Part 7

To-day the clouds are thick, but better days are coming. For a time it may be our lot to toil on in the wilderness, but soon or late the pilgrim host will enter the Promised Land and hang out the signals of victory. Those who war for justice and humanity find that the stars in their courses fight with them, and their soldiers shall be fed on angels' bread. Truth is stronger than error, liberty is stronger than tyranny, justice is the genius of our universe, God is omnipotent, and at last, love and sympathy must prevail. In this faith we must strive on for a peace that shall defend frontier lines, vindicate the rights of little peoples and destroy militarism and autocracy. During the January snowstorms, that noble surgeon and poet, at the head of a hospital at Vimy Ridge,--Dr. now Sir Andrew Macphail--wrote me a letter which stayed my heart as the anchor holds the ship in time of storm. The ground was deep with snow. Many wounded men had been brought in from the trench. But at midnight, while the winter's wind flapped his tent, the physician wrote me thus:

"This war is of God. To-day it is peace that is hell. The soldier's life is a life of poverty, obedience, self-sacrifice; we know what the civilian's life is. But for the chastisement of this war, Berlin and Vienna, London and Paris would have descended into hell within three generations. I once spoke in your Plymouth on the blessings of peace; if ever again I have that privilege, I shall speak on the blessings of war. I never dreamed that men could be so noble. For three months I have slept on the stone; for three months before that in a tent; for six months I have not been in a bed; but I have never been so happy. I have acquired the fine freedom of a dog, and like a dog, I wear a metal tag around my neck so that they may know to whom I belong when it happens that I can no longer speak. And never was a man engaged in a cause so noble. I have seen Belgium; I have seen a lamb torn by the wolf; I am on the side of the lamb. I know the explanations the wolf has to offer--they do not interest me. I only wish that you were here with me at this battle for your own good; for right here at this western front this war will be decided, just where all the great wars of history have always been decided. It is decided already, but will take the enemy some time yet to find it out."

VISION OF A JUST AND LASTING PEACE

What does this noble scholar mean? History makes that meaning plain! No wine until the purple clusters are crushed. No linen until the flax is bleeding and broken. No redemption without shedding of blood. No rich soil for men's bread until the rocks are ploughed with ice glaciers and subdued with fire billows. Four forms of liberty achieved by our fathers, for which they paid over three thousand battle-fields, blood down. This war was not brought by God, but having come, let us believe that His providence can overrule it for the destruction of all war. When Germany is beaten to her knees, becomes repentant, offers to make restitution for her crimes, then and not till then can this war stop. Autocracy too must go. There is no room left in the world for a kaiser or a sultan. The hangman's noose awaits the peasant murderer, and already the hemp is grown to twist into the noose for the royal neck. At all costs and hazards we must fight this war through to a successful issue. Our children must not be made to walk through all this blood and muck. The burden of militarism must be lifted from the shoulders of God's poor. Any state that will not forever give up war must be shut out of the world's clearing houses and markets through finance and trade. Geologists tell us that the harbour of Naples, protected by islands, was once the crater of a volcano like unto Vesuvius, but that God depressed that smoking basin until the life-giving waters of the Mediterranean streamed in and put out that fire. Oh! beautiful emblem of a new era, when God will depress every battle-field, and every dreadnought, and bring in the life-giving waters of peace.

When we have so carried on this war as to end all wars, a golden age will come, and with it the Parliament of Mankind, the Federation of the World, a little international army policing the land, a little international navy policing the seas, an international supreme court deciding disputes between peoples. To this high end let our sons dedicate themselves. To this goal let all of us as parents, looking towards our best beloved, say, "My son he is! God's soldier let him be! I could not wish him to a fairer death." Let all our people say to the Kaiser and his War Staff, "You shall not skewer babes upon your bayonets; you shall not crucify officers upon the trees; you shall not nail young nuns to the doors of the schoolhouses; you shall not violate the sanctities of infancy and old age; you shall not mutilate the bodies of little girls and noble women; you shall not call that unspeakable butcher, the Sultan, a dear friend, and organize his soldiers for the assassination of the whole Armenian race; you shall not play fast and loose with your solemn treaties; you shall not transfix mankind with German bayonets; you shall not crush the hopes of Gladstone, Lafayette and Lincoln. You shall not grind God's children beneath the iron heel of despotism. And so help us God, despite all your atrocities, government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from God's earth!"

