BEHIND smB VEIL •B37' BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE JACOB H. SCHIFF ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDIES IN HUMAN CIVILIZATION 1918 The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to thebwarian. ^^^ i Ifi^^itt HOME USE RULES ' •f-JflC" AU Books subject to Recall All borrowers must regis- terin the library to borrow books for home use. AU books must be re- tttmed at end of college year ^or inspection and repairs. Limited books must be re- . j_s,, turned within the four week J N*^ limit and' not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town.. "f OfBcers should arrange for the return of books wanted "'"' during their absence from _' town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as " " " ■ possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. „ „ Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other peisons. Books of special value "" "*""* and gift boc^, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. — — «...-...'. «..,..« Readors are asked to re- port all cases of books - — ««.« marked or muti^ted. ' , Do not deface books by marks and writiiig. Cornell University Library D 515.B37 1917 Behind the German veil 3 1924 027 827 868 fi^^ BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027827868 The Author BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL A RECORD OF A JOURNALISTIC WAR PILGRIMAGE BY J. M. DE BEAUFORT (Count tas MAURIK de BEAUFORT) Recently War<(!!oiTespondent of the London Daily Telegrceph WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1918 / r '- --» / ^A.3?2!^1 -> 1 Copyright 1917 By DODD. mead AND COMPANY, Iwc. First edition printed May 4 igjy Second edition printed Tune 16 1917 Third edition printed August 15 1917 Fourth edition printed September 23 1917 Fifth edition printed November 7 igi7 Sixth edition printed January 30, 1918 Seventh edition printed February 23. 19x8 Eighth edition printed May 31, 1918 lA f I TO "LENNY" (Helen F. R.) the girl of my dreams come true TO M. L. T. best of ftriends AND TO GEORGE H. T., JUSTIN McGb., ROBERT C. McC, ARTHUR C. AND ARTHUR D. American friends tried and true, who have helped me through many dark hours and who taught me hovr to become a good American I DEDICATE THIS BOOK AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am* greatly indebted to Dr. G. W. Prothero, Editor of the Quarterly Review, for his kind permission to republish the articles on the German Navy, Helgoland, Kiel, the Ger- man Coast Defences and the Maps, which appeared in the July and October, 1916, numbers of his publication. My acknowledgment and thanks are also due to the Lon- don Daily Telegraph in which parts of Chapters VII., X., XLI., XLV., XLVII. and LIII. have been published, and to the London Sunday Pictorial for permission to reprint Chapters XXII. and XXVI. (Hindenburg and the Kaiser). J. M. DE B. CONTENTS ImaoDvonoix ■.,.... xUi PART I GENERAL IMPBESSIONS CHAVTEB PAGE I. The Veil ajstd the Methods 3 II. Mt " PoiKT d'Appui " — Rome 14 III. "The Adder" 19 lY. Gebmax Miitd and Chabactes 3S V. Gebuan' Fstchologt 37 VI. The Pbess in Gebmant 31 VII. Bebixn Impbessions 4i VIII. Bebun Impbessions {contmaed) ..... fil IX. McNicH 65 X. Zeppeuns ' 73 XI. Spies and Spying — I 93 XII. Spies and Spting — II . . ■ 88 XIII. Spies and Spying — III 96 XIV. A Gebman Fabus 100 XV. Gebman Women 105 XVI. Httntino with the Cameba 115 XVII. "SpnuTUAL Humoub" (Gebman Vabiety) . . 120 PART II M7 TRIP TO THE EASTERN FRONT AND VISIT TO HINDENBURQ XVIII. Pbeuminabies . 139 XIX. BeBLIN — AtlXNSTEIN. MEETING WITH YOUNO von BeTHMANN-HoLLWEO — AbbEST in THE FOBTBESS OF POSEN ... IN PyJAMAS . . . 134 XX. AULENBTEIN i. 1*6 XXI. Aemnstein — Febte Boyen (Lotzen) . . . 156 CHAPTER XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. CONTENTS PAGE HlNDENBCBO ^"^ ■trfir LOTZEK '■ En Rottte 1^ ImPHESSIOITS in THE PoLISH FlOHTINO ZONES . . 193 When I Prated with the Kaiser 208 HiNDENBOTG LuDENDORFP AND FaLKENHAYN . 217 Railroads ^^^ Retrospect 225 PART III AN INCOGNITO VISIT TO THE FLE^T AND GER- MANY'S NAVAL HAEBOVBS XXX. The German AuMiEALTr 235 XXXI. Germant's Coast Defences 239 XXXII. Heligoland 249 XXXIII. Protection of the Kiel Canal 355 XXXIV. From Emden to Wilhelmshaven 259 XXXV. Wilhelmshaven 269 XXXVI. Wilhelmshaven to Citkhaven 273 XXXVII. CtntHAVEN to Kiel. The Canal 280 XXXVIII. Kiel Harbour 29fl- XXXIX. Training and Stoategt . 298 XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. PART IV INTERVIEWS Introductions SOi Arthur von Gwinnee 309 Dr. Walther Rathenau 330 Ambassador Count von Bernstorfp .... 328 Matthias Eezberger — Press Manipulator and Advertising Expert 333 Secretary of the Late German Colonies, " Ex- cellenz Dr. Solf," and His A.D.C, De. BiJCHEE 339 Sassenbach — Social Democrat 346 Minister of the Inteeiob — Helffebich . . . 353 CHAFTEB XL VII. XLVIII. XLIX, L. LI. LII. LIII. LIV. CONTENTS FAOlr Admisai. vok Capelle akd " Caftaix Liexjieu'- akt"' Lohueik 353 Phess-Majob Hebwabth von Bitterfeld of the Great Gexebal Staff Settles the Problem OF Universal Peace 356 Herr Crass, Krupp's Repbesentative in Berlin . 360 Herr Ballin's A.D.C.j Hebr von Holtzendobff . 365 The German-Turkish Alliance and Its Am- bitions 368 On " Strafing " and Those Who Don't . . . 387 The Fateful Interview with Baron Macchio, Late Austbo-Hunoarian Ambassador in Rome 392 Anothek " Daily Telegraph " Interview that Upset Berlin. Trouble — Arrest — Escape . 396 PART V FINALE Envoy 401 ILLUSTRATIONS The Author FrontUpieee FACINO PAOE The Magic Key. My letter of Introduction to Hindenburg written by his nephew. The address reads: To the Eoyal Field-Marshal, Knight of the Highest Order, Herr von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg 16 Conscription In England. John Bull learning the googe step . 28 No Admission to Potsdam 66 Zeppelin over London. The End of England's Sea-Power. Lord Nelson descending from his Column to hide in the Underground Railway 74 Englishman in Hell. "No Zeppelins, no Krupp Howitzers; no Submarines! Why, I must be in Heaven!" . . . 122 Lieutenant von Bethmann-HoUweg, who has since been killed, on the right, and the Author. Photograph was taken at Allenstein Station 150 The Author's car at Fortress Boyen (Lotzen), Hindenburg's headquarters. Note the Chauffeur's rifle near lamp . . 188 A snapshot of the Kaiser taken by Prince Oscar. It was sent to a photographer in a small town to have film developed. The man printed a few copies for his own use, and sent one to an agency in Berlin. The Berlin firm sold the photograph, but the moment it appeared the greater part of the magazine in which it was published was confiscated 212 Hindenburg and his Staff. Ludendorff appropriately placed on Hindenburg's right 216 Auto Train, Eastern Front 222 Commander's bridge (starboard side) of the Helgoland . . 282 Recently completed railroad bridge over the Kiel Canal near 'Rendsburg 288 One of the largest Zeppelins leaving its shed at Marienthal, near Berlin. Note size of men on top 312 A model Krupp gun, small type of the 42 cm. howitzer. This model is in the author's possession 812 ILLUSTRATIONS FACIN-G PAGE The Famous Krupp Armament Works at Essen. 6000 ton Press 362 German Prisoners in England. How the press keeps the fires of "strafing" England burning 388 MAPS Germany's Coast Defences along the North Sea .... 238 Heligoland 248 Wilhelmshaven " . . 