My German Correspondence 
 
 Concerning Germany's responsibility for 
 the war and for the method of its conduct, 
 being a letter from a German Professor 
 together with a reply and foreword 
 
 By 
 Professor Douglas W. Johnson 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. NEW YORK CITY 
 AUTHOR OF "THE PERIL OF PRUSSIANISM" 
 
 New York 
 George H. Doran Company 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1917, 
 BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I FOREWORD 9 
 
 II THE LETTER FROM A GERMAN PRO- 
 FESSOR 17 
 
 III THE REPLYTO THE GERMAN PROFESSOR 37 
 
 [v] 
 
Foreword 
 
I 
 Foreword 
 
 A few weeks after the outbreak of the 
 world war in 1914, I began to receive from 
 several of my German colleagues letters in 
 which the righteousness of Germany's 
 cause and the iniquity of her enemies' con- 
 duct were vigorously asserted. Although 
 written by men of strongly contrasted per- 
 sonalities, living in widely separated parts 
 of the German Empire, the letters were 
 strikingly similar in tone. All betrayed the 
 most bitter resentment that American opin- 
 ion should incline in favor of Belgium and 
 her defenders; all were filled with the 
 charges, long since become familiar to our 
 ears, that the American people were 
 "drowned in English lies," and the Ameri- 
 can press "bought with English gold," 
 
 In a few of these letters extreme bitter- 
 ness of spirit betrayed the author into using 
 language which made any reply impossible. 
 [9] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 To most of them a response was sent which 
 carefully avoided discussion of the issues of 
 the war, but expressed concern for the per- 
 sonal sacrifices my colleagues were endur- 
 ing for their Fatherland. Some were send- 
 ing sons, all were sending beloved students, 
 to die on the field of battle. However much 
 we might disagree as to the causes and ob- 
 jects of the war, both they and I could com- 
 prehend its tragic sorrows; and it seemed 
 that sympathetic interest in the suffering of 
 my German friends might help to keep in- 
 tact the bridges of personal friendship to 
 span the chasm opening between Germany 
 and America. 
 
 In one case only did I venture to discuss 
 the merits of the German cause and to in- 
 terpret American opinion on the war. One 
 of my colleagues, after writing several let- 
 ters to which I thought it wiser to attempt 
 no answer, addressed to me a long commu- 
 nication in which a sincere and earnest ef- 
 fort was made to justify by reasoned argu- 
 ment Germany's conduct in the war. The 
 evident care which the author had bestowed 
 upon his task, and the unmistakable sin- 
 [10] 
 
Foreword 
 
 cerity of his belief in the justice of all he 
 wrote, demanded that I should reply in 
 equal good faith. The letter which forms 
 the basis of this little book represents an 
 attempt to express to my German colleague 
 America's judgment on the issues of the 
 war, and the grounds upon which that judg- 
 ment rests. 
 
 A word about the subsequent history of 
 this letter may not be inappropriate. It 
 was not written for publication, and the idea 
 that it might contain matter of interest to 
 the public was an afterthought. Unbound- 
 ed admiration for the magnificent heroism 
 of France as she battled to stem the tide of 
 Prussian barbarism first suggested to me the 
 thought that there might be some comfort 
 for my French colleagues in the statement 
 of American opinion which the letter con- 
 tained. A copy was circulated among a few 
 personal friends at the Sorbonne, and ap- 
 peared by permission in the Revue de Paris 
 of September, 1916. It was later issued 
 in brochure form from the press of Armand 
 Colin under the title "Lettre d'un Ameri- 
 cain a un Allemand." In the French trans- 
 [11] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 lation the author is indebted to his good 
 friend and colleague, Professor Albert De- 
 mangeon, for a beauty of style and an elo- 
 quence of expression which he has been un- 
 able to discover in the English original. 
 Extract? from the letter have since been 
 translated into most of the languages of 
 Europe and published as an expression of 
 America's attitude toward the menace of 
 German autocracy. The publicity depart- 
 ment of the British Government issued the 
 English text as a pamphlet entitled "Plain 
 Words from America." 
 
 The communication which called forth 
 my letter has not heretofore been published. 
 It is included in the present booklet for the 
 reason that since America's entrance into the 
 struggle it seems particularly appropriate 
 that any analysis of American opinion on 
 the issues of the war presented to American 
 readers should contain a fair statement of 
 our enemy's opinion on those issues. Both 
 in spirit and in content my correspondent's 
 letter is typical of many received from 
 other German university professors, and of 
 the manifestoes, appeals, and interviews of 
 [12] 
 
Foreword 
 
 various German intellectuals already pub- 
 lished in this country during the last three 
 years. One cannot doubt, therefore, that it 
 fairly represents the attitude of educated 
 Germans toward the war and toward Amer- 
 ica; and since it deals wholly with questions 
 of international concern and contains noth- 
 ing of a personal nature, there can be no 
 impropriety in its publication so long as 
 the identity of the author is not revealed 
 without his permission. It is a fortunate 
 circumstance that the letter was addressed 
 to me in the English language, for it is thus 
 possible to reproduce it verbatim and avoid 
 danger of modifying either meaning or 
 spirit in translation. The general excel- 
 lence of the English text is in itself an indi- 
 cation of the writer's high intellectual 
 standing. 
 
 I have often been asked whether my reply 
 reached its destination. I have no knowl- 
 edge on this point. Copies were sent by 
 several routes, both direct to my colleague's 
 German address, and indirectly through a 
 neutral European country to a mutual 
 friend, with request for forwarding. In 
 [13] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 this manner I hoped that one copy might 
 possibly pass the German censor, and that 
 through my friend other Germans might 
 learn some truths which their government 
 carefully conceals from its deluded people. 
 If this was a vain hope, the publication of 
 the letter has at least served a useful pur- 
 pose in bringing to our present allies one 
 slight evidence of American sympathy and 
 understanding at a time when we were offi- 
 cially neutral. Now that we have at last 
 redeemed our solemn obligation to human- 
 ity by taking our place on the battle front, 
 the letter is, I trust, more than ever perti- 
 nent for American readers, since it discusses 
 the fundamental issues which caused us to 
 unsheathe the sword in defense of justice 
 and civilization, and seeks to interpret 
 America's judgment as to the condition on 
 which the world can hope to secure a just 
 and durable peace, and the German people 
 expect to regain their lost honour. 
 
 DOUGLAS W. JOHNSON. 
 
 [14] 
 
The Letter From A Ger- 
 man Professor 
 
II 
 
 The Letter From A Ger- 
 man Professor 
 
 July Q, IQI5. 
 
 My dear Johnson: 
 
 Although I have received no answer to 
 my letter of September 28th, I conclude 
 from the newspaper cuttings you have kind- 
 ly sent me from time to time, especially 
 since the destruction of the Lusitania, that 
 you do not find my arguments convincing. 
 At this I am not altogether surprised since 
 you evidently get your view of the present 
 state of affairs from the public press, and 
 moreover from the press of a political party 
 whose aim is to spread a "world's war" by 
 exciting animosity between two countries 
 that have hitherto lived in peace and friend- 
 ship and whose welfare demands the con- 
 tinuance of that friendship. It is mainly 
 due to the influence of this unscrupulous and 
 frivolous press, which pretends to represent 
 [17] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 the public conscience but in reality speaks 
 only in the selfish interests of its owners and 
 editors, that we have arrived at such a pass 
 that the nations no longer understand each 
 other. 
 
 The great civilised nations have uecome 
 the prey of a psychopathological condition 
 which renders the relations between the 
 most cultured races almost .similar to those 
 which obtain between the leaders of the 
 various religious bodies, only much worse 
 and far less reconciled. They have lost not 
 only the power to judge fairly each other's 
 character and actions, but also the wish to 
 do so. With us Germans this deplorable 
 mental disease undoubtedly takes a less viru- 
 lent form than with the hostile nations, and 
 is already on the way to recovery; whereas 
 with the others it appears to have reached 
 the phase of paroxysm. This is inexpres- 
 sibly sad and depresses me even more than 
 the dreadful slaughter of this terrible war, 
 for I fear that this condition is incurable 
 and will spread. 
 
 Is it not almost inconceivable, to take a 
 case in point, that men of high position in 
 [18] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 the hostile countries and, as it seems to me, 
 not a few in America men of science, ac- 
 customed to accept as fact only what is 
 proved by unimpeachable evidence nay 
 even only after the impossibility of nega- 
 tion has been proved are satisfied to de- 
 rive their ideas of Germany and the Ger- 
 mans from the daily papers and from those 
 of a single party at that, without taking the 
 trouble to inquire into their reasonableness? 
 Any thinking man of cultured mind must, 
 one would think, know what a newspaper 
 really is: a business concern, founded and 
 carried on with the purpose of enriching its 
 owners by supporting the interests of a po- 
 litical party, of commercial and industrial 
 undertakings, and open-handed govern- 
 ments of foreign powers. It supports these 
 interests quite regardless of their effect, ben- 
 eficial or the reverse, upon the real public 
 interests of its own country, regardless of 
 truth and justice. And how is such a paper 
 produced? A journalist writes on all man- 
 ner of subjects without knowing or seeking 
 to know much about them; he is often not 
 in a position to do so : and without the small- 
 [19] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 est scruple on the score of the mischief and 
 confusion that will arise out of his thought- 
 less utterances. He gives his articles the 
 colour that is prescribed by his paper and 
 does not trouble himself about the disastrous 
 results, the mental poison doled out to the 
 people who derive their views and opinions 
 from the one paper they read. The daily 
 press has thus become one of the direct 
 plagues of humanity, an ulcer in the frame 
 of society, whose one object it is, for private 
 ends (wealth, political influence and social 
 position) to pit the races, nations, religions 
 and classes against one another. 
 
 For the last fifteen years the French and 
 English press, for the last six to eight years 
 the Russian and now the Italian and no 
 small part of the press of the neutral coun- 
 tries also the American have laboured 
 in the employ or at the instigation of their 
 respective governments, with all the imple- 
 ments of mendacity and defamation, to 
 spread hatred and contempt for Germany 
 the wide world over, with the common ob- 
 ject of setting all the powers against us and 
 [20] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 compassing our ruin, thus preparing the 
 present war. 
 
