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THE LAND OF 
 DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 GERMANY-AT-WAR 
 
 BY 
 
 D. THOMAS CURTIN 
 
 J&K 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 

 ^tlS- 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1917, 
 BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 
 HISTORY*! 
 
 VV 3.1 :: ..- 
 
 ■ • 
 
 ■ 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
cJ? 
 
 TO 
 
 LORD NORTHCLIFFE 
 
 384095 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I Getting In 
 II When Skies Were Blue 
 
 III The Crime Against the Children 30 
 
 IV Pulpits of Hate 
 
 V Puppet Professors 
 
 VI The Lie on the Film . 
 
 VII The Idea Factory 
 
 VIII Correspondents in Shackles 
 
 IX Anton Lang of Oberammergau 
 
 X Submarine Motives 
 
 XI The Eagle and the Vulture 
 
 XII In the Grip of the Fleet . 
 
 XIII A Land of Substitutes 
 
 XIV The Gagging of Liebknecht 
 XV Preventive Arrest 
 
 XVI Police Eule in Bohemia 
 
 XVII Spies and Semi-Spies . 
 
 XVIII The Iron Hand in Alsace-Lor 
 
 RAINE .... 
 
 XIX The Woman in the Shadow . 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 39 
 
 48 
 
 57 
 
 79 
 
 91 
 
 103 
 
 112 
 
 118 
 
 136 
 
 156 
 
 164 
 
 176 
 
 194 
 
 202 
 
 215 
 225 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEE PAGE 
 
 XX The War Slaves of Essen - . . 241 
 
 XXI Tommy in Germany . . .250 
 
 XXII How the Prussian Guard Came 
 
 Home From the Somme . 265 
 
 XXIII How Germany Denies . .276 
 
 XXIV Germany's Human Resources . 285 
 XXV Berlin's East-End . . .292 
 
 XXVI In the Deepening Shadow . . 300 
 
 XXVII Across the North Sea • .317 
 
 XXVIII The Little Ships . . .332 
 
THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
THE LAND OF 
 DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 GETTING IN 
 
 Eaely in November, 1915, I sailed from New York 
 to Rotterdam. 
 
 I spent nearly a month in Holland completing my 
 preparations, and at length one grey winter morning 
 I took the step that I dreaded. I had left Germany 
 six months before with a feeling that to enter it again 
 and get safely out was hopeless, foolish, dangerous, 
 impossible. But at any rate I was going to try. 
 
 At Zevenaar, while the Dutch customs officials were 
 examining my baggage, I patronised the youth selling 
 apple cakes and coffee, for after several months' 
 absence from Germany my imagination had been 
 kindled to contemplate living uncomfortably on short 
 rations for some time as the least of my troubles. 
 Furthermore, the editorial opinion vouchsafed in the 
 Dutch newspaper which I had bought at Arnhem was 
 that Austria's reply to the "Ancona" Note made a 
 break with America almost a certainty. Consequently 
 as the train rolled over the few remaining miles to the 
 frontier I crammed down my apple cakes, resolved to 
 face the unknown on a full stomach. 
 
 ii 
 
1 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 The wheels ground under the brakes, I pulled down 
 the window with a bang and looked out no longer upon 
 the soft rolled military cap of Holland but upon the 
 business-like spiked helmet of Germany. I steeled my- 
 self. There was no backing out now. I had crossed 
 the German frontier. 
 
 The few passengers filed into the customs room, where 
 a corps of skilled mechanics prised open the contents of 
 bags and trunks. Each man was an expert in his 
 profession. A hand plunged into one of my bags and 
 emerged with several bars of chocolate, the wrappers of 
 which were shorn off before the chocolate was well out 
 of the bag. A bottle of liniment, the brand that made 
 us forget our sprains and bruises in college days, was 
 brought to light, and with commendable dexterity the 
 innocent label was removed in a twinkling with a spe- 
 cially constructed piece of steel. The label had a pic- 
 ture of a man with a very extensive moustache — the 
 man who had made the liniment famous, or vice versa — 
 but the trade name and proprietor must go unsung in 
 the Fatherland, for the Government has decreed that 
 travellers entering Germany may bring only three 
 things containing printed matter, viz. : railroad tickets, 
 money and passports. 
 
 When the baggage squad had finished its task and 
 replaced all unsuspected articles, the bags were sealed 
 and sent on to await the owner, whose real troubles 
 now began. 
 
 I stepped into a small room where I was asked to 
 hand over all printed matter on my person. Two 
 reference books necessary for my work were tried and 
 found not guilty, after which they were enclosed 
 
GETTING IN 13 
 
 in a large envelope and sent through the regular 
 censor. 
 
 Switched into a third room before I had a chance 
 even to bid good-bye to the examiners in the second, 
 I found myself standing before a small desk answering 
 questions about myself and my business asked tersely 
 by an inquisitor who read from a lengthy paper which 
 had to be filled in, and behind whom stood three officers 
 in uniform. These occasionally interpolated questions 
 and always glared into my very heart. When I 
 momentarily looked away from their riveted eyes it 
 was only to be held transfixed by the scrutinising orbs 
 of a sharp, neatly dressed man who had been a passenger 
 on the train. He plays the double role of detective- 
 interpreter, and he plays it in first-class fashion. 
 
 While the man behind the desk was writing my biog- 
 raphy, the detective — or rather the interpreter, as I 
 prefer to think of him, because he spoke such perfect 
 English — cross-examined me in his own way. As the 
 grilling went on I did not know whether to be anxious 
 about the future or to glow with pride over the 
 profound interest which the land of Goethe and 
 Schiller was displaying in my life and literary 
 efforts. 
 
 Had I not a letter from Count Bernstorff ? 
 
 I was not thus blessed. 
 
 Did I not have a birth certificate? Whom did I 
 know in Germany? Where did they live? On what 
 occasions had I visited Germany during my past life ! 
 On what fronts had I already seen fighting? What 
 languages did I speak, and the degree of proficiency 
 in each? 
 
14 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Many of my answers to these and similar questions 
 were carefully written down by the man at the desk, 
 while his companions in the inquisition glared, always 
 glared, and the room danced with soldiers passing 
 through it. 
 
 At length my passport was folded and returned to 
 me, but my credentials and reference books were sealed 
 in an envelope. They would be returned to me later, 
 I was told. 
 
 I was shunted along into an adjoining small room 
 where nimble fingers dexterously ran through my cloth- 
 ing to find out if I had overlooked declaring anything. 
 
 Another shunting and I was in a large room. I 
 rubbed elbows with more soldiers along the way, but 
 nobody spoke. Miraculously I came to a halt before 
 a huge desk, much as a bar of glowing iron, after glid- 
 ing like a living thing along the floor of a rolling mill, 
 halts suddenly at the bidding of a distant hand. 
 
 Behind the desk stood men in active service uni- 
 forms — men who had undoubtedly faced death for the 
 land which I was seeking to enter. They fired further 
 questions at me and took down the data on my pass- 
 port, after which I wrote my signature for the official 
 files. Attacks came hard and fast from the front and 
 both flanks, while a silent soldier thumbed through a 
 formidable card file, apparently to see if I were a per- 
 sona non grata, or worse, in the records. 
 
 I became conscious of a silent power to my left, and 
 turning my glance momentarily from the rapid-fire 
 questioners at the desk, I looked into a pair of lynx 
 eyes flashing up and down my person. Another detec- 
 tive, with probably the added role of interpreter, but 
 
GETTING IN 15 
 
 as I was answering all questions in German he said not 
 a word. Yet he looked volumes. 
 
 Through more soldiers to the platform, and then a 
 swift and comparatively comfortable journey to Emme- 
 rich, accompanied by a soldier who carried my sealed 
 envelope, the contents of which were subsequently re- 
 turned to me after an examination by the censor. 
 
 At last I was alone! or rather I thought I was, for 
 my innocent stroll about Emmerich was duly observed 
 by a man who bore the unmistakable air of his pro- 
 fession, and who stepped into my compartment on the 
 Cologne train as I sat mopping my brow waiting for it 
 to start. He flashed his badge of detective authority, 
 asked to see my papers, returned them to me politely, 
 and bowed himself out. 
 
 My journey was through the heart of industrial Ger- 
 many, a heart which throbs feverishly night and day, 
 month in and month out, to drive the Teuton power 
 east, west, north, and south. 
 
 Forests of lofty chimney-stacks in Wesel, Duisburg, 
 Krefeld, Essen, Elberf eld and Diisseldorf belched smoke 
 which hazed the landscape far and wide : smoke which 
 made cities, villages, lone brick farmhouses, trees, and 
 cattle appear blurred and indistinct, and which filtered 
 into one's very clothing and into locked travelling bags. 
 
 But there was a strength and virility about every- 
 thing, from the vulcanic pounding and crashing in mills 
 and arsenals to the sturdy uniformed women who were 
 pushing heavy trucks along railroad platforms or pol- 
 ishing railings and door knobs on the long lines of cars 
 in the train yards. 
 
 Freight trains, military trains and passenger trains 
 
1 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 were speeding over the network of rails without a hitch, 
 soldiers and officers were crowding station platforms, 
 and if there was any faltering of victory hopes among 
 these men — as the atmosphere of the outside world may 
 have at that time led one to believe — I utterly failed 
 to detect it in their faces. They were either doggedly 
 and determinedly moving in the direction of duty, or 
 going happily home for a brief holiday respite, as an 
 unmistakable brightness of expression, even when their 
 faces were drawn from the strain of the trenches, 
 clearly showed. 
 
 Eut it is the humming, beehive activity of these 
 Rhenish- Westphalian cities and towns which crowd one 
 another for space that impresses the traveller in this 
 workshop section of Germany. He knows that the sea 
 of smoke, the clirr and crash of countless foundries are 
 the impelling force behind Germany's soldier millions, 
 whether they are holding far-thrown lines in Russia, or 
 smashing through the Near East, or desperately coun- 
 ter-attacking in the West. 
 
 In harmony with the scene the winter sun sank like 
 a molten metal ball behind the smoke-stack forest, to 
 set blood-red an hour later beyond the zigzag lines in 
 ^France. 
 
 Maximilian Harden had just been widely reported 
 as having said that Germany's great military conquests 
 were in no way due to planning in higher circles, but 
 are the work of the rank and file — of the Schultzs and 
 the Schmidts. I liked to think of this as the train sped 
 on at the close of the short winter afternoon, for my 
 first business was to call upon a middle-class family 
 on behalf of a German- American in New York, who 
 
GETTING IN 17 
 
 wished me to take £100 to his relatives in a small 
 Rhenish town. 
 
 Thus my first evening in Germany found me in a 
 dark little town on the Ehine groping my way through 
 crooked streets to a home, the' threshold of which I 
 no sooner crossed than I was made to feel that the arm 
 of the police is long and that it stretches out into the 
 remotest villages and hamlets. 
 
 The following incident, which was exactly typical 
 of what would happen in nineteen German households 
 out of twenty, may reveal one small aspect of German 
 character to British and American people, who are as 
 a rule completely unable to understand German psy- 
 chology. 
 
 Although I had come far out of my way to bring 
 what was for them a considerable sum of money, as 
 well as some portraits of their long-absent relatives in 
 the United States and interesting family news, my re- 
 ception wa3 as cold as the snow-blown air outside. I 
 was not allowed to finish explaining my business when 
 I was at first petulantly and then violently and angrily 
 interrupted with: — 
 
 "Have you been to the police ?" 
 
 "No," I said. "I did not think it was necessary 
 to go to the police, as I am merely passing through 
 here, and am not going to stay." 
 
 The lady of the house replied coldly, "Go to the 
 police," and shut the door in my face. 
 
 I mastered my temper by reminding myself that 
 whereas such treatment at home would have been suf- 
 ficiently insulting to break off further relations, it was 
 not intended as such in Germany. 
 
1 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 It was a long walk for a tired man to the Polizeiami. 
 When I got there I was fortunate in encountering a 
 lank, easy-going old fellow who had been comman- 
 deered for the job owing to the departure of all the local 
 police for the war. He was clearly more interested in 
 trying to find out something of his relations in some re- 
 mote village in America, which he said was named after 
 them, than in my business. 
 
 I returned to pay the £100 and deliver the photo- 
 graphs, and now that I had been officially "policed" was 
 received with great cordiality and pressed to spend the 
 evening. 
 
 Father, mother, grown-up daughters and brother-in- 
 law all assured me that it was not owing to my per- 
 sonal appearance that I had been so coldly received, but 
 that war is war and law is law and that everything must 
 be done as the authorities decree. 
 
 Cigars and cigarettes were showered upon me and 
 my glass was never allowed to be empty of Rhine wine. 
 Good food was set before me and the stock generously 
 replenished whenever necessary. It will be remem- 
 bered that I had come unexpectedly and that I was not 
 being entertained in a wealthy home, and this at a time 
 when the only counter-attack on Germany's success in 
 the Balkans was an increased amount of stories that 
 she was starving. 
 
 Evidently the Schultzs and the Schmidts were not 
 taking all the credit for Germany's position to them- 
 selves. They pointed with pride to a picture of the 
 Emperor adorning one wall and then smiled with satis- 
 faction as they indicated the portrait of von Hinden- 
 burg on the wall opposite. One of the daughters wore 
 
GETTING IN 19 
 
 a huge silver medallion of the same renowned general 
 on her neck. After nearly a year and a half of war 
 these hard-working Germans were proud of their leaders 
 and had absolute faith in them. 
 
 But this family had felt the war. One son had just 
 been wounded, they knew not how severely, in France. 
 If some unknown English soldier on the Yser had raised 
 his rifle just a hairbreadth higher the other son would 
 be sleeping in the blood-soaked soil of Flanders instead 
 of doing garrison duty in Hanover while recovering 
 from a bullet which had passed through his head just 
 under the eyes, 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WHEN" SKIES WERE BLUE 
 
 There was one more passenger, making three, in 
 our first-class compartment in the all-day express 
 train from Cologne to Berlin after it left Hanover. He 
 was a naval officer of about forty-five, clean-cut, alert, 
 clearly an intelligent man. His manner was proud, but 
 not objectionably so. 
 
 The same might be said of the manner of the major 
 who had sat opposite me since the train left Diisseldorf. 
 I had been in Germany less than thirty hours and was 
 feeling my way carefully, so I made no attempt to en- 
 ter into conversation. Just before lunch the jolting of 
 the train deposited the major's coat at my feet. I 
 picked it up and handed it to him. He received it with 
 thanks and a trace of a smile. He was polite, but icily 
 so. I was an American, he was a German officer. In 
 his way of reasoning my country was unneutrally mak- 
 ing ammunition to kill himself and his men. But for 
 my country the war would have been over long ago. 
 Therefore he hat jd me, but his training made him po- 
 lite in his hate. That is the difference between the 
 better class of army and naval officers and diplomats 
 and the rest of the Germans. 
 
 When he left the compartment for the dining-car he 
 saluted and bowed stiffly. When we met in the narrow 
 corridor after our return from lunch, each stepped aside 
 
 20 
 
WHEN SKIES WERE BLUE 21 
 
 to let the other pass in first. I exchanged with him heel- 
 click for heel-click, salute for salute, waist-bow for 
 waist-bow, and after-you-my-dear-Alphonse sweep of the 
 arm for you-go-first-my-dear-Gaston motion from him. 
 The result was that we both started at once, collided, 
 backed away arid indulged in all the protestations and 
 gymnastics necessary to beg another's pardon in mili- 
 tary Germany. At length we entered, erected a screen 
 of ice between us, and alternately looked from one an- 
 other to the scenery hour after hour. 
 
 The entrance of the naval officer relieved the strain, 
 for the two branches of the Kaiser's armed might were 
 soon — after the usual gymnastics — engaged in conver, 
 sation. They were not men to discuss their business be- 
 fore a stranger. Once I caught the word Amerihaner 
 uttered in a low voice, but though their looks told that 
 they regarded me as an intruder in their country they 
 said nothing on that point. 
 
 At Stendal we got the Berlin evening papers, which 
 had little of interest except a few lines about the An- 
 cona affair between Washington and Vienna. 
 
 "Do you think Austria will grant the American do 
 mands ?" the man in grey asked the man in blue. 
 
 "Austria will do what Germany thinks best. Per- 
 sonally, I hope that we take a firm stand. I do not 
 believe in letting the United States tell us how to con- 
 duct the war. We are quite capable of conducting it 
 and completing it in a manner satisfactory to ourselves." 
 
 The man in grey agreed with the man in blue. 
 
 Past the blazing munition works at Spandau, across 
 the Havel, through the Tiergarten, running slowly now, 
 to the Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof. 
 
22 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 A bewildering swirl of thoughts rushed through my 
 head as I stepped out on the platform. More than three 
 months ago I had left London for my long, circuitous 
 journey to Berlin. I had planned and feared, planned 
 and hoped. The German spy system is the most elab- 
 orate in the world. Only through a miracle could the 
 Wilhelmstrasse be ignorant of the fact that I had trav- 
 elled all over Europe during the war for the hated Brit- 
 ish Press. I could only hope that the age of miracles 
 had not passed. 
 
 The crowd was great, porters were as scarce as they 
 used to be plentiful, I was waiting for somebody, so I 
 stood still and took note of my surroundings. 
 
 Across the platform was a long train ready to start 
 west, and from each window leaned officers and soldiers 
 bidding good-bye to groups of friends. The train was 
 marked Hannover, Koln, Lille. As though I had never 
 known it before, I found myself saying, "Lille is in 
 Prance, and those men ride there straight from here." 
 
 The train on which I had arrived had pulled out and 
 another had taken its place. This was marked Posen, 
 Thorn, Insterburg, Stallwpbnen, Alexandrovo, Vilna, 
 As I stood on that platform I felt Germany's power in 
 a peculiar but convincing way. I had been in Germany, 
 ( in East Prussia, when the Eussians were not only in 
 possession of the last four places named, but about to 
 threaten the first two. 
 
 Now the simple printed list of stations on the heavy 
 train about to start from the capital of Germany to 
 ,Vilna, deep in Kussia, was an awe-inspiring tribute to 
 the great military machine of the Fatherland. For a 
 
WHEN SKIES WERE BLUE 23 
 
 moment I believed in von Bethmann-Holweg's talk 
 about the a map of Europe." 
 
 I was eager to see how much Berlin had changed, for 
 I knew it at various stages of the war, but I cannot 
 honestly say that the changes which I detected later, 
 and which I shall deal with in subsequent chapters of 
 this book — changes which are absorbingly interesting 
 to study on the spot and vitally important in the prog- 
 ress and outcome of the war — were very apparent then. 
 
 In the dying days of 1915 I found the people of Ber- 
 lin almost as supremely confident of victory, especially 
 now since Bulgaria's entrance had made such sweeping 
 changes in the Balkans, as they were on that day of 
 cloudless blue, the first of August, 1914, when the dense 
 mass swayed before the Royal Palace, to see William 
 II. come out upon the balcony to bid his people rise to 
 arms. Eyes sparkled, cheeks flushed, the buzz changed 
 to cheering, the cheering swelled to a roar. The army 
 which had been brought to the highest perfection, the 
 army which would sweep Europe — at last the German 
 people could see what it would do, would show the world 
 what it would do. The anticipation intoxicated them. 
 
 An American friend told me of how he struggled to- 
 ward the Schloss, but in the jam of humanity got only 
 as far as the monument of Frederick the Great. There 
 a youth threw his hat in the air and cried : "Hoch der 
 Krieg, Hoch der Krieg!" (Hurrah for the war). 
 
 That was the spirit that raged like a prairie fire. 
 
 An old man next to him looked him full in the eyes. 
 "Der Krieg ist eine ernste Sache, Jungel" (War is a 
 serious matter, young man), he said and turned away. 
 
24 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 He was in the crowd, but not of it. His note was dis- 
 cordant. They snarled at him and pushed him roughly. 
 They gloried in the thought of war. They were certain 
 that they were invincible. All that they had been 
 taught, all the influences on their lives convinced them 
 that nothing could stand before the furor teutonicus 
 once it was turned loose. 
 
 Delirious days when military bands blared regiment 
 after regiment through lines of cheering thousands; 
 whole companies deluged with flowers, long military 
 trains festooned with blossoms and greenery rolling 
 with clock-like regularity from the stations amid thun- 
 derous cheers. Sad partings were almost unknown, for, 
 of course, no earthly power could withstand the on- 
 slaughts of the Kaiser's troops. God was with them — 
 even their belts and helmets showed that. So, "Good- 
 bye for six weeks !" 
 
 The 2nd of September is Sedan Day, and in 1914 it 
 was celebrated as never before. A great parade was 
 scheduled, a parade which would show German prowess. 
 Though I arrived in "Unter den Linden" two hours 
 before the procession was due, I could not get anywhere 
 near the broad central avenue down which it would 
 pass. I chartered a taxi which had foundered in the 
 throng, and perched on top. The Government, always 
 attentive to the patriotic education of the children, had 
 given special orders for such occasions. The little ones 
 were brought to the front by the police, and boy3 were 
 even permitted to climb the sacred Linden trees that 
 they might better see what the Fatherland had done. 
 
 The triumphal column entered through the Kaiser 
 'Arch of the Brandenburger Tor, and bedlam broke loose 
 
WHEN SKIES WERE BLUE 25 
 
 during the passing of the captured cannon of Russia, 
 France, and Belgium — these last cast by German work- 
 men at Essen and fired by Belgian artillerists against 
 German soldiers at Liege. 
 
 The gates of Paris ! Then the clear-cut German of* 
 ficial reports became vague for a few days about the 
 West, but had much of Hindenburg and victory in the 
 East. Democracies wash their dirty linen in public, 
 while absolute governments tuck theirs out of sight, 
 where it usually disappears, but sometimes unexpectedly 
 develops spontaneous combustion. 
 
 Nobody — outside of the little circle — questioned the 
 delay in entering Paris. Everything was going accord- 
 ing to plan, was the saying. I suppose sheep entertain 
 a somewhat similar attitude when their leader conducts 
 them over a precipice. Antwerp must be taken first — 
 that was the key to Paris and London. Such was the 
 gossip when the scene was once more set in Belgium, 
 and the great Skoda mortars pulverised forts which on* 
 paper were impregnable. Many a time during the first 
 days of October I left my glass of beer or cup of tea 
 half finished and rushed from cafe and restaurant with 
 the crowd to see if the newspaper criers of headlines 
 were announcing the fall of the fortress on the Scheldt. 
 How those people discussed the terms of the coming 
 early peace, terms which were not by any means easy ! 
 Berlin certainly had its thumbs turned down on the 
 rest of Europe. 
 
 With two other Americans I sat with a group of pros- 
 perous Berliners in their luxurious club. Waiters 
 moved noiselessly over costly rugs and glasses clinked, 
 while these men seriously discussed the probable terms 
 
26 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Germany would soon impose on a conquered continent. 
 Belgium would, of course, be incorporated into the Ger- 
 man Empire, and Antwerp would be the chief outlet for 
 Germany's commerce — and how that commerce would 
 soon boom at the expense of Great Britain! France 
 would now have an opportunity to develop her socialis- 
 tic experiments, as she would be permitted to maintain 
 only a very small army. The mistake of 1870 must not 
 be repeated. This time there would be no paltry levy 
 of five billion francs. A great German Empire would 
 rise on the ruins of the British. Commercial gain was 
 the theme. I did not gather from the conversation that 
 anybody but Germany would be a party to the peace. 
 
 A man in close touch with thing3 military entered 
 at midnight. His eyes danced as he gave us new in- 
 formation about Antwerp. Clearly the city was 
 doomed. 
 
 I did not sleep that night. I packed. Next evening 
 I was in Holland. I saw a big story, hired a car, picked 
 up a Times courier, and, after "fixing" things with the 
 Dutch guards, dashed for Antwerp. The long story of a 
 retreat with the rearguard of the Belgian Army has no 
 place here. But there were scenes which contrasted 
 with the boasting, confident, joyous capital I had left. 
 Belgian horses drawing dejected families, weeping on 
 their household goods, other families with everything 
 they had saved bundled in a tablecloth or a hand- 
 kerchief. Some had their belongings tied on a bicycle, 
 others trundled wheel-barrows. Valuable draught dogs, 
 harnessed^ but drawing no cart, were led by their mas- 
 ters, while other dogs that nobody thought of just fol- 
 lowed along. And tear-drenched faces everywhere. 
 
WHEN SKIES WERE BLUE 27 
 
 Back in Bergen-op-Zoom and Putten I had seen chalk 
 writing on brick walls saying that members of certain 
 families had gone that way and would wait in certain 
 designated places for other members who chanced to 
 pass. On the road, now dark, and fringed with pines, 
 I saw a faint light nicker. A group passed, four very 
 old women tottering after a very old man, he holding a 
 candle before him to light the way. 
 
 As I jotted down these things and handed them to 
 my courier I thought of the happy faces back in Ber- 
 lin, of jubilant crowds dashing from restaurants and 
 cafes as each newspaper edition was shouted out, and 
 I knew that the men in the luxurious club were figuring 
 out to what extent they could mulct Belgium. 
 
 I pressed on in the dark and joined the Belgian army 
 and the British Naval Brigade falling back before the 
 Germans. I came upon an American, now captain of a 
 Belgian company. "It's a damn shame, and I hate to 
 admit it," he said, "but the Allies are done for." That 
 is the way it looked to us in the black hours of the re- 
 treat. 
 
 Soldiers were walking in their sleep. Some sank, too 
 exhausted to continue. An English sailor, a tireless 
 young giant, trudged on mile after mile with a Belgian 
 soldier on his back. Both the Belgian's feet had been 
 shot off and tightly bound handkerchiefs failed to check 
 the crimson trail. 
 
 London and Paris were gloomy, but Berlin was bask- 
 ing in the bright morning sunshine of the war. 
 
 Although the fronts were locked during the winter, 
 the German authorities had good reason to feel opti* 
 
2 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 mistic about the coming spring campaign. They knew 
 that they had increased their munition output enor- 
 mously, and their spies told them that Russia had prac- 
 tically run out of ammunition, while England had ntot 
 yet awakened to the realisation that this is a war of 
 shells. 
 
 The public saw the result in the spring. The armies 
 of the Tsar fell back all along the line, while in Ger- 
 many the flags were waving and the bells of victory 
 were pealing. 
 
 All through this there was unity in Germany, a unity 
 that the Germans felt and gloried in. "No other nation 
 acts as one man in this wonderful time as do we Ger- 
 mans," they told the stranger again and again. Unity 
 and Germany became synonymous in my mind. 
 