268 Kiel Harbour 294 INTRODUCTION In the following chapters I have tried to record my impressions, observations, interviews and adventures on a somewhat extensive journalistic pilgrimage through Germany in war-time. Before embarking on my descriptions, I am going to permit myself what Parliamentarians call a " personal note," which will show you that my acquaintance with Germany and the Germans is not of the " war-made " variety. Since I am convinced that but for my American journalistic training, I would never have been able to accomplish many of my journalistic enterprises, I take this occasion to acknowledge with a deep sense of ap- preciation and gratitude, my three years' apprentice- ship in America. They taught me many things; they revealed to me an entirely new aspect of life, I learned the real meaning of the terms " Hustle," " Get busy " and " Stick to it." I learned there that there are many other battlefields where spurs and honours may be won than those of war and murder. I look back with interest and pleasure to many friendly (and some- times unfriendly but always spirited) contests with col- leagues, in trying to obtain the best " story " for one's own paper or even to score a " beat." The outbreak of the war found me in America. Much as I disliked and against the advice of many friends, I gave up my work there. Europe called. Blood will tell. I soon found myself getting restless. xiv INTRODUCTION My sympathies with the Allies, more specifically the British cause, urged that I had no right to lag behind in making sacrifices. So in September, 1914, I bid " Au revoir " to Amer- ica and since then and thanks to that belated American Education, I have been able to do " my bit," as we say over there, in various capacities. While my British confreres were still camping on the doormat of the War Office, waiting for those elu- sive permits (for many of them it was a case of " Wait and See," without the " see "), I was fortunate enough to reach the front at Ostende, Nieuport, Dixmude, Ypres and soon found myself in the thick of it. Oh, yes, I was arrested more than once, but I had not served my apprenticeship in American newspaperdom, without benefit, I could talk a " straight streak " in just the language the other fellow did not know — when necessary, and though I often skated on mighty thin ice I usually managed to keep out of jail. I have had the rare privilege of reading my own obit- uary and even afforded a colleague the somewhat unique experience of shaking hands with a man whose " In Memoriam " he had written in one solid column. As your Mark Twain put it, "the report was some- what exaggerated." (Not the first time either!) Though I had a close call, I escaped, and — as you shall see — I am still " in the ring." By birth and parentage I am a Hollander, but the " de Beaufort " part of my n^me comes from a grand- uncle who was a native of the Grand Duchy of Luxem- bourg. Since 1914 my better half, or I should say my best half, has been American. Let me hasten to ex- plain this. Before starting for the theatre of war I applied, at the advice of a friend, for my first American citizenship papers. I hope to obtain my final papers INTRODUCTION XV shortly, after which I shall place my services at the disposal of the American Government. My father belonged to that type of stubborn parent who thinks he knows what is best for a boy of fifteen. He had very pronounced views, like some other people, on the German educational system (so have I, for that matter, but they are somewhat difi'erent). He thought that I should benefit by a few years of German school and college. And, in spite of stormy and liquid pro- tests, to Germany I went. From an English tutor to a German schoolmaster! It did not take me many days after my arrival in Ger- many to find out the abysmal difference that separates the two, and to suffer accordingly. Talk about the two educational systems — Ye gods ! If there is any one who ought to be able to discourse on them, I think I am the man. Being at the time — not now — an embryo large landowner, I was first sent to the Agricultural College at Cleve in the Rhine province. My " tenderest " recollections of that institution are connected with the gymnasium and a three-foot bamboo rod. Already then I showed literary tendencies, but, alas ! they were neither appreciated nor encouraged. My first effort was to try and censor one of their patriotic poems. Imagine a self-respecting Hollander having to stand up in front of the class and recite five verses, each ending with : " I am a Prussian, and a Prussian I will be." Once a term or so they hold In Germany what is called " Offentliche Priifung " ; in other words, a " public ex- amination." The parents are invited, and those whose offspring are " show specimens " bring their friends (mine did not). The boys wear their best clothes, and, of course, only the smartest amongst them perform. xvi INTRODUCTION I suppose just to show that there was no ill-feeling on his part, the Headmaster, Herr Fiirstenberg — I can still see him with his mean grey eyes, looking at ise over the rim of his glasses and getting a firm hold on the rod — appointed me to recite the obnoxious poem. Amid dead silence I started. When I came to the end of the verse in which I had eulogised the " old father Rhine," I yelled: " And I am a Dutchman, and a Dutchman I will be." It is a few years ago, but I can still see the startled audience and the awful pallor of old Fiirstenberg. An anarchist's bomb could not have had a greater effect. Then some of the people tried to smile it away, but the smile was somewhat sickly. I was promptly torn from the stand ; somebody tried to turn my ear upside-down, to which I retaliated with a well-directed kick, and then, — well, never mind. There was a vacancy at the Agricultural College. Cleve was very uncosmopolitan. My fellow-students consisted mostly of the sons of large landowners and gentlemen farmers, and they resented, not always merely passively, the intrusion of a " Verdammte Auslander " (" damned foreigner ") in their Germanic midst. But there was, as there is in most things in life, a price. If you were willing to demonstrate practi- cal socialism — i.e., share your money, your sweets, your pony, your bicycle, or whatever it might be — you were, for such time as your possessions lasted, a " Lieber Kerl " ("dear chap"). Unfortunately I soon dis- covered that the particular socialistic principle pro- pounded by my fellow-students — : i.e., of sharing aU you had — ^was a somewhat one-sided law, as I did all the sharing, and they all the partaking, without prac- tising the same doctrines as far £^s their own possessions INTRODUCTION xvii were concerned. So I resigned. This did not increase my popularity. I had as many fights as any self-re- specting boy of fifteen could have in the Fatherland, and that, let me assure you, was sufficient to keep me in practice. But there is one incident which will best illustrate the "camaraderie" that exists amongst^ German "sport- ing " schoolboys. There is a saying, that the boy is father to the man. I understand its meaning now. Boxing is a lost art in Germany ; it was in my days and is so still. Wrestling is their forte. Quite natural, too. The German is heavy in mind as well as in body. Wrestling does not require as quick an eye as boxing. Thanks to the very good lessons of my old English tutor, God bless him, who, between trying to teach me to pronounce " th " and the English " r," had initiated me into the secrets of boxing, I emerged victorious from many scraps. It was the day after one of those periodical fights in which two boys of the " secunda " (I was only " ter- tia "), had received many