IV

Astounding Claims and Records from German Sources

_The Butcher's Charge_

In 1900 addressing his soldiers about to sail for Peking, the Kaiser gave them counsel. Later he repeated this in a little different language for the soldiers of August, 1914: "When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter will be given, no prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands be at your mercy. Just as the Huns one thousand years ago under Attila gained a reputation, so may the name of Germany become known in such a manner in China that no Chinaman will ever again dare to look askance at a German."

_Kitchener's Charge_

"Be invariably courteous, considerate and kind. Never do anything likely to injure or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful act. You are sure to meet with a welcome, and to be trusted; your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust. Your duty cannot be done unless your health is sound. So keep constantly on your guard against any excesses. In this new experience you may find temptations in wine and women. You must entirely resist both temptations, and, while treating all women with perfect courtesy, you should avoid any intimacy.

"Do your duty bravely. Fear God. Honour the King.

"KITCHENER, _Field-Marshal_."

IV

Astounding Claims and Records from German Sources

Over and over again the German Chancellor and the Kaiser have declared that Germany is waging a defensive war, and never intended to annex Belgium. Shortly after the death of the Governor of Belgium a member of the Reichstag published General von Bissing's memorandum, signed by its author. This man enjoyed to an unusual degree the Kaiser's confidence. In his last testament he declares that King Albert must be dethroned, dictatorship must be established, the properties of all Belgians who have fled must be confiscated, and a régime of blood and iron imposed, otherwise Germany has lost the war. "Our frontier must be pushed forward to the sea. We must retain all Belgium and link it up with the German sphere of power. The annual Belgian production of 23,000,000 tons of coal has given us a monopoly on the continent which has helped us to maintain our vitality. If we do not hold Belgium, administer Belgium, and protect Belgium by force of arms, our trade and industry will lose the position they have won. Belgium, therefore, must be seized and held, as it now is, and as it must be in the future. It only remains for us, therefore, to avoid, during the peace negotiations, all discussion about the form of the annexation, and to talk only about the right of conquest. In view of our just and ruthless procedure, the king of the Belgians will be deposed, and we can read in Machiavelli that he who desires to take possession of a country will be compelled to remove the king, even by killing him."

Nothing can be more obvious, since Machiavelli also says the burglar often must kill the householder, and Annas had to assassinate Jesus; but other murderers from the day of Socrates to Lincoln have been more skillful than von Bissing in announcing and defending their crimes.

THE CLAIMS OF THE KAISER'S FAMILY

Some years ago, in 1856, Frederick William IV, a predecessor of the present reigning "All Highest," became a suitor in the courts of Missouri seeking to recover from the estate of a deceased postmaster a sum with which he had absconded to America. The royal plaintiff thus modestly described his status: "The plaintiff states that he is absolute monarch of the Kingdom of Prussia, and as king thereof is the sole government of that country; that he is unrestrained by any constitution or law, and that his will, expressed in due form, is the only law of that country, and is the only legal power there known to exist as law." (_King of Prussia v. Kuepper's Admr., 22 No. 551._) See Law Notes.

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Here follow a very few out of thousands of thoughts and records of fact, written by Germans, and still existing--mostly in print--originally designed to arouse the German war-spirit or to chronicle its achievements. And--as the old Roman put it--_Litera scripta manet_: the written record stands. Its revelations are undeniable.

