The New York herald., 1921-10-02


In 1899 Rathenau, having amassed
a considerable fortune and having
shown his mettle as writer in Die Zu-
kunft, the paper conducted by his in
innate friend, Maximilian Harden. de-
cided to withdraw from his business
to devote his life to literature. But
yielding to the request of his father
he became director in the General
Electric Society. remaining in this
position for three years. In 1902
he entered the financial world as di-
rector of the Berliner Hdndels0eseH-
Schdft, and gradually the list of his
directorates reached the sum of hum
dred.
In 1907, upon the suggestion of the
then German Chancellor, Prince Won
Bulow, he visited German East Af
RIGA, and year later the English colo
nies and German Southwest Africa.
His report, "Refiexionen," appeared in
1908.
Faith in the invisible good, love of
the invisible good and will to express
this love and this faith-these are the
realities he recognizes.
"All our WILL" he declares, insofar
do IL 10 iloI dbiiiieiir SPl lltS llOlii llic
sources of the soul. Early and late
must we repeat to those whose admi-
ration for intellectualist thought
knows no bounds, that the greater and
nobler part of life consists in willing.
But all willing Is love and predilec-
ton, not a thing which can be proved.
1t appertains to the soul, and beside
it the intellect, numbering, measuring
and weighing, stands apart and self
aware, like a booking clerk at the en-
try to the worlds theatre.
What we create is created from a
profound and unconscious impulse;
what we love is that which we yearn
for with divine energy; what we cher
ish belongs to the unknown world of
the future; what we believe dwells in
| the realm of the infinite. None of
this is demonstrable, and yet nothing
is more certain; none of this is pail
pable, and yet every true step of our
life is taken in the name of this in
expressible. What are we doing from
early morn till late at eve? We are
| living for that which we will. And
what do we will? That which we
neither know, nor can know. but in
|
1t may be asked, What has all this
to do with the present state of world
affairs? Rathenau would answer
Everything. For his fundamental
conviction is that no external mode
of government can make or mar the
destiny of man. According to his
view, expressed in the days of
Hohenzollern grandeur, if at a given
moment the spirit of the nation were
transformed. without a single change
In the machinery progress in the right
direction would be assured.
Nevertheless, the logic of a passage
like the following would point to a
more democratic structure than the
one through which the Prussian mill
tary caste welded so arrogant an
influence:
But even If we regard the conse-
quences of the war (be they grave or
be they insignifican) as no more than
preparatory phenomena, their trend.
since II is toward an excessive
strengthening of the state vis-a-vis
the individual. is of such character
as to demand with renewed emphasis
the creation of the peoples state. For
such a plenitude of power on the one
side and so extensive n surrender on
| the other cannot be demanded and
granted as between class and class.
but only as between the people and
itself. Gross would be the injustice
and terrible the responsibility If in
Oriental fashion hereditary castles
were TO arrogate quasi-dvine powers.
and were in the name of God to de-
mand sacrifices which the priest con-
sumes"
II should be remembered that
Rathenau. even while he served his
nation by organizing the supply Of
material during the war, had the
courage to face and express unpalat-
able truths even then. He was op-
posed TO submarine warfare and he
told Ludendorff: "If you wish to real
ize your unlimited demands you will
have TO occupy London, Paris and
New York.
And in an open letter to Col House
he offered in 1919 a frank confession
that Germany was in the wrong both
before and after the armistice In
deed. he asserted that. outside OF the
group that desired war out of a "lust
| for power" there were not few, him
self Included, who were aware from
the first day of its madness and hope
/ lessness."
! Certainly the war spirit is not In
words like these:
For enmity and baseness are not
inherent in human nature: mans
heart ls tender. like his bare SKIN.
sensitive to pain and inclined toward
affection. II the heart grows hard Il
/ Is through fear, through dread OF tho
slaves scoutge Of mechanization.
which never rests. the scourge whose
hiss signifies hunger, contumely. In
l justice. suffering and death. In truth
these warning notes are not in them
selves terrible. but ways TO salvation
Yet this Is true only for one who has
faith"