 Love of country and bitterness against the enemy are 
 intensified in a nation going to war. It is something 
 more than this, hcwever, which has imbued and sus- 
 tained the flaming spirit of Germany during this war. 
 In July, 1914, the Government deliberately set out to 
 overcome two great forces. The first was the growing 
 Bection of her anti-militaristic citizens, and the second 
 was the combination of Great Powers which she made 
 up her mind she must fight sooner or later if she would 
 gain that place in the sun which had dazzled her so 
 long. 
 
 Her success against the opposition within her was 
 phenomenal. Germany was defending herself against 
 treacherous attack — that was the watchword. The So- 
 cial Democrats climbed upon the band-waggon along 
 with the rest for the joy-ride to victory, and they re- 
 
WHEN SKIES WERE BLUE 29 
 
 mained on the band-waggon for more than a year — • 
 then some of them dropped off. 
 
 The story of how all Germans were made to think 
 as one man is a story of one of the greatest phenomena 
 of history. It is my purpose in the next few chapters 
 to show how the German Government creates unity. 
 Then, in later chapters, I will describe the forces tend- 
 ing to disintegrate that wonderful unity. 
 
 Germany entered the war with the Government in 
 control of all the forces affecting public opinion. The 
 only way in which newspaper editors, reporters, lec- 
 turers, professors, teachers, theatre managers, and pul- 
 pit preachers could hope to accomplish anything in the 
 world was to do something to please the Government. 
 To displease the Government meant to be silenced or to 
 experience something worse. 
 
CHAPTEK III 
 
 THE CRIME AGAINST THE CHILDREN 
 
 The boys and girls of Germany play an important 
 part in die grosse Zeit (this great wartime). 
 Every atom of energy that can be dragged out of the 
 children has been put to practical purpose. 
 
 Their little souls, cursed by "incubated hate/' have 
 been so worked upon by the State schoolmasters that 
 they have redoubled their energies in the tasks imposed 
 upon them of collecting gold, copper, nickel, brass, 
 paper, acorns, blackberries, blueberries, rubber, woollen 
 and war loan money. 
 
 All this summer on release from school, which com- 
 mences at seven and closes at three in most parts of 
 Germany, the hours varying in some districts, the chil- 
 dren, in organised squads, have been put to these im- 
 portant purposes of State. They had much to do with 
 the getting in of the harvest. 
 
 The schoolmaster has played his part in the training 
 of the child to militarism, State worship, and enemy 
 hatred as effectively as the professor and the clergyman. 
 
 Here are two German children's school songs, that 
 are being sung daily. Both of them are creations of 
 the war: both written by schoolmasters. The particu- 
 larly offensive song about King Edward and England 
 is principally sung by girls — the future mothers of Ger- 
 many : — 
 
 30 
 
CRIME AGAINST THE CHILDREN 31 
 
 O England, O England, 
 
 Wie gross sind Deine Liigen ! 
 
 1st Dein Verbrechen noch so gross, 
 
 Du schwindelst Dich vom Galgen los. 
 
 O Eduard, O Eduard, du Muster aller Fiirsten, 
 
 Nichts hattest Du von einem Rex, 
 
 Du eitler Schlips — und Westenfex. 
 [Oh, England, oh, England, how great are thy lies! 
 However great thy crimes, thou cheatest the gallows. 
 Oh, Edward, oh, Edward, thou model Prince! Thou 
 hadst nothing kindly in thee, thou vain fop!] 
 
 Da driiben, da druben liegt der Feind, 
 
 In feigen Schutzengraben, 
 
 Wir greif en ihn an, und ein Hund, wer meint, 
 
 Heut' wiirde Pardon gegeben. 
 
 Schlagt alles tot, was um Gnade fleht, 
 
 Schiesst alles nieder wie Hunde, 
 
 Mehr Eeinde, mehr Eeinde ! sei euer Gebet 
 
 In dieser Vergeltungsstunde. 
 [Over there in the cowardly trenches lies the enemy. 
 We attach him, and only a dog will say that pardon 
 should be given to-day. Strike dead everything which 
 prays for mercy. Shoot everything down like dogs. 
 "More enemies, more enemies?' be your prayer in this 
 hour of retribution.] 
 
 The elementary schools, or Volksschulen, are free, 
 and attendance is compulsory from six to fourteen. 
 There are some 61,000 free public elementary schools 
 with over 10,000,000 pupils, and over 600 private ele- 
 mentary schools, with 42,000 pupils who pay fees. 
 
 Germany is a land of civil service, to enter which 
 a certificate from a secondary school is necessary. Some 
 authorities maintain that the only way to prevent being 
 flooded with candidates is to make the examinations 
 crushingly severe. Children are early made to realise 
 
32 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 that all hope of succeeding in life rests upon the pass- 
 ing of these examinations. Thus the despair which 
 often leads to suicide on the one hand and knowledge 
 without keenness on the other. 
 
 Hardly any class has suffered more heavily in the 
 war than the masters of the State schools, which are 
 equivalent to English Council schools and American 
 public schools. The thinning 'of their ranks is an 
 eloquent proof of the heaviness of the German death 
 toll. Their places have been taken by elderly men, but 
 principally by women. It is a kind of Nemesis that 
 they should have fallen in the very cause they have 
 been propagating for at least a generation. 
 
 Those who knew only the old and pleasant Germany 
 do not realise the speeding up of the hate machine that 
 has taken place in the last decade. The protests against 
 this State creation of hate grow less and less as the war 
 proceeds. To-day only comparatively few members of 
 the Social-Democrat Party raise objection to this horri- 
 ble contamination of the minds of the coming genera- 
 tion of German men and women. Not much reflection 
 is needed to see on what fruitful soil the great National 
 Liberal Party, with its backing of capitalists, greedy 
 merchants, chemists, bankers, ship and mine owners, 
 is planting its seeds for the future. There is no cure 
 for this evil state of affairs, but the practical proof, in- 
 flicted by big cannon, that the world will not tolerate 
 a nation of which the very children are trained to hate 
 the rest of the world, and taught that German Kultur 
 must be spread by bloodshed and terror. 
 
 With the change in Germany has come a change in 
 the family life. The good influence of some churches 
 
CRIME AGAINST THE CHILDREN 33. 
 
 has gone completely. They are part of the great war 
 machine. The position of the mother is not what it was. 
 The old German Hausfrau of the three K's, which I 
 will roughly translate by "Kids, Kitchen, and Kirk," 
 has become even more a servant of the master of the 
 house than she was. The State has taken control of 
 the souls of her children, and she has not even that 
 authority that she had twenty years ago. The father has 
 become even more important than of yore. The natural 
 tendency of a nation of which almost every man is a 
 soldier, is to elevate the man at the expense of the 
 woman, and the German woman has taken to her new 
 position very readily. She plays her wonderful part in 
 the production of munitions, not as in Britain in a 
 spirit of equality, but with a sort of admitted inferior- 
 ity difficult to describe exactly. 
 
 At four years of age the German male child begins 
 to be a soldier. At six he is accustomed to walk in 
 military formation. This system has a few advantages, 
 but many disadvantages. A great concourse of infants 
 can, for example, be marshalled through the streets of a 
 city without any trouble at all. But that useful disci- 
 pline is more than counterbalanced by the killing of in- 
 dividuality. German children, especially during the 
 war, try to grow up to be little men and women as 
 quickly as possible. They have shared the long work- 
 ing hours of the grown-ups, and late in the hot summer 
 nights I have seen little Bavarian boys and girls who 
 have been at school from seven and worked in the fields 
 from three o'clock till dark, drinking their beer in the 
 beer garden with a relish that showed they needed £om*> 
 stimulant. The beer is not Bass's ale, but it contain? 
 
34 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 from two to five per cent, of alcohol. Unhealthy-look- 
 ing little men are these German boys of from twelve to 
 fifteen during the war. The overwork, and the lowering 
 of the diet, has given them pasty faces and dark rings 
 round their eyes. All games and amusements have been 
 abandoned, and the only relaxation is corps marching 
 through the streets at night, singing their hate songs 
 and "Deutschland, Deutschland liber Alles." 
 
 The girls, in like fashion, often spend their school 
 interval in marching in columns of four, singing the 
 same horrible chants. 
 
 Up to the time of the scarcity of woollen materials, 
 the millions of little German schoolgirls produced their 
 full output of comforts for the troops. 
 
 The practical result, from a military point of view, 
 of training children to venerate the All-Highest War 
 Lord and his family, together with his ancestors, was 
 shown at the beginning of the war, when there came a 
 great rush of volunteers (Freiwillige), many of them 
 beneath the military age, many of them beyond it. In 
 most of the calculations of German man-power, some 
 ally and neutral military writers seem to have forgotten 
 these volunteers, estimated at two millions. 
 
 A significant change in Germany is the cessation of 
 the volunteer movement. Parents who gladly sent 
 forth their boys as volunteers, are now endeavouring 
 by every means in their power to postpone the evil day 
 in the firm belief that peace will come before the age 
 of military service has been reached. It is a change at 
 least as significant as that which lies between the Ger- 
 man's "We have won — the more enemies the better" of 
 two years back, and the 'We must hold out" of to-day. 
 
CRIME AGAINST THE CHILDREN 35 
 
 Of the school structures in modern Germany it would 
 be idle to pretend that they are not excellent in every 
 respect — perfect ventilation, sanitation, plenty of space, 
 large numbers of class-rooms, and halls for the choral 
 singing, which is part of the German system of educa- 
 tion, and by which the "hate" songs have been so readily 
 spread. The same halls are used for evening lectures 
 for adults and night improvement schools. 
 
 It is significant that all the schools built between 
 1911 and 1914 were so arranged, not only in Germany, 
 but throughout Austria, that they could be turned into 
 hospitals with hardly any alteration. For this pur- 
 pose, temporary partitions divided portions of the 
 buildings, and an unusually large supply of water was 
 laid on. Special entrances for ambulances were already 
 in existence, baths had already been fitted in the 
 wounded reception rooms, and in many cases sterilising 
 sheds were already installed. The walls were made of a 
 material that could be quickly whitewashed for the ex- 
 termination of germs. If this obvious preparation for 
 war is named to the average German, his reply is, "The- 
 growing jealousy of German culture and commerce- 
 throughout the world rendered necessary protective- 
 measures." 
 
 A total lack of sense of humour and sense of pro- 
 portion among the Germans can be gathered from the 
 fact that Mr. Haselden's famous cartoons of Big and 
 Little Willie, which have a vogue among Americans 
 and other neutrals in Germany, and are by no mean* 
 unkind, are regarded by Germans as a sort of sacrilege. 
 These same people do not hesitate to circulate the most 
 horrible and indecent pictures of President Wilson* 
 
36 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 King George, President Poincare, and especially of 
 Viscount Grey of Falloden. The Tsar is usually de- 
 picted covered with vermin. The King of Italy as an 
 evil-looking dwarf with a dagger in his hand. Only 
 those who have seen the virulence of the caricatures, 
 circulated by picture postcard, can have any idea of the 
 horrible material on which the German child is fed. 
 The only protest I ever heard came from the Artists' 
 Society of Munich, who objected to these loathsome edu- 
 cational efforts as being injurious to the reputation of 
 artistic Germany and calculated to produce permanent 
 damage to the juvenile mind. 
 
 The atmosphere of the German home is so different 
 from that in which I have been brought up in the 
 United States, and have seen in England, that the Ger- 
 mans are not at all shocked by topics of conversation 
 never referred to in other countries. Subjects are dis- 
 cussed before German girls of eleven and twelve, and 
 German boys of the same age, that make an Anglo- 
 Saxon anxious to get out of the room. I do not know 
 whether it is this or the over-education that leads to 
 the notorious child suicides of Germany, upon which 
 so many learned treatises have been written. 
 
 Just before the war it looked as though the German 
 young man and woman were going to improve. Lawn 
 tennis was spreading, despite old-fashioned prejudice. 
 Football was coming in. Rowing was making some 
 progress, as you may have learned at Henley. It was 
 not the spontaneous sport of Anglo-Saxon countries, but 
 a more concentrated effort to imitate and to excel. 
 
 Running races had become lately a German school 
 amusement, but the results, as a rule, were that if 
 
CRIME AGAINST THE CHILDREN 37 
 
 there were five competitors, the four losers entered a 
 protest against the winner. In any case, each of the four 
 produced excellent excuses why he had lost, other than 
 the fact that he had been properly beaten. 
 
 A learned American "exchange professor," who had 
 returned from a German university, whom I met in 
 Boston last year on my way from England to Germany, 
 truly summed up the situation of athletics in German 
 schools by saying, "German boys are bad-tempered losers 
 and boastful winners." 
 
 Upon what kinds of history is the German child being 
 brought up ? The basis of it is the history of the House 
 of Hohenzollern, with volumes devoted to the Danish 
 and Austrian campaigns and minute descriptions of 
 every phase of all the battles with France in 1870, 
 written in a curious hysterical fashion. 
 
 The admixture of Biblical references and German 
 boasting are typical of the lessons taught at German 
 Sunday Schools, which play a great role in war prop- 
 aganda. The schoolmaster having done his work for 
 six days of the week, the pastor gives an extra virulent 
 dose on the Sabbath. Sedan Day, which before the war 
 was the culmination of hate lessons, often formed the 
 occasion of Sunday School picnics, at which the chil- 
 dren sang new anti-French songs. 
 
 There are some traits in German children most 
 likeable. There are, for example, the respect for, and 
 courtesy and kindness towards, anybody older than 
 themselves. There are admiration for learning and 
 ambition to excel in any particular task. There is a 
 genuine love of music. On the other hand, there is 
 much dishonesty, as may be witnessed by the proceed- 
 
38 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ings in the German police courts, and has been proved 
 in the gold and other collections. 
 
 The elimination of real religion in the education of 
 children and the substitution of worship of the State is, 
 in the minds of many impartial observers, something 
 approaching a national catastrophe. In any other com- 
 munity it would probably be accompanied by anarchy. 
 It certainly has swelled the calendar of German crime. 
 German statistics prove that every sort of horror has 
 been greatly on the increase in the last quarter of a 
 century. 
 
 I went to Germany the first time under the impres- 
 sion that the Anglo-Saxon had much to learn from 
 German education. I do not think that any observer 
 in Germany itself to-day would find anything valuable 
 to learn in the field of education, except when the Ger- 
 man student comes to the time he takes up scentific re- 
 search, to which the German mind, with its intense in- 
 dustry and regard for detail, is so eminently suited. 
 The German Government gives these young students 
 every advantage. They are not, as with us, obliged to 
 start money-making as soon as they leave school. As a 
 rule a German boy's career is marked out for him by 
 his parents and the schoolmaster at a very early age. 
 If he is to follow out any one of the thousand branches 
 of chemical research dealing with coal-tar products, for 
 example, he knows his fate at fourteen or fifteen, and his 
 eye is rarely averted from his goal until he has achieved 
 knowledge and experience likely to help him in the 
 great German trade success which has followed their 
 utilisation of applied science. 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 
 PULPITS OF HATE 
 
 The unpleasant part played by the clergy, and 
 especially the Lutheran pastors, needs to be ex- 
 plained to those who regard clerics as necessarily men 
 of peace. 
 
 The claim that the Almighty is on the side of Ger- 
 many is not a new one. It was made as far back as 
 the time of Frederick the Great. It was advanced in 
 the war of 1870. It found strong voice at the time of 
 the Boer War, when the pastors issued a united mani- 
 festo virulently attacking Great Britain. 
 
 These pastors are in communication with the German- 
 American Lutherans in the United States, who exerted 
 their influence to the utmost against the election of 
 President Wilson, taking their instructions indirectly 
 from the German Foreign Office. 
 
 The state of affairs in the German churches is so dif- 
 ferent from anything on the other side of the Atlantic, 
 and in Great Britain, that it is almost as difficult to 
 make people in England understand war-preaching min- 
 isters as it is to make them comprehend war-teaching 
 schoolmasters. 
 
 My description of the poisoning by hate songs of the 
 child mind of Germany at its most impressionable age 
 came as a shock to many of my readers. But the hate 
 songs of the children are not as fierce as the hate hymns 
 
 39 
 
40 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 and prayers of the pastors. Do the public here realise 
 that of the original Zeppelin fund hundreds of thou- 
 sands of marks were subscribed in churches and chapels, 
 and that models of Zeppelins have formed portions of 
 church decorations at festivals ? 
 
 The pastors of the Prussian State Church are in one 
 important respect the exact opposite of Martin Luther. 
 He was thoroughly independent in spirit and rebelled 
 against authority; they are abjectly submissive to it. 
 As with the professor, so with the pastor, it is no mere 
 accident that he is a puppet-tool of the State. The Ger- 
 man Government leaves nothing to chance, and realising 
 to the fullest the importance of docile and unified sub- 
 jects both for interior rule and exterior conquest, it 
 deliberately and artfully regulates those who create pub- 
 lic opinion. 
 
 There are some Lutheran pastors in Germany who 
 work for an ideal, who detest the propagation of hate. 
 Why, one may naturally ask, do they not cry out against 
 such a pernicious practice ? They cannot, for they are 
 muzzled. When a pastor enters this Church of which 
 the Supreme War Lord is the head, his first oath is un- 
 qualified allegiance to his King and State. If he keeps 
 his oath he can preach no reform, for the State, being a 
 perfect institution, can have no flaw. If he breaks his 
 oath, which happens when he raises his voice in the 
 slightest criticism, he is silenced. This means that he 
 must seek other means of earning a livelihood — a thing 
 almost impossible in a land where training casts a man 
 in a rigid mould. Thus these parsons have their choice 
 between going on quietly with their work and being 
 nonentities in the public eye or bespattering the non- 
 
PULPITS OF HATE 41 
 
 Germanic section of the world with the mire of hate. 
 I regret to say that most of them choose the latter 
 course. 
 
 While I was in Germany I read a lenghty and solicit- 
 out letter from Pastor Winter, of Bruch, addressed to 
 Admiral von Tirpitz, who had just retired for the osten- 
 sible reason that he was unwell, but whose illness was 
 patently only diplomatic. The good pastor expressed 
 the hope that his early recovery would permit the ad- 
 miral to continue his noble work of olbiterating Eng- 
 land. Pastor Falk, of Berlin, is a typical fire-eater. 
 His Whitsuntide address was an attack upon Anglo- 
 Saxon civilisation and the urgent German mission of 
 smashing Britain and America. The Easter sermons of 
 hate, one of which I heard at Stettin, were especially 
 bloodthirsty. Congregations are larger than usual on 
 that day, which is intended to commemorate a spirit 
 quite the opposite to hate. The clergy are instructed 
 not to attack France or Russia, and so it comes about 
 that, as I have previously pointed out, in Prussia, 
 Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, and Sax- 
 ony, the pastors of the State Church preach hatred of 
 Britain as violently in their pulpits as in their pastoral 
 visits. 
 
 The pulpit orators, taking their tip from the Govern- 
 ment, are also exhorting their congregations to "hold out 
 and win the war." I know of one pastor in a good sec- 
 tion of Berlin, however, who has recently lost consider- 
 able influence in his congregation. Sunday after Sun- 
 day his text has been, "Wir miissen durchhalten !" 
 (We must hold out !) "No sacrifice should be too great 
 for the Fatherland, no privation too arduous to be en- 
 
42 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 dured if one but has the spirit to conquer." He paid 
 particular attention to the rapidly increasing number 
 of people who grumble incessantly over the shortage of 
 food. The good man was clearly losing patience with 
 those who complained. 
 
 One day thieves broke into his home and got away 
 with an enormous amount of hams and other edibles. 
 I remind the reader that ham had ere this become un- 
 known in Berlin. Less than three hundred pigs were 
 being killed there per week where formerly twenty-five 
 thousand were slaughtered. The Government had more- 
 over taken a house-to-house inventory of food, and 
 hoarding had been made punishable by law. 
 
 The story, of course, never appeared in the papers, 
 since such divines are useful implements of the State, 
 but the whole congregation heard of it, with the disas- 
 trous consequence that the good man's future sermons 
 on self-denial fell upon stony ground. 
 
 One dear old lady, a widow, whose two sons had 
 fallen in the war, told me that she had not gone to 
 •church for years, but after her second son fell she sought 
 spiritual comfort in attending services every Sunday. 
 "I am so lonesome now," she said, "and somehow I feel 
 that when I hear the word of God I shall be nearer to 
 my boys." 
 
 I met her some weeks later on her way home from 
 church. "It is no use," she sighed, shaking her head 
 sadly, "the church does not satisfy the longing in my 
 heart. It is not for such as me. Nothing but war, war, 
 war, and hate, hate, hate !" 
 
 The German Navy League, an aggressive body which 
 had gathered around it more than a million members 
 
PULPITS OF HATE 43 
 
 previous to the war, stirred up anti-British feeling by 
 means of leaflets, newspaper articles, kinematograph 
 exhibitions, and sermons. Among the bitterest of the 
 preachers are returned missionaries from British pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 Although the social position of the pastor in a German 
 village is less than that of a minor Government official, 
 yet he and his wife wield considerable influence. The 
 leading pastors receive each week many of the Govern- 
 ment propaganda documents, including a digest carefully 
 prepared for them by the Foreign Press Department. 
 I obtained some copies of this weekly digest, but was 
 unable to bring them out of Germany. What purport 
 to be extracts from the London newspapers are ingenious 
 distortions. Sometimes a portion of an article is re- 
 printed with the omission of the context, thus entirely 
 altering its meaning. The recipients of this carefully 
 prepared sheet believe implicitly in its authenticity. 
 Any chance remark of a political nobody in the House 
 of Commons that seems favourable to Germany is 
 quoted extensively. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, in the 
 eyes of the German village clergyman, ranks as one of 
 the most important men in the British Empire. Mr. 
 Stanton, M.P., in their view, is a low hireling of the 
 British Government, doing dirty work in the hope of 
 getting political preferment. The Labour Leader, which 
 I have not seen in any house or hotel or on any news- 
 paper stall, is, according to this digest, one of the lead- 
 ing English newspapers, and almost the only truth- 
 telling organ of the Allies. 
 
 These people really believe this. When home-staying 
 Englishmen talk to me about the German War party, I 
 
44 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 find it difficult to explain to them that the German 
 War party is practically the whole country. 
 
 One or two better-travelled and better-educated pas- 
 tors have expressed mild regret at the bloodthirsty atti- 
 tude of their brethren in private conversation. But I 
 never heard of one who had the courage to "speak out in 
 open meeting." 
 
 The modern, material Germany has not much use for 
 religion except as a factor in government. The notori- 
 ous spread of extreme agnosticism in the last quarter of 
 a century renders it essential for the clergy to hold their 
 places by stooping to the violence of the Professors. 
 Mixed with their attitude of hostility to Britain is a 
 considerable amount of professional jealousy and envy. 
 A number of German pastors paid a visit to London 
 some two or three years before the outbreak of war, and 
 I happened to meet one of them recently in Germany. 
 So far from being impressed by what he had seen there, 
 he had come to the conclusion that the English clergy, 
 and especially the Nonconformists, were an overpaid 
 and undisciplined body, with no other aim than their 
 personal comfort. He had visited Westminster Abbey, 
 St. Paul's, Spurgeon's Tabernacle, the City Temple, and 
 had studied — so he told me — English Wesleyanism and 
 Congregationalism in several provincial centres. He 
 was particularly bitter about one Nonconformist who 
 had accepted a large salary to go to the United States. 
 He returned to Germany impressed with the idea that 
 the Nonconformist and State Churches alike were a 
 body of sycophants, sharing the general decadent state 
 of the English. What struck him principally was what 
 he referred to continually as the lack of discipline and 
 
PULPITS OF HATE 45 
 
 uniformity. Each man seemed to take his own point 
 of view, without any regard to the opinions of the partic- 
 ular religious denomination to which he belonged. All 
 were grossly ignorant of science and chemistry, and all 
 were very much overpaid. Here, I think, lay the sting 
 of his envy, and it is part of the general jealousy of Eng- 
 land, a country where everybody is supposed to be under- 
 worked and overpaid. 
 
 The only worse country in this respect from the Ger- 
 man point of view is the United States, "where even, 
 the American Lutheran pastors have fallen victims to 
 the lust for money." The particular Lutheran of whom 
 I am speaking had been the guest of an English Non- 
 conformist minister and his wife, who had evidently 
 tried to be as hospitable as possible, and had no doubt 
 put themselves out to take him for excursions and out- 
 ings in the Shakespeare country. 
 
 "It was nothing but eating and drinking and sight- 
 seeing," remarked the Herr Pastor. 
 
 I suggested that he was a guest, to be looked after. 
 
 "I can assure you," he replied, "that Mr. had 
 
 nothing to do all day but read the newspapers, and 
 drink tea with his congregation. He did not take the 
 trouble to grow his own vegetables, and all he had to do 
 was to preach on Sundays and attend a very unruly 
 Sunday school. His wife, too, was not dressed as one 
 of ours." 
 
 He explained to me that his own life was very dif- 
 ferent. He eked out his minute salary by a small sci- 
 entifically managed farm, and I gathered the impression 
 that he was much more of a farmer than a pastor, for he 
 deplored his inability to obtain imported nitrates owing 
 
4$ THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 to the blockade. The only question on which he was 
 at all unorthodox was that of the Junkers and their 
 regrettable power of holding potatoes, pigs, and other 
 supplies while small men like him had been obliged to 
 sell. He had a good collection of modern scientific agri- 
 cultural works, of which the Germans have an 
 abundance. 
 
 But while admiring the energy of the great capitalists 
 and the National Liberal Party, the average clergyman 
 tends towards sympathy with the Agrarians. The pas* 
 tor of the small towns and villages, who is very mucK 
 under the thumb of the local Junker or rich manufac- 
 turer, has as his highest ambition the hope that he and 
 his wife may be invited to coffee at least twice a year. 
 The pastor's wife is delighted to be condescendingly 
 received by the great lady. Herr Pastor talks agricul- 
 ture with Herr Baron, and Frau Pastor discusses past 
 and coming incidents in the local birth rate with Frau 
 Baron. Snobbery has no greater exemplification than 
 in the relations of the local Lutheran pastor and the 
 local landlord or millionaire. 
 
 A sidelight on German mentality is contained in a 
 little conversation which I had with a clergyman in the 
 Province of Posen. He knew England well, by resi- 
 dence and by matrimonial connections. 
 
 This is how he explained the battle of the Somme. 
 I give his own words : — 
 
 "Many wounded men are coming back to our Church 
 from the dreadful Western front. They have been 
 fighting the British, and they find that so ignorant are 
 the British of warfare that the British soldiers on the 
 Somme refuse to surrender, not knowing that they are 
 
PULPITS OF HATE 47 
 
 really beaten, with the result that terrible losses are 
 inflicted upon our brave troops." 
 
 In this exact report of a conversation is summed up 
 a great deal of German psychology. 
 
 For the Salvation Army a number of Germans have 
 genuine respect, because it seems to be organised on 
 some military basis. The Church of England they con- 
 sider as degenerate as the Nonconformist. Both, they 
 think, are mere refuges for money-making ecclesiastics. 
 