 This awful war, unexampled in the his- 
 tory of all times, is due in great measure to 
 the press, and to that also it owes its pecul- 
 iarly pernicious character. And from this 
 same press you, my dear Johnson, draw 
 your opinion of German conduct and 
 "German atrocities"! Have you never 
 thought of the numerous Germans with 
 whom you are personally acquainted? Do 
 you believe any of them capable of com- 
 mitting or countenancing such atrocities? 
 Do you consider what advances the Ger- 
 man nation has achieved in the fields of 
 science and social culture? If so,, how 
 can you deem it capable of such deeds as 
 your American press lays to its charge? War 
 is an infamous condition in which all the 
 passions are let loose, and amongst a million 
 of soldiers there must of course be some bad 
 characters who take the opportunity to fol- 
 low their evil instincts; but are not horrible 
 crimes committed in times of peace daily 
 and hourly yes, even in your own New 
 York? 
 
 [21] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 The iron necessities of the conflict now 
 and then compel all the opposing troops to 
 cruel actions by which harmless non-com- 
 batants have to suffer war is war and a 
 scourge of society, but no one has yet dis- 
 covered a means of doing away with it. 
 Since the day when Cain slew Abel there 
 has been war among men, and the same pas- 
 sions which ruled mankind thousands of 
 years ago rule them in a measure still: love, 
 hate, selfishness and greed, envy and ambi- 
 tion. So long as this is the case war will nat 
 cease to exist. 
 
 But the reports of atrocities said to have 
 been committed by the German troops are 
 mean lies and calumnies, based upon single 
 unavoidable actions. The documents sup- 
 posed to prove these accusations are all for- 
 geries or perversions of the truth. The Ger- 
 man government has published proofs of 
 this fact, but your newspapers do not choose 
 to publish these but only the calumnies of 
 our enemies. Nor have the American pa- 
 pers ever published any of the almost incon- 
 ceivably inhuman cruelties perpetrated by 
 the Russians in our Eastern provinces. In 
 [22] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 the course of their short invasion they con- 
 verted these districts into waste deserts, and 
 that without any military necessity what- 
 ever. All the towns and villages were de- 
 stroyed, peaceable folk, regardless of age 
 and sex, were slaughtered and the whole 
 country plundered. Why do your American 
 newspapers take no notice of all this? They 
 want to make the utterly improbable appear 
 to be true namely, that the Russians are 
 a civilised people, the Germans barbarians. 
 In their campaign of lying and defamation 
 the hostile governments have two objects 
 in view: to excite the animosity of their own 
 people and so keep up the war spirit; and 
 to incite the neutral states against us in order 
 to add to our difficulties. In America these 
 tactics have been only too successful. 
 
 And now, as to the LusitaniaH She was 
 scheduled in the Register of the British 
 Navy as an "auxiliary cruiser." This is an 
 undeniable fact and is alone sufficient, ac- 
 cording to international law, to justify our 
 action and to refute all the American ap- 
 peals against it. The Lusitania was armed. 
 The examination by the American authori- 
 [23] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 ties was careless, otherwise it must have re- 
 vealed the guns concealed behind canvas 
 partitions. A large part of the cargo also 
 consisted of ammunition for our enemies, 
 in quantity enough to kill many thousands 
 of German soldiers. Ought we then to have 
 allowed these war-stores to be landed in 
 England just because a number of Ameri- 
 can citizens were so reckless as to travel by 
 that vessel in spite of repeated warnings? Is 
 the life of a hundred American citizens con- 
 sidered to be more valuable than that of 
 thousands of German soldiers? The Amer- 
 ican passengers were purposely tempted by 
 the British Shipping Company to sail on 
 board of the Lusitania in order to preserve 
 the cargo of military stores from German 
 attacks. Why did not the American govern- 
 ment prevent this in accordance with its 
 own regulations, which forbid the convey- 
 ance of passengers in the same ships with 
 explosives? Why does the American gov- 
 ernment and the public opinion in America 
 not make the British Shipping Company re- 
 sponsible for the disaster, instead of quali- 
 fying the well justified act of German self- 
 [24] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 defence as barbarous? It is a fact that the 
 rapid sinking of the Lusitania was not the 
 result of the single torpedo shot, but was 
 due to the explosion of ammunition in her 
 hold. Over and above, it is an undeniable 
 fact that the Lusitania sailed in a previous 
 passage under false colours and thus placed 
 itself out of international law, that she car- 
 ried in previous passages many thousands of 
 tons of military ammunition. 
 
 If the American people were allowed 
 calmly to review all these facts its excite- 
 ment would abate, but the friends of the 
 multi-millionaires Vanderbilt and Pear- 
 son use their influence with the press to 
 prevent this. One of the traits of the Amer- 
 ican character, which I often had occasion 
 to note during my stay in America, is an in- 
 ordinate worship of the possessors of great 
 wealth, a respect far greater than we show 
 toward our greatest nobles. The fact that 
 such persons were victims of the German 
 attack biases public opinion in America 
 and above all in the American press. The 
 cuttings you sent me evince nervous excite- 
 ment and blind rage, but also a total absence 
 [25] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 of real knowledge of the circumstances and 
 of calm reflection. 
 
 I acquired during my stay in your coun- 
 try a very high opinion of the American 
 people, its constitution, its social, municipal 
 and scientific institutions ; but one thing was 
 an almost daily surprise to me. I mean the 
 low intellectual standing of a considerable 
 portion of the daily papers and the conse- 
 quent prevailing ignorance of European af- 
 fairs. This is exemplified even in a speech 
 mentioned in one of the newspaper cut- 
 tings you forwarded to me by the Ex- At- 
 torney General George W. Wickersham. 
 That high official said: "In the crisis in 
 Servia two years before King Peter was as- 
 sassinated all the powers recalled their rep- 
 resentatives from Servia because they con- 
 sidered that Servia should not be treated as a 
 civilised nation." This he made the text for 
 important political advice, which, if fol- 
 lowed by the American government, must 
 lead to war between America and Germany. 
 Now the assassination in Servia took place 
 in 1903. The victims were King Alexander 
 and Queen Draga, her two brothers, the 
 [26] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 prime minister and other members of the 
 government. The murderers usurped the 
 highest posts in the state and the present 
 king, whose name is Peter, and who was in 
 collusion with the instigators of the crime, 
 ascended the throne. The English govern- 
 ment was the only one that withdrew its 
 ambassador. This Servian state and people, 
 whose history is one uninterrupted chain of 
 bloody deeds and at whose instigation the 
 heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown and 
 his wife were murdered, whence arose the 
 conflict between Austria and Servia and 
 eventually the great war, this Servian peo- 
 ple is now held up also on the part of 
 England for commiseration as a poor, in- 
 nocent victim of our barbarous pugnacity. 
 How can a man, so ignorant of recent 
 European history, airily presume to direct 
 public opinion on a question of such im- 
 portance to the welfare of his country? 
 What would be said in America of a prom- 
 inent German, who should express himself 
 upon American affairs, stating as an histor- 
 ical fact the assassination of President Taft 
 in the year 1856, and speaking of the present 
 [27] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 president as Abraham Lincoln? There you 
 have one example out of a thousand of the 
 way in which the ignorance and unscrupu- 
 lous acts of the press mislead public opin- 
 ion. Instead of genuine information, care- 
 fully weighed and revised, the press makes 
 use of catch-words and phrases and these 
 are credulously swallowed even by well ed- 
 ucated men of high position without any 
 attempt to test their true value. 
 
 One of these catch-words is "Militarism!" 
 It is said that we Germans intend to impose 
 our Militarism on the whole world and to 
 dominate all the other European states and 
 deprive them of their liberty! Have you 
 considered what this dreaded "Militarism" 
 really is? For us Germans it is a system 
 adopted voluntarily by all classes, high and 
 low without exception, for the defence of 
 our independence and freedom, which are 
 endangered by our geographical position, 
 surrounded as we are on all sides by envious 
 neighbours. But for this organisation Ger- 
 many would even now be laid low, for it 
 presents a barrier to the political aims of 
 the other great powers. This "Militarism" 
 [28] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 (so reprehensible in us) has been imitated 
 and even surpassed by our enemies! France 
 has done so in the hope of revenge for 1870 
 and of regaining the thoroughly German 
 provinces, Alsace and Lorraine, while it 
 professes to fight for racial independence. 
 
 Russian militarism, which is more intense 
 and more comprehensive than any other, 
 aims at the annihilation of Austria, because 
 that Power is a hindrance to the century-old 
 Russian scheme to conquer Constantinople 
 and incorporate all the Slav states in its own, 
 although that is already too gigantic to ad- 
 mit of proper government and development. 
 
 England, as her insular position demands, 
 has to the utmost developed Marinism. This 
 she has done systematically and logically in 
 order to maintain her supremacy on the seas 
 and her policy of allowing other countries 
 only such development as she deems consis- 
 tent with her own interests. 
 
 Where in the American press do you read 
 of French or Russian "Militarism" or of 
 British "Marinism"? It is always the hor- 
 ror of "Prussian Militarism." They talk 
 of German national economy as antiquated, 
 [29] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 of our institutions as servile and never are 
 at the pains to look into them. It is so much 
 easier to feed upon phrases! 
 
 In reality our Constitution and our insti- 
 tutions are freer than almost any others and 
 yet they call them reactionary? Our suffrage 
 is the most liberal in the world and the 
 liberties of the subject only so far controlled 
 as is requisite for the welfare of the com- 
 munity. There is no other legislature reg- 
 ulating the relations of employers and em- 
 ployees to compare with ours. Remember, 
 too, that with us Parliament and adminis- 
 tration are not, as in many other countries, 
 in the hands of selfish schemers and specula- 
 tors, of coteries and cliques, all trying to 
 elbow their way to the manger to fill their 
 stomachs and line their nests at the expense 
 of the state. 
 
 One word more on the subject of the Lu- 
 sitania: Why, if it is cruel, barbarous, inhu- 
 man to sink a ship that brings munitions of 
 war to our enemies for use against us, is there 
 no outcry in America against England's 
 scheme to starve out a nation of 70 million 
 souls by cutting off the importation of food? 
 [30] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 Where is your pity in this case? This ac- 
 tion on England's part is the sole cause of 
 our submarine warfare. Of course it is a 
 dreadful expedient, but we have no other 
 wherewith to check England's starvation 
 plan. Let England open the blockade and 
 we shall instantly recall our submarine ves- 
 sels. Why does not America intervene? She 
 has every right to demand that England 
 should not hinder her legitimate commerce, 
 the exportation to Germany of foodstuffs 
 and other goods that do not serve the pur- 
 poses of war. Why does America submit to 
 this interference in her commerce at the 
 same time that she calls down all manner 
 of curses upon us because we defend our- 
 selves? Is this behaviour fair? Is it fair, 
 is it humane, that America sends weapons, 
 even poisoned weapons, to our enemies for 
 use against us? For filthy lucre America 
 provided guns and projectiles, which wid- 
 owed a hundred thousand German wives 
 and made hundreds of thousands of German 
 orphans. Is not this barbarous? Mean- 
 while, we Germans are denounced as inhu- 
 man, barbarous because to prevent the land- 
 [31] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 ing of munitions in England we had to risk 
 the lives of Americans, who needlessly and 
 in spite of warning incurred this risk. 
 