GERMANY ANNOUNCES HER PLAN TO EXTERMINATE THE BELGIANS

Let us bravely organize great forced migrations of the inferior peoples. Posterity will be grateful to us. We must coerce them! This is one of the tasks of war; the means must be superiority of armed force. Superficially such forced migrations, and the penning up of inconvenient peoples in narrow "reserves" may appear hard; but it is the only solution of the race-question that is worthy of humanity.... Thus alone can the over-population of the earth be controlled; the efficient peoples must secure themselves elbow-room by means of war, and the inefficient must be hemmed in, and at last driven into "reserves" where they have no room to grow ... and where, discouraged and rendered indifferent to the future by the spectacle of the superior energy of their conquerors, they may crawl slowly towards the peaceful death of weary and hopeless senility.--_K. Wagner, K., p. 170._

GERMANY ANNOUNCES HER SEMI-SLAVE EMPIRE

[In the All-German Confederation which will comprise most of Europe] the Germans, being alone entitled to exercise political rights, to serve in the Army and Navy, and to acquire landed property, will recover the feeling they had in the Middle Ages of being a people of masters. They will gladly tolerate the foreigners living among them, to whom inferior manual services will be entrusted.--_G. U. M., p. 47._

GERMANY PROPOSES TO DISARM OTHER NATIONS, AS THE TURKS DISARMED THE ARMENIANS

The war must last until we have forced disarmament upon our enemies. There is a nursery rhyme which runs thus:

Knife and scissors, fork and candle, Little children must not handle.

Since the enemy States behave so childishly as to misuse their arms, they must be placed under tutelage. Morever, our enemies have acted so dishonourably that it is only just that rights of citizenship should be denied them.... When they can no longer bear arms, they cannot make any new disturbances.--_O. Siemans, W. L. K. D., p. 147._

THE GERMAN AS SUPERMAN

No nation in the world can give us anything worth mentioning in the field of science or technology, art or literature, which we would have any trouble in doing without. Let us reflect on the inexhaustible wealth of the German character, which contains in itself everything of real value that the Kultur of man can produce. We understand all foreign nations; no foreign nation understands or can understand us!--_Prof. Sombart, H. U. H., p. 135._

As the German bird, the eagle, hovers high over all the creatures of the earth, so also should the German feel that he is raised high above all other nations who surround him, and whom he sees in the limitless depth beneath him.--_Prof. W. Sombart, H. U. H., p. 143._

We are indeed entrusted here on earth with a doubly sacred mission; not only to protect Kultur ... against the narrow-hearted huckster-spirit of a thoroughly corrupted and inwardly rotten commercialism (Jobbertum), but also to impart Kultur in its most august purity, nobility and glory to the whole of humanity, and thereby contribute not a little to its salvation.--_Ein Deutscher, W. K. B. M., p. 40._

He who does not believe in the Divine mission of Germany had better hang himself, and rather to-day than to-morrow.--_H. S. Chamberlain, D. Z., p. 17._

THE TEST OF THE TRUE GERMAN IS THE ABSENCE OF HUMANITARIANISM

Whoever cannot prevail upon himself to approve from the bottom of his heart the sinking of the _Lusitania_--whoever cannot conquer his sense of the gigantic cruelty (ungeheure Grausamkeit) to unnumbered perfectly innocent victims ... and give himself up to honest delight at this victorious exploit of German defensive power--him we judge to be no true German.--_D. Baumgarten, D. R. S. Z., No. 24, p. 7._

By steeping himself in military history, a German officer will be able to guard himself against excessive humanitarianism.--_Laws of War on Land._

We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us--but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any previous war.--_D. Baumgarten, D. R. S. Z., No. 24, p. 7._

FROM THE HYMN OF HATE

We have all but one hate; We love as one, we hate as one; We have all but one foe-- England! In the quarter-deck cabin, the banqueting room, Ship's officers sat at their friendly feast. Like a sabre blow, like the swing of a sail, One jerked his glass aloft for a toast. Curt and sharp as the catch of an oar, Three words he uttered: "To the Day!"

On whose score was the glass? They had all but one hate, Whom had they in mind? They had all but one foe-- England!