CHAPTEK V 
 
 PUPPET PROFESSORS 
 
 The professor, like the army officer, has long been 
 a semi-deity in Germany. ~Not only in his uni- 
 versity lectures does he influence the students, and 
 particularly the prospective teachers of secondary 
 schools who hang on his words, but he writes the bulk 
 of the historical, economic and political literature of the 
 daily Press, the magazines and the tons of pamphlets 
 which flood the country. 
 
 Years before the war the Government corralled him 
 for its own. It gave him social status, in return for 
 which he would do his part to make the citizen an un- 
 questioning, faithful and obedient servant of the State. 
 As soon as he enters on his duties he becomes a civil 
 servant, since the universities are State institutions. He 
 takes an oath in which it is stipulated that he will 
 not write or preach or do anything questioning the 
 ways of the State. His only way to make progress 
 in life, then, is to serve the State, to preach what it 
 wishes preached, to teach history as it wishes history 
 taught. 
 
 The history of Prussia is the history of the House of 
 Hohenzollern, and the members of the House, genera- 
 tion after generation, must all be portrayed as heroes. 
 There was a striking illustration of this in 1913 when 
 the Kaiser had Hauptmann's historical play suppressed 
 
 43 
 
PUPPET PROFESSORS 49 
 
 because it represented Frederick William III. in true 
 light, as putty in the hands of Napoleon. 
 
 There is a small group of German professors inter- 
 ested solely in scientific research, such as Professor 
 Roentgen and the late Professor Ehrlich, which we ex- 
 clude from the "puppet professors." Such men succeed 
 through sheer ability and their results are their diplo- 
 mas before the world. Neither shoulder-knots nor 
 medals pinned in rows across their breasts would con- 
 tribute one iota to their success, nor make that success 
 the more glittering once it is achieved. 
 
 One of these, a Bavarian of the old school, a thought- 
 ful, liberal man who had travelled widely, told me that 
 he deplored the depths of mental slavery to which the 
 mass of the German professors had sunk. "They are 
 living on the reputation made by us scientists," he de- 
 clared. "They write volumes and they go about preach- 
 ing through the land, but they contribute nothing, 
 absolutely nothing, to the uplifting of humanity and of 
 the country." He told me of how Government spies 
 before the war and during it watch professors who are 
 suspected of having independent ways of thought, and 
 for the slightest "offence" such as being in the audience 
 of a Social Democratic lecture (this before the war, of 
 course ; such meetings are forbidden now) they are put 
 on the official black-list and promotion is closed to them 
 for ever. 
 
 In warring Germany I found professors vying with 
 one another to sow hatred among the people, to show 
 that Germany is always right, and that she is fighting a 
 war of defence, which she tried to avoid by every means 
 in her power, and that any methods employed to crush 
 
50 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Great Britain, the real instigator of the attack on Ger- 
 many, are good methods. 
 
 With the pastors, they spread the idea that "Ger- 
 many is the rock selected by Almighty God npon 
 which to build His Empire." J. P. Bang, the able Dan- 
 ish Professor of Theology at the University of Copen- 
 hagen, writes clearly on this point. He says, when 
 describing Emanuel Geibel : — 
 
 "He has succeeded in finding the classical formula 
 for the German arrogance, which of necessity demands 
 that Germanism shall be placed above everything else 
 in the world, and at the same time in giving this arro- 
 gance such an expression that it shall not conflict with 
 the German demand for moral justification. This has 
 been achieved in the lines which have been quoted times 
 without number in the newest German war literature; 
 
 Und es mag am deutschen Weseri 
 Einmal noch die Welt genesen! 
 (The world may yet again be healed by Germanism.) 
 
 "The hope here expressed has become a certainty for 
 modern Germany, and the Germans see in this the moral 
 basis for all their demands. Why must Germany be 
 victorious, why must she have her place in the sun, why 
 must her frontiers be extended, why is all opposition 
 to Germany shameful, not to say devilish, why must 
 Germany become a world-empire, why ought Germany 
 and not Great Britain to become the great Colonial 
 Power ? Why, because it is through the medium of Ger- 
 manism that the world is to be healed ; it is upon Ger- 
 manism that the salvation of the world depends. That 
 is why all attacks against Germanism are against God's 
 plans, in opposition to His designs for the world; in 
 
PUPPET PROFESSORS 51 
 
 6hort, a sin against God. The Germans do not seem to 
 be able to understand that other nations cannot be par- 
 ticularly delighted at being described as sickly shoots 
 which can only be healed by coming under the influence 
 of German fountains of health. Yet one would think 
 that, if they would only reflect a little upon what the 
 two lines quoted above imply, they would be able in 
 some measure to understand the dislike for them, which 
 they declare to be so incomprehensible. 
 
 "He also prophesied about the great master who 
 would arise and create the unity of Germany. This 
 prophecy was brilliantly fulfilled in Bismarck. After 
 1866 he loudly clamours for Alsace-Lorraine. This he 
 cannot reasonably have expected to obtain without war ; 
 but when the war comes we hear exactly the same tale 
 as now of the Germans' love of peace and the despicable 
 deceitfulness of their enemies. 'And the peace shall be 
 a German peace; now tremble before the sword of God 
 and of Germany ye who are strong in impiety and fruit- 
 ful in bloodguiltiness.' " 
 
 Hate lectures have been both fashionable and popular 
 in Germany during the war. I was attracted to one 
 in Munich by flaming red and yellow posters which an- 
 nounced that Professor Werner Sombart of the Univer- 
 sity of Berlin would speak at the Vierjahreszeiten Hall 
 on "Unser Hass gegen England" (Our Hatred of Eng- 
 land). 
 
 I sat among the elite of the Bavarian capital in a 
 large hall with even the standing room filled, when a 
 black-bearded professor stepped upon the stage amid 
 a flutter of handclapping and proceeded to his task 
 without any introduction. He was a Professor of 
 
5 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Hatred, and it soon became quite clear that lie was full 
 of his subject. His lank frame leaned over the foot- 
 lights and he wound and unwound his long, thin fingers, 
 while his lips sneered and his sharp black eyes gleamed 
 venom as he instructed business men, bankers, smart 
 young officers, lorgnetted dowagers and sweet-faced 
 girls, in the duty of hating with the whole heart and the 
 whole mind. I soon felt that if Lissauer is the Horace 
 of Hate, Sombart is its Demosthenes. 
 
 "It is not our duty {duty is always a good catchword 
 in German appeal) to hate individual Englishmen, such 
 as Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd 
 George. ISTo, we must go far beyond that. We must 
 hate the very essence of everything English. We must 
 hate the very soul of England. An abysmal gulf yawns 
 between the two nations which can never, and must 
 never, be bridged over. We need borrow Kultur from 
 no nation on earth, for we ourselves have developed the 
 highest Kultur in the world." 
 
 The professor continued in this strain for an hour 
 and a half, and concluded twith the rather striking 
 statements that hatred is the greatest force in the world 
 to overcome tremendous obstacles, and that either one 
 must hate or one must fear. 
 
 The moral is, of course, obvious. Nobody wishes to 
 be a coward, therefore the only alternative is to hate. 
 Therefore, hate England ! 
 
 I watched the audience during the lecture and did 
 not fail to note the close attention shown the professor 
 and the constant nods and sighs of assent of those about 
 me. I was not, however, prepared for the wild tumult 
 of applause at the finish. Indeed the admiring throng 
 
PUPPET PROFESSORS 53 
 
 rushed to the stage to shower him with ad- 
 miration. 
 
 "Das war aber zu scJiori!" sighed a dowager near me. 
 
 "J a, ja, wunderbar. Ein Berliner Professor!" And 
 the student with Schmissen (sahre cuts) across his close- 
 cropped head smacked his lips with satisfaction over the 
 words much as he might have done over his Stein at the 
 Eiirstenhof. 
 
 I investigated Professor Sombart and learned from 
 authority which is beyond question that he was an out 
 and out Government agent foisted on to the University 
 of Berlin against the wishes of its faculty. 
 
 The name of Professor Joseph Kohler is known all 
 over the world to men who have the slightest acquain- 
 tance with German jurisprudence. His literary output 
 has been enormous and he has unquestionably made 
 many valuable contributions to legal science. Even 
 he, however, cannot do the impossible, and his "Not 
 hennt Jcein Gebot" (Necessity knows no law), an at- 
 tempt in the summer of 1915 to justify the German 
 invasion of Belgium, makes Germany's case on this 
 particular point appear worse than ever. 
 
 The Empire of Rome and the Empire of Napoleon 
 worked upon the principle that necessity knows no law. 
 Why should not the Empire of William II. ? That is 
 the introductory theme. The reader then wades through 
 page after page of classical philosophy, biblical philos- 
 ophy, and modern German philosophy which support 
 the theory that a sin may not always be a sin. One may 
 steal, for example, if by so doing a life be saved. It 
 naturally follows from this that when a nation is con- 
 fronted by a problem which involves its very existence 
 
54 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 it may do anything which may work to its advantage. 
 Thus Germany did right in attacking the little country 
 she had solemnly sworn to defend, and history will later 
 prove that the real barbarians of the war are the Amer- 
 icans, since they are so abjectly ignorant as to call the 
 Germans barbarians for acting as they did. So argues 
 Joseph Kohler, who certainly ranks among the first 
 half-dozen professors of Germany. 
 
 There are a few professors of international law in 
 Germany, however, who have preserved a legally- 
 balanced attitude despite their sympathies. One of 
 these wrote an artfcle for a law periodical, many of the 
 statements of which were in direct contradiction to 
 statements in the German Press. The German people, 
 for example, were being instructed — a not difficult task 
 — that Britain was violating international law when her 
 vessels hoisted a neutral flag during pursuit. This pro- 
 fessor simply quoted paragraph 81 of the German Prize 
 Code which showed that orders to German ships were 
 precisely the same. Were this known to the German 
 population one of the ten thousand hate tricks would be 
 out of commission. Therefore, this and similar article! 
 must be suppressed, not because they are not true, but 
 because they would interfere with the delusion of hate 
 which saturates the mind of the new Germany. I have 
 seen articles returned to this distinguished writer with 
 the censor stamp : Not to be published till after the war. 
 
 When a winning Germany began to grow angry at 
 American munition deliveries I heard much talk of the 
 indemnity which the United States would be compelled 
 to pay after Europe had been duly disposed of. Pro- 
 fessor Hermann Oncken, of the University of Heidel- 
 berg, made this his theme in a widely read booklet, en- 
 
PUPPET PROFESSORS 55 
 
 titled, "Deuischlands WeltJcrieg und die DeiUsch-Ameri- 
 kaner" 
 
 Professor P. von Gast, of the Technical College of 
 Aachen, does not appear to realise that his country has 
 a sufficient job on her hands in Europe and Africa, but 
 thinks the midst of a great war a suitable time to arouse 
 his countrymen against the United States in Latin 
 tAjnerica. He explains that the Monroe Doctrine was 
 simply an attempt on the part of the great Anglo-Saxon 
 Republic to gobble up the whole continent to the south 
 for herself. "All the world must oppose America in this 
 attempt," he feels. 
 
 Then there is Professor Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who 
 writes on reprisals in the Juristeriblatt of July, 1916. 
 It should be borne in mind that he is a professor of law 
 and that he is writing in a book which is read by legal 
 minds and not by the general public ; all the more reason 
 that we should expect something that would contain 
 common sense. Professor Bartholdy, after expressing 
 his profound horror over the French raid on Karlsruhe, 
 hastens to explain that such methods can be of not the 
 slightest military advantage to the French, but will only 
 arouse Germany to fight all the harder. He deplores 
 enemy attacks on unfortified districts, and claims that 
 the French military powers confess that such acts art* 
 not glorious by their failure to pin decorations on the 
 breasts of the aviators who perpetrate them, in the same 
 way as the German Staff honours heroes like Boelke and 
 Immelmann, who fight, as do all German aviators, like 
 men. 
 
 There have been many incidents outside of Germany 
 of which the professor apparently has never heard, or 
 else his sense of humour is below the zero mark. 
 
5 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 My talks with German professors impressed mo with 
 how little most of them keep in touch with the war 
 situation from daj to day and from month to month. 
 A Berlin professor of repute with whom I sipped coffee 
 one day in the Cafe Bauer expressed the greateet sur- 
 prise when he heard that a neutral could actually get 
 from America to Germany. I heard this opinion yery 
 often among the common people, but had supposed thai 
 doctors of philosophy were somewhat better informed. 
 
 During my conversation with another professor, 
 whose war remarks have been circulated in the neutral 
 countries by the Official ISTews Service, he remarked that 
 he read the London Times and other English news- 
 papers regularly. 
 
 "Oh, so you get the English papers ?" I asked, fully 
 aware that one may do so in Germany. 
 
 "Not exactly/' returned the professor. "The Gov- 
 ernment has a very nice arrangement by which con- 
 densed articles from the English newspapers are pro- 
 pared and sent to us professors." 
 
 This was the final straw. I had always considered 
 professors to be men who did research work, and I sup- 
 posed that professors on political science and history 
 consulted original sources when possible. Yet the Ger- 
 man professor of the twentieth century is content to 
 take what the Government gives him and only what th« 
 Government gives to him. 
 
 Thus we find that the professor is a great power in 
 Germany in the control of the minds of the people, and 
 that the Government controls the mind of the professor. 
 He is simply one of the instruments in the German 
 Government's Intellectual Blockade of the German 
 people. 
 
CHAPTEK VI 
 
 THE LIE ON THE FILM 
 
 At the end of an absorbingly interesting reel show- 
 ing the Kaiser reviewing his troops, a huge green 
 trade-mark globe revolved with a streamer fluttering 
 Berlin. The lights were turned on and the operator 
 looked over his assortment of reels. 
 
 An American had been granted permission to take 
 war films in Germany in the autumn of 1914, to be 
 exhibited in the United States. After he had arrived, 
 however, the authorities had refused to let him take 
 pictures with the army, but, like the proverbial druggist, 
 had offered him something "just as good." In London, 
 on his return journey home, he showed to a few news- 
 paper correspondents the fijms which Germatiy had 
 foisted upon him. 
 
 "The next film, gentlemen, will depict scenes in East 
 Prussia," the operator announced. 
 
 Although I had probably seen most of these pictures 
 in Germany, my interest quickened, for I had been 
 through that devastated province during and after the 
 first invasion. Eamiliar scenes of ruined villages and 
 refugees scudding from the sulphur storm passed before 
 my eyes. Then came the ruined heap of a once stately 
 church tagged Beautiful Church in Allenburg Destroyed 
 by the Russians. The destruction seemed the more 
 heinous since a trace of former beauty lived through thp 
 
 57 
 
5 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ruins, and you could not view this link of evidence 
 against the Russians without a feeling of resentment. 
 This out-of-the-way church was not architecturally im- 
 portant to the world as is Rheims Cathedral, to be sure, 
 but the destruction seemed just as wanton. 
 
 The next picture flashed on the screen showed a Rus- 
 sian church intact, with the simple title, Russian Church 
 at Potetschki. The moral of the sequence was clear. 
 The German Government, up to the minute in all things, 
 knows the vivid educative force of the kinema, and 
 realises the effect of such a sequence of pictures upon 
 her people at home and neutrals throughout the world. 
 It enables them to see for themselves the difference 
 between the barbarous Russians and the generous 
 Germans. 
 
 The reel buzzed on, but I did not see the succeeding 
 pictures, for my thoughts were of far-off East Prussia, 
 of Allenburg, and of the true story of the ruined church 
 by the Alle River. 
 
 Tannenberg had been fought, Samsanow had been 
 decisively smashed in the swamps and plashy streams, 
 and Hindenburg turned north-east to cut off Rennen- 
 kampf s army, which had advanced to the gates of 
 Konigsberg. The outside world had been horrified by 
 stories of German crime in Belgium; whereupon Ger- 
 many counter attacked with reports of terrible atrocities 
 perpetrated by the Russians, of boys whose right hands 
 had been cut off so that they could never serve in the 
 army, of wanton murder, rapine and burnings. I read 
 these stories in the Berlin papers, and they filled me 
 with a deep feeling against Russia. 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 59 
 
 One of the most momentous battles of history was 
 being fought in the West, and the Kaiser's armies were 
 in full retreat from the Marne to the Aisne, but Berlin 
 knew nothing of this. Refugees from East Prussia 
 with white arm-bands filled the streets, Hindenburg 
 and victory were on every tongue, Paris was forgotten, 
 and all interest centred in the Eastern theatre of war. 
 
 That was in the good old days when the war was 
 young, when armies were taking up positions, when the 
 management of newspaper reporters was not developed 
 to a fine art, when Europe was topsy-turvy, when it was 
 quite the thing for war correspondents to outwit the 
 authorities and see all they could. 
 
 I resolved to make an attempt to get into East Prus- 
 sia, and as it was useless to wait for official permission 
 — that is, if I was to see things while fresh — I de- 
 termined to play the game and trust to luck. 
 
 Danzig seemed the end of my effort, for the railroad 
 running east was choked with military trains, the trans- 
 portation of troops and supplies in one direction and 
 prisoners and wounded in the other. By good fortune, 
 however, I booked passage on a boat for Konigsberg. 
 
 The little steamer nosed its way through a long lock 
 canal amid scenery decidedly Dutch, with old grey 
 windmills dotting broad flat stretches, black and white 
 cows looming large and distinct on the landscape, and 
 fish nets along the water's edge. To the right the shore 
 grew bolder after we entered the Frishes Haff, a broad 
 lagoon separated from the Baltic by a narrow strip of 
 pasture land. Red sails glowed in the clear sunshine, 
 adding an Adriatic touch. Cumbersome junk-like boats 
 flying the Red Cross passed west under full sail. Ger- 
 
60 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 many was using every means at her disposal to transport 
 wounded and prisoners from the battle region which we 
 were drawing near. 
 
 A smoky haze ahead indicated Konigsberg. The 
 mouth of the Pregel bustled with activity, new fortifi- 
 cations were being everywhere thrown up, while indis- 
 tinct field-grey figures swarmed over the plain like ants. 
 ,We glided through forests of masts and rigging and slid 
 up to a pier opposite great sagging warehouses behind 
 which the sun was setting. 
 
 As I picked up my bag to go ashore, a heavy hand 
 fell on my shoulder and I was asked to wait until we 
 were boarded from the police boat which was puffing 
 alongside. My detainer, a government inspector, a man 
 of massive frame with deep set eyes and a shaggy black 
 beard, refused to say more than that the police wished 
 to see me. They had been signalled and were coming 
 to the boat expressly for that purpose. 
 
 American ammunition had not begun to play its part 
 in German public opinion at that time, and, moreover, 
 America was being hailed everywhere in Germany as a 
 possible ally against Japan. Therefore, although only a 
 few days previously Russian guns had been booming 
 less than a dozen miles away, and Konigsburg was now 
 the base against Rennenkampf, my presence was toler- 
 ated, and I finally managed to get lodgings for the night 
 after I had found two hotels turned into hospitals. 
 
 I spent the following day trying to obtain permission 
 to pass the cordon of sentries outside the city, but I 
 received only the advice to go back to Berlin and apply 
 at the Aitswartiges Amt (Foreign Office). I did not 
 wish to wait in Berlin until this campaign was over; I 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 61 
 
 wished to follow on the heels of the army through the 
 ruined land and catch up to the fighting if possible. 
 American correspondents had done this in Belgium. I 
 myself had done it with the Austrians against the Serbs, 
 and I succeeded in East Prussia, but not through Berlin. 
 
 I was well aware that Germany was making a tre- 
 mendous bid for neutral favour. I had furthermore 
 heard so much of Russian atrocities that I was convinced 
 that the stories were true; consequently I decided to 
 play the role of an investigator of Muscovite crime. 
 I won Herr Meyer of the Wolff Telegraph Bureau, who 
 sent me along with his card to Commandant von Rauch, 
 who at first refused to let me proceed, but after I had 
 hovered outside his door for three days, finally gave me 
 a pass to go to Tapiau, the high-water mark of the Rus- 
 sian invasion. 
 
 That night, "by chance," in the Deutscher Ilof, I met 
 the black-bearded official who had arrested me on the 
 boat, and I told him that I had permission to go to Ta- 
 piau next morning. When he became convinced that 
 I was a professional atrocity hunter who believed that 
 the Russians had been brutal, his hospitality became 
 boundless, and over copious steins of Munich beer he 
 described the invaders in a manner which made Glad- 
 stone's expose of the Turks in Bulgaria, the stories of 
 Captain Kidd, and the tales of the Spanish Inquisition 
 seem like essays on brotherly love. He was particularly 
 incensed at the Russians because they had destroyed 
 Allenburg, for Allenburg was his home. One of the 
 stories on which he laid great stress was that a band of 
 Cossacks had pillaged the church just outside of Allen- 
 burg on the road to Friedland, after they had driven 
 sixty innocent maidens into it and outraged them there. 
 
62 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 A train of the Militdr-Personenzug variety bore me 
 next morning through a country of barbed wire, gun 
 emplacements and fields seamed with trenches to Ta- 
 piau,. a town withered in the blast of war. Two ruined 
 bridges in the Pregel bore silent testimony to the strait9 
 of the retreating Germans, for the remaining ends on 
 the further shore were barricaded with scraps of iron 
 and wood gathered from the wreckage. 
 
 Landsturm guards examined my pass, which was 
 good only for Tapiau and return. I decided to miss 
 the train back, however, and push on in the wake of the 
 army to Wehlau. Outside of Tapiau I was challenged 
 by a sentry, who, to my amazement, did not examine my 
 now worthless pass when I pulled it from my pocket, 
 but motioned me on. 
 
 The road ran through eye-tiring stretches of meadows 
 pockmarked with great shell holes full of black water. 
 I came upon the remains of an old brick farmhouse bat- 
 tered to dust in woods which were torn to splinters by 
 shell, bullet and shrapnel. The Russians had bom- 
 barded Tapiau from here, and had in turn been shelled 
 in the trenches which they had dug and chopped in the 
 labyrinth of roots. Among the debris of tins, cases, 
 knapsacks and cartridge clips were fragments of uni- 
 forms which had been blown off Russian bodies by Ger- 
 man shells, while on a branch above my head a 
 shrivelled human arm dangled in the light breeze of 
 September. 
 
 I left the sickening atmosphere of the woods behind 
 and pushed on to Wehlau, a primitive little town situ- 
 ated on the meadows where the Alle flows into the 
 PregeL Here my troubles began. Soldiers stared at 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 63 
 
 me as I walked through crooked, narrow streets un- 
 evenly paved with small stones in a manner that would 
 bring joy to the heart of a shoe manufacturer. The sun 
 sank in a cloudless blaze behind a line of trenches on 
 a gentle slope above the western shore when I entered 
 the Gasthof Babe, where I hoped to get a room for the 
 night. 
 
 I had no sooner crossed the threshold, however, than 
 I was arrested and brought to the Etappen-Commandant 
 in the Pregelstrasse. I fully expected to be placed un- 
 der arrest or be deported, but I determined to put up the 
 best bluff possible. A knowledge of Germans and their 
 respect for any authority above that invested in their 
 own individual selves led me to decide upon a bold 
 course of action, so I resolved to play the game with a 
 high hand and with an absolute exterior confidence of 
 manner. 
 
 Instead of waiting to be questioned when I was 
 brought into the presence of the stern old officer, I told 
 him at once that I had been looking for him. I informed 
 him that Herr von Meyer and Commandant Rauch in 
 Konigsberg were in hearty sympathy with my search for 
 Russian atrocities, but although I succeeded in quieting 
 any suspicions which the Commandant may have en- 
 tertained, I found winning permission to stay in Wehlau 
 an exceedingly difficult matter. 
 
 Orders were orders! He explained that the battle 
 was rolling eastward not far away and that I must go 
 back. To add weight to what he said he read me a set 
 of typewritten orders which had come from Berlin the 
 day before. "Journalists are not allowed with the army 
 or in the wake of the army in East Prussia. . . ." 
 
64 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 he read, in a tone which indicated that he considered the 
 last word said. 
 
 But I had hecome so fascinated with this battle- 
 scarred, uncanny, out-of-the-way land that I resolved 
 to try every means to stay. I declared that on this 
 particular mission I was more of an investigator than a 
 journalist, that I had the special task (self-imposed, 
 to be sur°) of investigating Kussian atrocities ; that if 
 Berlin reports were to be given credence abroad they 
 must be substantiated by some impartial observer. If 
 Germany would supply the atrocities, I would supply 
 the copy. That she wished to do so was evidenced by 
 the permissions granted me by Herr von Meyer of the 
 Wolff Telegraph Bureau and Commandant Eauch of 
 the capital of the devastated province. (I had passed 
 beyond the point where I was told that I could go, but 
 at any rate their names carried weight.) Would it noc 
 seem strange if the Commandant at Wehlau had me 
 sent back after these great men had set their seal of 
 approval upon my investigations ? After Germany had 
 made such grave charges against the Kussians, how 
 would it impress American readers that the German 
 Commandant at Wehlau could not make good and had 
 sent me back % 
 
 Then, as a finishing stroke, I pulled my passport from 
 my pocket and showed Berlin's approval of me stamped 
 impressively in the right-hand corner. This vise was 
 not at all unique with me. It had been affixed to the 
 passports of thousands of Americans of all grades, and 
 was merely to ensure passage from Germany into Hol- 
 land. As I did not wish to impose upon the time of the 
 Commandant I did not burden him with these extran- 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 6$ 
 
 eous details "while he feasted his eyes on the magic 
 words : Gesehen, Berlin. Mount Olympus, Mecca, Im- 
 perial and Ecclesiastical Rome all rolled into one — 
 that is authoritative Berlin to the German of the 
 province. 
 
 "Gesehen, Berlin," he repeated with reverence, care- 
 fully folded the passport and deferentially handed it 
 back to me. I saw that I was winning, so I sought to 
 rise to the occasion. 
 
 "And now, Herr Commandant," I began, "can you 
 suggest where I may best begin my atrocity work to- 
 morrow ? Or first, would it not be well for me to get a 
 more complete idea of the invasion by seeing on the map 
 just what routes the Russians took coming in ?" 
 
 He unfolded a large military map of peerless Ger- 
 man accuracy and regaled me for more than half an 
 hour with the military features of the campaign. 
 
 "Just tell me the worst things that the Russians have 
 done," I began, "and I will start investigating them to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Then he anathematised the Russians and all things 
 Russian, while his orderly stood stiffly and admiringly 
 at attention and the other officers stopped in their tracks, 
 
 "Eirst you should visit the ruins of the once beauti- 
 ful old castle at Labiau destroyed by the beasts," he 
 thundered. "And they also wantonly destroyed the 
 magnificent old church near by." 
 
