in his attitude TO the ques-
| ton Of the conduct Of the war. II IL
| only rarely that a criticism Of it is heard
in the house, and the general feeling
seems to be that, il anything was wrong
with it, that is all in the past and should
be forgotten or overlooked by Germany's
| enemies.
| The prisoner OF war question is as puz.
cling TO the student Of German psychol-
ogy just now as anything else. Virtual
/ ~ every speaker touches upon the pris.
oner question before he leaves the trib
| une. Tell German, first, that the armi-
| stice made no provision for the return of
/ German prisoners, and, secondly. that
| while Germany begs daily for food, she
! attempts al the same time to saddle her
I self with 100000 more mouths to feed,
and it has no effect on him 1t cannot
be sheer pity for the welfare of the pris-
oners, because plenty OF Germans know
only too well how slim the food is.
The assembly has had its fill of speech
making that consists chiefly of party
| programs that everyone knows, or more
frequently in attacks. often personal, that
show how bad the feeling is beneath the
surface. Now II proposes to do some
real work in committee. The press may
not attend but gets what the committees
care to give out, unless some member
| tells tales out of school,
Listening to delegates to the assembly
and talking To Germans outside of it,
| the correspondent finds that the old Ger
man viewpoint he learned to know so
well during the war until the breach
with America, is still abroad in the land
| though in less truculent form.
The German thinks differently from
any other human being in the world, and
! therefore does not understand why he
now should suffer, why everything can
not be placed on basis of status quo
ante, why anyone should hold against
| him conduct Of the war with which he
| claims he had nothing to do.
He complains bitterly that some OF
| the troops of the armies of occupation
! force the Germans to bare their heads
when an officer passes, or walk in the
| street. If the answers are made that
| the Germans did Just that in Belgium
and northern France, he replies that one
indignity does not warrant another
and overlooks the part that human ma
ture plays in the way of reprisal
1t crops out every day and generally
several times day in the assembly and
leads nearly every enemy correspond.
ent" to the conviction that the new
German is not at all unlike the old one
only grown bit more humble when
that is useful. but typically himself
when hegets to talking before his own
kind and utterly incapable ever of un.
derstanding anyone else or any stand
point than his own.