 In America you talk of peace and inter- 
 vention, and export the materials for war! 
 Were it not for the export of weapons and 
 ammunition to our enemies, the war would 
 have been over long ago. Were America 
 to stop this traffic to-day, then would be 
 peace to-morrow. It is in America's option 
 to restore peace to the world. That would 
 be a noble deed. 
 
 I have been impelled, my dear Johnson, 
 by my friendly feeling for you to endeavour 
 to disabuse your mind on some of those 
 points on which you appear to be deceived 
 by the ignorant and too often venal press, 
 and I should be heartily glad if I were suc- 
 cessful. The time and pains I have spent 
 on this letter would then not have been in 
 vain. 
 
 If you have any regard for me and believe 
 me incapable of a criminal action, please 
 remember that far more than one hundred 
 thousand men of my intellectual and moral 
 standing are serving and fighting among our 
 [32] 
 
From A German Professor 
 
 million soldiers. You will then believe that 
 our army is not guilty of the shameful' out- 
 rages laid to its charge. 
 
 I am, my dear Johnson, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 [33] 
 
The Reply to the German 
 Professor 
 
Ill 
 
 The Reply to the German 
 Professor 
 
 February, 1916. 
 
 MY DEAR : 
 
 Your two letters, with enclosed newspaper 
 clippings, and your postal card were duly 
 received. I can assure you that my failure 
 to reply more promptly was not meant as 
 any discourtesy. The clippings were gladly 
 received, for I am always anxious to read 
 what prominent Germans regard as able 
 and convincing presentations of their side 
 of disputed matters. Your own letters, par- 
 ticularly the long one of July 9, were read 
 most carefully. I appreciate your earnest 
 endeavour to convince me of the righteous- 
 ness of your country's cause, and am not un- 
 mindful of the time and trouble you spent 
 in preparing for me so carefully worded a 
 presentation of the German point of view 
 touching several matters of the profoundest 
 importance to our two Governments. 
 [37] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 My failure to reply has been due to a 
 doubt in my own mind as to whether good 
 would be accomplished by any letter which 
 I could write. I could not agree with your 
 opinions regarding Germany's responsibil- 
 ity for the war, nor regarding her methods 
 of conducting the war; and it did not seem 
 to me that you would profit by any statement 
 I might make as to the reasons for my own 
 opinions on such vital matters. Your let- 
 ters clearly showed that you wrote under 
 the influence of an intense emotion an 
 emotion which I can both understand and 
 respect, but which might well make it im- 
 possible for you to accord a dispassionate 
 reception to a reply which controverted 
 your own views. With your country sur- 
 rounded by powerful foes, with your sons 
 deluging alien soil in an heroic defence of 
 your Government's decrees, with the nation 
 you love most dearly standing in moral iso- 
 lation, condemned by the entire neutral 
 world for barbarous crimes against civilisa- 
 tion, you could hardly be expected to write 
 with that scientific accuracy and care which 
 would, in normal times, be your ideal. 
 [38] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 For this reason I have not resented much 
 in your letters which would otherwise call 
 for earnest protest. I feel sure, for example, 
 your assertion that I and my fellow-country- 
 men derive our opinions of German conduct 
 wholly from corrupt and venal newspapers, 
 or usually from a single newspaper which 
 doles out mental poison in subservience to a 
 single political party, was not intended to be 
 as insulting as it really sounded. Your emo- 
 tion doubtless led you to make charges 
 which your sense of justice and courtesy 
 would, under other circumstances, con- 
 demn. I believe also that in a calmer time 
 you would not entertain the sweeping 
 opinion that "the daily press has become 
 one of the direct plagues of human- 
 ity, an ulcer in the frame of society, 
 whose one object it is, for private ends 
 (wealth, political influence, and social posi- 
 tion), to pit the races, nations, religions, and 
 classes against one another." I realise that 
 some of our papers are a disgrace to the 
 high calling of journalism; I believe that 
 some sacrifice honour for gain and that 
 some are subservient to special interests; but 
 [39] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 the roll of American journalists is honoured 
 by the presence of many names which com- 
 mand respect at home and abroad because 
 of a long-standing reputation for honesty, 
 fearlessness, and distinguished service in the 
 cause of humanity. To one such name was 
 added at our last commencement the degree 
 representing one of the highest honours 
 which Columbia University has to bestow 
 upon a man of lofty ideals and honourable 
 achievement. The paper edited by this 
 man is among those most extensively read 
 by myself and hundreds of thousands of 
 other Americans who demand to know the 
 truth. However low may be the moral 
 plane of some newspapers, your character- 
 isation of all newspapers as mere business 
 concerns, founded and carried on with the 
 purpose of enriching their owners, and sup- 
 porting certain special interests, "quite re- 
 gardless of their effect, beneficial or the re- 
 verse, upon the real public interests of their 
 own country, regardless of truth and jus- 
 tice," is not at all true of the class of papers 
 read by the majority of intelligent Ameri- 
 cans. I am not sufficiently familiar with a 
 [40] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 large number of German newspapers to 
 make assertions as to their standards; but, in 
 spite of the smaller amount of freedom al- 
 lowed to the press in your country, I can 
 scarcely imagine that conditions are bad 
 enough to justify your sweeping condemna- 
 tion of all newspapers. 
 
 If you had stopped to consider the radi- 
 cally different relations existing between the 
 press and the Government in Germany and 
 in America, you would scarcely have fallen 
 into the error of asserting that a consider- 
 able proportion of our papers, in common 
 with those of other nations, have "laboured 
 in the employ or at the instigation of" the 
 Government, "with all the implements of 
 mendacity and defamation, to spread hatred 
 and contempt for Germany." Unlike your 
 own, our press is wholly free from Govern- 
 ment control. Any attempt on the part of 
 our Government to dictate the policy of 
 any newspaper would be hotly resented, and 
 would be doomed to certain failure. Amer- 
 icans do not believe in the German doctrine 
 that the press must be "so far controlled 
 as is requisite for the welfare of the com- 
 [41] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 munity," and hold that absolute freedom 
 of speech is essential to true liberty. There 
 is no censorship of the American press.* 
 You have a censorship which all the outside 
 world knows has been wonderfully effective 
 in keeping some important facts from the 
 knowledge of the German people. No 
 American paper can be suppressed because 
 of what it prints. You are, of course, well 
 aware that, on more than one occasion, Ger- 
 man papers have been suppressed for cer- 
 tain periods because your Government did 
 not believe that what they said was for the 
 good of the country. I enclose a message 
 received by wireless under German control 
 which is only one of the many announce- 
 ments telling of suppression of your papers. 
 It does not alter the situation to say that cen- 
 sorship and suppression are necessary for 
 the good of the Fatherland, and that the 
 papers in question deserved to be sup- 
 pressed. The vital fact remains that your 
 newspapers are not free to publish anything 
 they like. Ours are thus free. Every issue 
 of your papers must be submitted to your 
 
 * See note page 97. 
 
 [42] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 police, so that your rulers may control what 
 you write and read. Not a paper in America 
 is submitted to any official whatever. You 
 cannot read anything which your Govern- 
 ment believes it wise to keep from you. We 
 can read everything, whether the Govern- 
 ment likes it or not. Americans believe 
 there can be no truly free press, and no real 
 unfettered public opinion, with the possi- 
 bility of punishment hanging over the press 
 of a country. Where the police, represent- 
 ing the ruling power, controls the press 
 there is no true liberty. Whatever else may 
 be said against the American press, it must 
 be admitted that it is free from Govern- 
 ment control. It is not necessary, therefore, 
 to inquire whether the American Govern- 
 ment has employed or instigated the public 
 press to attack Germany, since, even if it 
 desired to do so, it would not dare make the 
 attempt. 
 
 There are many other statements in your 
 letters which can only be explained as the 
 result of writing under stress of intense 
 emotion; you would probably wish to 
 modify many of these were you writing un- 
 [43] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 der happier circumstances. It is not my 
 desire, however, to dwell upon this phase 
 of your correspondence. I do not for a 
 moment doubt your sincerity, and believe 
 you were yourself convinced of the truth 
 of all you wrote. My purpose in writing 
 this letter is to accept in good faith your ex- 
 pressed wish for a better understanding be- 
 tween two peoples who have long been on 
 friendly terms with one another, and to 
 contribute toward this end by removing, at 
 least so far as we two are concerned, one 
 serious misunderstanding which now exists. 
 As you are well aware, the American peo- 
 ple, with the exception of a certain propor- 
 tion of German-born population, are prac- 
 tically unanimous in condemning Germany 
 for bringing on the war and for conducting 
 it in a barbarous manner. You, together 
 with hosts of your fellow-countrymen, be- 
 lieve this unfavourable opinion is the result 
 of the truth being kept from the American 
 public by improper means. It is, of course, 
 a comforting thought to you that when the 
 whole truth is known we will revise our 
 opinions and realise that Germany acted 
 [44] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 righteously, and was not guilty of the 
 crimes which have been charged against 
 her. But, as a scientific man, devoted to 
 the search for truth no matter where it 
 leads you, you would not want to deceive 
 yourself with such a comforting assurance 
 if it were founded on false premises. If, 
 therefore, you really want to know the con- 
 ditions under which American opinion of 
 Germany's conduct has been formed, I will 
 endeavour to describe them with the same 
 calmness and careful attention to accuracy 
 which I earnestly endeavour to observe in 
 my scientific investigations. In discussing 
 this vitally important matter, I will first 
 endeavour to picture the American opinion 
 of Germany and the Germans before the 
 war, since this was the background upon 
 which later opinions were formed. I will 
 then explain the sources of information 
 which were open to Americans after the 
 war began ; and will next describe how this 
 information produced an American opinion 
 unfavourable to Germany, as observed by 
 one who has read widely and watched the 
 trend of his country's thought with keen in- 
 [45] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 terest. If this analysis is successful in con- 
 vincing you that American opinion does not 
 rest on English lies, is not the result of a 
 venal press controlled by British gold, but 
 has a far more substantial foundation, then 
 my letter will not have been written in vain. 
 If you are not convinced, but prefer to re- 
 tain the comforting belief that if America 
 only knew the truth it would applaud Ger- 
 many's actions, then I shall, at least, have 
 the satisfaction of knowing that I earnestly 
 endeavoured, in good faith, to return the 
 courtesy which you showed me when you 
 wrote so fully, by telling you with equal 
 fulness the truth as I see it. 
 