 He followed with an account of the history of the 
 castle, and it was clear that he was deeply affected by 
 the loss of these landscape embellishments which he had 
 learned to love so much that they became part of his life, 
 and that their destruction deeply enraged him against 
 
66 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the enemy. Though I saw his point of view and sym- 
 pathised with him, I questioned him in the hope of 
 learning of some real atrocities. It was useless. Al- 
 though he made general charges against the Russians, 
 he always reverted, when pinned down to facts, with a 
 fresh burst of anger, to the castle and church of Labiau 
 as his pet atrocity. 
 
 The orderly had just been commanded to take me on 
 a search for quarters for the night, when an automobile 
 horn tooted beneath the window. Heavy steps on the 
 stairs ; a Staff Officer entered the room, looked surprised 
 to see me, and asked who I was. The Commandant 
 justified his permission to let me remain by eulogising 
 the noble work upon which I was engaged, but though 
 the Staff Officer's objections were hushed, he did not 
 enthuse over my coming. 
 
 With intent to convince him that I was already hard 
 at work I told him of the terrible destruction of the 
 castle and church at Labiau, which I would visit on the 
 following day. 
 
 "I have a sergeant below who was there, and I will 
 have him come in," he said. 
 
 The sergeant entered, clicked his heels at attention; 
 a doughty old warrior, small and wiry, not a civilian 
 thrust into field-grey, but a soldier, every inch of him, 
 a Prussian soldier, turned to stone in the presence of 
 his superior officers, his sharp clear eyes strained on 
 some point in space directly ahead. He might 
 have stepped out of the pages of the Seven Years' 
 War. 
 
 Nobody spoke. The pale yellow light of the oil lamp 
 on the Commandant's desk fell on the military faces, 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 67 
 
 figures and trappings of the men in the room. The 
 shuffling tramp of soldiers in the dark street below died 
 away in the direction of the river. I felt the military 
 tenseness of the scene. I realised that I was inside the 
 German lines on a bluff that was succeeding but might 
 collapse at any moment. 
 
 Feeling that a good investigating committee should 
 display initiative I broke the silence by questioning the 
 little sergeant, and I began on a line which I felt would 
 please the Commandant. "You were at Labiau during 
 the fighting?" I asked. 
 
 "I was, sir!" 
 
 He did not move a muscle except those necessary 
 for speech. His eyes were still rigid on that invisible 
 something directly ahead. He clearly was conscious of 
 the importance of his position as informant to a stranger 
 before his superior officers. 
 
 "I have heard that the beautiful old castle and the 
 magnificent old church were destroyed," I continued. 
 
 "You know of this, of course ?" 
 
 "Ja, ja, that is true! Our wonderful artillery 
 knocked them to pieces when we drove the Russians out 
 in panic!" 
 
 The sergeant was not the only one looking into 
 space now. The Staff Officer relieved the situation by 
 dismissing him from the room, whereupon the Com- 
 mandant sharply bade the orderly conduct me to my 
 night lodgings. 
 
 "No Iron Cross for the little sergeant," I reflected, 
 as we stumbled through the cooked old streets in the 
 dark. Is it any wonder that the German Government 
 insists that neutral correspondents be chaperoned by 
 
6$ THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 someone who can skilfully show them what is proper 
 for them to see, and let them hear that which is proper 
 ior them to hear? 
 
 Everywhere in rooms lighted by oil lamps soldiers sat 
 talking, drinking and playing cards. They were under 
 every roof, and were also bivouacked on the flats along 
 the river. In all three inns there was not even floor 
 space available. The little brick town hall, too, was 
 crowded with soldiers. 
 
 At the pontoon bridge we were sharply challenged by 
 a sentry. The orderly answered and we passed on to 
 a crowded beer hall above which I was fortunate to 
 secure a room. By the flickering light of a candle I was 
 conducted to a dusty attic furnished with ferruginous 
 junk in one corner and a dilapidated bed in another. 
 ~No such luxuries as bed clothing, of course ; only a red 
 mattress which had not been benefited in the least by 
 Russian bayonet thrusts and sabre slashes in the quest 
 of concealed treasure. I could not wash unless I would 
 go down to the river, for with the blowing up of the 
 bridges the water mains had also been destroyed. The 
 excellent organisation of the Germans was in evidence, 
 however, for during my stay I witnessed their prompt 
 and efficient measures to restore sanitation in order to 
 avert disease. 
 
 I went downstairs and entered the large beer room, 
 hazy with tobacco smoke, and filled for the most part 
 with non-commissioned officers. They, like everybody 
 else in the room, seemed to have heard of my arrival. 
 I joined a group at a long table, a jovial crowd of men 
 who chaffed good naturedly one of their number who 
 said he wished to be home with his wife and little ones. 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 69 
 
 They looked at me and laughed, then pointing at him 
 said, "He is no warrior !" 
 
 But it was their talk about the Russians which in- 
 terested me most. There was no hate in their speech, 
 only indifference and contempt for their Eastern enemy. 
 Hindenburg was their hero, and they drank toast after 
 toast to his health. The Russian menace was over, they 
 felt; Britain and France would be easily smashed. 
 They loved their Army, their Emperor, and Hinden- 
 burg, and believed implicitly in all three. 
 
 They sang a song of East Prussia and raised their 
 foaming glasses at the last two lines : 
 
 "Es tririkt der Mensch, es sduft das Pferd, 
 In Ostpreussen ist das umgehehrt." 
 
 While they were singing a man in civilian clothes en- 
 tered, approached me with an air of authority, and an- 
 nounced in a loud tone of voice that he had heard that 
 I had said that I had come to East Prussia in search of 
 Russian atrocities. 
 
 "My name is Cur tin," I began, introducing myself, 
 although I felt somewhat uneasy. 
 
 "Thomas I" was all he said. 
 
 "Good Heavens !" I thought. "Is this man looking 
 for me ? Am I in for serious trouble now V y 
 
 Instead, however, of Thomas being an interrogation 
 as to my first name, it was his simple introduction of 
 himself — a strange coincidence. 
 
 Although he was addressing his remarks to me, he 
 exclaimed in a tone which could be heard all over the 
 room that he was Chief of Police during the Russian 
 occupation of Wehlau for three weeks, and took great 
 pride in asserting that he was the man who could tell 
 
70 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 me all that I wished to know. He was highly elated 
 because the Russians had employed him, given him a 
 whistle and invested him with authority to summon aid 
 if he detected any wrong-doing. They had further- 
 more paid him for his services. Although he now 
 roundly tongue-lashed them in general terms, there was 
 no definite personal accusation that he could make 
 against them. 
 
 He told me of a sergeant who went into a house, 
 ordered a meal and then demanded money, threatening 
 the woman who had served him. A lieutenant entered 
 at this moment, learned the particulars of the alterca- 
 tion, and struck the sergeant, whom he reproved for dis- 
 obeying commands for good conduct which had come 
 from Headquarters. "Just think of such lack of respect 
 among officers," Thomas concluded. "One officer strik- 
 ing another for something done against a person in an 
 enemy country. That is bad for discipline. Such a 
 thing would never happen in the German Army." 
 
 The moral of the story as I saw it was quite different 
 from what he had intended it to be. 
 
 A few days later I was again in the crowded beer hall 
 when Herr Thomas entered. Ho liked to be in the lime- 
 light, and had a most extraordinary manner of appar- 
 ently addressing his conversation to some selected indi- 
 vidual, but carried it on in a tone which could be heard 
 throughout the entire room. The Russian whistle whick 
 he still wore, and of which he was very proud, threat- 
 ened to become a millstone about his neck, for return- 
 ing refugees were accusing him of inefficiency during 
 his reign, since they asserted that the Russians ha4 
 stolen their goods from under his very nose. 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM fc* 
 
 After lie had hurled the usual invectives against the 
 invaders for my benefit, two splendid looking officers, 
 captain and lieutenant, both perfect gentlemen, said 
 that they hoped that I would not become so saturated 
 with this talk that I would write unfairly about the Rus- 
 sians. They added that they had been impressed by the 
 Russian officers in that region and the control which 
 they had exercised over their men. 
 
 Early next morning I met the big man with the black 
 beard who was either on my trail or had encountered me 
 again by chance. When I said that I was going to Al- 
 lenburg, of the destruction cf which I had heard so 
 much, he practically insisted that I go with him in hii 
 carriage. A mysterious stranger in brown waa with 
 him, who also assisted in the sight-seeing. 
 
 We rode through a gently undulating farming and 
 grazing country to the Alle River, where we boarded 
 a little Government tug which threaded its way through 
 dead cows, horses, pigs, dogs, and now and then a man 
 floating down the stream. Battered trenches, ruined 
 farmhouses, splintered woods, the hoof marks of Rus- 
 sian horses that had forded the stream under German 
 fire, showed that the struggle had been intense along the 
 river. The plan of battle formed in my mind. It wag 
 clear that the Germans had made the western bank a 
 main line of defence, which, however, had been broken 
 through. 
 
 "Just wait until we reach Allenburg," said the man 
 in brown, "and you will see what beasts the murdering 
 Russians are. Wait until you see how they have 
 destroyed that innocent town !" 
 
 According to the course of the battle and the story 
 
72 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 of the Russian destruction of Allenburg, I expected to 
 find it on the western bank, but to my great surprise it 
 is on the eastern, with a considerable stretch of road 
 separating it from the river. We left the boat and 
 walked along this road, on each side of which lay wil- 
 lows in perfect rows where they had been skilfully felled 
 by the Russians. This sight evoked new assaults from 
 my guides upon "the beasts" whom they accused of 
 wanton and wilful violation of the arboreal beauty 
 which the Allenburgers had loved. 
 
 I put myself in the place of the citizens of Allenburg, 
 returning to their little town devastated by war ; I un- 
 derstood their feelings and I sympathised with them. 
 I was seeing the other side of Germany's page of con- 
 quest. The war map of Europe shows that she has done 
 most of the invading, and during all the days I spent in 
 the Fatherland I never heard a single word of pity for 
 the people of the regions overrun by her armies — ex- 
 cept, of course, the Pecksniffian variety used by her dip- 
 lomats. It was now (my rare privilege to return with 
 German refugees to their ruined country, and they vied 
 with one another when they talked to me in the presence 
 of my guides in accusing the Russians of every crime 
 under the sun. The war had been brought home to 
 them, but in the meantime other Germans had brought 
 the war home even more forcibly to the citizens of Bel- 
 gium and northern France, but the thing could not 
 balance in the minds of those affected. 
 
 I was conducted to a combination home and chem- 
 ist's shop, the upper part of which had been wrecked 
 by a shell. The Russians had looted the place of chem- 
 icals and had searched through all the letters in the 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 73 
 
 owner's desk. These they had thrown npon the floor 
 instead of putting them back neatly in the drawers. 
 
 My guides laid great stress on such crimes, but I took 
 mental note of certain other things which were not 
 pointed out to me. The beasts — as they always called 
 them — had been quartered here for three weeks, but not 
 a mirror had been cracked, not a scratch marred the 
 highly polished black piano, and the well-stocked, ex- 
 quisitely carved bookcase was precisely as it had been 
 before the first Cossack patrol entered th6 city. 
 
 The owner viewed his loss philosophically. "When 
 we have placed a war indemnity upon Russia I shall 
 be paid in full," he declared in a voice of supreme con- 
 fidence. 
 
 My guides never gave me an opportunity to talk alone 
 with the few civilians in the place, and at the sausage 
 and beer lunch the conversation was based on the "wan- 
 ton destruction by the beasts of an innocent town." 
 
 After they had drunk so much beer that they both 
 fell asleep I slipped quietly away and went about amid 
 the ruins. I came upon human bodies burned to a crisp. 
 Heaps of empty cartridge shells littered the ground, 
 which I examined with astonishment for they were Rus- 
 sian, not German, shells, and must have been used by 
 men defending the town. 
 
 I met a pretty girl of seventeen drawing water at a 
 well, who had remained during the three weeks that the 
 Russians were there to care for her invalid father, and 
 had not suffered the slightest insult. Yet all my in- 
 formants had told me that the Russians had spared none 
 of the weaker sex who had remained in their path. 
 
 Further investigations had revealed that the Russians 
 
74 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Had not fired a shot upon the town, but that the Ger- 
 mans had destroyed it driving them out. 
 
 I entered a little Roman Catholic church in the un- 
 damaged section of the town and noted with interest 
 that nothing had apparently been disturbed — this the 
 more significant since the Russians hold a different 
 faith. 
 
 I walked back towards the river and strolled through 
 the neat, well-shaded churchyard to the ruins of the 
 large church, the dominating feature of the town. It 
 was clear from what was left that the lines of the body 
 and the spire had been of rare beauty for such an in- 
 significant place as Allenburg. 
 
 "Too bad!" I remarked to a white-haired old man 
 who was sitting on a bench mournfully contemplating 
 the ruins. 
 
 "Sad, so sad !" he said in a voice full of grief. "And 
 it seems sadder that it had to be done by our own 
 people," he added. 
 
 "Were you here during the fighting V ' I asked. 
 
 "I was," he answered. "I would rather die than 
 leave this place, where I was born and where I have 
 always lived.'* 
 
 I returned to the anxious guides and told them that 
 I had visited the ruins of the church. 
 
 "A destruction which could serve no military pur- 
 pose," declared the man in brown. "You see the 
 methods of the people Germany is fighting." 
 
 I expressed a desire to seek only one more thing, th© 
 thurch on the road to Friedland which had been de- 
 stroyed by the Russians after the sixty maidens had 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 75 
 
 been driven inco it. We went to it, but, alas ! it had not 
 been disturbed in the least. I somehow felt that my 
 guides saw the lack of destruction with genuine regret. 
 The big man with the black beard was at a loss to recon- 
 cile the story he told me at Konigsberg with the actual 
 facts found on the spot. 
 
 "Somebody must have made a mistake," was all he 
 said. 
 
 My last view of Allenburg was from across the river 
 with the long rays of the setting sun burnishing ths 
 ruins of the once beautiful church, the church I saw 
 months later on the screen in the London display room, 
 the church that has been shown all over the world as 
 evidence of Russian methods in war. 
 
 I went all through East Prussia studying first hand 
 the effects of the great campaign. My luck increased 
 from day to day. I secured a military pass to visit all 
 hospitals in the XXth Army Corps, which aided my 
 investigations not a little. The prejudice which I had 
 against the Russians died in East Prussia. It wai 
 buried forever the following winter when I was with 
 the Russian Army in the memorable retreat through 
 the Bukowina. In East Prussia I was in an entirely 
 different position from a man investigating conditions 
 in Belgium, for I was in the German's own country 
 after he had driven out the invader. I tried to see 
 some youth whose hand had been cut off, but could not 
 find a single case, although everybody had heard of 
 such mutilations. The fact that no doctor whom I ques- 
 tioned knew of any case was sufficient refutation, since 
 * person whose hand had been cut off would need some- 
 thing more than a bandage tied on at home. 
 
76 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 When the Russians entered the province obey struck 
 yellow and black posters everywhere announcing that 
 it was annexed to Russia. In view of this the? Russian 
 officers were instructed to restrain their men and to 
 treat the natives well. Isolated cases of violence, for 
 the most part murder and robbery of the victim, had 
 occurred where men had broken away from restraint, 
 but they were surprisingly few. 
 
 After I returned to Berlin I met an American corre- 
 spondent who was in East Prussia when I was. His 
 sympathies were pro-German, but he was an open and 
 fair-minded man, who, like me, had left Berlin with a 
 deep feeling against the Russians, thanks to the excel- 
 lent German propaganda. "I went especially to get 
 some good stories of Russian atrocities," he said. "I 
 thought that every mile would be blood-marked with 
 evidence, but I came back defeated. Some petty lar- 
 ceny and robbery, a Red Cross flag torn to shreds by a 
 Russian shell, two old men murdered and robbed by 
 Cossacks, and a woman in the hospital at Soldau, who 
 had been outraged by five Cossacks, was all that I could 
 find, even though I was aided by the German Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 My own first-hand investigations convinced me that 
 it would be difficult for any army in the world to con- 
 duct a cleaner campaign than Russia conducted in her 
 first invasion of East Prussia. I remind the reader 
 that I am speaking of the first invasion, for I have no 
 personal knowledge of the second. Subsequently in 
 Germany when I spoke of the matter I was always told 
 that it was the second invasion which was so bad. Per- 
 haps ! But I had been fooled when Berlin cried wolf 
 the first tiraa* 
 
THE LIE ON THE FILM 77 
 
 By a stroke of fortune while in East Prussia I be- 
 came "assistant" for two days to a Government mov- 
 ing picture photographer who had a pass for himself 
 and assistant in those happy days of inexactitude. We 
 formed the kind of close comradeship which men form 
 who are suffocated but unhurt by a shell which kills and 
 maims others all about them. That had been our ex- 
 perience. He had, moreover, been over much of the 
 ground covered by me behind the front. 
 
 "I am instructed to get four kinds of pictures," he 
 explained. "(1) Pictures which show German patriot- 
 ism and unity. (2) Pictures which show German or- 
 ganisation and efficiency. (3) Pictures which show 
 evidence of humanity in the German Army. (4) Pic* 
 tures which show destruction by the enemy. Some of 
 my pictures are kept by the Kriegsministerium for pur- 
 poses of studying the war. The greater part, however, 
 are used for propaganda both at home and abroad. 
 Furthermore, I must be careful to keep an accurate rec* 
 ord of what each picture is. The pictures are then ar- 
 ranged and given suitable titles in Berlin." 
 
 I thought of all this in the London display-room 
 when the familiar picture of the ruined church flashed 
 before my eyes with the title Beautiful Church at Al~ 
 lenburg Destroyed by the Russians — a deliberate lie on 
 the film. 
 
 I have nothing to say against the Germans for knock- 
 ing their own town to pieces or against the British and 
 French for knocking French towns to pieces. That is 
 one of the misfortunes of war. 
 
 The point is, that the propaganda department of the 
 
78 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Wilhelmstrasse fully understands that people who do 
 not see the war, especially neutrals, are shocked at thd 
 destruction of churches. The Germans have beem 
 taught an unpleasant lesson in this in the case of 
 Rheims. Therefore they answer by falsifying a film 
 when it suits their purpose with just as little compunc- 
 tion as they repudiate promises. 
 
 "A little thing !" you might say. 
 
 That adds to its importance, for it is attention to do- 
 tail which characterises modern Germany. It is th'# 
 tubtle things which are difficult to detect. The Gov- 
 ernment neglects nothing which will aid in the owner- 
 ihip of public opinion at home and the influencing o€ 
 neutrals throughout the world. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE IDEA FACTORY 
 
 A group of diplomats and newspaper eorrespoi? lent* 
 were gathered at lunch in a German city early in 
 the war, when one of the latter, an American, asked how 
 a certain proposition which was being discussed would 
 ■uit public opinion. "Will public opinion favour such 
 a move V he questioned. 
 
 "Public opinion ! Public opinion l w a member of the 
 German Foreign Office repeated in a tone which showed 
 that he was honestly perplexed. "Why, we create it !" 
 
 He spoke the truth. They certainly do. 
 
 The State-controlled professor, parson and moving- 
 picture producer appeal to limited audiences in hall* 
 and churches, but the newspaper is ubiquitous, particu- 
 larly in a country where illiteracy is practically un- 
 known, and where regulations bidding and forbidding 
 are constantly appearing in the newspapers — the read- 
 ing of which is thus absolutely necessary if one would 
 avoid friction with the authorities. 
 
 In a free Press, like that of the United States or 
 Great Britain, the truth on any question of public in- 
 terest is reasonably certain to come to light sooner or 
 later. Competition is keen, and if one paper does not 
 dig up and publish the facts, a rival is likely to do so. 
 The German Press was gaining a limited degree of 
 freedom before the war, but that has been wiped away. 
 
 79 
 
80 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 As in other belligerent countries news of a military na- 
 ture must quite properly pass the censor. But in Ger- 
 many, unlike Great Britain, for example, all other 
 topics must be written in a manner to please the Gov- 
 ernment, or trouble ensues for the writer and his paper. 
 To a certain extent the Press is a little unmuzzled dur- 
 ing the sittings of the Reichstag — not much, but some- 
 what, for the reports of the Reichstag proceedings are 
 strictly censored. The famous speech of Deputy Bauer 
 in May, 1916, was a striking example, for not a word 
 of his speech, the truth of which was not questioned, 
 was allowed to appear in a single German newspaper. 
 The suppression of most of Herr Hoffmann's speech in 
 the Prussian Diet in January, 1917, is another impor- 
 tant case in point. This is in striking contrast to the 
 British Parliament, which is supreme, and over whose 
 reports the Press Bureau has no control. The German 
 Press Bureau, on the other hand, revises and even sup- 
 presses the publication of speeches. When necessary, it 
 specially transmits speeches by telegram and wireless to 
 foreign countries if it thinks those speeches will help 
 German propaganda. 
 
 The Berlin and provincial editors are summoned 
 from time to time to meetings, when they are addressed 
 by members of the Government as to what it is wise 
 for them to say and not to say. These meetings consti- 
 tute a hint that if the editors are indiscreet, if they, 
 for example, publish matter "calculated to promote dis- 
 unity," they may be subject to the increasingly severe 
 penalties now administered. If a newspaper shows a 
 tendency to kick over the traces, a Government emissary 
 waits upon the editor, calls his attention to any offend- 
 
THE IDEA FACTORY 81 
 
 ing article or paragraph, and suggests a correction. If 
 a newspaper still offends, it is liable to a suspension for 
 a day or even a week, or it may be suppressed alto- 
 gether. 
 
 Eut in peace, as well as in war, editors all over Ger- 
 many were instructed as to the topic on which to lay 
 accent for a limited period, and just how to treat that 
 topic. For example, during the three months preceding 
 the war, Russia was bitterly attacked in the German 
 Press. From August 1 to August 4, 1914, the German 
 people had it crammed down their throats that she was 
 the sole cause of the war. On August 4 the Govern- 
 ment marshalled the editors and professors and ordered 
 them to throw all the responsibility on Rritain, and the 
 hate was switched from one to the other with the speed 
 and ease of a stage electrician throwing the lever from 
 red to blue. 
 
 How do the editors like being mere clerks for the 
 Government ? The limited numbers of editors of inde- 
 pendent thought, such as the "relentless" Count Revent- 
 low, Maximilian Harden, and Theodor Wolff, detest 
 such a role, and struggle against it. After sincere and 
 thorough investigation, however, I am convinced the 
 average German editor or reporter, like the average pro- 
 fessor, prefers to have his news handed to him to dig- 
 ging it up for himself. 
 
 In this connection the remark made to me by the 
 editor of a little paper in East Prussia is interesting. 
 After the Russians had fallen back he told me of two 
 boys in a neighbouring village whose hands had been 
 cut off. He said that he was going to run the story, and 
 suggested that I also use it. I proposed that we make 
 
82 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 a little trip of investigation, as we could do so in a 
 couple of hours. 
 
 He looked surprised. "Why, we have the story al- 
 ready/' he declared. 
 
 "But I am not going to write it unless I can prove 
 it," I replied. 
 
 A moment later I heard him sigh with despair as he 
 half whispered to a cavalry captain: "Yes, yes, alas, 
 over there the Press is in the hands of the people !" 
 
 Many newspaper readers run more or less carelessly 
 through articles, and many more simply read the head- 
 lines and headings. The Official Press Bureau, for 
 which no detail is too minute, realises this perfectly, 
 with the result that German newspaper headings are 
 constructed, less with a view to sensationalism, as in 
 some British and American papers, or with a view to 
 condense accurately the chief news feature of the day, 
 as to impress the reader — or the hearer, since the head- 
 lines are cried shrilly in Berlin and other cities — with 
 the idea that Germany is always making progress to- 
 wards ultimate victory. The daily reports of the Gen- 
 eral Staff have been excellent, with a few notable ex- 
 ceptions such as the Battle of the Marne and the Battle 
 of the Somme. During reverses, however, they have 
 shown a tendency to pack unpalatable truths in plenty 
 of "shock absorber," with the result that the public 
 mind, as I know from my personal investigations, is 
 completely befogged as to the significance of military 
 operations which did not go in a manner satisfactory to 
 the German leaders. In all this the headline never 
 failed to cheer. When the Kussians were smashing tht 
 Austrians in the East, while the British and French 
 
THE IDEA FACTORY 83 
 
 were making important gains and inflicting much more 
 important losses on the Somme, the old reliable head- 
 line — terrible Russian losses — was used until it was 
 worn threadbare. 
 
 What would you think, you who live in London or 
 !New York, if you woke up some morning to find every 
 newspaper in the city with the same headlines ? And 
 would you not be surprised to learn that nearly every 
 newspaper throughout your country had the same head- 
 lines that day? You would conclude that there was 
 wonderful central control somewhere, would you not? 
 
 Yet that is what happens in Germany repeatedly. 
 It is of special significance on "total days." Those are 
 the days when the Government, in the absence of fresh 
 victories, adds the totals of prisoners taken for a given 
 period, and as only the totals appear in the headline? 
 the casual reader feels nearer a victorious peace. On 
 the morning of March 13, 1916, most of the papers had 
 "total" headlines for Verdun. 
 
 Not so the Tageblatt. Theodor Wolff, its editor, has 
 had so much journalistic experience, outside of Ger- 
 many, and is, moreover, a man of such marked ability, 
 that he is striving to be something more than a syco- 
 phantic clerk of the Government. He is not a grumbler, 
 not a dissatisfied extremist, not unpatriotic, but pos- 
 sesses a breadth of outlook patriotic in the highest sense. 
 On the morning after the Liebknecht riots in the Pots- 
 damer Platz, his paper did not appear. The reason 
 given by the Commandant of the Mark of Branden- 
 burg was that he had threatened the Burgfriede by 
 charging certain interests in Germany with attempting 
 to make the war a profitable institution. But there are 
 
84 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 those who say that the police were very watchful in the 
 newspaper offices that night, and that the Tageblatt 
 did not appear because of its attempt to print some of 
 the happenings in the Potsdamer Platz. 
 
 It has been the custom of Herr Wolff to write a front- 
 page article every Monday morning signed T. W. On 
 the last Monday morning in July, 1916, in a brilliantly 
 written article, the first part of which patted the Gov- 
 ernment on the back for some things, he delicately ex- 
 pressed a desire for reform in diplomatic methods which 
 would render war-making less easy. Then he added 
 that if some statesman, such as Prince Biilow, had 
 been called as adviser in July, 1914, a way to avert the 
 war might have been found. 
 