marks but few honours, that i met my two opponents in the Park accompanied by four of their friends. Of course I was waylaid, and the usual schoolboy argument, " I can lick you," " No, you can't," ensued. I owned in those days an English bulldog. He looked very fierce, always wore the " By- Jingo-if-I-do " sort of expression, and was never im- pressed by German flattery either from man or beast. (OldBob knew a lot, if only he could have talked ! But perhaps it was just as well he couldn't. He probably would say now : " I told you so." But " revenons a nos moutons.") " Boxing," so I was informed, was not a gentlemanly way of fighting. Only English navvies fought with xviii INTRODUCTION their fists. But wrestling, and wrestling according to the approved Roman or Grecian rules, now that was a different matter ; that was " fair and square " ! I told them that I was innocent of any knowledge of the Roman-Greco wrestling ruleg, but I offered to thrash my two opponents of yesterday once again where they stood, and I hoped that the proportion of two to one in their favour woidd make up for my ig- norance and perhaps consequent transgression of those rules. Here is where German diplomacy got the best of me. "Assisted by dog and stick?" they sneeringly in- quired. I was very young and inexperienced in Ger- man methods in those days, so I was deeply insulted and most indignant at their daring to suggest such a cowardly thing. " I don't need anything else but my two fists," I yelled, " to lick two German pigs like you." And to prove my assertion, I turned aside to where a little kind-faced, grey-bearded old German stood, and, with a polite bow, I begged him to be kind enough to hold my dog and stick for a' few moments. He very kindly condescended to accept the charge, but thought it safer to take old Bob away from the scene of the forthcoming battle. He was a wise old German. " Divide and win " was already in those days the motto of these young warriors. " Fair and square? " Why, even then they were mere words, mere " scraps of paper." I will not go into painful details of that engagement ; suffice it to say that I received the worst beating I ever had, or ever heard teU of. The moment my faithful friend and ally had disappeared from view, all SIX of them attacked me. Not only the " scenery of my face " — as, in my early English-speaking days I used to say instead of " expression," — but the contour as INTRODUCTION xix well suffered a thorough change. It was many weeks before it returned to its normal proportions and col- ours. There was no doubt about it; this time / bore the marks, but had they the honours? German-like, of course they thought so, but I differed from them, and . . . remembered. From Cleve I went to Bonn, which was comparatively uneventful, as, of course, I gradually began to grasp the German point of view. My earlier impressions were the most pregnant and vivid. Often during the last two years they have come back to me and that is probably the reason why I have not been able to share the feelings of surprise my English friends experience when reading the reports of the German way of fighting. Never, until this war, did I really fuUy appreciate the advantage those three years in Germany conferred on me. I apologise to my father. He was right — Germany taught me many things ; but, best of all, " I learned about ' Germans ' from her." J. M. DE B. New York, April, 1917. PART I GENERAL IMPRESSIONS Behind the German Veil CHAPTER I THE VEIL AND THE METHODS "r 11 HERE is no German Veil; we have nothing to A hide." Thus Major Deutelmoser, Chief of the Press Department of the General Staff in Berlin, coun- tered when I jestingly remarked that I had come to Germany, " to have a peep behind the Veil." How many a true word is spoken in jest ! I received practically the same reply everywhere whenever I suggested the veil or " behind the scenes." " We have nothing to hide," thundered Major Her- warth von Bitterfeld, of the Intelligence Service. " The German Veil is only another of the many inven- tions of our enemies, chiefly the English. You can see everything in Germany; go anywhere, everything is open and above board." " The German Veil is a myth," said Baron Mumm von Schwarzenstein, of the Foreign OflSce ; " it is as great a myth as the British Fleet in the German Ocean.^ It does not exist. It is an illusion." There you are, dear reader, three opinions thrown at me — nay, I feel inclined to say, jammed down my throat — many times a day during the months I spent in Germany. The ideas that existed in England about Germany during the early months of the war were simply ap« 1 Gennan for North Sea. 3 4 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL palling. Many opinions expressed by the majority of people were preposterous. And when I say " people," I do not mean that vague individual, " the man in the street," but your educated, well-read and even well-travelled classes: soldiers, par- liamentarians, writers (famous strategists!), etc., etc. To read some of your papers, to listen to some of your people, one would have thought that the Russians were going to march through the Brandenburger Thor of Berlin by Christmas, 1914, and that the Belgians would celebrate New Year's Eve in their beloved Brussels. The Kaiser was to be deposed, and Prussia was going to receive a really liberal constitution. Germany could not stand the financial strain. The military corre- spondent of one of your most important papers wrote in August, 1914 : " German financial experts have sug- gested ways and means for financing a war lasting six months, but no longer, on the present enormous scale " ! A well-known Member of Parliament told me in Janu- ary, 1915, that Germany would sue for peace in three months ; a military writer — a colonel — wrote that the last German offensive would take place in September, 1915, and that in the following October the Allied line would run from Ostend, through Maubeuge, Ardennes, Luxembourg, Metz, Strassburg! Germany would soon be short of everything — bread, copper,' cotton, rubber, petrol — and, if you read some of the statistics given by your " experts " on German man-power, the German trenches ought to have been manned for the last six months by idiots and cripples. Even to-day, after twenty-eight months of war, there are still many people in this country who have not the faintest understanding about the German character, the German aims, their cunning and their designs. THE VEIL AND THE METHODS 6 Here and there I hear whispers about peace ; I am asked whether the present peace-talk may lead to anything. I hope to God it ynR ! I hope it will lead to a doubled — nay, to a hundred- fold — renewed effort of smashing the Germans' war- machine. I should like to see the Germans — in the famous words of Bismarck when he referred to the French — " left with nothing but their eyes to weep with." Alas! that will prove too expensive an order, but they must be beaten, and they can be beaten only by the memory of those that have sacrificed their lives ; disabuse yourself of the illusion that it is done already. Germany is far from beaten yet. " But thfty want peace," I have been told so often these last weeks. Perhaps they do; again, perhaps they don't! The Germans are no fools, whatever else they may be, and they are perfectly well aware that the Allies would not, and could not, accept any terms which Germany at present, with both eyes on the map, would propose. I do not believe that there is any peace door " ajar " yet. I think that entrance