 First, then, let me picture the background 
 of public opinion toward Germany and the 
 Germans as I saw it before the war began. 
 Inasmuch as one's vision may be affected fa- 
 vourably or unfavourably by his personal 
 experiences, it is only fair that I state briefly 
 my own experiences with people of German 
 birth or parentage. One of my earliest rec- 
 ollections is of a German maid in our house- 
 hold who taught me to make my wants 
 [46] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 known in the German language, and also 
 taught me to love her as I did members of 
 my own family. In college, one of my twp 
 favourite professors and one of my college 
 chums were of German parentage. Both 
 these men are still valued friends, and both 
 believe in the righteousness of Germany's 
 cause. I have spent parts of three sum- 
 mers in Germany, and have many German 
 friends, both in America and in Europe. 
 The two Europeans in my special field of 
 science for whom I have the greatest per- 
 sonal affection are German professors in 
 Berlin and Leipzig respectively. I have 
 more personal friends in the German army 
 than in the Allied armies. My sister is 
 married to a professor of German descent 
 and German sympathies. Surely, therefore, 
 if personal relationships prejudice me at 
 all, they should prejudice me in favour of 
 Germans and things German. 
 
 In my opinion, the American estimate of 
 Germany and her citizens prior to the war 
 was, in general, most favourable. Certainly 
 America looked with admiration upon the 
 remarkable advance achieved by Germany 
 [47] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 in the short space of forty years. To your 
 universities we have always acknowledged 
 a great debt. We have profited much by 
 your advances in economic lines and ad- 
 mired the combination of scientific research 
 and business which made your countrymen 
 efficient in many lines. The large number 
 of your people who have emigrated to 
 America have, in the main, made good citi- 
 zens, and we have welcomed them as among 
 the best of the foreigners who flock to our 
 shores. German music and German musi- 
 cians find nowhere a more cordial welcome 
 than here where admiration for their 
 achievements is unstinted. Nor have we 
 forgotten the heroic services of the many 
 Germans who laid down their lives in de- 
 fence of our flag, that the Union might live. 
 The Germans' love of honour and family 
 has touched the American heart in a ten- 
 der spot, and many of my acquaintances 
 admit that with no other foreigners do they 
 establish such intimate and affectionate re- 
 lations as with their German friends. 
 
 This admiration and friendship has not 
 blinded us to certain defects in the German 
 [48] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 character, any more than has your friend- 
 ship for Americans closed your eyes to our 
 defects. The bad manners of Germans are 
 proverbial, not only among Americans, but 
 all over the world; so much so that certain 
 German writers, admitting that Germans as 
 a nation are ill-mannered, have sought to 
 find in this fact an explanation for the 
 world-wide antagonism toward Germany's 
 policy in the war. I do not believe, how- 
 ever, that, so far as American sentiment is 
 concerned, there is any considerable element 
 of truth in this explanation. It is true that 
 we do not like the lack of respect accorded 
 to women by the average German ; that the 
 position of woman in Germany seems to us 
 anomalous in a nation claiming a superior 
 type of civilisation ; that the bumptious atti- 
 tude of the German "intellectual" amuses or 
 disgusts us; and that the insolence of your 
 young officers who elbow us off the side- 
 walks in your cities makes us long to meet 
 those individuals again outside the boun- 
 daries of Germany, where no military 
 Government, jealous of their "honour," 
 could protect them from the thrashing they 
 [49] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 deserve. It is also true that, at international 
 congresses, excursions and banquets, at- 
 tended by both men and women representa- 
 tives of all nations, the Germans have 
 gained an unenviable reputation for bad 
 manners because they have pushed them- 
 selves into the best places, crowded into the 
 trains ahead of the women, and generally ig- 
 nored the courtesies due to ladies and gen- 
 tlemen associated with them. But, in spite 
 of our full recognition of this undesirable 
 national trait, I doubt whether any great 
 number of Americans have permitted a dis- 
 like of German manners to affect their opin- 
 ion as to German morals in the conduct of 
 war, though some do hold that lack of good 
 manners is a characteristic mark of inferior 
 civilisation. On the whole, we have been 
 inclined to be tolerant of German rudeness, 
 regarding it as in part due to the rapid ma- 
 terial development of a young nation, and 
 possibly as, in part, the result of over-ag- 
 gressiveness fostered by a military training. 
 It is only fair to say, also, that our admira- 
 tion of Germany's achievements in art, liter- 
 ature, and science never led us so far as to 
 [50] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 accept the claim of superiority in these lines 
 advanced by many Germans on behalf of 
 their country. The insistence with which 
 this claim has been reiterated and pro- 
 claimed abroad by Germans, often with 
 more of patriotism than of good taste, may 
 have led a part of the public to believe it. 
 But the more intelligent and thoughtful 
 portion of the people, accustomed to ana- 
 lyse such claims by careful comparison with 
 the products of non-Teutonic civilisation, 
 has been unable to find any adequate basis 
 for the assumed superiority. Indeed, while 
 intelligent and fair-minded Americans are 
 not slow to recognise Germany's great con- 
 tributions to the world's art, literature, and 
 science, they believe that, with the possible 
 exception of music, greater contributions 
 have been made in these lines by France, 
 England, and other nations. In the realm 
 of invention, we fully appreciate the skill 
 and resourcefulness manifested by the Ger- 
 man people in adapting new discoveries to 
 their own needs; but we cannot deny the 
 fact that most of the discoveries which have 
 played so vital a part in the development of 
 [51] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 modern civilisation have been made, not in 
 Germany, but in other countries. 
 
 In regard to municipal government and 
 various forms of social legislation, we have 
 long recognised the high position held by 
 your nation. But in the more vital matter 
 of the relation of the individual to the su- 
 preme governing power, we have always 
 held, and still believe, that Germany is 
 sadly reactionary. For half a century your 
 professors, in the employ of an educational 
 system controlled by a bureaucratic Govern- 
 ment, have taught what we condemn as a 
 false philosophy of government. Your his- 
 tories, your books on philosophy, your 
 whole literature, glorify the State; and you 
 have accepted the dangerous doctrine that 
 the individual exists to serve the State, for- 
 getting that the State is not the mystical, 
 divine thing you picture it, but a govern- 
 ment carried on by human beings like your- 
 selves, most of them reasonably upright, but 
 some incompetent and others deliberately 
 bad, just like any other human government. 
 We believe that the only excuse for the ex- 
 istence of the State is to serve the individual, 
 [52] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 to create conditions which will insure the 
 greatest liberty and highest possible de- 
 velopment to the individual citizen. It has 
 never seemed to us creditable to the German 
 intellect that it could be satisfied with a 
 theory of government outgrown by most 
 other civilised nations. That you should 
 confuse efficiency with freedom has always 
 seemed to us a tragic mistake, and never so 
 tragic as now, when a small coterie of hu- 
 man beings, subject to the same mistakes 
 and sins as other human beings, can hurl 
 you into a terrible war before you know 
 what has happened, clap on a rigid censor-: 
 ship to keep out any news they do not want 
 you to learn, then publish a white book 
 which pretends to explain the causes of the 
 war, but omits documents of the most vital 
 importance, thereby causing the people of a 
 confiding nation to drench the earth with 
 their life-blood in the fond illusion that the 
 war was forced upon them, and that they 
 are fighting for a noble cause. Most pitiful 
 is the sad comment of an intelligent German 
 woman in a letter recently received in this 
 country: "We, of course, only see such 
 [53] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 things as the Government thinks best. We 
 were told that this war was purely a de- 
 fensive one, forced upon us. I begin to be- 
 lieve this may not be true, but hope for a 
 favourable ending." 
 
 Certainly in what you wrote to me you 
 were thoroughly sincere and honest; yet 
 your letter was full of untrue statements 
 because you were dependent for your in- 
 formation upon a Government-controlled 
 press which has misled you for military and 
 political reasons. How can a nation know 
 the truth, think clearly, and act righteously 
 when a few men, called the "State," can 
 commit you to the most serious enterprise 
 in your history without your previous 
 knowledge or consent, and can then keep 
 you in ignorance of vitally important docu- 
 ments and activities in order to insure your 
 full support of their perilous undertaking? 
 Such is the thought which has always led 
 America to denounce as false the old theory 
 of "divine right of kings," long imposed 
 upon the German people in the more subtle 
 and, therefore, more dangerous form of 
 "the divine right of the State." Our con- 
 [54] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 viction that such a government as yours is 
 reactionary and incompatible with true lib- 
 erty, and that it stunts and warps the intel- 
 lects of its citizens, has been amply con- 
 firmed by extended observation in your 
 country, and more particularly by the un- 
 answerable fact that millions of your best 
 blood, including distinguished men of in- 
 telligence and wealth, have forsaken Ger- 
 many to seek true liberty of intellect and 
 action in America, renouncing allegiance to 
 the Fatherland to become citizens here. 
 Some of them still love the scenes of their 
 childhood, but few of them would be will- 
 ing to return to a life under such a Govern- 
 ment as Germany possesses. 
 
 To summarise what I said above: Ameri- 
 cans, prior to the war, admired the remark- 
 able advances made by Germany in recent 
 years in economic and commercial lines; 
 held in high regard your universities and 
 many of your university professors; loved 
 your music, and felt most cordial toward 
 the millions of Germans who came to live 
 among us and share the benefits of our free 
 institutions. The prevalence of bad man- 
 [55] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 ners among Germans we regretted, but 
 made allowance for this defect; and we did 
 not fail to recognise that some Germans are 
 fine gentlemen of the most perfect culture, 
 while most of them have traits of character 
 which we admired. 
 