 This so angered the Government, which has success- 
 fully convinced its great human sheep-fold that Ger- 
 many is the innocent victim of attack, that the Tageblatt 
 was suppressed for nearly a week, and, like the ex- 
 Socialist paper Vorwaerts, was permitted to reappear 
 only after it promised "to be good." Theodor Wolff 
 was personally silenced for several months. This was 
 his greatest but not his only offence. All over Ger- 
 many the people have been officially taught to regard 
 this great war time as die grosse Zeit. Wolff, however, 
 sarcastically set the expression in inverted commas — 
 thereby committing a sacrilege against the State. 
 
 Throughout Germany monuments have been reared 
 and nails driven into emblems marked die grosse zeit. 
 I have often wondered just what thoughts these monu- 
 ments will arouse in the German's mind if his country 
 is finally beaten and all his bloodshed and food depriva- 
 tion will have been in vain. 
 
THE IDEA FACTORY 85 
 
 The Press has, of course, been the chief instrument, 
 reinforced by the schoolmaster, professor and parson, in 
 spreading the doctrine of scientific hatred. It is not 
 generally known that Deputy Cohn, speaking in the 
 Reichstag on April 8, 1916, sharply criticised the 
 method of interning British civilians at Ruhleben. He 
 went on to say that, "reports of the persecutions of 
 Germans in England were magnified and to some ex- 
 tent invented by the German Press in order to stir up 
 war feeling against England." 
 
 I saw a brilliant example of the German Press 
 Bureau's attention to details in the late autumn of 
 1914. I was on a point of vantage half way up the 
 Schlossberg behind Ereiburg during the first aerial at- 
 tack by the French in that region. In broad daylight 
 a solitary airman flew directly over the town and went 
 on until he was directly over the extensive barracks just 
 outside. Freiburg is a compact city of 85,000 inhabi- 
 tants, and it would have been easy to have caused dam- 
 age, and probably loss of life to the civilian population. 
 It was clear to me in my front-row position and to the 
 natives, with many of whom I afterwards discussed the 
 matter, that the Frenchman was careful to avoid dam- 
 aging the town, and circled directly over the barracks 
 on which he dropped all his bombs. The Freiburg 
 papers said little about the raid, but to my surprise 
 when I reached Frankfurt and Cologne a week later, 
 newspaper notices were still stuck about the cities call- 
 ing upon Germans to witness again the dastardly 
 methods of the enemy who attack the inhabitants of 
 peaceful towns outside of the zone of operations. 
 
 The French very properly and effectively practised 
 
86 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 reprisals later, but the Germans believe that the shoe 
 is on the other foot. And so it is in everything con- 
 nected with the war. The Germans tell you that they 
 use poisonous gas because the French used it; in fact, 
 only their good luck in capturing some of the French 
 gas generators enabled them to learn the method. 
 Britain, not Germany, violates the laws of the sea. It 
 was the Belgians who were cruel to German troops, 
 especially the Belgian women and the Belgian children. 
 
 When the Verdun offensive came to a standstill a 
 spirit of restlessness developed which was reflected in 
 the Reichstag, where a few Social Democrats attacked 
 the Government because they believed that Germany 
 could now make peace if she wished, and that further 
 bloodshed would be for a war of conquest, advocated by 
 the annexationists. 
 
 During the succession of German military victories, 
 especially in the first part of the war, there was plenty 
 of "front copy" both as news and filler. Some of the 
 accounts were excellent. The reader seldom got the 
 idea, however, that German soldiers were being killed 
 and wounded, and after a time most of the battle de- 
 scriptions contained much of soft nocturnal breezes 
 whispering in the moonlight, but precious few real live 
 details of fighting. 
 
 Regarding this point, a German of exceptional in- 
 formation of the world outside his own country ex- 
 pressed to me his utter amazement at the accounts ap- 
 pearing in the British Press of the hard life in the 
 trenches. "I don't see how they hope to get men to 
 enlist when they write such discouraging stuff," he said. 
 
 After the Battle of the Somme opened, the German 
 
THE IDEA FACTORY 87 
 
 newspapers used to print extracts from the London 
 papers in which British correspondents vividly described 
 how their own men were mown down by German ma- 
 chine-guns after they had passed them, so well was the 
 enemy entrenched. On that occasion one of the manip- 
 ulators of public opinion said to me, "The British 
 Government is mad to permit such descriptions to ap- 
 pear in the Press. They will have only themselves to 
 blame if their soldiers soon refuse to fight !" 
 
 This is one of the many instances which I shall cite 
 throughout this book to show that because the German 
 authorities know other countries they do not neces- 
 sarily know other subjects. 
 
 As weeks of war became months and months became 
 years, the censorship screws were twisted tighter than 
 ever, with the result that docile editors were often at 
 their wits' end to provide even filler. 
 
 On July 14, for example, with battles of colossal 
 magnitude raging east and west, the Berliner Morgen- 
 post found news so scarce that it had to devote most of 
 the front page to the review of a book called "Paris and 
 the French Front," by Nils Christiernssen, a Swedish 
 writer. I had read the book months before, as the Pro- 
 paganda Department of the Foreign Office had sent it 
 to all foreign correspondents. 
 
 It became noticeable, however, that as food portions 
 diminished, soothing-syrup doses for the public in- 
 creased. Whenever a wave of complaints over food 
 shortage began to rise the Press would build a dyke of 
 accounts of the trials of meatless days in Russia, of 
 England's scarcity of things to eat, and of the dread 
 in France of another winter. The professors writing 
 
88 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 in the Press grew particularly comforting. Thus on 
 June 30 one of them comforted the public in a lengthy 
 and serious article in the evening edition of the Vos- 
 sische Zeitung with "the revelation that over-eating is 
 a cause of baldness." 
 
 The cheering news of enemy privations continued to 
 such an extent that many Americans were asked by 
 the more credulous if there were bread-tickets in New 
 York and other American cities. In short, Germany is 
 being run on the principle that when you are down with 
 small-pox it is comforting to know that your neighbour 
 has cholera. 
 
 The key-note of the German Press, however, has been 
 to show that the war was forced on peace-loving Ger- 
 many. Of the Government's success in its propaganda 
 among its own people I saw evidence every day. The 
 people go even one step farther than the Government, 
 for the Government sought merely to show that it was 
 forced to declare war upon Russia and France. Most 
 of the German people are labouring under the delusion 
 that Russia and France actually declared war on Ger- 
 many. This misconception, no doubt, is partly due to 
 the accounts in the German papers during the first days 
 of August, 1914, describing how the Russians and 
 French crossed the frontier to attack Germany before 
 any declaration of war. 
 
 A German girl who was in England at the outbreak 
 of war, and who subsequently returned to her own coun- 
 try, asked her obstinate, hard-headed Saxon uncle, a 
 wealthy manufacturer, if Germany did not declare war 
 on Russia and France. She insisted that Germany did, 
 for she had become convinced not only in England but 
 
THE IDEA FACTORY 89 
 
 in Holland. Her uncle, in a rage, dismissed the mat- 
 ter with: Du hist falsch unterrichtet. (You are falsely 
 informed.) 
 
 An American in Berlin had a clause in his apartment 
 lease that his obligations were abruptly and automati- 
 cally terminated should Germany be in a state of war. 
 Yet when he wished to pack up and go his German 
 landlord took the case to court on the ground that Ger- 
 many had not declared war. 
 
 The hypnotic effect of the German newspapers on the 
 German is not apprehended either in Great Britain or 
 in the United States. Those papers, all directed from 
 the Foreign Office in the Wilhelmstrasse, can manipu- 
 late the thoughts of these docile people, and turn their 
 attention to any particular part of the war with the 
 same celerity as the operator of a searchlight can direct 
 his beam at any part of the sky he chooses. For the 
 moment the whole German nation looks at that beam 
 and at nothing else. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 In the late afternoon of an autumnal day I stopped 
 at a little wayside inn near Hildesheim. The place 
 had an empty look, and the woman who came in at the 
 sound of my footsteps bore unmistakable lines of trouble 
 and anxiety. 
 
 No meat that day, no cheese either, except for the 
 household. She could not even give me bread without 
 a bread-ticket — nothing but diluted beer. 
 
 Before the war business had been good. Then came 
 one misfortune after another. Her husband was a 
 prisoner in Russia, and her eldest son had died with 
 von Kluck's Army almost in sight of the Eiffel Tower. 
 
90 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 "You must find it hard to get along," I said. 
 
 "I do," she sighed. "But, then, when fodder got 
 scarce we killed all the pigs, so bother with them is over 
 now." 
 
 "You are not downhearted about the war ?" I asked. 
 
 "I know that Germany cannot be defeated," she re- 
 plied. "But we do so long for peace." 
 
 "You do not think jour Government responsible at 
 all for the war V I ventured. 
 
 "I don't, and the rest of us do not," was her unhesi- 
 tating reply. "We all know that our Kaiser wanted 
 only peace. Everybody knows that England caused all 
 this misery." Then she looked squarely and honestly 
 into my eyes and said in a tone I shall never forget: 
 "Do you think that if our Government were responsible 
 for the war that we should be willing to bear all these 
 terrible sacrifices?" 
 
 I thought of that banquet table more than two years 
 before, and the remark about creating public opinion. 
 I realised that the road is long which winds from it to 
 the little wayside inn near Hildesheim, but that it is a 
 road on which live both the diplomat and the lonely, 
 war-weary woman. They live on different ends, that 
 is all, 
 
CHAPTEK VIII 
 
 CORRESPONDENTS IN SHACKLES 
 
 Towards the end of 1915 the neutral newspaper 
 correspondents in Berlin were summoned to the 
 Kriegs-Presse-Bureau (War Press Bureau) of the 
 Great General Staff. The official in charge, Major 
 Nicolai, notified them that the German Government 
 desired their signature to an agreement respecting their 
 future activities in the war. It had been decided, Major 
 Nicolai stated, to allow the American journalists to 
 visit the German fronts at more or less regular inter- 
 vals, but before this was done it would be necessary for 
 them to enter into certain pledges. These were, 
 mainly : — 
 
 1. To remain in Germany for the duration of the 
 
 war, unless given special permission to leave by 
 the German authorities. 
 
 2. To guarantee that dispatches would be published 
 
 in the United States precisely as sent from Ger- 
 many, that is to say, as edited and passed by the 
 military censorship. 
 
 3. To supply their own headlines for their dispatches, 
 
 and to guarantee that these, and none others, 
 would be printed. 
 
 After labouring in vain to instruct Major Nicolai 
 that with the best of intentions on the part of the corre- 
 spondents it was beyond their power to say in exactly 
 
 oi 
 
92 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 what form the Omaha Bee or the New Orleans Picayune 
 would publish their "copy," they affixed their signatures 
 to the weird document laid before them. It was signed, 
 without exception, by all the important correspondents 
 permanently stationed in Berlin. Two or three who did 
 not desire to hand over the control of their personal 
 movements to the German Government for an unlimited 
 number of years did not "take the pledge," with the re- 
 sult that they were not invited to join the personally 
 tonducted junkets to the fronts which were subsequently 
 organised. 
 
 Nothing that has happened in Germany during the 
 war illustrates so well the vassalage to which neutral 
 correspondents have been reduced as the humiliating 
 pledges extorted from them by the German Govern- 
 ment as the price of their remaining in Berlin for the 
 practice of their profession. 
 
 It was undoubtedly this episode which inspired the 
 American Ambassador, Mr. Gerard, to tell the Ameri- 
 can correspondents last summer that they would do well 
 to obtain their freedom from the German censorship 
 before invoking the Embassy's good offices to break 
 down the alleged interference with their dispatches by 
 the British censorship. When the Germans learned of 
 the rebuff which Mr. Gerard had administered to his 
 journalistic compatriots, the Berlin Press launched one 
 of those violent attacks against the Ambassador to 
 which he has constantly been subject in Germany dur- 
 ing the war. 
 
 As I have shown in a previous chapter the German 
 Government attaches so much importance to the control 
 and manufacture of public opinion through the Press 
 
CORRESPONDENTS IN SHACKLES 93 
 
 that it is drastic in the regulation of German news- 
 papers. It is therefore comprehensible that it should 
 strive to enlist to the fullest possible extent the Press of 
 other countries. At least one paper in practically every 
 neutral country is directly subsidised by the German 
 Foreign Office, which does not, however, stop at this. 
 The attempt to seduce the newspapers of other nations 
 into interpreting the Fatherland as the Wilhelmstrasse 
 wishes it to be interpreted leads the investigators to a 
 subterranean labyrinth of schemes which would fill a 
 volume. 
 
 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on 
 June 28, 1914. Long before that Dr. Hammann, head 
 of the Nachrichtendienst of the German Foreign Office, 
 had organised a plan for the successful influencing of 
 the Press of the world. In May, 1914, the work of a 
 special bureau under his direction and presided over by 
 a woman of international reputation was in full opera- 
 tion. 
 
 The following incident, which is one of the many I 
 might cite, throws interesting light on one method of 
 procedure. The head of the special bureau asked one 
 of the best known woman newspaper reporters of Nor- 
 way if she would like to do some easy work which 
 would take up very little of her time and for which she 
 would be well paid. 
 
 The Norwegian reporter was interested and asked for 
 particulars. 
 
 "Germany wishes to educate other countries to a true 
 appreciation of things German. Within a year, or at 
 most within two years, we shall be doing this by send- 
 ing to foreign newspapers articles which will instruct 
 
94 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the world about Germany. Of course, it is not advis- 
 able to send them directly from our own bureau; it is 
 much better to have them appear to come from the 
 correspondents of the various foreign newspapers. 
 Thus, we shall send you articles which you need only 
 copy or translate and sign." 
 
 This has been the practice in German journalism for 
 years, and its extension to other countries was merely a 
 chain in the link of Germany's deliberate and thorough 
 preparations for the war. 
 
 With a few exceptions, German reporters and corre- 
 spondents are underpaid sycophants, mere putty in the 
 hands of the Government. Therefore, the chagrin of 
 the officials over the independence and ability of the 
 majority of the American correspondents is easy to un- 
 derstand. The Wilhelmstrasse determined to control 
 them, and through them to influence the American 
 Press. Hence the rules given above. 
 
 When a man signs an agreement that he will not 
 leave Germany until the end of the war, without special 
 dispensation, he has bound himself to earn his liveli- 
 hood in that country. He cannot do this without the 
 consent of the Government, for if he does not write in 
 a manner to please them they can slash his copy, de- 
 lay it, and prevent him from going on trips to such an 
 extent that he will be a failure with his newspaper at 
 home. His whole success depends therefore upon his 
 being "good" much after the manner in which a Ger- 
 man editor must be "good." If he expresses a wish to 
 leave Germany before the end of the war and the wish 
 is granted, he feels that a great favour has been con- 
 ferred upon him and he is supposed to feel himself 
 
CORRESPONDENTS IN SHACKLES 95 
 
 morally bound to be "good" to Germany in the future. 
 
 The American journalistic colony in Germany is an 
 entirely different thing from what it used to be in pre- 
 war days. Before 1914 it consisted merely of the rep- 
 resentatives of the Associated Press and United Press, 
 half a dozen New York papers (including the notorious 
 New-Yorker Staats-Z eitung) , and the well-known and 
 important Western journal, the Chicago Daily News, 
 To-day many papers published in the United States are 
 represented in Berlin by special correspondents. The 
 influx of newcomers has been mostly from German-lan- 
 guage papers, printed in such Teutonic centres as Chi- 
 cago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukee, etc. Journals 
 like the Illinoiser Staats-zeitung, of Chicago, which for 
 years past has barely been able to keep its head above 
 water, have suddenly found themselves affluent enough 
 to maintain correspondents in Europe who, for their 
 part, scorn lodgings less pretentious than those of the 
 de luxe Hotel Adlon in Unter den Linden. 
 
 The bright star in the American journalistic firma- 
 ment in Berlin is Karl Heinrich von Wiegand, the spe- 
 cial representative of the New York World. The New 
 York World is not pro-German, but von Wiegand is of 
 direct and noble German origin. Apart from his ad- 
 mitted talents as a newspaper man, his Prussian "von" 
 is of no inconsiderable value to any newspaper which 
 employs him. Von Wiegand, I believe, is a native of 
 California. Persons unfriendly to him assert that he is 
 really a native of Prussia, who went to the United 
 States when a child. Wherever he was born, he is now 
 typically American, and speaks German with an unmis- 
 takable Transatlantic accent. He is a bookseller by 
 
96 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 origin, and his little shop in San Francisco was wiped 
 out by the earthquake. About forty-five years of age, 
 he is a man of medium build, conspicuously near- 
 sighted, wears inordinately thick "Teddy Roosevelt eye- 
 glasses," and is in his whole bearing a "real" Westerner 
 of unusually affable personality. Von Wiegand 
 claims, when taunted with being a Press agent of the 
 German Government, that he is nothing but an enter- 
 prising correspondent of the New York World. I did 
 not find this opinion of himself fully shared in Ger- 
 many. There are many people who will tell you that if 
 von Wiegand is not an actual attache of the German 
 Press Bureau, his "enterprise" almost always takes the 
 form of very effective Press agent work for the Kaiser's 
 cause. He certainly comes and goes at all official head- 
 quarters in Germany on terms of welcome and intimacy, 
 and is a close friend of the notorious Count Reventlow. 
 
 My personal opinion, however, is that he is above all 
 a journalist, and an exceedingly able one. 
 
 Von Wiegand's liaison with the powers that be in 
 Berlin has long been a standing joke among his Ameri- 
 can colleagues. Shortly after the fall of Warsaw in 
 August, 1915, when the stage in Poland was set for 
 exhibition to the neutral world, he was roused from his 
 slumbers in his suite at the Adlon by a midnight tele- 
 phone message, apprising him that if he would be at 
 Friedrichstrasse Station at 4.30 the next morning, with 
 packed bags, he would be the only correspondent to be 
 taken on a staff trip to Warsaw. Wiegand was there 
 at the appointed hour, but was astonished to discover 
 that he had been hoaxed. The perpetrators of the "rag" 
 were some of his U. S. confreres. 
 
CORRESPONDENTS IN SHACKLES 97 
 
 Von Wiegand for nearly two years has been the re' 
 cipient of such marked and exclusive favours in Berlin 
 that Mr. Hearst's New York American (the chief rival 
 of the New York World, and the head of the "Interna- 
 tional News Service" which has been suppressed in 
 Great Britain, where it has been proved to have ma- 
 liciously lied on divers occasions) decided to send to 
 Germany a special correspondent who would also have 
 a place in the sun. The gentleman appointed to crowd 
 Mr. von Wiegand out of the limelight was a former 
 clergyman named Dr. William Bayard Hale, a gifted 
 writer and speaker, who obtained some international 
 notoriety eight years ago by interviewing the Kaiser. 
 That interview was so full of blazing political indis- 
 cretions that the German Government suppressed it at 
 great cost by buying up the entire issue of the New 
 York magazine in which the explosion was about to 
 take place. Enough of the contents of the interview 
 subsequently leaked out to indicate that its main fea- 
 ture was the German Emperor's insane animosity to 
 Great Britain and Japan and his determination to go 
 to war with them. 
 
 Dr. Hale also enjoyed the prestige of having once 
 been an intimate of President Wilson. He had written 
 the latter's biography, and later represented him in 
 Mexico as a special emissary. Shortly before the war 
 he married a New York German woman, who is, I be- 
 lieve, a sister or near relative of Herr Muschenheim, 
 the owner of the Hotel Astor, which in 1914 and 1915 
 was inhabited by the German propaganda bureau, or 
 one of the many bureaus maintained in New York City. 
 From the date of his German matrimonial alliance Dr* 
 
9 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Hale became an ardent protagonist of Kultur. One of 
 his last activities before going to Germany was to edit 
 a huge "yellow book" which summarised "Great 
 Britain's violations of international law" and the acri- 
 monious correspondence on contraband and shipping 
 controversies between the British and American Gov- 
 ernments. This publication was financed by the German 
 publicity organisation and widely circulated in the 
 United States and all neutral countries. 
 
 Dr. Hale, a tall, dark, keen-looking, smooth-shaven, 
 and smooth-spoken American, received in Berlin on his 
 arrival a welcome customarily extended only to a new- 
 coming foreign Ambassador. He came, of course, pro- 
 vided with the warmest credentials Count Bernstorff 
 could supply. Long before Hale had a chance to pre- 
 sent himself at the Foreign Office, the Foreign Office 
 presented itself to him, an emissary from the Imperial 
 Chancellor having, according to the story current in 
 Berlin, left his compliments at Dr. Hale's hotel. He 
 had not been in Berlin many days before an interview 
 with Bethmann-Hollweg was handed to him on a silver 
 plate. Forthwith the New York American began to be 
 deluged with the journalistic sweetmeats — Ministerial 
 interviews, Departmental statements, and exclusive 
 news tit-bits — with which Karl Heinrich von Wiegand 
 had so long and alone been distinguishing himself. 
 
 I have told in detail these facts about von Wiegand 
 and Hale because between them the two men are able 
 to flood the American public with a torrent of German- 
 made news and views, whose volume and influence are 
 tremendous. The New York World's European news 
 is "syndicated" to scores of newspapers throughout the 
 
CORRESPONDENTS IN SHACKLES 99 
 
 American continent, and the service has "featured" 
 von Wiegand's Berlin dispatches to the exclusion, or at 
 least almost to the eclipse, of the World's other war 
 news. Hale's dispatches to the Hearst Press have been 
 published all the way across the Republic, not only in 
 the dailies of vast circulation owned by Mr. Hearst in 
 JTew York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los An- 
 geles, and elsewhere, but also in a great many other 
 papers like the prominent Philadelphia North Ameri- 
 can, which subscribed to the "International News Ser- 
 vice." 
 
 The German authorities understand all this perfectly 
 well. That explains their unceasing attentions to von 
 Wiegand and Hale, and to other valuable correspon- 
 dents. One of these recently undertook to compile a 
 book on Belgium in war-time for the purpose of white- 
 washing Germans in American estimation. Accom- 
 panied by his wife, he was motored and wined and 
 dined through the conquered country under the watch- 
 ful chaperonage of German officers. He has returned 
 to Berlin to write his book, although it is com- 
 mon knowledge there that during his entire stay in 
 Belgium he was not permitted to talk to a single 
 Belgian. 
 
 Although nominally catered to and fawned upon by 
 the German authorities, the American correspondents 
 cut on the whole a humiliating figure, although not all 
 of them realise it. It is notorious they are spied upon 
 day and night. They are even at times ruthlessly 
 scorned by their benefactors in the Wilhelmstrasse. 
 One of the Americans who essays to be independent, 
 was some time ago a member of a journalistic party 
 
ioo THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 conducted to Lille. He left the party long enough to 
 stroll into a jeweller's shop to purchase a new glass for 
 his watch. While making the purchase he asked the 
 Frenchman who waited on him how he liked the Ger- 
 mans. "They are" very harsh, but just," was the reply. 
 A couple of weeks later, when the correspondents were 
 back in Berlin, Major Nicolai, of the War Press 
 Bureau, sent for the correspondent, said to him that he 
 knew of the occasion on which the American journalist 
 had "left the party" in Lille, and demanded to know 
 what had occurred in the watchmaker's shop. The 
 correspondent repeated precisely what the Frenchman 
 had said. "Well," snarled Major Nicolai, "why didn't 
 you send that to your papers?" I may mention here 
 that these parties of neutral correspondents are herded 
 rather than conducted when on tour. 
 
 The American correspondents had a sample of the 
 actual contempt in which the German authorities hold 
 them on the day when the commercial submarine 
 Deutschland returned to Bremen, August 23. For pur- 
 poses of glorifying the Deutschland's achievement in 
 the United States, the American correspondents in Ber- 
 lin were dispatched to Bremen, where they were told 
 that elaborate special arrangements for their reception 
 and entertainment had been completed. Count Zeppelin, 
 two airship commanders, who had just raided England, 
 and a number of other national heroes would be pres- 
 ent, together with the Grand Duke of Oldenburg at the 
 head of a galaxy of civil, military, and naval digni- 
 taries. The grand climax of the Deutschland joy car- 
 nival was to be a magnificent banquet with plenty of 
 that rare luxury, bread and butter, at the famous 
 
V CORRESPONDENTS IN, SHACKLES : ,ioi 
 
 Bremen Eathaus accompanied by both oratorical and 
 pyrotechnical fireworks. The correspondents were 
 given an opportunity to watch the triumphal progress 
 of the Deutschland through the Weser into Bremen har- 
 bour, but at night, when they looked for their places at 
 the Rathaus feast, they were informed that there was 
 no room for them. An overflow banquet had been ar- 
 ranged in their special honour in a neighbouring tav- 
 ern. This was too much even for some of the War 
 Press Bureau's best American friends, and the overflow 
 dinner party was served at a table which contained 
 many vacant chair3. Their intended occupiers had 
 taken the first train back to Berlin, thoroughly dis- 
 gusted. 
 
 It is fair to say that several of the principal Amer- 
 ican correspondents in Berlin are making a serious ef- 
 fort to practise independent journalism, hut it is a diffi- 
 cult and hopeless struggle. They are shackled and con- 
 trolled from one end of the week to the other. They 
 could not if they wished send the unadorned truth to 
 the United States. All they are permitted to report is 
 that portion of the truth which reflects Germany in the 
 light in which it is useful for Germany to appear from 
 time to time. 
 
 Germany has organised news for neutrals in the most 
 intricate fashion. A certain kind of news is doled out 
 for the United States, a totally different kind for Spain, 
 and still a different brand, when emergency demands, 
 for Switzerland, Brazil, or China. There is a Chinese 
 correspondent among the other "neutrals" in Germany. 
 The "news" prepared for him by Major Nicolai's de- 
 partment would be very amusing reading in the col- 
 
ioz THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 limns of Mr. von Wiegand's or Dr. Hale's papers. 
 There is a celebrated and pro- Ally newspaper in New- 
 York whose motto is "All the news that's fit to print." 
 The motto of the German War Press Bureau is "All the 
 news that's safe to print." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ANTON LANG OF OBERAMMERGAU 
 
 While I was at home on a few weeks' visit in Oc- 
 tober, 1915, I read in the newspapers a simple 
 announcement cabled from Europe that Anton Lang of 
 Oberammergau had been killed in the great French of- 
 fensive in Champagne. This came as a shock to many 
 Americans, for the name of this wonderful character 
 who had inspired people of all shades of opinion and 
 religious belief in his masterful impersonation of Christ 
 in the decennial Passion Play was almost as well known 
 in the United States and in England as in his native 
 Bavaria, and better, I found than in Prussia. 
 
 British and American tourist agencies had put 
 Oberammergau on the map of the world. The interest 
 in America after the Passion Play of 1910 was so great, 
 in fact, that some newspapers ran extensive series of il- 
 lustrated articles describing it. The man who played 
 the part of Christ was idealised, everybody who had 
 seen him liked him, respected him and admired him. 
 Thousands had said that somehow a person felt better 
 after he had seen Anton Lang. As a supreme test of 
 his popularity, American vaudeville managers asked 
 him to name his own terms for a theatrical tour. 
 