or exit, what- ever you choose to call it, is still barred and locked, and that the deceptive " latchstring " hanging outside is connected with a mine. The Germans are merely look- ing out of the window — the top-floor one — and I think that.whosoever would venture close to that " peace door" would have a somewhat similar experience as some of our men had early in the war, when they rushed towards " surrendering " Germans, showing the white flag and standing with their hands up. I fear that there is a great deal more than barbed wire and machine-guns behind that German "peace door." It may not be so evident to those who only look as far as . . . the door ; but let me quote part of a con- 6 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL versation I had with one of Hindenburg's staff-officers at Allenstein, East Prussia, last year ; it may enlarge their iview. Said he : " We never thought we could do it. We never ex- pected that we should be called upon to fight so many enemies at the same time. We were not prepared for that. We were short of ammunition in November, 1914. But if we are able to accomplish all we have up till now, UN prepared, then 'Himmel'" (by heaven!), " give us a draw now and see what we can do ten years hence." Yes, perhaps Germany wants peace now, but only because she wants to have foundations left upon which to build a new organisation, a new stupendous war- machine, which in ten years from now would dwarf anything the world has yet seen, heard or imagined. That is what I should answer to those who are think- ing of peace now. Since the beginning of the war I have had arguments, discussions, remonstrations, and even to a certain extent quarrels, with many friends and acquaintances, some- times even at the risk of being suspected of pro-German sympathies. Of course, before my recent German visit my arguments were weakened by the fact that I had not been in Germany for six or seven years, and there- fore could not speak from fresh personal observation. So, when after several months at the Belgian front and in France, the London DaUy Telegraph, in con- junction with several American publications, offered me a special journalistic mission, viz., to go to Ger- many, I accepted with alacrity. I thought that by going to Germany as a journalist, by looking round, and seeing what the general feeling of the people was; their mental attitude towards the THE VEIL AND THE METHODS 7 war, the condition of the country generally, etc., etc., and by telling the people of the allied countries on my return what I had seen, I would be doing my share. It has been suggested — I have even seen it in print — that I undertook my trip on behalf of the British Intelligence Service. Any such assertion is absolutely and utterly false. I held no brief, either for the British or for any other Government, and I have never received, nor asked, one single penny from any other sources but those in payment for journalistic and literary material which has been published. I started on my mission and entered Germany with as far as possible an open mind. I could not honestly say at that time that I hated the Germans; I merely had no use for them. Besides, I have always believed that the spirit of hatred is a great drawback to any journalist. It tends to blind intelligent observation; it makes him see matters distorted. I wanted no secrets, naval, military or otherwise; I wanted news, straight, honest, reliable news. My likes or dislikes had nothing to do with my work. I entered upon my mission in exactly the same spirit as I would have had in Paris, Rome, Petrograd, Constantinople, etc. But even a journalist of less perspicacity than one schooled in America would soon find out that " straight, reliable news " are somewhat rare and expensive commodities in Germany these days. You might find " news," but without the " reliable " or the " straight." You may find the "reliable" and the "straight" but without it being news. "We have nothing to hide." H'm! only you must look at everything with German-coloured glasses. If you happen to try to talk with a private, very soon his superior officer will cut short his answers and reply for 8 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL him. If for the sake of argument you take the " purely hypothetical " case, " Suppose Germany should be de- feated? " you are told at once that unless you wish to make yourself thoroughly unpopular in Germany, and have your entire mission become an utter failure, you must not suggest such " impossible abstract cases " ; you must not " put such ideas into people's heads ! " Except in the case of certain show prisoners' camps, every journalist is rigorously excluded from Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland, which have remained terra incognita to all journalists, except those who have given abundant proofs that they were willing to read and see everything with German spectacles. And even tJiey are not allowed to roam at large. If you want any inter- views you must accept the " made in Germany " vari- ety. In fine, they have " nothing to hide," but you must ask no questions ; you must travel round Germany hand in hand with your German guardian angel, who watches and wards you night and day; and except when he tells you to " stop, look and listen," you must " Move on," deaf, dumb and blind ! Consequently, to be a " successful " journalist in Germany means selling your birthright for a mess of pottage. Let me hasten, though, to add that the sale is so cleverly disguised that the majority of neutral journalists are unaware of it. Why? Ah, that is difEcult to explain. It is the German atmosphere. The German war atmosphere has a most peculiar, strange and indescribable effect upon the mind. I feel that I can state without fear of contradiction that out of every thousand real neutrals that enter Germany, nine hundred and ninety-nine succumb within a few short weeks to German " ideals " and points of view. Indeed, you must carry the strongest pro-Ally or pro- THE VEIL AND THE METHODS 9 British convictions, in order to be able to withstand the German influence getting hold of you. It is a most marvellous, a most extraordinary phe- nomenon ; it is something indefinably subtle, and in my heart I cannot blame any colleagues for having become hypnotised by that influence. The German arguments are convincing ; they are plausible, logical, final, to the German and the German-prepared mind. I fear I cannot even attempt to describe it within the space of a chapter. It has become something like the spirit of religion. I have watched and seen its effect upon colleagues who entered Germany in a neutral state of mind, some even with a leaning towards the Allied side. Within a week they were " converted." And I may as well confess right now that even I, heart, body and soul pro-British as I am and have been for twelve years, even I realise that at times it was only the strong impenetrable armour of my motto, " Right or Wrong — England," that kept me unscathed. This is what a neutral journalist in Germany finds himself pitted against. To collect news and reliable impressions in spite of those influences, which are at work against you day and night, let me assure you, is no easy task. And with the same assiduity the German cause is preached and served in neutral countries. There are three difi'erent ways open to a journalist in the Fatherland. The first way — and to some of the fraternity the simplest and easiest — is to throw all self-respect to the winds ; to learn to recite