 We recognised the immense value of 
 Germany's contributions to art, literature, 
 and science, but did not consider Germany's 
 contributions in these lines as equal to those 
 of other nations. We never have regarded 
 German culture as superior, but rather as 
 inferior, to that of certain other countries ; 
 and the Germans' loud claims to superiority 
 have seemed to us egotistical and the result 
 of a weak point in the German character. 
 For your form of government and the phi- 
 losophy of history taught by your university 
 professors we could never have much ad- 
 miration or respect. Both seemed to us 
 unworthy of an intelligent, civilised people, 
 and sure to lead to disaster. Your military 
 preparations, evident to every observant 
 visitor, have long caused us to distrust your 
 Government and to consider your country 
 a menace to the world's peace. In a word, 
 [56] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 we admired and loved your people, al- 
 though we considered them neither perfect 
 nor even superior to other people; but we 
 disapproved and distrusted your reactionary 
 military Government. 
 
 Such was our attitude when the war burst 
 upon the world. Since that time what op- 
 portunities have the American people had 
 to form an intelligent opinion as to who 
 was wrong and who was right? What 
 sources of information have been open to 
 us, what means of getting at the facts? 
 Have we been drowned in English lies, as 
 several of your professors have written me 
 is the case? Have we relied on one corrupt 
 party) newspaper, as you intimate is our 
 habit? Have we been dependent on a press 
 bought up with English gold, as is continu- 
 ally asserted by the German press? 
 
 In the first place, we have relied in part 
 upon our previous knowledge of the Ger- 
 man Government and the German people. 
 The hundreds of Americans who have stud- 
 ied in your universities, the thousands who 
 have visited your country, and the millions 
 [57] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 who have come into close contact with Ger- 
 mans in this country, all have a pretty good 
 idea of the German type of mind, German 
 standards of national morality, German vir- 
 tues and defects. Americans have, of 
 course, used this information in reaching 
 a conclusion as to the truth or falsehood of 
 charges against Germany. I talked with 
 some of our American professors just as 
 they landed on the pier in New York fresh 
 from a summer in Germany which was cut 
 short by the outbreak of the war. They 
 came direct from your country and were as 
 fully informed of the German points of 
 view right up to the declaration of war as 
 were any of your citizens. Many Ameri- 
 cans who have spent months and even years 
 on German soil, and who know the country 
 and the people intimately, have made us 
 well acquainted with German standards 
 and German methods of thinking. 
 
 It is true that since the war began much 
 of our news has come through cables con- 
 trolled by the Allies; but Americans have 
 too much common sense to accept such re- 
 ports as final. News from biassed sources 
 [58] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 is always accepted with reservation, and not 
 fully believed unless confirmed from inde- 
 pendent sources. Furthermore, Americans 
 have never lacked for first-hand information 
 from Germany. Direct wireless reports 
 from your country to several stations in 
 America have given us a valuable check on 
 cable reports. German papers come to us 
 regularly, and are continually and exten- 
 sively quoted. Germany has sent special 
 agents to this country to represent her side ( 
 of every issue. The speeches and writings 
 of these agents have been published repeat- 
 edly and at length in almost every paper in 
 our country from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific. American correspondents in Ger- 
 many and in the war-zone have told as much 
 as your censors would permit concerning 
 what they saw of Germany and Germany's 
 army. Many Americans have returned 
 from Germany during the war, and have ; 
 published their experiences and impres- 
 sions. Some of them have seen your army 
 at work, suffered from its inhumanity, and 
 been subjected to outrages and indignities 
 by the civil officials of your Government. 
 [59] ' 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 Others were dined and honoured as notable 
 guests and given unusual opportunities for 
 seeing as much as your officials wanted them 
 to see. Both have offered valuable first- 
 hand testimony as to the behaviour of the 
 German nation at war. Your university 
 professors and other prominent citizens of 
 your country have written us circular and 
 private letters without number, presenting 
 Germany's arguments in every conceivable 
 form. Your Ambassador and other officials 
 of your Government have been most active 
 in keeping first-hand information before 
 the American public. Thousands of your 
 reservists, unable to cross the sea in safety, 
 remain in this country to talk and write in 
 behalf of their Fatherland. 
 
 In addition to all this, Germany's cause 
 has been most vigorously championed by 
 many Germans and German-Americans 
 long resident in America. Munsterberg 
 and others have published numerous arti- 
 cles and books in Germany's favour. Every 
 possible plea to justify Germany's position 
 has been enthusiastically spread abroad by 
 the German-American press, and with that 
 [60] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 love of "fair play" which is a widely-rec- 
 ognised characteristic of Americans, even 
 those papers which believe Germany re- 
 sponsible for the war and its worst horrors, 
 have printed volumes of material from pro- 
 German authors in order that the whole 
 truth might be known by a full and free 
 discussion of both sides of every question. 
 I have read many pro-German articles in 
 the New York Times, the New York Sun, 
 the Outlook, and other papers and maga- 
 zines opposed to German policy articles 
 by Munsterberg, Kuno Franke, Von Bern- 
 storff, Dernburg, and other staunch de- 
 fenders of Germany, The columns of our 
 papers are freely open to every authoritative 
 champion of the German cause, no matter 
 what the editorial policy of the papers may 
 be. Never was fuller and freer oppor- 
 tunity for defence accorded to anyone than 
 has been given to the friends of Germany 
 to present in print to the American public 
 every possible justification for Germany's 
 acts. Only the grossest ignorance of the 
 actual facts could ever lead anyone to make 
 the charge in good faith that the truth about 
 [61] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 Germany has been concealed from Ameri- 
 cans. Your letter did not contain a single 
 statement or argument that has not been 
 printed over and over again in papers from 
 one end of America to the other by various 
 defenders of the German cause. Germany's 
 official documents issued in defence of her 
 position at the beginning of the war, her 
 charges of atrocities against her enemies 
 and her supposed proofs of the falsity of 
 atrocity charges against the Germans, have 
 all been published fully and widely, al- 
 though you seem not to be aware of this 
 fact. 
 
 Still further, in addition to the legitimate 
 publicity in favour of Germany related 
 above, there has been forced upon the 
 American public the most stupendous 
 propaganda which the world has ever wit- 
 nessed. Millions of dollars have been spent 
 by German agents in a colossal endeavour 
 to shape public opinion. America has been 
 literally deluged with leaflets, pamphlets, 
 books, articles, and advertisements, subsi- 
 dised by these propagandists. Money has 
 been lavishly spent in every form of appeal 
 [62] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 which might be expected to turn American 
 sentiment against the Allies and in favour 
 of the Teutons. Contributions have been 
 widely solicited to finance this propaganda, 
 and one of my colleagues in Columbia is 
 among those bearing German names who, 
 in published letters, have refused to sup- 
 port this moneyed campaign engineered by 
 German agents. Strikes have been organ- 
 ised in our factories, newspapers have been 
 subsidised, labour orators have been em- 
 ployed to incite trouble, all with gold sup- 
 plied from Teutonic sources. Ambassador 
 Dumba was forced to leave this country be- 
 cause of the capture of secret letters reveal- 
 ing plots to organise strikes in our munitions ) 
 factories, to buy up orators to incite work- 
 men to discontent, and to pay newspapers 
 for advancing the German propaganda. 
 For all of this the Austrian Government 
 was to supply the necessary funds. German 
 spies now in our prisons have admitted that 
 they were sent here by high German officials 
 and provided with ample supplies of money 
 to engage in secret plots against our neu- 
 trality with the object of stopping muni- 
 [63] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 tion shipments* German officials in this 
 country have admitted handling millions 
 of dollars in illegal operations carried on in 
 defiance of our laws and in insolent disre- 
 gard of international diplomatic courtesy. 
 Our courts have convicted and sentenced to 
 1 8 months' penal servitude three high Ger- 
 man officials of the Hamburg-American 
 Steamship Line for a conspiracy to help 
 German warships in defiance of our laws. 
 These officials admitted spending nearly 
 two million dollars of German gold in this 
 illegal work. Our detectives estimate that 
 German authorities have spent twenty-seven 
 million dollars in America alone to influ- 
 ence us against the Allies, to stir up trouble 
 against us in labour circles, and to foment 
 a revolution in Mexico to our embarrass- 
 ment. Our Government asked that the 
 German Military and Naval Attaches be 
 removed from this country because of their 
 insolent violations of our neutrality, by ac- 
 tivities in connection with which they han- 
 dled immense sums of German gold for the 
 propaganda to influence us against England 
 and in favour of Germany. 
 [64] ' 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 For every pamphlet, paper, or article sent 
 to me by English, French, Russian, and 
 Italian organisations I get several dozen 
 from German organisations. I get but a 
 few circulars a month from Allied coun- 
 tries. Not a week passes that I do not re- 
 ceive many from German sources.* Amer- 
 ica has been flooded with German propa- 
 gandist literature; very little ever comes 
 from other countries. Full-page advertise- 
 ments, paid by German agents, have ap- 
 peared repeatedly in American papers, 
 urging the merits of Germany's cause. I 
 have never seen one on behalf of the Allies. 
 All over New York City, before I left for 
 my summer vacation, were giant posters on 
 the billboards, put there by a pro-German 
 society, urging the people to ask President 
 Wilson to stop the exportation of arms to 
 Germany's enemies. I have never seen one 
 poster of any kind put up by friends of the 
 Allies. Indeed, America has been so del- 
 uged with German propaganda and Ger- 
 
 * When this was written German mail was still com- 
 ing freely through neutral countries, and the British 
 publicity campaign had scarcely begun. 
 [65] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 man-paid advertisements, and requests for 
 money to carry on the propaganda in favour 
 of Germany, that the whole nation has be- 
 come heartily sick of it, and has urged the 
 Government to expel from the country 
 some of your agents who have been particu- 
 larly offensive in carrying on such a propa- 
 ganda among our citizens. German gold, 
 not English gold, has been lavishly used to 
 influence American opinion. Our Govern- 
 ment has had to employ a special detective 
 force to discover and destroy the many plots 
 in which German and Austrian gold has 
 been lavishly used to influence opinion and 
 action in America; and from other neutral 
 countries comes abundant evidence that the 
 same stupendous propaganda, to turn opin- 
 ion and action in favour of Germany, has 
 been carried on everywhere, with an au- 
 dacity and utter disregard of cost which has 
 astonished the world. In the face of such 
 facts as these the German outcry against 
 "English gold" has seemed wholly insin- 
 cere, and little less than ridiculous.* 
 
 * Recent revelations by the State Department amply 
 confirm the prodigal use of German gold to influence 
 [66] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 Finally, American opinion has been 
 based more than all else on Germany's offi- 
 cial communications, directly addressed to 
 our Government, on certain acts which Ger- 
 many has admitted, and on the nature of the 
 defence and excuses offered by the German 
 Government in palliation of those acts. 
 You must not forget that the many lengthy 
 notes addressed by your Government to 
 Americans have been published in full in 
 American papers. The outcry against Eng- 
 lish gold, against cable dispatches altered 
 by the English, and against corrupt news- 
 paper publishers cannot be raised in con- 
 nection with diplomatic correspondence 
 transmitted direct to your Ambassador here. 
 This authentic, official correspondence has 
 given us an excellent measure of the stand- 
 American and foreign opinion. The exposure of Am- 
 bassador von BernstorfFs secret cable requesting 
 authority to use $50,000 "to influence Congress" and 
 of his handling the $1,700,000 fund to debauch the 
 French press, are but two of a number of revelations 
 proving the depths of infamy to which the highest offi- 
 cials of the German Government descended, at the 
 very moment they were protesting their innocence and 
 crying out against the "iniquity" of British gold. 
 [67] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 i 
 
 ards of morality and humanity which actu- 
 ate the present German Government. Our 
 opinion of Germany has been profoundly 
 influenced by these official documents. 
 