 And now the man who had imbued his life with that 
 of the Prince of Peace had thrown the past aside, and 
 with the spiked helmet in place of the Crown of Thorns 
 
 10? 
 
io 4 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 had gone to his death trying not to save but to slaughter 
 
 his* fellow-men. 
 
 Truly, the changes wrought by war are great ! 
 # # •* # # 
 
 In Berlin I inquired into the circumstances of Anton 
 Lang's death. Nobody knew anything definite. Ber- 
 lin knew little of him in life, much less than London, 
 New York or Montreal. 
 
 Munich is different. There his name is a household 
 word. Herr von Meinl, then Director of the Bavarian 
 Ministry, now member of the Bundesrat, told me that 
 he believed that there was a mistake in the report that 
 Anton had been killed. 
 
 Later, when tramping through the Bavarian High- 
 lands, I walked one winter day from Partenkirchen to 
 Oberammergau, for I had a whim to know the truth 
 of the matter. 
 
 On the lonely mountain road that winds sharply up 
 from Oberau I overtook a Benedictine monk who was 
 walking to the monastery at Ettal. We talked of the 
 war in general and of the Russian prisoners we had 
 seen in the saw-mills at Untermberg. I was curious 
 to hear his views upon the war, and I soon saw that not 
 even the thick walls of a monastery are proof against 
 the idea-machine in the Wilhelmstrasse. Despite Car- 
 dinal Mercier's denunciation of German methods in 
 Belgium, this monk's views were the same as the rest of 
 the Kaiser's subjects. He did, however, admit that he 
 was sorry for the Belgians, although, in true German 
 fashion, he did not consider Germany to blame. He 
 sighed to think that "the Belgian King had so treacher- 
 ously betrayed his people by abandoning his neutrality 
 
ANTON LANG OF OBERAMMERGAU 105 
 
 and entering into a secret agreement with France and 
 Great Britain." He recited the regular story of the 
 secret military letters found by the Germans after they 
 had invaded Belgium, the all-important marginal notes 
 of which were maliciously left untranslated in the Ger- 
 man Press. 
 
 We parted at Ettal, and I pushed on down the narrow 
 valley to Oberammergau. The road ahead was now in 
 shadow, but behind me the mountain mass was dazzling 
 white in the rays of the setting sun. "What a pity," I 
 thought, "that the peasant must depart from these beau- 
 tiful mountains and valleys to die in the slime of the 
 trenches." 
 
 The day was closing in quiet and grandeur, yet all 
 the time the shadow of death was darkening the peace- 
 ful valley of the Ammer. I became aware of it first as 
 I passed the silent churchyard with its grey stones ris- 
 ing from the snow. For there, on the other side of 
 the old stone wall that marks the road, was a monument 
 on which the Reaper hacks the toll of death. The list 
 for 1870 was small, indeed, compared with that of die 
 grosse Zeit. I looked for Lang and found it, for Hans 
 had died, as had also Richard. 
 
 I passed groups of men cutting wood and hauling ice 
 and grading roads, men with rounder faces and flatter 
 noses than the Bavarians, still wearing the yellowish- 
 brown uniform of Russia. That is, most of them wore 
 it. Some, whose uniforms had long since gone to tat- 
 ters, were dressed in ordinary clothing, with flaming 
 red R's painted on trousers and jackets. 
 
 An old woman with a heavy basket on her back was 
 trudging past a group of these. "How do you like 
 
io6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 them ?" I asked. "We shall really miss them when they 
 go," she said. "They seem part of the village now. 
 The poor fellows, it must be sad for them so far from 
 home." 
 
 Evidently the spirit of new Germany had not satu- 
 rated her. 
 
 I went through crooked streets, bordered with houses 
 brightly frescoed with biblical scenes, to the Pension 
 Daheian, the home of the man I wished to see. As he 
 rose from his pottery bench to welcome me, I felt that 
 beneath his great blue apron and rough garb of the 
 working man was true nobility. I did not need to ask 
 if he was Anton Lang. I had seen his picture and had 
 often been told that his face was the image of His Who 
 died on the Cross. I expected much, but found in- 
 finitely more. I felt that life had been breathed into 
 a Rubens masterpiece. No photograph can do him jus- 
 tice, for no lens can catch the wondrous light in his clear 
 blue eyes. 
 
 I was the only guest at the Pension Daheim; indeed, 
 I was the only stranger in Oberammergau. I sat beside 
 Anton Lang in his work room as his steady hands fash- 
 ioned things of clay, I ate at table with him, and in the 
 evening we pulled up our chairs to the comfortable fire- 
 side, where we talked of his country and of my country, 
 of the Passion Play and of the war. 
 
 I had been sceptical about him until I met him. I 
 wondered if he was self-conscious about his goodness, 
 or if he was a dreamer who could not get down to the 
 realities of this world, or if he had been spoiled by 
 flattery, or if piety was part of his profession. 
 
 When I finally went from there I felt that I really 
 
ANTON LANG OF OBERAMMERGAU 107 
 
 understood him. His life has been without an atom of 
 reproach, yet he never poses as pious. He does not 
 preach or stand aloof, or try to make you feel that he 
 is better than yon, but down in your heart you know 
 that he is. He has been honoured by royalty and men 
 of state, yet he remains simple and unaffected, though 
 quietly dignified in manner. He is truly Nature's 
 Nobleman, with a mind that is pure and a face the mir- 
 ror of his mind. 
 
 To play well his role of Christus is the dominating 
 passion of his life. Not the make-up box, but his own 
 thoughts must mould his features for the role, which 
 has been his in 1890, 1900 and 1910. 
 
 His travels include journeys to Rome and to the Holy 
 Land. He is well read, an interesting talker, and an 
 interested listener. He commented upon the great 
 change in the spirit of the people, a change from the 
 intoxicating enthusiasm of victory to a war-weary feel- 
 ing of trying to hold out through a sense of duty. To 
 my question as to when he thought the war would end, 
 he answered : "When Great Britain „nd Germany both 
 realise that each must make concessions. Neither can 
 crush the other." 
 
 The doctrine that "only through hate can the greatest 
 obstacles in life be overcome" has not reached his home, 
 nor was there hanging on the wall, as in so many Ger- 
 man homes, the famous order of the day of Crown 
 Prince Bupert of Bavaria, which commences with "Sol- 
 diers of the army! Before you are the English!" in 
 which he exhorts his troops with all the tricky sophistry 
 of hate. 
 
 Anton Lang has worked long hard hours to bring up 
 
1 08 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 his family, rather than accept fabulous offers for a 
 theatrical tour of America. He refused these offers 
 through no mere caprice. 
 
 "I admit that the temptation is great," he said to 
 me. "Here I must always work hard and remain poor ; 
 there I quickly could have grown rich. But the Pas- 
 sion Play is not a business," he continued earnestly. 
 "Nearly three hundred years ago, when a terrible plague 
 raged over the land, the people of Oberammergau vowed 
 to Almighty God that if He would save their village, 
 they would perform every ten years in His glory the 
 Passion of His Divine Son. The village was saved and 
 Oberammergau has kept its promise. You see, if I had 
 accepted those theatrical offers I could never again live 
 in my native village, and that would break my heart." 
 
 There is carefully preserved in the town hall at 
 Oberammergau an old chronicle which tells of the 
 plague. There will undoubtedly be preserved in the 
 family of Lang a new chronicle, a product of the war, 
 printed in another country, a chronicle which did not 
 rest content with * notice of Anton's obituary, but told 
 the details of his death in battle. 
 
 Frau Lang showed me this chronicle. She seemed to 
 have something on her mind of which she wished to 
 speak, after I told her that I was an American jour- 
 nalist. At length one evening, after the three younger 
 children had gone to bed, and the eldest was indus- 
 triously studying his lessons for the next day, she ven- 
 tured. "American newspapers tell stories which are 
 not at all true, don't they V 9 she half stated, half asked. 
 
 My natural inclination was to defend American jour- 
 nalism by attacking that of Germany, but something re- 
 
ANTON LANG OF OBERAMMERGAU 109 
 
 strained me, I did not know what. "Of course," I ex- 
 plained, "in a country such as ours where the Press is 
 free, evils sometimes arise. We have all kinds of news- 
 papers. A few are very yellow, but the vast majority 
 seek to be accurate, for accuracy pays in the long run 
 in self-respecting journalism." I thought that perhaps 
 she was referring to the announcement of the death of 
 the man who was sitting with us in the room. We both, 
 agreed, however, that such a mistake was perfectly natu- 
 ral since two Langs of Oberammergau had already been 
 killed. In fact, Anton had read of his own death notice 
 in a Munich paper. The American correspondent who 
 had cabled the news on two occasions had presumably 
 simply "lifted" the announcement from the German 
 papers. Lrau Lang could understand that very well 
 when I explained, but how about the stories that Anton 
 had been serving a machine-gun and other details which 
 were pure fiction? 
 
 She had trump cards which she played at this point. 
 Two gaudily coloured "Sunday Supplements" of a cer- 
 tain newspaper combination in the United States were 
 spread before me. The first told of how Anton Lang 
 had become a machine-gunner of marked ability, and 
 that he served his deadly weapon with determination. 
 Could the Oberammergau Passion Play ever exert the 
 old influence again, after this ? was the query at the end 
 of the article. 
 
 A second had all the details of Anton's death and was 
 profusely illustrated. The story started with Anton 
 going years ago into the mountains to try out his voice 
 in order to develop it for his histrionic task. There 
 was a brief account of how he had followed in the patH 
 
1 1 o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 of the Prince of Peace, and of the tremendous effect he 
 had upon his audiences. 
 
 Then came the war, which tore him from his humble 
 home. The battle raged, the Bavarians charged the 
 [French lines, and the spot-light of the story was played 
 upon a soldier from Oberammergau who lay wounded 
 in "No-Man's Land." Another charging wave swept 
 by this soldier, and as he looked up he saw the face of 
 the man he had respected and loved more than all other 
 men, the face of Anton Lang, the Christus of Oberam- 
 mergau. The soldier covered his eyes with his hands, 
 for never had Anton Lang looked as he did then. The 
 eyes which had always been so beautiful, so compas- 
 sionate, had murder in them now. 
 
 The scene shifted. A French sergeant and private 
 crouched by their machine-gun ready to repel the charge, 
 the mutual relationship being apparently somewhat that 
 of a plumber and his assistant. They sprayed the on- 
 coming Bavarians with a shower of steel and piled the 
 dead high outside the French trenches. The charge had 
 failed, and the sergeant began to act strangely. At 
 length he broke the silence. "Did you see that last 
 boche, Jean ?" he asked. "Did you see that face ?" Jean 
 confessed that he did not. "You are fortunate, Jean," 
 said the sergeant. "Never have I seen such a face be- 
 fore. I felt as if there was something supernatural 
 about it. I felt that it was wrong to kill that man. I 
 hated to do it, Jean. — But then the butcher was coming 
 at us with a knife two feet long." 
 
 I finished reading and looked up at the questioning 
 eyes of Frau Lang and at the wonderful, indescribable 
 blue ejea of the "butcher" across the table, who, I maj 
 
ANTON LANG OF OBERAMMERGAU in 
 
 add, is fifty-two years of age, and has not had a day's 
 military training in his life. 
 
 "And look," said Frau Lang, "these men are not even 
 Oberammergauers." 
 
 She pointed to one of the illustrations which de- 
 picted a small group of rather vicious-looking Prus- 
 sians, with rifles ready peering over the rim of a trench* 
 The picture was labelled "Four apostles now serving at 
 the Front." 
 
 "And see," continued the perplexed woman, "there ia 
 Johann Zwinck, the Judas in the play. It says that he 
 is at the front. Why, he is sixty-nine years old, and is 
 still the village painter. Only yesterday I heard him 
 complain that the war was making it difficult for him 
 to get sufficient oil to mix his paint." 
 
 I was at a loss for words. "When one compares such 
 terrible untruths with our German White Book," de- 
 clared Frau Lang, "it is indeed difficult for the Ameri- 
 can people to understand the true situation." 
 
 I felt that it would be useless for me at that moment 
 to explain certain very important omissions in the Ger- 
 man White Book. Anything would look white in com* 
 parison with the yellow journal I had just read. But 
 I knew, and tried to explain that the particular news- 
 paper combination which printed such rubbish was well 
 known in America for its inaccuracies and fabrications, 
 and although it was pro-German, it would sacrifice any- 
 thing for sensation. But the good woman, being a Ger- 
 man, and consequently accustomed to standardisation, 
 oould not dissociate this newspaper from the real Press, 
 
CHAPTEE X 
 
 SUBMARINE MOTIVES 
 
 The German submarines are standardised. The 
 draughts and blue prints of the most important 
 machinery are multiplied and sent, if necessary, to 
 twenty different factories, while all the minor stamp- 
 ings are produced at one or other main factory. The 
 "assembling" of the submarines, therefore, is not diffi- 
 cult. During the war submarine parts have been as- 
 sembled at Trieste, Zeebrugge, Kiel, Bremerhaven, Stet- 
 tin, and half a dozen other places in Germany unneces- 
 sary to relate. With commendable foresight, Germany 
 sent submarine parts packed as machinery to South 
 [America, where they are being assembled somewhere on 
 the west coast. 
 
 The improvement, enlargement, and simplification 
 of the submarine has progressed with great rapidity. 
 
 When I was in England after a former visit to Ger- 
 many I met a number of seafolk who pooh-poohed ex- 
 tensive future submarining, by saying that, no matter 
 how many submarines the Germans might be able to 
 produce, the training of submarine officers and crew 
 was such a difficult task that the "submarine menace," 
 as it was then called in England, need not be taken too 
 seriously. 
 
 The difficulty is not so great. German submarine 
 officers and men are trained by the simple process of 
 
 112 
 
SUBMARINE MOTIVES 113 
 
 double or treble banking of the crews of submarines on 
 more or less active service. Submarine crews are there- 
 fore multiplied probably a great deal faster than the 
 war destroys them. These double or treble crews, who 
 rarely go far away from German waters, and are mostly 
 trained in the safe Baltic, are generally composed of 
 young but experienced seamen. There are, however, 
 an increasing number of cases of soldiers being trans- 
 ferred abruptly to the U-boat service. 
 
 The education of submarine officers and crew begins 
 in thorough German fashion on land or in docks, in 
 dummy or disused submarines, accompanied by much 
 lecture work and drill. Submarine life is not so un- 
 comfortable as we think. With the exception of the 
 deprivation of his beer, which is not allowed in sub- 
 marines, or, indeed, any form of alcohol, except a small 
 quantity of brandy, which is kept under the captain's 
 lock and key, Hans in his submarine is quite as com- 
 fortable as Johann in his destroyer. 
 
 Extra comforts are forwarded to submarine men, 
 which consist of gramophone records (mostly Viennese 
 waltzes), chocolate, sausages, smoked eels, margarine, 
 cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco, a small and treasured 
 quantity of real coffee, jam, marmalade, and sugar. All 
 these, I was proudly told, were extras. There is no 
 shortage in the German Navy. 
 
 I learned nothing of value about the largest German 
 submarines, except that everybody in Germany knew 
 they were being built, and by the time the gossip of 
 them reached Berlin the impression there was that they 
 were at least as large as Atlantic liners. 
 
 Now as to German submarine policies. The part 
 
1 1 4 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 that has to do with winning the war will be dealt with 
 in the next chapter. But there is also a definite policy 
 in connection with the use of submarines for winning 
 the "war after the war." 
 
 The National Liberal Party, of which Tirpitz is the 
 god, is at the head of the vast, gradually solidifying 
 mammoth trust, which embraces Krupps, the mines, 
 shipbuilding yards, and the manufactures. Now and 
 then a little of its growth leaks out, such as the linking 
 up of Krupps with the new shipbuilding. 
 
 The scheme is brutally simple and is going on under 
 the eyes of the British every day. These people be- 
 lieve that by building ships themselves and destroying 
 enemy and neutral shipping, they will be the world's 
 shipping masters at the termination of the war. In 
 their attitude towards Norwegian shipping, you will 
 notice that they make the flimsiest excuse for the de- 
 struction of as much tonnage as they can sink. It was 
 confidently stated to me by a member of the National 
 Liberal Party, and by no means an unimportant one, 
 that Germany is building ships as rapidly as she is sink- 
 ing them. That I do not believe ; but that a great part 
 of her effort is devoted to the construction of mercan- 
 tile vessels I ascertained beyond the shadow of a doubt. 
 
 I have met people in England who refuse to believe 
 that Germany, battling on long lines east and west, and 
 constructing with feverish haste war vessels of every 
 description, can find sufficient surplus energy to build 
 ships which will not be of the slightest use until after 
 the war is finished. I can only say that I personally 
 have seen the recently completed Hamburg-America 
 liners Cap Polonio and Cap Finisterre anchored in the 
 
SUBMARINE MOTIVES 115 
 
 Elbe off Altona. They are beautiful boats of 20,000 
 and 16,000 tons, a credit to the German shipbuilding 
 industry, which has made such phenomenal strides in 
 recent years. At Stettin I passed almost under the 
 stern of the brand new 21,000 ton Hamburg-South 
 America liner, Tirpitz — which for obvious business 
 reasons may be re-named after the war. 
 
 Both at Hamburg and Lubeck, where the rattle of 
 the pneumatic riveter was as incessant as in any Ameri- 
 can city in course of construction, I was amazed at the 
 number of vessels of five or six thousand tons which I 
 saw being built. Furthermore, the giant North German 
 Lloyd liner, Hindenburg, is nearing completion, while 
 the Bismarck, of the Hamburg- America Line will be 
 ready for her maiden trip in the early days of peace. 
 
 Another part of the National Liberals' policy is the 
 keeping alive of all German businesses, banks and 
 others, in enemy countries. Some people in England 
 seem to think that the Germans are anxious to keep 
 these businesses alive in order to make money. Many 
 Germans regard John Bull as extremely simple, but not 
 so simple as to allow them to do that. So long as the 
 businesses are kept going until after the war, when they 
 can again start out with redoubled energy, the Germans 
 desire nothing more. The Deutsche Bank, for example, 
 which bears no comparison to an English or American 
 bank, but which is an institution for promoting both 
 political and industrial enterprise, is entrenched be- 
 hind so powerful an Anglo-German backing in London, 
 I was informed on many occasions, that the British Gov- 
 ernment dare not close it down. The mixture of spying 
 and propaganda with banking, with export, with manu- 
 
1 1 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 facture, seems so foreign to Anglo-Saxon ways as to be 
 almost inconceivable. 
 
 Coincident with the destruction of foreign shipping, 
 and the maintenance of their businesses in enemy coun- 
 tries (England and Italy especially) is the exploita- 
 tion of the coal and other mines, oil wells, and forests 
 in occupied enemy territory. The French and Belgian 
 coalfields are being worked to the utmost, together with 
 the iron mines at Longwy and Brieux. Poland is being 
 deforested to such an extent that the climate is actually 
 altering. 
 
 It is a vast and definite scheme, with such able lead- 
 ers as Herr Bassermann, the real leader of the National 
 Liberal Party, Herr Stresemann, and Herr Hirsch, of 
 Essen. "We have powerful friends, not only in Lon- 
 don, Milan, Home, Madrid, New York, and Montreal, 
 but throughout the whole of South America, and every- 
 where except in Australia where that verdammter 
 Hooges (Hughes) played into the hands of our feeble, 
 so-called leader, von Bethmann-Hollweg, by warning the 
 people that the British people would follow Hughes' 
 lead." 
 
 So much for the commercial part of submarining. 
 
 TJ-boating close to England has long ceased to be a 
 popular amusement with the German submarine flotilla, 
 who have a thoroughly healthy appreciation of the vari- 
 ous devices by which so many of them have been de- 
 stroyed. The National Liberals believe that the British 
 will not be able to tackle long-distance submarines oper- 
 ating in the Atlantic and elsewhere. Their radius of 
 action is undoubtedly increasing almost month by; 
 month. From remarks made to me I do not believe that 
 
SUBMARINE MOTIVES 117 
 
 these submarines have many land bases at great dis- 
 tances — certainly none in the United States. They may 
 have floating bases; but this I do know — that their 
 petrol-carrying capacity altogether exceeds that of any 
 earlier type of submarine, and that their surface speed, 
 at any rate in official tests, runs up to nearly 20 knots. 
 
 The trip of the Deutschland was not only for the 
 purpose of bringing a few tons of nickel and rubber, 
 but for thoroughly testing the new engines (designed 
 by Maybach), for bringing back a hundred reports of 
 the effects of submersion in such cold waters as are to 
 be found off the banks of Newfoundland, for ascertain- 
 ing how many days' submerged or surface travelling is 
 likely to be experienced, and, indeed, for making such 
 a trial trip across the Atlantic and back as was usual 
 in the early days of steamships. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THTB EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 
 
 ACT enthusiastic, war-mad crowd had gathered about 
 an impromptu speaker in the Ringstrasse, not far 
 from the Hotel Bristol, in Vienna, one pleasant August 
 evening in 1914. His theme was the military prowess 
 of Austria-Hungary and Germany. 
 
 "And now," he concluded, "Japan has treacherously 
 joined our enemies. Yet we should not be disturbed, 
 for her entrance will but serve to bring us another ally 
 too. You all know of the ill-feeling between the United 
 States and Japan. At any moment we may hear that 
 the great Republic has declared war." He called for 
 cheers, and the Ringstrasse echoed with Koch I Hoch! 
 Hoch ! for the United States of America. 
 
 That was my introduction to European opinion of 
 my country during the war. During my four weeks in 
 the Austro-Serbian zone of hostilities, I had heard no 
 mention of anything but the purely military business 
 at hand. 
 
 The following evening from the window of an "Amer- 
 ican-Tourist-Special Train" I looked down on the happy 
 Austrians who jammed the platform, determined to give 
 the Americans a grand send-off, which they did with 
 flag-waving and cheers. A stranger on the platform 
 thrust a lengthy typewritten document into my hands, 
 with the urgent request that I should give it to the Press 
 
 118 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 119 
 
 in New York. It was a stirring appeal to Americans 
 to "witness the righteousness of the cause of the Central 
 Powers in this war which had been forced upon them." 
 Three prominent citizens of Vienna had signed it, one 
 of whom was the famous Doctor Lorenz. 
 
 Berlin, in an ecstasy of joyful anticipation of the 
 rapid and triumphal entrance into Paris, was a repeti- 
 tion of Vienna. True, in the beginning, Americans, 
 mistaken for Englishmen by 6ome of the undiscerning, 
 had been roughly treated, but a hint from those in high 
 authority changed that. In like manner, well-meaning 
 patriots who persisted in indiscriminately mobbing all 
 members of the yellow race were urged to differentiate 
 between Chinese and Japanese. 
 
 So I found festive Berlin patting Americans on the 
 back, cheering Americans in German-American meet- 
 ings, and prettily intertwining the Stars and Stripes 
 and the German flag. 
 
 "Now is your opportunity to take Canada," said the 
 man in the street. In fact, it was utterly incomprehen- 
 sible to the average German that we should not indulge 
 in some neighbouring land-grabbing while Britain was 
 so busy with affairs in Europe. 
 
 The German Foreign Office was, of course, under no 
 such delusion, although it had cherished the equally ab- 
 surd belief that England's colonies would rebel at the 
 first opportunity. The Wilhelmstrasse was, however, 
 hard at work taking the propaganda which it had so 
 successfully crammed down the throats of the German 
 citizen and translating it into English to be crammed 
 down the throats of the people in America. This was 
 simply one of the Wilhelmstrasse's numerous mistakes 
 
1 20 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 in the psychological analysis of other people. But the 
 Wilhelmstrasse possesses the two estimable qualities of 
 perseverance and willingness to learn, with the result 
 that its recent propaganda in the United States has been 
 much more subtle and very much more effective. 
 
 The American newspapers which reached Germany 
 after the outbreak of war gave that country its first in- 
 timation that her rush through Belgium was decidedly 
 unpopular on the other side of the Atlantic. Further- 
 more, many American newspapers depicted the Kaiser 
 and the Crown Prince in a light quite new to German 
 readers, who with their heads full of Divine Right ideas 
 considered the slightest caricature of their imperial 
 family as brutally sacrilegious. 
 
 But the vast majority of Germans never saw an 
 American newspaper. How is it, then, that they began 
 to hate the United States so intensely % The answer is 
 simple. In the early winter of 1914-15, the German 
 Government with its centralised control of public opin- 
 ion turned on the current of hatred against everything 
 American as it had already done against everything 
 British, for the war had come to a temporary stalemate 
 on both fronts, and the Wilhelmstrasse had to excuse 
 their failure to win the short, sharp pleasant war into 
 which the people had jumped with anticipation of easy 
 victory. "If it were not for American ammunition the 
 war would have been finished long ago!" became the 
 key-note of the new gospel of hate, a gospel which has 
 been preached down to the present. 
 
 Just before I left Germany the "Reklam Book Com- 
 pany" of Leipzig issued an anti-American circular 
 which flooded the country. The request that people 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 121 
 
 should enclose it in all their private letters was slav- 
 ishly followed with the same zest with which the Ger- 
 mans had previously attached Gott strafe England 
 stickers to their correspondence. 
 
 The circular represented a 7000-ton steamer ready 
 to take on board the cargo of ammunition which was 
 arranged neatly on the pier in the foreground. The 
 background was occupied by German troops, black lines 
 dividing them into three parts, tagged respectively — 
 30,000 hilled, 40,000 slightly wounded, 40,000 seri- 
 ously wounded. This, then, is the graphic illustration 
 of the casualties inflicted upon the German Army by a 
 single cargo of one moderate-sized liner. 
 
 Since at such a rate, it would take less than two hun- 
 dred cargoes of this astoundingly effective ammunition 
 to put the entire German Army out of action, one won- 
 ders why Britain troubles herself to convert her in- 
 dustries. 
 
 Ere the first winter of war drew to a close the official 
 manipulators of the public opinion battery had success- 
 fully electrified the nation into a hate against the United 
 States second only to that bestowed on Great Britain. 
 And so it came about that the Government had the solid 
 support of the people when the original submarine man- 
 ifesto of February 4th, 1915, warning neutral vessels 
 to keep out of the war zone, threatened a rupture with 
 the United States. When two weeks later Washington 
 sent a sharp note of protest to Berlin, the Germans be- 
 came choleric every time they spoke of America or met 
 an American. 
 