BERNHARDI BLAMED FOR REVEALING, IN 1911, WAR PLANS OF THE KAISER

"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert artilleryman, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the next morning and he asked me if I had read his book 'Germany in the Next War.' I said I had. He answered, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the bag." I replied, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What do you think of it?' I replied, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old General looked actually pleased."

That is why England and the United States were not prepared for this war. Their leaders and people supposed that Germany was bluffing and Germany banked upon the fact that nobody would take seriously her extraordinary claims and plans.

GERMANY'S REVISED CHRISTMAS HYMN

_"War On Earth, and Black Hate Towards All Men"_

England is our worst enemy, and we will fight her till we have overthrown her! So may it please our Great Ally, who stands behind the German battalions, behind our ships and U-boats, and behind our blessed "militarism"!--_E. v. Heyking, D. W. E., p. 23._

The German soul is the world's soul, God and Germany belong to one another.--_"On the German God," by Pastor W. Lehmann, quoted in H. A. H., p. 83._

MILK FOR GERMAN BABES

(_A German Song_)

"Oh, Germany, hate! Slaughter thy foes by the millions and of their reeking corpses build a monument that shall reach the clouds.

"Oh, Germany, hate now! Arm thyself in steel and pierce with thy bayonet the heart of every foe; no prisoners! Lock all their lips in silence; turn our neighbours' lands into deserts.

"Oh, Germany, hate! Salvation will come of thy wrath. Beat in their skulls with rifle-butts and with axes. These bandits are beasts of the chase, they are not men. Let your clenched fist enforce the judgment of God.

"Oh, Germany, the time to hate has come. Strike and thrust, true and hard. Battalions, batteries, squadrons, all to the front! Afterwards thou wilt stand erect on the ruins of the world, healed forever of thine ancient madness, of thy love for the alien."

MORE FROM THE HYMN OF HATE

What do we care for the Russians and French? Shot against shot and thrust for thrust! We love them not, we hate them not; We guard the Vistula and the passes of the Vosges. We have but one single hate; We love as one, we hate as one; We have but one single foe, Whom you all know, whom you all know. He sits crouched behind the gray flood, Full of envy, full of fury, full of craft, full of guile, Set apart by waters that are thicker than blood. We wish to go before a seat of judgment To swear an oath, face to face, An oath of metal no wind can blow away, An oath for children and children's children. Hearken to the word, repeat the word, It rolls on through all Germany: We will not forbear from our hate.

TESTIMONY OF AFFIDAVITS, AND DIARIES TAKEN FROM THE BODIES OF GERMAN SOLDIERS, AS TO THE ATROCITIES

(_D. 25-54._) A boy with his hands cut off, mutilated by a German officer, because he was supposed to have laughed at this drunken brute.

(_D. 4, 5._) A Belgian babe, skewered upon the bayonet, driven through his stomach, with his little dead head and hands and legs dangling as the German proudly carried it through the street of a village.

(_Alcove C. 60._) A Mother Superior crucified by bayonets to the door of her schoolhouse as punishment for scratching the face of an officer who was violating the person of a young nun. The burning alive of a man who defended his wife.

(_D. 92-93. Also D. 100-108._) Photographs of an aged priest, staked down to the ground, and used as a lavatory until he was dead; photographs and affidavits of young girls with one breast cut off.

(_Affidavits in Alcove 867._) The dead body of a young girl nailed by her hands to the outside door of a cottage. She was about fourteen or sixteen years of age.

(_Page 21. Affidavits H-67._) "September 14th. One hundred and eight inhabitants are stated to have been shot after they had dug their own graves. Innumerable houses have been destroyed. The population looks bitter and scowling." August 22nd, notebook of Private Max Thomas. "Our soldiers are so excited, we are like wild beasts. To-day, destroyed eight houses, with their inmates. Bayonetted two men with their wives and a girl of eighteen. The little one almost unnerved me, so innocent was her expression."

(_D. 10. 45._) In retreating from Laines eight drunken soldiers were marching through the street. A little child of two years came out and a soldier skewered the child on his bayonet, and carried it away while his comrades sang.