 Germany has committed certain acts 
 which are freely admitted by your Govern- 
 ment. A nation, like a man, is judged by 
 its deeds. After all excuses and explana- 
 tions are made, the deeds remain. Ameri- 
 cans have read the excuses and the explana- 
 tions fully and repeatedly; and with these 
 excuses and explanations in mind have 
 formed an opinion of the power responsible 
 for the deeds. No English gold, no ma- 
 nipulated cable dispatches can have had 
 anything to do with that opinion. The 
 deeds themselves have been the supreme 
 force in shaping American opinion of Ger- 
 many. Germany has defended the many 
 acts which have brought down upon her the 
 contempt and opprobrium of the entire 
 civilised world. As you well know, one of 
 the best tests of a man's morals is the kind 
 of a defence he offers for his acts. Ameri- 
 cans have read most carefully the many de- 
 fences offered by your Chancellor, your 
 [68] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs, your Under- 
 secretary of Foreign Affairs, your official 
 spokesmen sent to this country, and your 
 Ambassador here; and in the notes sent offi- 
 cially and directly to our Government by 
 your Government. We have formed an 
 opinion of the moral standards of the 
 Government which makes and approves of 
 such defences. 
 
 I believe you must, in sincerity and frank- 
 ness, admit that the American public has 
 had many sources of information open to it 
 in forming its opinions about Germany. In- 
 deed, with a free press, a large German 
 population absolutely free from censorship 
 or restrictions of any kind, and a Govern- 
 ment which does not need to suppress facts 
 for military or political reasons, we are in 
 a far better position to learn the whole truth 
 about Germany than are the German peo- 
 ple themselves. 
 
 Having outlined some of the many 
 sources of information upon which Ameri- 
 cans have relied in forming their opinions 
 of Germany and her actions in this war, I 
 [69] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 now will state what the American opinion 
 is in regard to some of the vital issues which 
 have been raised. In doing this, I will not 
 endeavour to explain that opinion, to criti- 
 cise it, nor to defend it. Neither will I give 
 you my personal opinion on the several 
 points, for my own personal opinion is of 
 slight consequence when we are discussing 
 the attitude of an entire nation. If you de- 
 sire, I will be glad to tell you, on some other 
 occasion, just how far my own opinions co- 
 incide with the collective opinion of the 
 country at large, and just where I differ 
 from that opinion. My object at present is 
 simply to interpret American opinion to you 
 as it exists to-day. When I say "American 
 opinion," I mean, of course, the opinion of 
 the vast majority of our people. A signifi- 
 cant proportion of the German-born popu- 
 lation and a very small proportion of native 
 Americans (usually those married to Ger- 
 mans or otherwise connected with Ger- 
 many) disagree with the opinions cited. 
 But over 90 per cent, of our population may 
 safely be said to hold the views described as 
 "American" below. 
 
 [70] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 In the first place, Americans, in general, 
 make a distinction between the German 
 Government and the German people. They 
 realise that certain features of the Prussian- 
 ised Government have never appealed 
 favourably to the Bavarians, the Saxons, 
 and other elements of the German popula- 
 tion. I do not mean by this that Americans 
 believe any part of Germany is disloyal to 
 the Government. On the contrary, they be- 
 lieve the German people as a whole are \ 
 supporting the Government and its acts with 
 devotion, and that, therefore, the German 
 people as a whole are responsible for what- 
 ever acts the Government commits. But 
 Americans recognise the reality of Prussian 
 leadership in the policy of your country. 
 They do not believe the German people ( 
 wanted the war; but they do believe the 
 military Government, under Prussian con- 
 trol, wanted the war, planned for it with 
 infinite skill and efficiency for many years, 
 and brought it about when they believed 
 the time was ripe. 
 
 Americans have no doubt whatever that 
 the insolent ultimatum to Servia was deliv- 
 [71] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 ered for the purpose of provoking war, and 
 that Austria would never have dared send 
 it were it not for the fact that the German 
 Government "assured her a free hand" in 
 advance, as has been officially admitted by 
 your Government. The fact that Austria 
 refused to make public the full evidence on 
 which she based her accusations against the 
 Servian Government, added to the fact that 
 she made these accusations after a secret in- 
 vestigation in which the defendant had no 
 representation, has shocked not only Amer- 
 ica but the entire world; and has convinced 
 the world, as a whole, that Austria and Ger- 
 many were more guilty of wrongdoing than 
 was Servia. 
 
 Americans have studied carefully the offi- 
 cial documents issued by the different Gov- 
 ernments concerning the origin of the war, 
 and have had the advantage of seeing all the 
 papers which each has published. The offi- 
 cial papers issued by England, Germany,! 
 France, Austria, and the other Govern- 
 ments have been printed in full in pamphlet 
 form, and have been eagerly studied by the 
 whole nation. Edition after edition has 
 [72] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 been exhausted by a people eagerly seeking 
 to learn the truth. In Germany there has 
 been no such eagerness to learn the truth by 
 careful, critical study of the official sources 
 of information, and leading Germans have 
 regretfully admitted that too many of the 
 German people were content to accept their 
 Government's statements as the truth, with- 
 out attempting to use their own intelligence 
 in the matter. In the opinion of Americans 
 the official documents, and especially the 
 admissions made by your Government in 
 its attempted defence, prove that the Ger- 
 man Government forced the war in order 
 to satisfy the ambitions of the military party 
 which has long been in control. When you 
 have a chance to read certain documents 
 which your Government does not let you 
 read now, you can form an impartial judg- 
 ment as to whether or not Americans and 
 the other neutral peoples have been unjust 
 in deciding that Germany is responsible for 
 the war. Until that time you will, of course, 
 feel that the judgment of the world does 
 your country a terrible wrong. The Gov- 
 ernment which caused the war is not going 
 [73] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 to let its people read things which would 
 shake their confidence, and cause them to 
 weaken in their support of the war. 
 
 If Germany really exercised a moderat- 
 ing influence at Vienna, and strove to avert 
 the war, the State papers exchanged be- 
 tween Berlin and Vienna would clearly 
 prove this, if published. Germany has 
 every reason to publish those papers and 
 prove her sincerity, if she tried to prevent 
 the war. On the other hand, both Germany 
 and Austria have every reason to keep those 
 papers secret if they were jointly planning 
 the war. They have kept the papers secret. 
 Not one word of the vital correspondence 
 between the two Teutonic capitals has ever 
 been made public. Even your own people 
 are entirely ignorant as to what exchanges 
 really took place in the critical days pre- 
 ceding the declarations of war. You only 
 know, and the world only knows, that Ger- 
 many made the vague general assertion that 
 she was "exercising a moderating influence 
 at Vienna." You can hardly expect the 
 world to believe such a vague generality 
 when the documents which would prove its 
 [74] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 truth or falsity are carefully suppressed. 
 Why are they suppressed? Americans, in 
 common with the rest of the world, are con- 
 vinced that your Government does not dare 
 publish them because it would prove the 
 guilt of Germany more conclusively than 
 do the admissions contained in papers al- 
 ready made public. 
 
 It is the practically universal opinion, not 
 only in America, but in other neutral coun- 
 tries as well, that the repeated excuses and 
 shifty evasions by which Berlin rejected 
 every plan for mediation, arbitration, or 
 any other programme which would tend to- 
 ward a peaceful solution of the crisis, com- 
 bined with Berlin's acknowledgment that 
 "a free hand was assured" to Austria, and 
 the further fact that all correspondence be- 
 tween Berlin and Vienna is carefully sup- 
 pressed, are amply sufficient to convince any 
 fair-minded, unprejudiced man that the 
 Berlin Government is primarily responsible 
 for the war. The fact that Germany has 
 for years published a voluminous war liter- 
 ature, has taught her people to think and 
 live in terms of war, and was fully prepared 
 [75] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 with enormous reserves of materials when 
 war came; whereas the Allied countries 
 were notoriously unprepared and in no con- 
 dition to ward off the first blows of a sur- 
 prise attack, to say nothing of fighting an 
 offensive campaign, is generally considered 
 enough to create a strong presumption that 
 Germany and not the Allies wanted war. 
 The official correspondence of the ante-bel- 
 lum days is full of suggestions for arbitra- 
 tion, mediation, and other plans to preserve 
 the peace, coming from the Allied coun- 
 tries. Americans have searched in vain for 
 a single plan for a peaceful solution coming 
 from Germany. On the contrary, your own 
 version of the negotiations shows only a per- 
 sistent rejection by Berlin of every peace 
 plan, and a dogged determination to sup- 
 port Vienna in her assault on Servia an 
 assault which, following the robbery of Bos- 
 nia and Herzegovina by Austria under Ger- 
 many's protection, could not be endured by 
 a civilised world, and was, therefore, cer- 
 tain to cause war. 
 