Lissauer's " Hymn of Hate," {orwsiTds, backwards and sideways; to write daily eulogies on the land that holds the monopoly of 10 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL " KuRur " ; in short, to become a German Press agent. The second procedure is to remain quietly in Berlin and swallow (or at least pretend to) the periodical items of " news " that the G.G.S. and the F.O. ladle out to you, while at the same time you are gathering your own impressions and drawing your own conclusions. The third method is the most interesting but, of course, equally the most hazardous. Just take your pen — I almost said " gun "— = and prowl about the country and see what you can pot. Of course, wher- ever your covers look promising you wiU meet with the notice, that trespassers will be prosecuted; in other words, the sign : " Veeboten," but never mind that. Those are the occasions^ when you do not understand German.'' The German is not an adventurer like the English- man, the American, the Dutchman. He is too cau- tious ; he must carefully figure out every motive, and then, when — theoretically — the project has become a certainty, he will strike. Their lives, their minds, are over-organised. Emdens, Mowes, Channel Raiders are rare birds in the German psychology. I chose the third method of working. It was not entirely a matter of choice, either. Since I could not, would not, produce convincing proofs of German ideas of neutrality — meaning, of course, pro- Germanism — and since I refused to give assurances — my word of honour — that I would remain in Germany 1 Except for those who follow the first method, it is absolutely essential to know the German language; if the third method be the one you have chosen, you must be able to speak it fluently. I am drawing attention to tiiis poiAt, because I think that too much im- portance has been attached to impressions and opinions that have been brought out of Germany by people who were totally un- acquainted with the language. I believe that such a drawback at once disqualifies any one from passing an intelllgeat judgment on German affairs of to-day. THE VEIL AND THE METHODS 11 for the duration of the war, I received very little en- couragement from German officialdom in my journal- istic ambitions. ' Let me record here for the special edification of one or two doubting British Thomases (no connection with Thomas Atkins, I am relieved to say) who have ques- tioned my pro-British sympathies, that I never owned one single German pass or permit, neither from the General Staff nor from the Foreign Office, dmwig the whole period of my German pilgrimage. Had it not been for my numerous letters of introduc- tion ^ my harvest might have been very scanty. My German hosts reckoned without a few items in my journalistic armoury — first, my letter of introduction to General von Hindenburg, from the General's own nephew; second, a fair knowledge of the German character; third, my American journalistic training. As John Buchan, in that most delightful story of his — " Greenmantle " — says : " You cannot fool the Ger- mans, but you can bluff them." And bluff them I did to my heart's content, and that, I assure you, is saying a lot, because it was a greedy journalistic heart that came to Germany. The Hindenburg letter worked like a 'charnj ; it proved a veritable golden key that un- locked almost every door, even that of General Staffs in the field. It acted like a magic carpet that trans- ported me from Lodsz to Lille ; from Wilhelmshaven to Kiel ; from Hamburg to Munich ; in fine, from East to West and from North to South. It was a pass on military trains ; it procured me " express " motor-cars in places where it was " Strengstens Verboten " for any civilian to show his nose ; it got me out of scrapes that even to-day make me feel hot and cold down my spine, and, finally, it seemed to open every German mouth 1 See Chapter II. 12 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL from Generals down to cooks. Nay, but for the very unfortunate accident which occurred in Fleet Street, the effect of which was reverberated in the Wilhelm- strasse, Berlin, it might even have procured me an in- vitation to the Palace of Unter den Linden or Potsdam. Though many moons have passed, I can still chuckle with delight at the various and devious ways I was able to bluff the people who are out to bluff the whole world. I can still see the incredulous face of Baron Mumm von Schwarzenstein, when I swaggered into his office one morning and casually mentioned that I had just been to see Hindenburg! It was impossible, he claimed, simply impossible ; it was " Verboten." He thought it was just a piece of " bluff." So it was, dear Baron, but not the sort of bluff you thought.^ And I can also still see Captain Cammerer's (one of Hindenburg's Staff officers) flabbergasted — it's the only term that fits — expression, when hardly twelve hours after he had telephonicaUy informed General Count von Schlieffen that it was " Verboten " for me to come to Hindenburg's Headquarters, I appeared before him, chaperoned by Hindenburg's personal A. D. C. ! By some curious coincidence an old New York col- league of mine, Cyril Brown, of the New York Times, had been bitten by the " Wanderlust," or should we call it " American Joumalitis," about the same time as I, only he followed a famous American's advice : " Go West, young man, go West." Brown actually got inside the Crown Prince's Head- 1 All the same, that very night a police official by the name of Herr Mercier — a namesake of the famous Cardinal — called upon me, and invited me to accompany him to the Alexanderplatz (Berlin Scotland Yard). There I had to make a full statement of how and when and why I had reached Hindenburg's head- quarters, etc., etc. Let us hope that it did not get the Genera} into trouble! THE VEIL AND THE METHODS 13 quarters and nearly " flagged " the Kaiser's car, with the intention of asking the War Lord for an interview. When on our return to Berlin Brown and I compared notes, we decided that our system was by far preferable to the regular, personally-conducted- journalistic-Cook- Tours-de-Luxe, by which our more " fortunate " col- leagues were regularly permitted to " see " Germany. It was American Journalism " as usual," aild with a vengeance. If during my many and my very unofficial, even clan- destine peregrinations through the Fatherland, I un- earthed information, impressions and knowledge which they will claim is not of a journalistic nature, I disown every and any responsibility on that score, but blame entirely the German system of spoon-fed, make-believe, sugar-coated journalism. Besides, after a certain in- cident, which occurred within a month after my arrival in Germany,^ I had an additional incentive. But, apart from all that, they had " nothing to hide!" Well — nous verrons ce que nous verrons! t See Chapter III. CHAPTER II AT the outset I wish to express my most sincere thanks to His Excellency the American Ambas- sador in Rome, Mr. Thomas Nelson Page, to several • members of his staff, and to His Excellency the very American Ambassador in Berlin, Judge Gerard. All I can say is that their assistance is as deeply appreciated as it has been welcome and valuable. Mr. Page, whom I have known for several years in America, and whom I interviewed on various occasions, furnished me with warm personal recommendations to the British Ambassador, Sir RenneU Rodd; to the German Envoy, Prince von Biilow, and to Baron Mac- chio, who was then Austrian Ambassador in Rome. When