Withdrawing from Hofstade, in addition to other atrocities the Germans cut off both hands of a boy of sixteen. At the inquest affidavits were taken from twenty-five witnesses, who saw the boy before he died or just afterwards.

(_Affidavits D. 100-8._) Passing through Haecht, in addition to the young women whom they violated and killed, a child three years old was found nailed by its hands and feet to a door.

That all these atrocities were carefully planned in advance for terrorizing the people is proven by the fact that on the morning of August 25th the officers who had received great kindness from Madame Roomans, a notary's wife, warned her to make her escape immediately, as the looting and killing of all the citizens, men, women and children, was about to begin.

(_D. 186._) "The captain served a requisition upon all the farmers hereabouts, taking horses, oxen, wagons, milk and butter. These people are so ignorant that they did not know when he gave them false receipts and signed this name--Herr von Koepenick." Other peasants received receipts stating that in return for the goods that had been requisitioned by the German officers, the owner was to come to the German quartermaster and receive his pay in twenty strokes of a whip-lash. If all the diaries of the Germans now in the hands of the English, Belgian and French authorities were brought together and published, they would make a small library, and the title would be "Confessions of Crime by German Soldiers."

"August 19th. Halted and plundered a villa, as invariably the surrounding houses were immediately plundered; dined splendidly, drank eleven bottles of champagne, four bottles of wine and six bottles of liquor."

John VanderSchoot, 10th Company, 39th Infantry, 7th Army Corps. "August 19th. Quartered in the University. Boozed through the streets of Liège, lie on straw, booze in plenty, little food, so we must steal. We live like gods here in Belgium."

K. Bartel--on crimes he had witnessed--as they were committed by his own officers and fellow privates. "Our men have shrunk morally below zero. Oct. 7th."

Yager Otto Clepp, August 22nd, in Liège makes this entry: "Two of our regiments shot at each other; nine dead and fifty wounded. Reason for mistake not yet ascertained."

There is a striking commentary on the German War Staff's Commission's statement that they shot the old men and women in Liège because of an attack by the people. This German officer's entry illustrates what doubtless happened many times. When the Germans were drunk, terrified by the sense of their own crimes and expecting the people to resist the cruelties, one German company turned and fired upon another.

H. W. Heller. August 6th. "Friday at 8:30 came the news that the English had landed in Belgium. We smashed everything immediately. One sees only burning houses and heaps of dead people and dead horses every three steps."

Fritz Holman writes: "We are never thirsty here in France. We drink five and six bottles of champagne a day, and as to under linen, we simply loot a house and change. God only knows what will happen unto us later on."

Stephen Luther's diary. "Monday the 10th. Marching via Laden. Villages friendly disposed, one of them bombarded in error. Misunderstandings occurred because our officers understand no French. There was terrible destruction; in a farmhouse saw a woman who had been completely stripped and who lay on burnt beams. How savage! Terrible conditions in the destroyed houses." "August 24, 1914. In Ermiton we took about a thousand prisoners. At least five hundred were shot."

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Let this series be closed by a few trenchant words from two of Germany's most famous poets, characterizing the Prussian nature that to-day controls all Germany (and neighbour Austria besides). The great Goethe was from Weimar, but the satiric Heine, from Düsseldorf--a Prussian, born.

PRUSSIANISM

"The Prussians are cruel by nature; civilization will make them ferocious."--_Goethe._

"The Prussians ... Nature made them stupid, science has made them wicked."--_Heinrich Heine._

"Christianity has to a certain extent softened this brutal, belligerent ardour of the Teutons, but it has not been able to destroy it; and when the Cross--the talisman that fetters it--shall be broken, then the ferocity of the old-time fighters, the frenzied exultation of the Berserkers, whose praises are still sung by the poets of the North, will again burst forth. Then--and alas! this day will surely come--the old war gods will arise from their legendary tombs and wipe the dust of ages from their eyes; Thor will arise with his gigantic hammer and demolish the Gothic Cathedral."--_Heinrich Heine._