 When Servia, urged by the Allies to yield 
 as much as possible in order to prevent war, 
 [76] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 acceded to eight out of ten of Austria's hu- 
 miliating demands and agreed to arbitrate 
 the two involving her national sovereignty, 
 the world saw that the Allied countries did 
 not want war, and were willing to suffer 
 great humiliation for the sake of preventing 
 it. Americans do not consider that any fair- 
 minded man possessed of ordinary common- 
 sense can honestly believe that nations seek- 
 ing to provoke war with Germany would 
 have urged their protege to make a humili- 
 ating surrender to insolent and unjust de- 
 mands. If there were any truth in the as- 
 sertion that the Allies were trying to force 
 war on Germany, they would have advised 
 Servia to resist, not to yield. When Austria, 
 backed by Germany, declared war on Ser- 
 via, despite Servians abject and complete 
 surrender on eight points and willingness to 
 arbitrate the other two, there no longer ex- 
 isted outside of Germany and Austria the 
 slightest doubt that Germany was forcing 
 the war to achieve the aggrandisement 
 which has been taught for years in your 
 country as the natural destiny of Germany. 
 Germany's guilt in forcing the war is 
 [77] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 recognised not only by Americans and other 
 neutral peoples, but by hundreds of thou- 
 sands of Germans who live in neutral coun- 
 tries and thus have a chance to learn more 
 of the truth than is possible in the belliger- 
 ent countries. Germans who were in Ger- 
 many when the war broke out, but who have 
 since come to America, have told me per- 
 sonally that, after learning the whole truth, 
 they can no longer doubt Germany's respon- 
 sibility for the catastrophe. Germans who 
 have left here to go back and fight for the 
 Fatherland admitted to me in private con- 
 versation that they knew Germany forced 
 the war, and that the Kaiser and the Prus- 
 sian military party were alone to blame. I 
 know Germans who are liberally support- 
 ing the Allied cause because they believe 
 the defeat of Prussianism is essential to a 
 civilised Germany. Even your rigid cen- 
 sorship has not prevented our receipt of oc- 
 casional letters from Germans, in which 
 they admit the uncertainty of Germany's 
 claim that the Allies forced the war. A 
 considerable element of independent think- 
 ers in Germany have had the wisdom to 
 [78] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 realise the perfectly obvious truth that no 
 Government is willing to admit responsi- 
 bility for the war, and that therefore your 
 Government's assertion that it did not start 
 the present conflagration can carry no 
 weight until the whole truth is revealed to 
 the German people, and they are thus given 
 the opportunity to form an intelligent judg- 
 ment, like men, instead of being forced to 
 believe mere assertions and partial evidence, 
 like children. To-day you believe in the 
 innocence of the Prussian military power; 
 but few people in the rest of the world 
 doubt its guilt. To-morrow, when the war 
 is over, and you can get an outside view of 
 the whole question, you will have the chance 
 to form an intelligent judgment as to what 
 nation History will forever record as the 
 one guilty of this fearful crime against hu- 
 manity. 
 
 The violation of Belgian neutrality 
 shocked Americans as it did the rest of the 
 civilised world, and turned the tide of senti- 
 ment against Germany more strongly than 
 ever. Americans are practically unani- 
 mous in regarding the belated excuses of 
 [79] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 your Government, to the effect that Belgian 
 neutrality was already violated by the Al- 
 lies, as mere clumsy subterfuges, trumped up 
 to stem the terrible tide of universal con- 
 demnation heaped upon Germany for this 
 crime against an innocent people. Nothing 
 that any German can ever say or write will 
 efface from the memory of the world the 
 uncontrovertible fact that your Chancellor 
 officially admitted your country's guilt in 
 this matter. "The wrong I speak openly, 
 gentlemen the wrong we have done Bel- 
 gium will be righted when our military ends 
 are accomplished." In these words your 
 Chancellor blundered out a truth which has 
 for ever silenced all your apologists for the 
 crime.* American opinion considers it dis- 
 creditable and futile to invent charges 
 against French soldiers on Belgian soil and 
 French aviators flying over Belgian terri- 
 tory; and to try to make out a case in de- 
 
 * To the Chancellor's confession must now be added 
 that of the Kaiser, who in a cable to President Wilson, 
 recently made public by Ex-Ambassador Gerard, ad- 
 mitted that Belgium was invaded "for strategic rea- 
 sons/ 1 
 
 [80] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 fence of Germany on the basis of docu- 
 ments discovered in Belgium when your 
 Chancellor has officially admitted Ger- 
 many's guilt. Americans have no doubt 
 that on the basis of the well-known facts of 
 the case, supplemented by your Chancel- 
 lor's admission of guilt, History will for- 
 ever record Germany's brutal disregard of 
 her treaty obligations and her murderous 
 assault on a small, innocent nation as one of 
 the most terrible crimes ever committed by 
 a nation claiming to rank high among civi- 
 lised peoples. 
 
 The plea that "military necessity" justi- 
 fied the destruction of an innocent people, 
 that the invasion of Belgium was necessary 
 as a measure of "self-defence," Americans 
 consider as striking proof of the essential 
 barbarity of the German Government. A 
 man who would shoot down an innocent girl 
 in order to get at another man would be 
 condemned as the worst kind of a brute. 
 A Government which slaughters an inno- 
 cent and peaceful people in order to get at 
 an enemy Government is universally re- 
 garded by Americans as the worst type of a 
 [81] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 barbarous Government. No truly civilised 
 Government could be so brutally selfish as 
 to protect itself by inflicting the horrors of 
 fearful war upon a helpless and unoffending 
 people. 
 
 You dismiss the question of atrocities by 
 asking if Americans can believe that such 
 Germans as I know would commit such aw- 
 ful deeds. The reply to this is that, while 
 Americans realise that there are many Ger- 
 mans who would rather die than do a cruel 
 act, Germany possesses a military Govern- 
 ment which has convinced Americans and 
 the rest of the world that, under the plea 
 of "military necessity," it will commit the 
 most barbarous crimes. History demon- 
 strates that a military Government stifles the 
 finer instincts of the people which support 
 it. Many Germans struggled to overthrow 
 the military clique in Germany, and some 
 of them are among the most gentle-hearted, 
 kindly souls it has ever been my good for- 
 tune to meet. Others have exalted the mili- 
 tary and the idea of war; and while board- 
 ing in the home of a German army officer I 
 witnessed heartless and cruel acts which I 
 [82] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 do not believe could have occurred in any 
 other civilised country among people of the 
 same education and intelligence. Unfortu- 
 nately, Americans see no opportunity to 
 doubt the barbarous behaviour of the Ger- 
 man army; and in the debate over the Za- 
 bern affair some of your best citizens re- 
 belled against military brutality but the 
 punishment meted out to the military of- 
 fenders was nullified by your military Gov- 
 ernment. In the present war that same 
 Government has admitted and justified un- 
 speakable atrocities under the plea of 
 "military necessity." * Americans do not 
 believe every lie wafted on the wings of 
 gossip ; but when your book of instructions 
 to army officers expressly breaks down every 
 
 * The proofs of atrocities here mentioned may now 
 be supplemented by the frankly brutal advice of the 
 German minister to Argentina, transmitted to his gov- 
 ernment through the connivance of Swedish officials, 
 that the ships of a friendly neutral power should be 
 "spurlos versenkt." This explains the well authenti- 
 cated reports that German submarines have fired on 
 life-boats containing non-combatant men and women, 
 in the attempt to destroy all witnesses to the crime of 
 torpedoing neutral ships without warning. 
 [83] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 safeguard for civilised warfare by justify- 
 ing "exceptions" to the rules governing such 
 warfare, Americans cannot fail to conclude 
 that your Government is more barbarous 
 than that of any other country claiming to 
 be civilised ; for other countries do not now 
 recognise the right of armies to make such 
 exceptions. Your Government, in trying to 
 defend itself against the storm of world- 
 criticism, has admitted and justified the 
 slaughter of innocent hostages as a "mili- 
 tary necessity." No other civilised country 
 does this; and Americans consider the Ger- 
 man Government both brutal and barbar- 
 ous for permitting this utterly inhuman 
 practice. American soldiers in Vera Cruz 
 were killed by franctireurs; but our Gov- 
 ernment would hang any American officer 
 who permitted the murder of innocent hos- 
 tages on that account. Your Government 
 justifies and excuses such measures; there- 
 fore Americans have been forced to con- 
 clude that your Government is less civilised 
 than are the Governments of America, Eng- 
 land, and France, which forbid such con- 
 duct 
 
 [84] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 Your Government executed a woman of 
 noble character, and defends its act as per- 
 fectly legal and a "military necessity." 
 Americans are quite willing to admit that 
 Miss Cavell may have been guilty of the 
 charges brought against her. Yet the entire 
 world stood horrified when the Govern- 
 ment of Germany, with due legal form, 
 committed a crime against womanhood and 
 against humanity, which for centuries will 
 make Germans blush for shame when the 
 name of Miss Cavell is mentioned. Eng- 
 lishmen blush at the memory of Jeffreys 
 but no Englishman ever defends that fiend- 
 ish butcher of women. Americans blush at 
 the memory of Mrs. Surratt; but few Amer- 
 icans will defend her execution. The fact 
 that Germans have risen to defend the Ca- 
 vell atrocity leads many Americans to con- 
 clude that the brutalising influence of mili- 
 tarism has made the mass of the German 
 people less humane than are the peoples of 
 other countries, since they defend what 
 other peoples condemn. 
 
 Your Government has bombarded un- 
 fortified seacoast towns which Americans 
 [85] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 know from personal observation, both be- 
 fore the war and during the bombardment, 
 were not defended in any way. Mothers 
 and babies were blown to shreds, but no 
 military damage was done in most cases. 
 Dozens of helpless old men, women and 
 children were killed for every soldier slain. 
 The same is true of your Zeppelin raids. 
 Americans believe these acts are committed 
 for the purpose of stirring up enthusiasm 
 among the German populace. They believe 
 such acts are in defiance of the rules of civi- 
 lised warfare, that they are utterly inhuman 
 and barbarous, and that a nation which ap- 
 proves and applauds such senseless slaugh- 
 ter is less civilised than other modern na- 
 tions. The British Government has stead- 
 fastly refused to accede to the clamour of a 
 few of its citizens who urge a policy of 
 wholesale reprisals against German open 
 towns. Americans honour this respect for 
 the rules of civilised warfare and regret 
 that even occasionally France has yielded 
 to the provocation for reprisal raids against 
 such a place as Freiburg. The fact that 
 Germany began the slaughter of babies and 
 [86] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 women in defiance of the rules of war, and 
 has kept it up in frequent raids by warships, 
 Zeppelins, and aeroplanes, whereas the Al- 
 lies have very seldom attacked open towns, 
 and then only as occasional reprisals follow- 
 ing peculiarly barbarous German attacks, 
 has won for Germany the condemnation, 
 and for the Allies the commendation of the 
 civilised world. 
 
