OCR Text |
Show SOME WAR CANT. Gerhard t Hauptmann has abandoned for the moment his literary and dramatic, dra-matic, writings and has seized the pen of polemics to set Germany right before be-fore a cynical world. He declares that if Germany wins the war the gain will lie for the freedom and independence of nations, and he adds that the German Ger-man people will at once set about ro-oi ro-oi -animus.' civilization in the interests of permanent peace. We have suggested sug-gested already that the Germans were learning the lessons of peace from the war, and that thev probably would seek to end the rule of militarism oven if thev should win. It is somewhat more difficult to believe that a German victory vic-tory would guarantee the independence independ-ence of nations. Hauptmann does not allude to the case of Belgium, and perhaps per-haps meant that Germany would make some trifling exceptions when it came to formulating the guarantee. Although as a dramatist Hauptmann has occasionally been smacked with the knuckles of the mailed fist he has forgotten and forgiven. For him Germany Ger-many is right and her enemies are wrong. Hotly he defends his countrymen country-men against the charge of barbarism which the English and the French, in their wrath, are hurling at their Teutonic Teu-tonic foe. The French never have given due credit to German civilization. civiliza-tion. They believe their own civilization civiliza-tion more refined, and they are prone to deny that any good can come out of h house of their foe. In England this situation has been vastly different. Great men like the Viscount Haldane have drunk deep of German culture and have ceaselessly glorified German civilization. But in the hour of wrath the literary battalions, led by G. K. Chesterton, Conan Doyle and Hall Laine, have raised the cry that the Germans are barbarians educated barbarians, bar-barians, but still barbarians, and they have taken upon themselves the difficult diffi-cult task of trying to demonstrate that Russia is far from barbarous, and is so ood naturcd and good hearted that western Europe has nothing to fear fjuni that source. if the English and the French are merelv seeking to delude themselves, i he rest of the world can remain neutral neu-tral on this point, but if they arc striving striv-ing to move public opinion all over the vorld. they might as well abandon once for all the charge of barbarism against Germany. The world will not lie convinced even though they point wilh some assurance to a few incidents -luring the present war to substantiate their charge the deal rui-t inn of Lou aiit. for example, the killing of Belgian Bel-gian civilians who shot at German soldiers, sol-diers, and the bombardment of the :-:',v'in:s cathedral. All of these incidents inci-dents can be traced directly to the wrong hcadi-dness of the military c.istc who ,-T-eiu to have adopted the rule that all is fair in war if you win, their rhcorv being lhat the conquered will forgive because they musl. It is a notable fact that none of the nations discoverer! that the war was .i contest between democracy and autoc-racv autoc-racv until after it. began. To the disinterested dis-interested observer it seemed as if the car had been started bv the autocratic nations, Austria. Sprvia, Hussia and 'tcrrnanv. llemncratic Kranrc was !r;ivn in as Ihe ally of autocracy, and i,i:g!and wa1'. drawn in as the friend of !-';atice and Belgium. "The world will have reason to con-L-ratuiate itself if Ihe war shall result in benefit lo demncrncv. The English :ln ( i r v scorns to be that such a result cill be obtained by the defeat of German'- and Ausrria, because these nations na-tions then will be compelled to abandon aban-don militarism. As for liussia, according accord-ing to I li is theory, she will follow the i':-niple of the. ot hi r European nations in due lime, and constantly increase I iic mea-uie of independence whicll she lias ben granting to her subjects ever -iu'-e the emancipation of the serfs. Miiiuld sindi cnnsenucnreH follow the war. Ilie American people and all pen. pie v ho believe in liberty of individual thought, and anion will find reason for .ouitort and joe, but this result will pot le- secured beeaiie democratic nrt-iin:r, nrt-iin:r, b'eyn a car upon barbarous nations na-tions to prevent, the world from being on - In . ed. 1 1 i" 1 1 ;ir I lial Kngland bucs ,. r pa rl iei ial ion in t lie war upon t lie "uarantee of llrl;ji;iii independence, and in fin' ;n Enelc'i'l is conducting the i . ;i r ' lor tlial purpose, she is figliling 1 lie ,..... of linn Illl liber! V. bill it lllll'it not U lorgoiton that the war began in the Balkans, where the light of liberty lib-erty scarcely sheds a ray, and the war lias spread throughout Europe because tiie Servian spark fell into the powder magazine of militarism. Militarism then challenged democracy to fight and the challenge was accepted. Should the civilization of western Europe be compelled to combat the barbarism bar-barism of Russia it will find evidence in the present war to give it assurance of victory. ' The victories in this war have been distinctly the triumphs of civilization with one exception. hen the Servians defeated the Austrians, they defeated men on about their own plane of civilization, but it must be remembered re-membered that the Servians were fighting fight-ing for the preservation of their homes and their country. Ail tho other battles bat-tles have demonstrated the superiority of the highly civilized man, evpn in warfare. Wherever the Germans have met the Russians on anywhere near equal terms, ihe soldiers of the czar have been defeated. When, the Russians Rus-sians defeated the Austrians they were meeting, for the most part, men of their own grade of civilization, and the Russians won simply through superior ity of numbers. In the western theater of war four civilized nations have placed two numerically nu-merically equal armies in the field, and although these armies have fought some of the most scientific, and certainly the greatest battles in the history of the world, the result is practically a draw. If the civilized fighting men of western west-ern Europe should be compelled to try conclusions with the more or less uncivilized un-civilized hordes of eastern Europe, there can bo little doubt as to which side would w-in. The Russian nightmare, however, is one that seems somewhat vague and remote. The interests of Russia are confined almost solely to eastern Europe, Eu-rope, and if the allies are victorious the demands of Russia probably will be confined to that sphere. At all events it is not likely that there will be much haggling about unimportant details. Russia has promised to reconstruct recon-struct the ancient knigdom of Poland and this will make for liberty and democracy. de-mocracy. It must have a reaction among the Russians themselves and lead gradually to a greater amount of freedom among that potentially powerful power-ful people. |