 "Why should we let America interfere with our plan 
 to starve England?" was the question I heard repeat- 
 
122 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 edly. Their belief that they could starve England was 
 absolute. What could be simpler than putting a ring 
 of U-boats round the British Isles and cutting off all 
 trade until the pangs of hunger should compel Britain 
 to yield ? I heard no talk then about the a base crime 
 of starving women and children," which became their 
 whine a year later when the knife began to cut the other 
 way. 
 
 In 1915 it was immaterial to the mass of Germans 
 whether America joined their enemies or not. Their 
 training had led them to think in army corps, and they 
 frankly and sneeringly asked us, "What could you do ¥' 
 They were still in the stage where they freely applied to 
 enemies and possible enemies the expression, "They are 
 afraid of us." "The more enemies, the more glory," 
 was the inane motto so popular early in the war that it 
 was even printed on post cards. 
 
 The Gulflight, flying the Stars and Stripes, was tor- 
 pedoed in the reign of submarine anarchy immediately 
 inaugurated. But two can play most games, and when 
 the British Navy made it increasingly difficult for U- 
 boats to operate in the waters near the British Isles, the 
 German Foreign Office and the German Admiralty be- 
 gan to entertain divergent opinions concerning the ad- 
 visability of pushing the submarine campaign to a point 
 which would drag the United States into the war. 
 
 Only a few people in Germany know that von Beth- 
 mann-Hollweg strenuously opposed the plan to sink the 
 Lusitania. That is, he opposed it up to a point. The 
 advertisement from the German Embassy at Washing- 
 ton which appeared in American newspapers warning 
 Americans could not have appeared without his sane- 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 123 
 
 tion. In the last days of July, 1914, backed by the 
 Kaiser, he had opposed the mobilisation order sufficient 
 to cause a three days' delay — which his military op- 
 ponents in German politics claim was the chief cause 
 of the failure to take Paris — but in the case of the Lusi- 
 tania he was even more powerless against rampant mili- 
 tarism. 
 
 For nearly a year after the colossal blunder of the 
 Lusitania there existed in the deep undercurrents of 
 German politics a most remarkable whirlpool of dis- 
 cord, in which the policy of von Tirpitz was a severe 
 tax on the patience of von Bethmann-Hollweg and the 
 Foreign Office, for it was they who had to invent all 
 sorts of plausible excuses to placate various neutral 
 Powers. 
 
 The Kaiser after disastrously meddling with the Gen« 
 eral Staff during the first month of the war, subse- 
 quently took no active hand in military, naval and po- 
 litical policies unless conflicts between his chosen chief- 
 tains forced him to do so. 
 
 One striking instance of this occurred when the 
 Wilhelmstrasse discovered that Washington was in pos- 
 session of information in the "Arabic incident" which 
 made the official excuses palpably too thin. After the 
 German authorities became convinced that their failure 
 to guarantee that unresisting merchantmen would not 
 be sunk until passengers and crew were removed to a 
 place of safety would cause a break with the United 
 States, Tirpitz asserted that the disadvantages to Ger- 
 many from America as an enemy would be slight in 
 comparison with the advantages from the relentless sub- 
 marining which in his opinion would defeat Britain. 
 
1 24 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 He therefore advocated that no concessions be made to 
 Washington. Von Bethmann-Hollweg was of the op- 
 posite opinion. A deadlock resulted, which was broken 
 when the Kaiser summoned both men to separate and 
 secret conferences. He decided in favour of the Chan- 
 cellor, whereupon Washington received the famous 
 "Arabic Guarantees." It is highly significant that 
 these were never made known to the German people. 
 
 Then followed six months of "frightfulness," broken 
 pledges, notes, crises, semi-crises, and finally the great 
 crisis de luxe in the case of the Sussex. When, a few 
 days after my return to England from Germany, I used 
 the expression "Sussex Crisis" to a leading Englishman, 
 he expressed surprise at the term "crisis." "We did not 
 get the impression in England that the affair was a real 
 crisis," he said. 
 
 My experiences in Germany during the last week in 
 April and the first four days in May, 1916, left no 
 doubt in my mind that I was living through a crisis, the 
 outcome of which would have a tremendous effect upon 
 the subsequent course of the war. Previous dealings 
 with Washington had convinced the German Govern- 
 ment as well as the German people that the American 
 Government would stand for anything. Thus the ex- 
 traordinary explanation of the German Foreign Office 
 that the Sussex was not torpedoed by a German subma- 
 rine, since the only U-boat commander who had fired a 
 torpedo in the channel waters on the fateful day had 
 made a sketch of the vessel which he had attacked, 
 which, according to the sketch, was not the Sussex. 
 
 The German people were so supremely satisfied with 
 this explanation that they displayed chagrin which 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 123 
 
 quickly changed to ugliness when the German Press was 
 allowed to print enough of the news from Washington 
 to prepare the public mind for something sharp from 
 across the Atlantic. I have seen Berlin joyful, serious, 
 and sad during the war ; I have seen it on many mem- 
 orable days ; but never have I seen it exactly as on Sat- 
 urday, April 22nd, the day when the Sussex Ultimatum 
 was made known through the Press. The news was 
 headlined in the afternoon editions. The eager crowds 
 snapped them up, stood still in their tracks, and then 
 one and all expressed their amazement to anybody near 
 them. "President Wilson began by shaking his fist at 
 Germany, and ended by shaking his finger," was the 
 way one of the President's political opponents sum- 
 marised his Notes. That was the opinion in Germany. 
 And now he had "pulled a gun." The Germans could 
 not understand it. When they encountered any of the 
 few Americans left in their country they either foamed 
 in rage at them, or, in blank amazement, asked them 
 what it was all about. 
 
 /It was extremely interesting to the student of the 
 war to see that the people really did not understand 
 what it was all about. Theodor Wolff, the brilliant edi- 
 tor of the Berliner Tageblatt, with great daring for a 
 German editor, raised this point in the edition in which 
 the Ultimatum was printed. He asserted that the Ger- 
 man people did not understand the case because they 
 purposely had been left in the dark by the Government. 
 He said, among other things, that his countrymen were 
 in no position to understand the feeling of resentment 
 in the United States, because the meagre reports per- 
 mitted in the German Press never described such de- 
 
126 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 tails as the death agonies of women and children strug- 
 gling helplessly in the water. 
 
 This article in the Tageblatt was the striking excep- 
 .'on to the rest of the Press comment throughout Ger- 
 many, for the German Government made one of its 
 typical moves at this point. "To climb down or not to 
 climb down/' was a question which would take several 
 days to decide. Public opinion was already sufficiently 
 enraged against America to give the Government united 
 support in case of a break, but it must be made more 
 enraged and consequently more united. Thus on Easter 
 Sunday the full current of hate was turned on in the 
 German Press. President Wilson was violently at- 
 tacked for working in the interest of the Allies, whom 
 he wished to save. Germany would not bow to this in- 
 justice, she would fight, and America, too, would be 
 made to feel what it means to go to war with Germany. 
 The German Press did its part to inflame a united 
 German sentiment, and the Foreign Office, which be- 
 lieves in playing the game both ways when it is of ad- 
 vantage to do so, with characteristic thoroughness did 
 not permit the American correspondents to cable to their 
 papers the virulent lies, such as those in the Tagliche 
 Rundschau, about the affair in general and President 
 Wilson in particular. These papers were furthermore 
 not allowed to leave Germany. 
 
 On the evening preceding the publication of the Ul- 
 timatum, Maximilian Harden's most famous number of 
 the Zukunft appeared with the title "If I Were Wil- 
 son." On Saturday morning it was advertised on yel- 
 low and black posters throughout Berlin, and was 
 quickly bought by a feverish public to whom anything 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 127 
 
 pertaining to German-American relations was of the 
 sharpest interest. The remarkable article was directly 
 at variance with all the manufactured ideas which had 
 been storming in German brains for more than a year. 
 The British sea policy was represented in a light quite 
 different from the officially incubated German concep- 
 tion of it. President Wilson was correctly portrayed as 
 strictly neutral in all his official acts. This staggered 
 Harden's readers quite as much as his attacks on the 
 brutal submarine policy of his country. 
 
 A careless censor had allowed "If I Were Wilson," to 
 appear. But a vigilant Government, ever watchful of 
 the food for the minds of its children, hastened with the 
 usual police methods to correct the mistake. The Zu- 
 kunft was beschlagnahmt, which means that the police 
 hastily gathered up all unsold copies at the publishers, 
 kiosks, and wherever else they were to be found. If a 
 policeman saw one in a man's pocket he took it away. 
 
 Why did the Government do everything in its power 
 to suppress this article ? The Government fully under- 
 stood that there was nothing in it that was not true, 
 nothing in it of a revolutionary character. It divulged 
 no military or naval secrets. It was a simple statement 
 of political truths. But the German great Idea Fac- 
 tory in the Wilhelmstrasse does not judge printed mat- 
 ter from its truth or falsity. The forming of the public 
 mind in the mould in which it will best serve the in- 
 terests of the State is the sole consideration. While the 
 .Directors of Thought were deliberating on the relative 
 disadvantages of a curtailment of submarine activity 
 and America as an enemy, and the order of the day was 
 to instill hatred, no matter how, they decided that it 
 
1 2 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Would be inadvisable for the people to read the true 
 statements of Harden. 
 
 One American correspondent began to cable five 
 thousand words of "If I Were Wilson" to his paper. 
 The Censor stopped him after he had sent thirteen hun- 
 dred. A rival correspondent, when he glanced at the 
 article immediately after it had appeared, decided that 
 it was more suitable for mail matter than cable matter >, 
 put it in an envelope, and actually scored a scoop over 
 all opponents. 
 
 During the following days, when the leaders of Ger- 
 many were in conference at the Headquarters of the 
 General Staff, I travelled as much as possible to find 
 out German sentiment. The people were intoxicated 
 with the successes against Verdun, and were angrily in 
 favour of a break. One German editor said to me, 
 "The Government has educated them to believe that the 
 U-boat can win the war. Their belief is so firm that 
 it will be difficult for the authorities to explain a back- 
 down to Wilson." 
 
 It was not. The Government can explain anything 
 to the German people. The back-down came, causing 
 sentiments which can be divided into three groups. 
 One, "We were very good to give in to America. Eng- 
 land would not be so good." Two, "Americans put us 
 in a bad position. To curtail our submarine weapon 
 means a lengthening of the war. On the other hand, to 
 add America to the list of our enemies would lengthen 
 the war still more." Three, "We shall wait our oppor- 
 tunity and pay back America for what she has done 
 to us." I heard the latter expression everywhere, par- 
 ticularly among the upper classes. It was the expres- 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 129 
 
 sion of Doctor Drechsler, head of the Amerika-Institut 
 in Berlin, and one of the powerful propaganda trium- 
 virate composed of himself, Doctor Bertling, and the 
 late Professor Munsterberg. 
 
 With the increasing deterioration inside the German 
 Empire the resolve of the Chancellor to avoid a clash 
 with the United States strengthened daily. His op- 
 ponents, however, most of the great Agrarians and Na- 
 tional Liberals, the men behind Tirpitz, continue to 
 work for a new submarine campaign in which all neu- 
 trals will be warned that their vessels will be sunk 
 without notice if bound to or from the ports of Ger- 
 many's enemies. They are practical men, who believe 
 that only through the unrestricted use of the submarine 
 can Britain, whom they call the keystone of the oppo- 
 sition, be beaten. The Chancellor is also a practical 
 man, who believes that the entrance of America on the 
 side of the Entente would seal the fate of Germany. 
 He is supported by Herr Helfferich, the Vice-Chancel- 
 lor, and Herr Zimmermann, the Foreign Secretary, men 
 with a deep insight into the questions of trade and 
 treaties. They believe that peace will be made across 
 the table and not at the point of the sword, and they 
 realise that it is much better for Germany not to have 
 the United States at the table as an enemy. 
 
 In September, 1916, the Chancellor began to lay the 
 wires for a new campaign, a campaign to enlist the ser- 
 vices of Uncle Sam in a move for peace. It is signifi- 
 cant, however, that he and his Government continue to 
 play the game both ways. While Germany presses her 
 official friendship on the United States, and conducts 
 propaganda there to bring the two nations closer to- 
 
130 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 gether, she at the same time keeps up the propaganda 
 of hate at home against America, in order to have the 
 support of the people in case of emergency. 
 
 The attacks against Washington in the Continental 
 Times show which way the wind blows, for this paper 
 is subsidised by the German Foreign Office through the 
 simple device of buying 30,000 copies of each issue — 
 it appears three times weekly — at 2 1 /2<^. per copy. The 
 editors are Aubrey Stanhope, an Englishman who even 
 before the war could not return to his native country 
 for reasons of his own, and E. L. Orchelle, whose real 
 name is Hermann SchefTauer, who claims to be an 
 American, but is not known as such at the. American 
 Embassy in Berlin. He has specialised in attacks 
 against Great Britain in the United States. Some of 
 the vicious onslaughts against Washington in Germany 
 were made by him. 
 
 American flags are scarce in Berlin to-day, but one 
 always waves from the window of 48, Potsdamerstrasse. 
 It is a snare for the unwary, but the League uses it 
 here as in countless other instances as a cloak for its- 
 warfare against the U.S.A. 
 
 The League started early in the war by issuing book- 
 lets by the ton for distribution in Germany and Amer- 
 ica. Subscription blanks were scattered broadcast for 
 contributions for the cause of light and truth. Dona- 
 tions soon poured in, some of them very large, from 
 Germans and German-Americans who wished, many of 
 them sincerely, to have what they considered the truth 
 told about Germany. 
 
 The ways of the League, however, being crooked, 
 eome of the charter members began to fall away from 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 131 
 
 one another and many of the doings of the ringleaders 
 are now coming to light. 
 
 The League must be doing well financially, as Wil- 
 liam Martin, the chief of the Potsdamerstrasse office, 
 jubilantly declared that no matter how the war ended 
 he would come out of it with a million. 
 
 Any real American, whether at home or abroad, 
 deeply resents the degradation of his flag. Yet the 
 League of Truth in Berlin has consistently dragged the 
 Stars and Stripes in the mire, and that in a country 
 which boasts that the police are not only omniscient but 
 omnipotent. 
 
 A constant attempt, in accordance with the policy of 
 most German newspapers, I may add, is made to de- 
 pict us as a spineless jelly-fish nation. They have re- 
 garded principles of international custom as little as the 
 manipulators of submarines under the reign of Tirpitz. 
 
 Last fourth of July, Charles Mueller, a pseudo- 
 American, hung from his home in the busy Kurf iirsten- 
 damm a huge American flag with a deep border of 
 black that Berlin might see a "real American's" symbol 
 of humiliation. On the same day, dear to the hearts of 
 Americans, a four-page flyer was spread broadcast 
 through the German capital with a black border on the 
 front page enclosing a black cross. The Declaration of 
 Independence was bordered with black inside and an 
 ode to American degradation by John L. Stoddard com- 
 pleted the slap in the face. 
 
 The League selected January 27th, 1916, the Kaiser's 
 birthday, as a suitable occasion for Mueller and Marten, 
 not even hyphenates, solemnly and in the presence of a 
 great crowd to place an immense wreath at the base of 
 
132 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the statue of Frederick the Great on the Linden, with 
 the inscription "Wilson and his Press are not America." 
 
 The stern Police Department of Berlin does not per- 
 mit the promiscuous scattering of floral decorations and 
 advertising matter on the statues of German gods, and 
 the fact that the wreath remained there month after 
 month proved that somebody high up was sanctioning 
 the methods of the League. 
 
 The protests of the American Ambassador were of 
 no avail, until he determined to make an end of the 
 humiliation, after three months, by threatening to go 
 down to this busy section of Berlin, near the Royal Pal- 
 ace, and remove the wreath himself. Force is the only 
 argument which impresses the Prussians, and we are 
 extremely fortunate that our Ambassador to Germany is 
 a man of force. 
 
 The League, however, had printed a picture of the 
 wreath in its issue of Light and Truth, which it en- 
 deavours to circulate everywhere. 
 
 Stoddard, mentioned above, is the famous lecturer. 
 He has written booklets for the League, one of which I 
 read in America. His last pamphlet, however, is a 
 most scurrilous attack against his country. He raves 
 against America; and, after throwing the facts of in- 
 ternational law to the winds, he shrieks for the impeach- 
 ment of Wilson to stop this slaughter for which he has 
 sold himself. 
 
 It is no secret in Berlin that the League have sys- 
 tematically hounded Mr. Gerard. I do not know why 
 they hate him, unless it is because he is a member of 
 the American Government. I have heard it said that 
 one way to get at Wilson was through his Ambassador, 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 133 
 
 Their threats and abuse became so great that he and one 
 of the American newspaper correspondents went to 48, 
 .Potsdamerstrasse during the Sussex crisis to warn the 
 leaders. They answered by swearing out a warrant 
 against Mr. Gerard with the Berlin police — paying no 
 heed to international customs in such matters — and cir- 
 culating copies of the charge broadcast. 
 
 Headers who are familiar with Germany know that 
 if a man does not instantly defend himself against Be- 
 leidigung society judges him guilty. Thus this and 
 countless other printed circulations of falsehood against 
 Mr. Gerard have cruelly hurt him throughout Ger- 
 many, as I know from personal investigation. Next to 
 Mr. Wilson and a few men in England he is the most 
 hated man among the German people. He finally felt 
 obliged to deny in the German Press some of the ab- 
 surd stories circulated about him, such as that of Mrs. 
 Gerard putting a German decoration he received on her 
 dog. 
 
 Mueller, however, was not content with mere printed 
 attacks, but has made threats against the life of tho 
 American Ambassador. A prominent American ha3 
 sworn an affidavit to this effect, but Mueller still pur* 
 sues his easy way. On the night that the farewell din' 
 ner was being given to a departing secretary at our 
 Embassy, Mueller and a German officer went about 
 Berlin seeking Mr. Gerard for the professed purpose of 
 picking a fight with him. They went to Kichards' 
 Bestaurant, where the dinner was being given, but for- 
 tunately missed the Ambassador. 
 
 The trickery of the League would fill a volume, for 
 Marten especially is particularly clever. He leapt into 
 
134 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 fame in Berlin by going to Belgium "at his own risk/' 
 as lie says, to refute the charges of German cruelty 
 there. His book on Belgium, and a later one claiming 
 to refute the Bryce report, are unimpressive since they 
 fail to introduce facts, and the writer contents himself 
 for the main part with soliloquies on Belgian battle- 
 fields, in which he attacks Russian aggression and 
 Britain's perfidy in entering the war. The Belgians, 
 we gather, are more or less delighted with the change 
 from Albert to Wilhelm. 
 
 Marten prints testimonials of the book from leading 
 Germans, most of whom, such as General Falkenhayn, 
 content themselves with acknowledgment of receipt with 
 thanks and statement of having read the work. Count 
 Zeppelin goes further, and hopes that the volume will 
 find a wide circulation, particularly in neutral countries. 
 
 And now for the vice-president of this anti- American 
 organisation. He is St. John GafTney, former Ameri- 
 can Consul-General to Munich. He belongs to the mod- 
 ern martyr series of the German of to-day. All over 
 Germany I was told that he was dismissed by Mr. Wil- 
 son because he sympathised with Germany. The Ger- 
 mans as a mass know nothing further, but I can state 
 from unimpeachable authority that he used rooms of 
 the American Hospital in Munich, while a member of 
 the board of that hospital and an officer in the consular 
 service of the United States, for propaganda purposes. 
 His presence became so objectionable to the heads of 
 the hospital, excellent people whose sole aim is to aid 
 Buffering humanity, that he was ousted. 
 
 He returned from his American trip after his dis- 
 missal last year and gave a widely quoted interview 
 
THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE 135 
 
 upon arrival in Germany which, sought to discredit 
 America — through hitting Mr. Wilson and the Press — 
 in the most tense point of our last altercation in Feb- 
 ruary with Germany over the Lusitania. Such men as 
 Gaffney are greatly to blame for many German delu- 
 sions. 
 
 Mr. Gerard is not the only official whose path has 
 not been strewn with roses in Germany. Our military 
 attache has not been permitted to go to the German 
 front for nearly a year, and the snub is apparent in the 
 newspaper and Government circles of Berlin. He is 
 probably the only one left behind. 
 
 The big Press does not use League of Truth material 
 and certain other anti-American copy which would bo 
 bad for Germany, to reach foreign critics' attacks. 
 Many provincial papers, however, furiously protested 
 against the recent trip of the American military attache 
 through industrial Germany. It was only the Ameri- 
 can, not other foreign attaches, to whom they objected. 
 
 All this is useful to the German Government, for it 
 keeps the populace in the right frame of mind for two 
 purposes. In the first place, a hatred of America in- 
 spired by the belief that she is really an enemy, gives 
 the German Government greater power over the people. 
 Secondly, should the Wilhelmstrasse decide to play the 
 relentless submarine warfare as its last hand it will have 
 practically united support. 
 
CHAPTER XH 
 
 I3S" THE GEIP OF THE FLEET 
 
 There is only one way to realise the distress in Ger- 
 many, and that is to go there and travel as widely 
 as possible — preferably on foot. The truth about the 
 food situation and the growing discontent cannot be 
 told by the neutral correspondent in Germany. It must 
 be memorised and carried across the frontier in the 
 brain, for the searching process extends to the very skin 
 of the traveller. If he has an umbrella or a stick it is 
 likely to be broken for examination. The heels are 
 taken from his boots lest they may conceal writings. 
 This does not happen in every case, but it takes place 
 frequently. Many travellers are in addition given an 
 acid bath to develop any possible writing in invisible 
 ink. 
 
 In Germany, as it is no longer possible to conceal the 
 actual state of affairs from any but highly placed and 
 carefully attended neutrals travelling therein, the ut- 
 most pains are being taken to mislead the outside world. 
 The foreign correspondents are not allowed to send any- 
 thing the Government does not wish to get out. They 
 are, moreover, regularly dosed with propaganda dis- 
 tributed by the Nachrichtendienst (Publicity Service 
 of the Foreign Office). 
 
 One of the books handed round to the neutrals when 
 I was in Berlin was a treatise on the German industrial 
 
 136 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 137 
 
 and economic situation by Professor Cassell, of the 
 University of Upsala, Sweden. 
 
 He came upon the invitation of the German author- 
 ities for a three weeks' study of conditions. In his 
 preface he artlessly mentions that he was enabled to 
 accomplish so much in three weeks owing to the praise- 
 worthy way in which everything was arranged for him. 
 He compiled his work from information discreetly 
 imparted at interviews with officials, from printed sta- 
 tistics, and from observations made on carefully 
 shepherded expeditions. Neutral correspondents are 
 expected to use this sort of thing, which is turned out 
 by the hundredweight, as the basis of their communica- 
 tions to their newspapers. We were supplied with a 
 similar volume on the "Great German naval victory 
 of Jutland." 
 
 One feels in Germany that the great drama of the 
 war is the drama of the food supply — the struggle of 
 a whole nation to prevent itself being exhausted through 
 hunger and shortage of raw materials. 
 
 After six months of war the bread ticket was intro- 
 duced, which guaranteed thirty-eight ordinary sized 
 rolls or equivalent each week to everybody throughout 
 the Empire. In the autumn of 1915 Tuesday and Fri- 
 day became meatless days. The butter lines had become 
 an institution towards the close of the year. There was 
 little discomfort, however. 
 
 For seventeen months Germany laughed at the at- 
 tempt to starve her out. Then, early in 1916 came a 
 change. An economic decline was noticeable, a decline 
 which was rapid and continuous during each succeeding 
 month. Pork disappeared from the menu, beef became 
 
138 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 scarcer and scarcer, but veal was plentiful until April. 
 In March sugar could be obtained in only small quan- 
 tities, six months later the unnutritious saccharine had 
 almost completely replaced it. Fish continued in abun- 
 dance, but became increasingly expensive. A shortage 
 in meat caused a run on eggs. In September egg cards 
 limited each person to two eggs per week, in December 
 the maximum became one egg in two weeks. Vege- 
 tables, particularly cabbage and turnips, were plentiful 
 enough to be of great help. 
 
 In Berlin the meat shortage became 4 so acute in 
 April, 1916, that for five days in the week preceding 
 Easter most butchers' shops did not open their doors. 
 This made it imperative that the city should extend 
 the ticket rationing system to meat. The police issued 
 cards to the residents of their districts, permitting them 
 to purchase one-half pound of meat per week from a 
 butcher to whom they were arbitrarily assigned in order 
 to facilitate distribution. The butchers buy through the 
 municipal authorities, who contract for the entire sup- 
 ply of the city. The tickets are in strips, each of which 
 represents a week, and each strip is subdivided into five 
 sections for the convenience of diners in restaurants. 
 
 Since the supply in each butcher's shop was seldom 
 sufficient to let everybody be served in one day, the 
 custom of posting in the windows or advertising in the 
 local papers "Thursday, Nos. 1-500," and later, Sat- 
 urday, Nos. 501-1000," was introduced. A few butch- 
 ers went still further and announced at what hours 
 certain numbers could be served, thus doing away with 
 the long queues. 
 
 Most of the competent authorities with whom I dis- 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 139 
 
 cussed the matter agreed that the great flaw in the meat 
 regulations was that, unlike those of bread, they were 
 only local and thus there were great differences and cor- 
 responding discontent all over Germany. 
 
 One factor which contributed to Germany's shortage 
 of meat was the indiscriminate killing of the live- 
 stock, especially pigs, when the price of fodder first rose 
 in the last months of 1914. Most of this excess killing 
 was done by the small owners. Our plates were heaped 
 unnecessarily. Some of the dressing was done so hur- 
 riedly and carelessly that there were numerous cases of 
 pork becoming so full of worms that it had to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 The great agrarian junkers were not forced by lack 
 of fodder to kill; consequently they own a still larger 
 proportion of the live-stock than they did at the begin- 
 ning of the war. 
 
 On October 1st, 1916, the regulation of meat was 
 taken out of the hands of the local authorities so far 
 as their power to regulate the amount for each person 
 was concerned, and this amount was made practically 
 the same throughout Germany. 
 
 First and foremost in the welfare of the people, what- 
 ever may be said by the vegetarians, is the vital ques- 
 tion of the meat supply. Involved in the question of 
 cattle is milk, leather, other products, and of course, 
 meat itself. 
 
 One German statistician told me he believed that 
 the conquest of Koumania would add between nine and 
 ten months to Germany's capacity to hold out, during 
 which time, no doubt, one or other of the Allies would 
 succumb. 
 
140 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 At the beginning of 1917 the actual number of cattle 
 in Germany does not seem to be so greatly depreciated 
 as one would expect. After a very thorough investiga- 
 tion I am convinced that there are in Germany to-day 
 from three-fourths to four-fifths as many head of cattle 
 as there were before the war. 
 