 The Lusitania atrocity removed from the 
 minds of the American people the last pos- 
 sible doubt as to the essential barbarity of 
 the German Government. No other Gov- 
 ernment pretending to be civilised has ever 
 shocked the entire world by such a sicken- 
 ing crime against humanity. It is utterly 
 inconceivable that the American nation 
 could descend so low in the scale of hu- 
 manity as to order the deliberate destruc- 
 tion of an English ship bearing hundreds 
 of innocent German women and children 
 across the seas. But if such a thing were 
 conceivable, you could not find in the Amer- 
 ican navy an officer who would obey the in- 
 human order. Nor do Americans believe 
 that the English or French Governments 
 [87] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 could ever disgrace their countries' honour 
 by such a barbarous act. I am shocked and 
 surprised that a man of your position and 
 intelligence can find it in his heart to de- 
 fend an act which has for ever stained the 
 fair name and honour of your country. 
 
 I read with amazement your assertions 
 that the Lusltania was armed, that she car- 
 ried ammunition in defiance of American 
 laws, and that our official inspection of her 
 was careless. Your own Government has 
 itself abandoned the false charge that the 
 Lusltania carried guns, and no longer makes 
 such a ridiculous claim; while the German 
 reservist who pretended to have seen the gun 
 has admitted that he lied and is now serving 
 a term in prison for perjury. You are not 
 familiar with American shipping-laws 
 which expressly permit the carrying of cer- 
 tain types of ammunition on passenger ves- 
 sels, and you are, of course, quite ignorant 
 as to what inspection of the vessel was made 
 in New York, for you were in Germany at 
 the time. Your assertions were made 
 wholly on the basis of the false statements 
 furnished you in Government-controlled 
 [88] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 papers. You had no means of determining 
 the truth or falsity of the statements, on the 
 basis of reliable and impartial evidence; 
 yet you did not hesitate to make assertions 
 which your own Government now practi- 
 cally admits were not well founded. The 
 fact that the learned men of Germany have 
 throughout the war violently supported the 
 German position by reckless charges and 
 wild assertions, paying no regard to the ne- 
 cessity of basing such charges and assertions 
 on impartial evidence, instead of accepting 
 with childlike simplicity the unsupported 
 statements of the German Government, has 
 destroyed the confidence of Americans in 
 the ability of the German educated men to 
 think and reason fairly and honestly about 
 the war. 
 
 The manifestos of the German professors, 
 issued to Americans, did much to alienate 
 American sympathy from Germany; for the 
 bitterness and unreasoning fury of the docu- 
 ments, combined with the entire absence of 
 evidence to support the many reckless state- 
 ments made in them> did much to convince 
 Americans that the German position was 
 [89] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 not capable of honest, logical, dispassionate, 
 manly defence. There has never at any 
 time been any such outbreak of fury and bit- 
 terness among the English or French peo- 
 ple. While there are individual exceptions, 
 taken as a whole the press, pamphlets, and 
 private letters of the English and French, 
 dealing with the war, have from the first 
 been characterised by a self-control and 
 calm determination, which in the case of 
 the French has especially astonished Ameri- 
 cans ; for we expected the French to be more 
 excitable. Taken as a whole, the Teutonic 
 literature has from the first been character- 
 ised by an uncontrollable bitterness and vio- 
 lent denunciation of the enemy and of 
 neutrals; which has also surprised Ameri- 
 cans, for we expected you to be more logical 
 and self-contained than the French, instead 
 of less so. 
 
 Americans believe that the German peo- 
 ple are a great people, capable of great and 
 good things. They honour and admire the 
 Germany which finds her best expression in 
 the literature, music, and science which has 
 justly made you famous. But they distrust 
 [90] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 and abhor the German Government which 
 has made the name of Germany infamous. 
 The heroic bravery of the German soldiers 
 dying for their Fatherland, and the heroic 
 fortitude of the German women who bear 
 and suffer all fail to evoke any enthusiasm 
 in this country, or in other neutral coun- 
 tries, because of the stain which the Ger- 
 man military Government has put upon 
 their sacrifices. Your greatest victories 
 bring no world honour to your armies be- 
 cause of the cloud of dishonour which hangs 
 over every achievement of the German mili- 
 tary machine. There is no enthusiasm, and 
 very little praise, for the captors of War- 
 saw and Vilna, for Americans remember 
 that it was German soldiers who murdered 
 innocent hostages from "military necessity," 
 who destroyed much of Louvain from "mil- 
 itary necessity," who violated every rule of 
 civilised warfare and humanity in Belgium 
 from "military necessity," who executed a 
 noble English nurse from "military neces- 
 sity," who wrecked priceless monuments of 
 civilisation in France from "military neces- 
 sity," who have dropped bombs from the 
 [91] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 sky in the darkness upon sleeping women 
 and children in unfortified places, and 
 slaughtered hundreds of innocent non-com- 
 batants from "military necessity," who sent 
 babes at the breast and their innocent 
 mothers shrieking and strangling to a 
 watery grave in mid-ocean from "military 
 necessity," and who have defended every 
 barbarous act, every crime against humanity 
 on the specious and selfish plea that it was 
 justified by "military necessity." Your 
 Government has robbed your soldiers of all 
 honour in the eyes of the world by making 
 them the instruments of a military policy 
 which the rest of the world unanimously 
 condemns as brutal and barbarous. 
 
 It seems to thoughtful Americans who 
 know Germany and Germans best, that the 
 highest duty of intelligent German profes- 
 sors like yourself is not to attempt the hope- 
 less task of converting the rest of the world 
 to an approval of the methods of the Ger- 
 man Government, but rather to use your 
 whole influence to establish a German Gov- 
 ernment which shall have a decent respect 
 for the opinions of the rest of the world, 
 [92] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 and shall restore Germany to the place it 
 used to have among civilised nations. Your 
 greatest enemy is not the Russian, nor the 
 French, nor the British Government. They 
 might defeat you in war, but they never 
 could take away your honour. Your great- 
 est enemy is the Government which has 
 dragged the fair name of Germany in the 
 mire of dishonour, shocking the moral in- 
 stincts of the whole world by acts no other 
 civilised country would think of commit- 
 ting. Your greatest enemy is the Govern- 
 ment which stifles your individual develop- 
 ment by making you the obedient tools of 
 the "State," which smothers your free 
 thought by a muzzled press under police 
 control, which makes your learned men 
 ridiculous in the eyes of the world by train- 
 ing them to blind, unthinking support of 
 the Government and credulous belief in 
 whatever falsehoods it chooses to impose 
 upon you for military and political pur- 
 poses, which hurls you into a disastrous war 
 without your knowledge or consent, and 
 which brings down upon you the contempt 
 of the whole world for crimes you would 
 [93] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 not yourselves commit, but which you must 
 forsooth defend "for the good of the 
 State." 
 
 Americans believe that a Government 
 which provokes a war and deceives its peo- 
 ple to secure their support, should be de- 
 stroyed; that a Government which breaks 
 its treaties and murders an innocent neutral 
 nation, should be destroyed ; that a Govern- 
 ment which slaughters innocent hostages to 
 prevent sniping by those whose homes are 
 violently attacked, should be destroyed; 
 that a Government which systematically 
 and repeatedly bombards unfortified towns 
 and villages, killing hundreds of innocent 
 women and children, should be destroyed; 
 that a Government which torpedoes un- 
 armed passenger ships, drowning helpless 
 men, women, and children by the thousand 
 in shameful defiance of law and every in- 
 stinct of humanity, should be destroyed; 
 that a Government which in cold blood exe- 
 cutes a woman nurse like Miss Cavell 
 should be destroyed; that a Government 
 which ruthlessly destroys works of art and 
 monuments of civilisation and levies crush- 
 [94] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 ing indemnities on captured cities, in de- 
 fiance of the well-established laws of war, 
 should be destroyed. In the opinion of 
 Americans, a Government which did any 
 one of these things would not be fit to exist 
 in a civilised world. A Government which 
 has done all of them and much more that is 
 equally barbarous and brutal, must, in the 
 opinion of the American people, be utterly 
 destroyed. 
 
 Americans hoped for many long years 
 that the German people would themselves 
 throw off the incubus of the military Gov- 
 ernment which was crushing out their indi- 
 viduality and making their country an ob- 
 ject of distrust and fear to all those inter- 
 ested in the progress of civilisation; but if 
 you will not rid yourselves of the monster 
 which has dishonoured and disgraced you 
 before the world, then, in American opin- 
 ion, the safety of the world and the future 
 of Germany require that the present Ger- 
 man Government shall be destroyed 
 through military defeat. For this reason 
 the American people are praying earnestly 
 for Allied victory. While there is a sincere 
 [95] 
 
My German Correspondence 
 
 effort to maintain the technical neutrality * 
 enjoined by the President, there is no neu- 
 trality possible on the moral issues involved. 
 Americans may not violate the neutrality of 
 the nation by giving concerted military sup- 
 port to the Allies; but they are practically 
 unanimous in giving their whole moral sup- 
 port to the nations engaged in the necessary 
 task of destroying the monstrosity of Prus- 
 sian militarism. Every aid which they can 
 render the Allies without violating national 
 neutrality is being given, not because they 
 do not admire the German people, but be- 
 cause the destruction of the present German 
 Government is regarded as the essential first 
 step in enabling the German people to re- 
 turn to the place of honour they once held 
 in the world. Americans would regard ulti- 
 mate German victory as an intolerable dis- 
 aster to civilisation; and they will never be 
 satisfied until the German armies are de- 
 cisively defeated. They believe that the 
 ultimate defeat of Germany is assured, and 
 
 * Happily the references to neutrality are no longer 
 pertinent. Otherwise the statements are more true 
 than on the day they were written. 
 [96] 
 
Reply to the German Professor 
 
 that the least suffering will result to the 
 German people if they will themselves re- 
 pudiate the Government which brought 
 upon them their present sufferings, and will 
 start anew with a modern Government re- 
 sponsible to the will of the people. 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 DOUGLAS W. JOHNSON. 
 
 The statement "There is no censorship of the Amer- 
 ican Press" (page 42) describes the conditions under 
 which American opinion was actually formed, when 
 Germany was at war and America still neutral. It 
 may be noted, however, that even in times of peace 
 the German press was more effectually controlled by 
 the government than is the American press in time of 
 war. The refusal of Congress to pass the press cen- 
 sorship bill desired by the Administration is significant 
 of the temper of the American people touching this 
 point. 
 
 [97]' 
 
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