I presented my credentials to Judge Gerard in Berlin, he made me feel at home at once by inquiring after the health and welfare of " Bob," my faithful dog-friend of twelve years' standing. Judge Gerard, although not a personal acquaintance of mine, had known of my work in America, and he passed me on to various German officials. I feel almost tempted to include in this preamble of thanks Prince von Biilow, his able private secretary, Dr. Friederich, and Herr von Hindenburg, first secretary of the German Em- bassy in Rome at the time, for their many valuable letters of introduction to prominent German officials. But perhaps they would not appreciate it! I spent many an interesting, instructive and enter- taining hour at the Villa Malte — Prince Billow's Ro- 14 MY "POINT D'APPUI"— ROME l5 man residence; at the Palazzo GaflFarelli, the German Embassy, and in various other German haunts in Rome. Neutrality these days is frequently, like morality, very much a matter of geography. The saying, "When in Rome do as the Romans do," had in those pre-Italian war days lost its meaning. I must admit that I was often at a loss to know what the Romans themselves were doing. It goes without saying that frequently extremely delicate and difficult situations developed. I was sub- jected to many keen cross-examinations ; many feelers were thrown out to ascertain on which side of the quarrel my sympathies really lay. But I maintained my neutrality. Often it was a case of out-diplomating the diplomats. I discoursed many a time on the three years I had spent in Germany as a student, saying how " un- vergessUch " (unforgettable) they were — which was quite true; I praised their army as one of the great- est and most perfect organisations in the world. I made muoh of their music, etc. ; in fact I assiduously brought in all the subjects on which I could converse with a certain amount of admiration. I stood the preliminary test ! I had proved myself ' sufficiently neutral, and therefore I should be given all possible assistance to enable me to obtain in Germany material for — " Articles of the right sort ! " — as one of my letters of introduction described it. H'm! I thought, our ideas might differ somewhat on the defini- tion of the " right sort." German-like, they did things thoroughly. Every German I met offered to give me a letter. I had no illusion that this was because they were anxious to help me, but because they thought I could help them. After three weeks I left Rome with over thirty letters of in- troduction to many prominent Germans, almost from 16 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEH. the Kaiser downwards. It was more than hinted to me that through those letters I might even obtain an audience with the War Lord. Anyhow, the list was important and interesting, if only on account of its heterogeneous composition. First, there came several official introductions to the Foreign Office, to Herr von Jagow, to Herr Zimmer- man, to Baron Mumm von Schwarzensteln. Then -there was a letter to Matthias Erzberger, leader of the Catholic Centrum Party in the Reichstag, chief of the International Press Bureau, and late German Press Agent (manipulator would be a better word) in Italy, and a man closely connected with the Kaiser. There were also letters to General von Hindenburg, von Below and von Beseler, all from personal relatives (of the generals; not mine, please). There was a letter to Herr Arthur von Gwinner, probably Germany's great- est financial genius, Director-Manager of the Deutsche Bank, and the man behind the Bagdad Railroad scheme. To Herr Krupp von Bohlen, and to one of his greatest technical experts, Herr Direktor Doktor Ehrens- berger ; ^ to the Secretary of the Colonies, Solf, and to his amusing firebrand A.D.C., Dr. Biicher ; to Count von Hertling, the Bavarian Minister of Foreign Af- fairs ; to the Governor of Strassburg, Baron von Stein ; to Dr. Walther Rathenau, Germany's raw-material genius; to His Excellency the Lord Mayor of Berlin, Herr Wehrmuth; to Professor Francke, head of the Bureau of Social Economics; to Dr. Michaelis, Dr. Zimmerman and Dr. Mantler, chief editors respectively of the Berliner Tageblatt, the Berliner LoTcal Anseiger, 1 It is interesting to note that this specialist accompanied Herr Krupp on his sight-seeing trip through English shipyards and war-material factories about six weeks before the outbreak of M ;-v* '■'' <■ el. rl 13 8 13 -a s g as ^ BQ 5S I" kfliantriiiifi-i' #■'" MY " POINT D'APPUI "— ROME 17 and the notorious " Wolff News Agency " ; to General Baron von Nagel, chief of the Bavarian General Staff; to Major Deutelmoser, chief of the Press Bureau of the General Staff; to Capitan-Leutnant Lohlein, of the " Marineamt " ; and to a number of lesser lights at the Admiralty, the War Office and the General Staff. Quite a respectable list, I should think, to serve as a working basis for an ambitious journalist thirsting for knowledge! I should like to state that the majority of inter- views and opinions I have quoted in the following pages represent the ideas of Germans who were in close touch with actual conditions, with the " powers that be," and, several of them, even with the Emperor himself. I am of the opinion that most of the ideas they ex- pressed they honestly believed to be true, however ab- surd this may seem from our point of view. Finally, I must reluctantly admit that several of the predictions that were made to me have come true. Amongst these are the repulse of the Russian armies, the unsuccessful attempt to force the Dardanelles, the failure of the Bagdad advance, the forcing of the road to Constan- tinople, and several others. On the other hand, many of them proved wrong, such as the capture of Calais, the separate peace with Russia (to be preceded by a revolution) ; that England would never submit to con- scription; that Italy could and would be bought off. Amongst those that are still on the knees of the gods (and also, let us hope, at the point of British bayonets) are the prophecies that : " The Allies will never drive the Germans out of Belgium; that the Russians will never drive the Germans back over the Vistula, and that the Turks will henceforth remain inseparably connected with Germany and Austria." Already in 1915 many weU-informed Germans admit- 18 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL ted to me that Germany could not win, but they main- tained that, on the other hand, she would not lose either, except of course such losses as naturally fall to the lot of all nations engaged in a war of such mag- nitude. Among the sayings most frequently and con- fidently quoted were the Chancellor's words: " Germany cannot be destroyed." CHAPTER III "If you see an adder, and you know it is an adder, leave it alone, unless you're certain you can kill it." — (My Nubse.) I HAVE already stated that I entered Germany with as open a mind as possible, and in that spirit I commenced my mission. But, alas! it is diflScult, in some cases impossible — as in mine — to remain for long in Germany as a purely objective observer. One incident suddenly changed my whole attitude, my intentions, and the entire object of my niission. It made me forget almost completely that I was a neutral journalist. I only remembered that I Was dealing with . . . adders. But let me record the incident that so affected my future line of action. One night, during my third week in Berlin, I met at the American Bar of the Adlon Hotel, where I was staying, a certain Baron Hochwachter. In my chap- ter on " Spies and Spying " I shall have something more to say about this " gentleman." He was a lieutenant in one of the crack Prussian Guard regiments. Until August 4th, 1914, he was would-be director of the Daimler Motor Works (of Stuttgart) in London. For the last ten years I have seen Hochwachter in various parts of the globe. I saw him regularly dur- ing the season at the best London hotels; I have seen him driving in the Bois de Boulogne and found him at the Grand Hotel in Rome. I have seen him in almost every place on the Riviera that I ever spent a winter 19 20 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL in, and I have come across him on Fifth Avenue, New York. I always put him down as one of those amateur globe- trotters, the kind of man who lives solely to have a . good time. I know better now. The topic — a favourite one at 2 a. m. — ^was Spies and Spying. Hochwachter was in very convivial spir- its, and . . . getting worse. " Bah ! " he sneered, " of all countries England is the easiest and, at the same time, the most pleasant in which to carry on ' military research work.' " (Note the scientific term for spying!) I thought it good policy to contradict him, and I got my rise. He lifted his champagne glass, winked at me with one sodden eye, and smilingly said : " Cherchez la femme! Prosit. Here's to them." Then he proceeded to give details. Notwithstanding his condition, he gave us with diabolical cleverness a dissertation on English " Home and Family Life." He described how in England more than in any other coun- try, the wife has the confidence of her husband, and shares the secrets of his affairs, no matter whether they be legal, political, diplomatic, naval and military, or commercial. " Hah ! " he laughed ; " it's a matter of ' mobilising the ladies,' my friend, always the ladies." It amounted to this, that Englishwomein were often made the innocent dupes and accomplices of the Ger- man spy, who enters their homes as an honoured guest or friend. No, dear reader, I did not break the fellow's neck, I did not even knock him down, or call him a damned blackguard and cur. But I did better than all three. " THE ADDER " 21 Then and there I took a solemn, silent oath. There, in front of the bar at the Adlon Hotel, Berlin, I swore that I would avenge English womanhood, English " Home and Family Life," if it took me a lifetime to do it. I vowed that before I was through with Ger- many — never with the Germans — come what may, I should know a bit more about their despicable, low, dastardly system of espionage. I constituted myself an unofficial investigator of the whole rotten German fabric of spying and lying. But since there is hardly any German sphere which is not permeated with the espionage canker ; since there is hardly any German class that is not doing its share in spying, in one form or another, I naturally found out many interesting and valuable details, which, as a foreign journalist, I had no business to know. But the responsibility of that rests with the Germans and the German system. Oh, I know that I ran many risks, and my task was often unpleasant ; but whenever I weakened in my resolution, or felt certain qualms about some of the things I had to say or do, I merely recalled : " Mobilisation of the Ladies," for " Deutsch- land iiber Alles," and that never failed tO' give me strength, courage and determination. " Well, nurse, I did not leave it alone, neither did I kill it, but I learned the dickens of a lot about adders." CHAPTER IV GESMAN MIND AND CHAEACTEE 1HAVE followed with a great deal of interest th«. various phases of the alien enemy question in this country. Your perfect confidence in gratitude, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of human qualities, seems to me little short of marvellous. The French have a saying : " Tout comprendre c'est tout par' donner " ; but they soon found out that that was a peace-time motto, not very practical in war-time. They have changed it now (in so far as it applies to Germans) into: "To understand all is to intern all." But, then, of course the French know a bit more about the Germans than you do, I have no intention of setting up as a psychological or philosophical expert, but I will endeavour to sketch for your benefit a few of the main traits of the German character, upbringing, teaching, and of ideas of " play- ing the game." I will not enter here into the " whys " and the " wherefores," but it is a sad, though true, fact that the majority of people in this country are hopelessly ill-informed about Germany. The Kaiser is to-day the most popular idol in Ger- many, not even excepting Hindenburg. The confidence, the trust in him, is so general, so deep and so intense, that if Germany should from now on be steadily pushed back ; if she were to lose every battle and be beaten to her knees, it would increase rather than weaken his 22 GERMAN MIND AND CHARACTER gS popularity and the love his subjects have for him. It takes more than books on Germany, more than the vivid stories of war correspondents and " expert " articles by " famous " strategists, to make you under- stand the fanatical spirit of patriotism by which the German mind is imbued and obsessed. It is as un- fathomable as the spirit of religion. From the moment that it is properly kindled, it is the most intense, the most sincere emotion they possess. According to their creed it is not necessary to live, but the first duty of all is to be ready to lay down your life for the Fatherland. Nothing matters; only the Fatherland counts. You may murder, steal, spy, cheat — it does not matter if it is for the Fatherland. The end sanctifies all means. I have talked, since the war, to hundreds of Germans of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, and one feeling is common to them all, viz. : Confidence, abso- lute confidence and trust in their leaders. Every one feels a certain responsibility, feels that he would en- danger the interests of the Fatherland by not doing his bit, the particular work he has been assigned to carry out, whatever that may be. While I was with the Belgian army I read a letter found on a dead German private, written by his mother. The concluding sen- tence was : " But we must not complain. The Father- land has called, and we must give our all and our best ungrudgingly, and God will give us solace and strength to bear whatever the costs, whatever the sorrows may be. Be brave, my son, and God bless you ! " That spirit of patriotism and of confidence is a mighty factor to reckon with, and should not be over- looked. This brings me to the question of the German at large in this country. With a few exceptions, as, for instance, those cases in which well-known Britishers, of 24 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL good standing, would go bail without keseeve for the particular y individuals in question, I should say, from personal knowledge of the German character, intern or repatriate them all. Pass an Act of Parliament can- celling all naturalisations from a ceri;ain date, if neces- sary ; but, whatever you decide, show the Germans that you are master in your own house. It seems a tall statement to make, but it is, nevertheless, a fact that several high-placed Germans have told me that the Brit- ish Government would not dare to interfere with certain Germans (naturalised or otherwise) in this country, because they know so much that they could upset the whole political apple-cart. I will concede that internment or repatijiation would be hard, very hard on many of them ; but is it not better to be hard, even unjust, to the enemy than to risk your own couiitrjTnen and women? Is it not better to intern nin6ty-nine innocent Germans and thereby make certain of the hundredth, who is guilty? But even about that injustice you need not feel many qualms. I have always maintained, and I do so now after several months spent in Germany, that every German is a po- tential spy. It is not in his character, it is his charac- ter. It lies in the Nietzschian doctrines in which he has been sedulously trained from early childhood. "Win, win, win!" "Work for the Fatherland al- ways ! " " Win, no matter by what means, but win ! " " It is your duty ! " Naturalisation is only a means to an end. The terms " Play the game," or " Play fair," at least as we understand them, are foreign to him. Everything is fair play to him, in peace as well as in war, as long as it means the good of the Fatherland. That is the creed, the spirit which enables Germany to flood every country in peace-time with an army of spies. Her espionage system is a national institution. GERMAN MIND AND CHARACTER 25 It is based upon the national character and the national creed. So when a German is not serving his country, not doing his duty — i.e., while at large in an enemy coun- try, not trying to spy or in other ways working for the Fatherland — do not flatter yourself that it is from a sense of loyalty or of gratitude towards his adopted .country, or from his ethical sense of duty as between host and guest. A thousand times no. It is for two reasons only that he will neglect his creed, his duty to the Fatherland: 1. Lack of opportlinity ; 2. Lack of leadership, with its consequent fear for his own skin. Some wag once said that lack of opportunity was responsible for a great deal of virtue. Substitute " loyalty " for " virtue," and you have the German case. Nothing but lack of opportunity is responsible for this so-called " loyalty " to England. Let us examine the second reason, viz., personal cowardice. Courage, bravery — in the British sense of the word — is rare, exceedingly rare, in the German. Fanaticism is far from being courage. The German quality is of a very different brand — it is "mass courage " ; perhaps " plural courage " would be a bet- ter term. Isolate a German, meet him alone, discon- nect him from any intercourse with his fellow-country- men, and I think you will find him meek, quiet, gentle, sentimental; in short, quite easy to manage, whether to lead or to drive. As I point out in another chap- ter, when he is alone he will sing sentimental love and slumber songs. But put two of them together, no matter wheee, whether at the North Pole, in Central China, in the Argentine, in free America, or in the heart of England, and there will be plotting and scheming. Two terminals of the German patriotic current meet and combustion follows. The Fatherland calls, the 26 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL Fatherland comes first. The courage of two Germans is not merely the courage of the one plus the courage of the second; it is a multiplication sum rather than an addition. Deeds which he would have trembled to think of, let alone carry out, while he was a single indi- vidual, he will plan with his compatriot, and the fear of being considered by the other a false patriot, a bad German, will overcome a great deal of physical fear. Now he sings : " Deutschland, Deutschland uber Alles " ; or another great favourite : " I am a Prus- sian ; knowest thou my colours." (Pray God you never will!) Moral: Keep them sequestrated, keep them out of temptation's way, because, as sure as fate, they can, in Oscar Wilde's words, " resist everything but tempta- tion " when it comes to serving the Fatherland. You might just as well try to teach a wolf the in- stincts (mind you, I say " instincts," not manners or tricks) of a pet lamb, than expect by mere surround- ings, precept, or example, to imbue a German with the principles and instincts of English life and character. Not even your famous Dr. Johnson's remark about Scotchmen, with whom — so he says — you can do a lot " If caught young," applies here. No truer line was ever written or spoken than: " Once a German, always a German." CHAPTER V GEEMAN PSYCHOLOGY A GERMAN'S conception of psychology is based too much on the obvious — i.e., what they con- sider obvious. Their everlasting rules and regulations, their " Verboten " at every turn, combined with that respect for the law, and love of authority which is bred in the bone of every good Prussian, have made certain grooves in the Hun brain, certain parallel lines of thought, which, once you have traced them, are easy to follow. The wonderful German system is only perfect and wonderful because it is used and practised by, and created for, Germans. Its value is, I think, greatly over-rated. If the notice " Verboten " appears on any door, passage, lawn, railway train, church, or anything else, then in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand it is unnecessary to take any further safe- guards. Why? Because the German Government, the German authorities, have as much confidence in popular respect for the law as the people have in the authorities being justified in making these restrictions. Not once, but a hundred times, have I been able to test this mental attitude. A good, law-abiding, re- spectable German citizen wiU not dream of passing through that door, gate, field, or step into that railroad train. " Yes, sir," I have been told dozens of times by Germans, " we admit that the authorities think for us, but they have always thought for the best. All this talk about the iron fist is nonsense. You foreigners 27 28 BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL notice only the regularity, the number of restrictions placed on our daily life. We Germans are brought up with them, and, what is most important, we believe in them. Our government is a government of experts. In every department we have only thp best, the highest experts that can be got, and neither money nor position can save the man if he is inefficient. Confidence, my dear sir, is the great secret of German success." I then asked him: " And what . would the people think of their leaders if the end of this war should bring disaster to Germany, should prove her partial destruction ? What would the people do? Would they not come to the conclusion that they had been misled, deceived by their govern- ment, their leaders, their newspapers ? " His answer was classic, indeed, typical of the Ger- man, I should say, of the Prussian mind, the Prussian creed, the Prussian faith: " Ah, I know what you are thinking of, the question so prominently discussed in the enemy press, of a revo- lution in Germany. How little they know the German mind ! Let me illustrate my answer by taking a hypo- thetical case. You are a sportsman — a fencer, I take it. Suppose you have a friend living somewhere in the country who is a crack shot, a great sportsman. He is very popular amongst his friends. One night several ruffians sneak up to his house, to rob it, and steal his hard-earned belongings. Your friend goes out and shoots several of his attackers, but, instead of diminishing, their number grows and grows. He is surrounded on all sides and finally beaten to his knees. Mind you, it is not a fight of man to man, but of many — sey, ten against one. Would you lose confidence in his prowess as an expert shot? Would you not still readily choose him to represent you, your club, your QiiDlgemcinc 'Si