 In the spring and summer these cattle did very well, 
 but with the passing of the grazing season new difficul- 
 ties are arising. Cattle must be fed, and unless suffi- 
 cient grain comes from Roumania to supply the bread 
 for the people and the fodder for the cattle it is obvious 
 that there must be a wholesale slaughtering, and con- 
 sequent reduction of milk, butter, and cheese. 
 
 All these details may seem tiresome, but they directly 
 concern the length of the war. 
 
 To add to the shortage, the present stock of cattle 
 in Germany was, when I left, being largely drawn upon 
 for the supply of the German armies in the occupied 
 parts of France, Belgium, and Russia, and the winter 
 prospect for Germany, therefore, is one of obviously 
 increased privation, provided always that the blockade 
 is drastic. 
 
 Cattle are, of course, not the only food supply. There 
 is game. Venison is a much commoner food in Ger- 
 many than in England, especially now there is much 
 of it left. Hares, rabbits, partridges are in some parts 
 of Germany much more numerous even than in Eng- 
 land. A friend of mine recently arrived from Hungary 
 told me that he had been present at a shoot over driven 
 partridges at which, on three successive days, over 400 
 brace fell to the guns. Wherever I went in Germany, 
 however, game was being netted. 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 141 
 
 Before the war, pork, ham, and bacon were the most 
 popular German food, but owing to the mistake of 
 killing pigs in what I heard called the "pork panic" 
 the Germans are to-day facing a remarkable shortage of 
 their favourite meat. I am convinced that they began 
 1917 with less than one-fourth as many pigs as they had 
 before the war. 
 
 The Berlin stockyards slaughtered over 25,000 pigs 
 weekly before August, 1914. During the first 10 
 months of the war the figure actually rose to 50,000 
 pigs per week in that one city alone. In one 
 week in September last the figure had fallen to 350 
 pigs ! 
 
 The great slaughter early in the war gave a false 
 optimism not only to Germans, but also to visitors. If 
 you have the curiosity to look back at newspapers of that 
 time you will find that the great plenty of pork was 
 dilated upon by travelling neutrals. 
 
 To-day the most tremendous efforts are being made 
 to increase the number of pigs. You will not find much 
 about this in the German newspapers — in fact what 
 the German newspapers do not print is often more im- 
 portant than what they do print. In the rural districts 
 you can learn much more of Germany's food secrets 
 than in the newspapers. 
 
 In one small village which I went to I counted no 
 fewer than thirty public notices on various topics. Here 
 is one: — 
 
 Fatten Pigs. 
 
 Fat is an essential for sol- 
 diers and hard workers. 
 Not to keep and fatten pigs 
 
1 42 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 if you are able to do 
 so is treason to the 
 Fatherland. 
 !N~o pen empty — every pen full. 
 
 These food notices may be necessary, but they are 
 bringing about intense class hatred in Germany. They 
 are directed at the small farmer, who in many cases has 
 killed all his pigs and most of his cows, because of his 
 difficulty in getting fodder. As I have said, the great 
 agrarian junkers, the wealthy landowners of Prussia, 
 have in many cases more cows, more pigs, more poultry 
 than before the war. 
 
 The facts of these great disparities of life are well 
 known, and if there were more individuality in the 
 German character they would lead to something more 
 serious than the very tame riots, at several of which I 
 have been present. 
 
 That the food question is the dominating topic in 
 Germany among all except the "very rich, and that this 
 winter will add to the intensity of the conversations on 
 the subject, is not difficult to understand. Most of the 
 shopping of the world is done by women, and the Ger- 
 man woman of the middle class, whose maidservant 
 has gone off to a munition factory, has to spend at least 
 half her day waiting in a long line for potatoes, butter, 
 or meat. 
 
 There is a curious belief in England and in the 
 United States in the perfection of German organisation. 
 My experience of their organisation is that it is abso- 
 lutely marvellous — when there are no unexpected diffi- 
 culties in the way. When the Germans first put the 
 nation on rations as to certain commodities, the outside 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 143 
 
 world said, "Ah, they are beginning to starve!" or 
 "What wonderful organisers !" 
 
 As a matter of fact, they were not beginning to starve, 
 and they were not wonderful organisers. The rationing 
 was done about as badly as it could be done. It was 
 arranged in such a fashion as to produce plenty in some 
 places and dearth in others. It was done so that wealthy 
 men made fortunes and poor men were made still 
 poorer. The inordinate greed and lack of real patriot- 
 ism on the part of influential parties in both Germany 
 and Austria-Hungary have added to the bad state of 
 affairs. As if to make matters worse, the whole vast 
 machine of rationing by ticket was based on the expecta- 
 tion of a comparatively quick and decisive victory for 
 Germany. This led to reckless consumption and a great 
 rise in prices. The fight that is now going on between 
 the masses in the towns and the wealthy land-owning 
 farmers has been denounced in public by food dictator 
 Batocki (pronounced Batoski), who, in words almost 
 of despair, complained of the selfish landed proprietor, 
 who would only disgorge to the suffering millions in 
 the great manufacturing centres at a price greatly ex- 
 ceeding that fixed by the food authorities. 
 
 All manner of earnest public men are endeavouring 
 to cope with the coming distress, and at this point I 
 can do no better than quote from an interview given 
 me by Dr. Siidekum, Social Democratic member of the 
 Reichstag for Nuremberg, Bavaria. He is a sincere 
 patriot, and a prominent worker in food organisation. 
 
 "More than a year ago," he explained, "I worked 
 out a plan for the distribution of food, which provided 
 for uniform food-cards throughout the entire empire. 
 
1 44 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 For example, everyone, whether he lived in a Bavarian 
 village or in a Prussian city, would receive, say, half 
 a pound of meat a week. I presented my plan to the 
 Government, with whose approval it met. Neverthe- 
 less, they did not see fit to adopt it for three reasons. 
 In the first place because they believed that the people 
 might become unnecessarily alarmed. Secondly, be- 
 cause our enemies might make capital out of such 
 measures. Thirdly, because our leaders at that time 
 believed that the war might be over before the end of 
 1915. 
 
 "But the war dragged on, and we were somewhat 
 extravagant with our supplies — I except bread, for 
 which we introduced cards in February, 1915 — and 
 instead of the whole Empire husbanding the distribu- 
 tion of meat, for example, various sections here and 
 there introduced purely local measures, with the inevi- 
 table resulting confusion. 
 
 "Hunger has been a cause of revolution in the past," 
 Dr. Siidekum continued thoughtfully. "We should take 
 lessons from history, and do everything in our power 
 to provide for the poor. I have worked hard in the 
 development of the 'People's Kitchens' in Berlin. We 
 started in the suburbs early in 1916, in some great cen- 
 tral kitchens in which we cook a nourishing meat and 
 vegetable stew. From these kitchens distributing vehi- 
 cles — Gulasch-hanonen (stew cannons) as they are jocu- 
 larly called — are sent through the city, and from them 
 one may purchase enough for a meal at less than the 
 cost of production. We have added a new central 
 kitchen each week until we now have 30, each of which 
 supplies 10,000 people a day with a meal, or, more 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 145 
 
 Correctly, a meal and a half. In July, however, the 
 work assumed greater proportions, for the municipal 
 authorities also created great central kitchens. Most 
 of the dinners are taken to the homes and eaten there. 
 
 "The People's Kitchen idea is now spreading through- 
 out Germany. But I believe in going further. I be- 
 lieve in putting every German — I make no exception — 
 upon rations. That is what is done in a besieged city, 
 and our position is sufficiently analogous to a besieged 
 city to warrant the same measures. All our food would 
 then be available for equal distribution, and each person 
 would get his allowance." 
 
 This earnest Social Democrat's idea is, of course, 
 perfect in theory. Even the able, hard-working Batocki, 
 however, cannot make it practicable. Why not? The 
 Agrarian, the great Junker of Prussia, not only will 
 not make sacrifices, but stubbornly insists upon wring- 
 ing every pfennig of misery money from the nation 
 which has boasted to the world that its patriotism was 
 unselfish and unrivalled. 
 
 The most important German crop of all at this 
 juncture is potatoes, for potatoes are an integral part 
 of German and Austrian bread. The handling of the 
 <?rop, to which all Germany was looking forward so 
 eagerly, exhibits in its most naked form the horrid pro- 
 fiteering to which the German poor are being subjected 
 by the German rich. 
 
 It was a wet summer in Germany. Wherever I went 
 in my rural excursions I heard that the potatoes were 
 poor. The people in the towns knew little of this, and 
 were told that the harvests were good. 
 
 An abominable deception was practised upon the pub- 
 
1 46 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 lie with the first potato supply. For many months 
 tickets had been in use for this food, which is called 
 the "German staff of life." Suddenly official notices 
 appeared that potatoes could be had for a few days 
 without tickets, and the unsuspecting public at once 
 ordered great quantities. 
 
 The Agrarians thus got rid of all their bad potatoes to 
 the mass of the people. In many cases they were 
 rotting so fast that the purchaser had to bury them. 
 It was found that they produced illness when given to 
 swine. 
 
 What other people in the world than the Germans 
 would stand that ? But they did stand it. "These are 
 only the early potatoes — the main crop will be all 
 right," said the profiteers right and left, and gradually 
 the masses began to echo them, as is usual in Germany. 
 
 Well, the main crop has been gathered, and Food 
 Dictator von Batocki is, according to the latest reports 
 I hear from Germany, unable to make the Agrarians 
 put their potatoes upon the market even at the maxi- 
 mum price set by the Food Commission. 
 
 They are holding back their supplies until they have 
 forced up the maximum price, just as a year ago many 
 of them allowed their potatoes to rot rather than sell 
 them to the millions in the cities at the price set by 
 law. 
 
 Some Germans, mostly Social Democratic leaders, 
 declare that since their country is in a state of siege, 
 the Government should, beyond question, commandeer 
 the supplies and distribute them, but just as the indus- 
 trial classes have, until quite recently, resisted war 
 taxes, so do the Prussian Junkers, by reason of their 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 147 
 
 power in the Keichstag, snap their fingers at any sug- 
 gested fair laws for food distribution. 
 
 The Burgomaster — usually a powerful person in 
 Germany — is helpless. When on September 1 the great 
 house-to-house inventory of food supplies was taken, 
 burgomasters of the various sections of Greater Berlin 
 took orders from the people for the whole winter supply 
 of potatoes on special forms delivered at every house. 
 Up to the time I left, the burgomasters were unable 
 to deliver the potatoes. 
 
 Any dupes of German propaganda who imagine that 
 there is much self-sacrifice among the wealthy class in 
 Germany in this war should disabuse their minds of 
 that theory at once. While the poor are being deprived 
 of what they have, the purchases of pearls, diamonds, 
 and other gems by the profiteers are on a scale never 
 before known in Germany. 
 
 One of the paradoxes of the situation, both in Austria 
 and in Germany, is the coincidence of the great gold 
 hunt, which is clearing out the trinkets of the humblest, 
 with the roaring trade in jewelry in Berlin and Vienna. 
 As an instance I can vouch for the veracity of the fol- 
 lowing story : — 
 
 A Berlin woman went to Werner's, the well-known 
 jewellers in the Unter den Linden, and asked to be 
 shown some pearl necklaces. After very little exam- 
 ination she selected one that cost 40,000 marks 
 (£2,000). The manager, who knew the purchaser as a 
 regular customer for small articles of jewelry, ven- 
 tured to express his surprise, remarking, "I well remem- 
 ber, madam, that you have been coming here for many 
 years, and that you have never bought anything ex- 
 ceeding in value 100 marks. Naturally I am somewhat 
 
143 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 surprised at the purchase of this necklace." "Oh, it 
 it very simple/' she replied. "My husband is in the 
 leather business, and our war profits have made us rich 
 beyond our fondest hopes." 
 
 Throughout Austria and Germany in every village 
 and townlet are appearing notices to bring in gold. 
 The following notice is to be met with in all parts of 
 Germany : — 
 
 Let Every Oite Worthy of the Name op 
 German do his Duty now. 
 
 Our enemies, after realising that they cannot de- 
 feat us on the field of battle, are striving to defeat 
 us economically. But here they will also fail. 
 Out with your Gold. 
 
 Out with your gold ! What is the value of a trinket 
 to the life of the dear one that gave it? By giving 
 now you may save the life of a husband, brother, or 
 son. 
 
 Bring your gold to the places designated below. 
 
 If the value of the gold you bring exceeds iive 
 marks, you will receive an iron memento of "Die 
 grosse Zeit." 
 
 Iron chains will be given for gold chains. 
 
 Wedding rings of those still living will not be ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 From rural pulpits is preached the wickedness of 
 retaining gold which might purchase food for the man 
 in the trenches. 
 
 The precedent of the historic great ladies of Prussia 
 who exchanged their golden wedding rings for rings 
 of iron is drummed into the smaller folk continuously. 
 The example is being followed by the exchange of gold 
 trinkets for trinkets made of iron, with the addition of 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 149 
 
 the price paid at the central collecting station — paid, of 
 course, in paper, which is at a 30 per cent, discount in 
 Germany and 47 per cent, discount in Austria. Every 
 bringer of a trinket worth more than 5s. receives a 
 small iron token of "die grosse Zeit" (the great epoch). 
 
 The gold hunt has revealed unexpected possessions in 
 the hands of the German and Austrian lower classes. 
 To me it was pathetic to see an old woman tremblingly 
 handing over treasures that had come down probably for 
 two or three generations — treasures that had never been 
 worn except on high days and festivals, weddings, and 
 perhaps on the day of the local fair. Particularly sad 
 is this self-sacrifice in view of the gigantic profits of the 
 food usurers and war profiteers. The matter is no 
 secret in Germany or Austria. It is denounced by the 
 small Socialist minority in the Reichstag, to whose 
 impotence I have often referred. It is stoutly defended 
 in good Prussian fashion by those openly making the 
 profits. 
 
 There has arisen a one-sided Socialism which no one 
 but Bismarck's famous "nation of lackeys" would 
 tolerate. At the top is a narrow circle of agrarian and 
 industrial profiteers, often belonging to the aristocratic 
 classes. At the other end of the scale is, for example, 
 the small farmer, who has now absolutely nothing to say 
 concerning either the planting, the marketing, or the 
 selling of his crops. Regulations are laid down as to 
 what he should sow, where he should sell, and the price 
 at which he should sell. Unlike the Junker, he has not 
 a long purse. He must sell. 
 
 What state of mind does this produce among the 
 people ? I know that outside Germany there is an idea 
 
1 5 o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 that every German is working at top speed with the 
 spirit of the Fatherland naming him on. That was the 
 spirit I witnessed in the early days of the war, when 
 Germany was winning and food was plentiful. 
 
 In certain rural districts as well as in centres of 
 population there is an intense longing for peace — not 
 merely for a German peace — but any peace, and a peace 
 not merely for military reasons, but arising out of 
 utter weariness of the rule of the profiteers and the cas- 
 ualties not revealed by the doctored lists — ingeniously 
 issued lists, which, for example, have never revealed 
 the loss of a submarine crew, though intelligent Ham- 
 burg shipping people, who are in close touch with Ger- 
 man naval people, estimate the loss of German 
 submarines as at least one hundred. I have heard the 
 figure put higher, and also lower. 
 
 This kind of one-sided Socialism makes the people so 
 apathetic that in some parts of Germany it has been 
 very difficult to induce them to harvest their own crops, 
 and in German Poland they have been forced to garner 
 the fields at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 When a man has no interest in the planting, market- 
 ing, and selling price of his produce; when he knows 
 that what he grows may be swept away from his dis- 
 trict without being sure that it will be of any benfit to 
 himself and his family ; when, in addition, the father or 
 sons of the households lie buried by the Yser, the 
 Somme, the Meuse or the Drina, it is impossible for the 
 authorities to inspire any enthusiasm for life, let alone 
 war, even among so docile a people as those they deal 
 with. 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 151 
 
 With regard to the other crops, rye is good ; beets look 
 good, but are believed to be deficient in sugar owing to 
 the absence of South American fertilisers; wheat is 
 fairly good; oats extremely good, and barley also ex- 
 cellent. The Germans have boasted to the neutral vis- 
 itor that their artificial nitrates are just as good fertili- 
 sers as those imported from South America. It is true 
 that they do very well for most crops when the weather 
 is damp. But beets, strangely enough, require the gen- 
 uine Chilean saltpetre to produce their maximum of 
 sugar. The failure to get this, plus the use of sugar 
 in munition making, accounts for the dearth of that 
 commodity among the civilian population. 
 
 In order that nothing shall be wasted, the Govern- 
 ment decreed this year that the public should be allowed 
 to scavenge the fields after the harvest had been 
 gathered, and this was a source of some benefit to those 
 residing near the great centres of population. 
 
 Schoolmasters were also ordered to teach the children 
 the need of gathering every sort of berry and nut. 
 
 Passing along an English hedgerow the other day, 
 and seeing it still covered with withered blackberries, 
 I compared them with the bare brambles which I saw 
 in Germany from which all berries have gone to help 
 the great jam-making business which is to eke out the 
 gradually decreasing butter and margarine supply. 
 Sickness and death have resulted from mistakes made, 
 not only in gathering berries, but in gathering mush- 
 rooms and other fungi, which have been keenly sought. 
 
 It is safe to say that the Germans are leaving no 
 stone unturned to avoid the starvation of the Seven 
 Years' War. The ingenuity of the chemists in produc- 
 
1 5 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ing substitutes was never greater. One of the most 
 disagreeable foods I have tasted was bread made of 
 straw. Countless experiments have been made in the 
 last year to adapt straw to the human stomach, but 
 although something resembling bread has been pro- 
 duced, it contains almost no nourishment and results in 
 illness. 
 
 People who reside in the cities and carefully shep- 
 herded visiting neutrals, who do not go into the country, 
 have little notion of the terrific effort being put forward 
 to make the fruits of Mother Earth defeat the blockade, 
 and above all to extract any kind of oil from anything 
 that grows. 
 
 Here is one notice: — 
 
 How the Civil Population Can Help in the War. 
 
 Our enemies are trying to exhaust us, but they 
 
 cannot succeed if every one 
 
 does his duty. 
 
 Oil is a Necessity. 
 
 You can help the Fatherland if you plant 
 
 poppies, castor plant, sunflowers. 
 In addition to doing important work for 
 the Fatherland you benefit yourself be- 
 cause the price for oil is high. 
 
 I may say that the populace have responded. Never 
 have I seen such vast fields of poppies, sunflowers, rape 
 plant, and other oleaginous crops. Oil has been ex- 
 tracted from plum-stones, cherry-stones, and walnuts. 
 
 The Government have not pleased the people even in 
 this matter. One glorious summer day, after tramp- 
 ing alone the sandy roads of Southern Brandenburg, 
 1 came to a little red-brick village in the midst of its 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 153 
 
 sea of waving rye and blaze of sunflowers and poppies. 
 Taking my seat at the long table in front of the local 
 Gasthaus, and ordering some imitation coffee — the only 
 refreshment provided in the absence of a local bread 
 ticket — I pointed out one of these notices to the only 
 other person at the table, who was drinking some "ex- 
 traordinarily weak beer," as he put it. "Have the peo- 
 ple here planted much of these things I see on that 
 notice?" I asked, pointing to one of the placards. 
 "Yes," he said, "certainly. A great deal ; but the Gov- 
 ernment is going to be false to us again. It will be 
 commandeered at a price which they have already set." 
 Then came the usual string of grumbles which one hears 
 everywhere in the agricultural districts. I will not 
 repeat them. They all have to do with the food short- 
 age, profiteering, and discontent at the length of the 
 war. 
 
 Though all Germans, with the exception of a few 
 profiteers, are grumbling at the length of the war, it 
 must not be supposed that they have lost hope. In fact 
 their grumblings are punctuated frequently by very 
 bright hopes. When Douaumont fell, food troubles 
 were forgotten. The bells rang, the flags were unfurled, 
 faces brightened, crowds gathered before the maps and 
 discussed the early fall of Verdun and the collapse of 
 France. Again I heard on every hand the echo of the 
 boasts of the first year of the war. 
 
 The glorious manner in which France hurled back 
 the assault was making itself felt in Germany with a 
 consequent depression over food shortage when the 
 greatest naval victory in history — so we gathered, at 
 least, from the first German reports — raised the spirits 
 
1 54 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 and hopes of the people so high that they fully believed 
 that the blockade had been smashed. On the third day 
 of the celebration, Saturday, June 3rd, I rode in a tram 
 from Wilmersdorf, a suburb of Berlin, to the heart of 
 the city through miles of streets flaring with a solid 
 mass of colour. From nearly every window and bal- 
 cony hung pennants and flags; on every trolley pole 
 fluttered a pennant of red, white and black. Even the 
 ancient horse 'buses rattled through the streets with the 
 flags of Germany and her allies on each corner of the 
 roof. The newspapers screamed headlines of triumph, 
 nobody could settle down to business, the faces one 
 met were wreathed in smiles, complaining was for- 
 gotten, the assurance of final victory was in the very 
 air. 
 
 Unter den Linden, the decorations on which were so 
 thick that in many cases they screened the buildings 
 from which they hung, was particularly happy. Knots 
 of excited men stood discussing the defeat of the British 
 Fleet. Two American friends and I went from the 
 street of happy and confident talk into the Zollernhof 
 Eestaurant. With the din of the celebration over the 
 "lifting of the blockade" ringing in our ears from the 
 street, we looked on the bill of fare, and there, for the 
 first time, we saw Boiled Crow. 
 
 Through the spring and early summer the people 
 were officially buoyed up with the hope that the new 
 harvest would make an end of their troubles. They 
 had many reasons, it is true, to expect an improvement. 
 The 1915 harvest in Germany had fallen below the 
 average. Therefore, if the 1916 harvest would be bet- 
 ter per acre, the additional supplies from the conquered 
 
IN THE GRIP OF THE FLEET 155 
 
 regions of Kussia would enable Germany to laugh at 
 the efforts of her enemies to starve her out. Once more, 
 however, official assurances and predictions were wrong, 
 and the economic condition grew worse through every 
 month of 1916. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A LAKD OF SUBSTITUTES 
 
 The only food substitute which meets the casual eye 
 of the visitor to England in war time is margarine 
 for butter. Germany, on the contrary, is a land of 
 substitutes. 
 
 Since the war, food exhibitions in various cities, but 
 more especially in Berlin, have had as one of their most 
 prominent features booths where you could sample sub- 
 stitutes for coffee, yeast, eggs, butter, olive oil, and the 
 like. Undoubtedly many of these substitutes are des- 
 tined to take their place in the future alongside some of 
 the products for which they are rendering vicarious 
 gervice. In fact, in a "Proclamation touching the Pro- 
 tection of Inventions, Designs, and Trade Marks in the 
 Exhibition of Substitute-Materials in Berlin-Charlot- 
 tenburg, 1916," it is provided that the substitutes to be 
 exhibited shall enjoy the protection of the Law. Even 
 before the war, substitutes like Kathreiner's malt coffee ^ 
 were household words, whilst the roasting of acorns for - 
 admixture with coffee was not only a usual practice on 
 the part of some families in the lower middle class, but 
 was so generally recognised among the humbler folk 
 that the children of poor families were given special 
 printed permissions by the police to gather acorns for 
 the purpose on the sacred grass of the public parks. 
 
 To deal with meat which in other countries would 
 
 156 
 
A LAND OF SUBSTITUTES 157 
 
 be regarded as unfit for human consumption there have 
 long been special appliances in regular use in peace 
 time. The so-called Freibank was a State or municipal 
 butcher's shop attached to the extensive municipal 
 abattoirs in Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and elsewhere. 
 Here tainted meat, or meat from animals locally 
 affected by disease, is specially treated by a steam pro- 
 cess and other methods, so as to free it from all danger 
 to health. Meat so treated does not, of course, have the 
 nutritive value of ordinary fresh meat, but the Ger- 
 mans acted on the principle that anything was better 
 than nothing. Such meat was described as bedingb 
 tauglich (that is, fit for consumption under reserve). 
 It was sold before the war at very low rates to the poorer 
 population, who in times of scarcity came great dis- 
 tances and kept long vigils outside the Freibank, to be 
 near the head of the queue when the sale began. Thus 
 we see that many Germans long ago acquired the habit 
 of standing in line for food, which is such a characteris- 
 tic of German city life to-day. 
 
 Horseflesh was consumed before the war in Germany, 
 as in Belgium and France. Its sale was carefully con- 
 trolled by the police, and severe punishment fell upon 
 anyone who tried to disguise its character. An ordi- 
 nary butcher might not sell it at all. He had to be 
 specially licensed, and to maintain a special establish- 
 ment or a special branch of his business for the purpose. 
 Thus, when wider circles of the population were driven 
 to resort to substitutes, there was already in existence 
 a State-organised system to control the output. 
 
 Since the war began, sausage has served as a German 
 stand-by from the time that beef and pork became diffi- 
 
1 5 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 cult to obtain. In the late spring, however, the in- 
 creased demand for sausage made that also more 
 difficut to procure, and we often got a substitute full of 
 breadcrumbs, which made the food-value of this par- 
 ticular Wurst considerably less than its size would 
 indicate. It was frequently so soft that it was practi- 
 cally impossible to cut, and we had to spread it on our 
 bread like butter. 
 
 The substitute of which the world has read the most 
 is war bread. This differs in various localities, but it 
 consists chiefly of a mixture of rye and potato with a 
 little wheat flour. In Hungary, which is a great maize- 
 growing country, maize is substituted for rye. 
 
 Imitation tea is made of plum and other leaves 
 boiled in real tea and dried. 
 
 To turn to substitutes other than food, it will be 
 recalled that Germany very early began to popularise 
 the use of benzol as an alternative to petrol for motor 
 engines. This was a natural outgrowth of her mar- 
 vellously developed coal-tar industry, of which benzol 
 is a product. Prizes for the most effective benzol- 
 consuming engine, for benzol carburetors, etc., have 
 been offered by various official departments in recent 
 years, and I am told that during the war ingenious in- 
 ventions for the more satisfactory employment of benzol 
 have been adopted. Owing to the increased use of pota- 
 toes as food, the alcoholic extract from them, always a 
 great German and Austro-Hungarian industry, has had 
 to be restricted. 
 
 It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, as I learned 
 from the owner of a little general shop in a Branden- 
 burg village. He told me that about twenty-five years 
 
A LAND OF SUBSTITUTES 159 
 
 ago, when kerosene became widely used in the village 
 for illuminating purposes, he was left with a tremendous 
 supply of candles which he could never sell. The oil 
 famine has caused the substitution of candle light for 
 lamp light during the war, and has enabled him to sell 
 out the whole stock at inflated prices. All oils are at a 
 premium. The price of castor-oil has risen fivefold in 
 Germany, chiefly owing to the fact that it is being 
 extensively used for aeroplane and other lubrication 
 purposes. 
 
 But it is oil from which explosives are derived that 
 chiefly interests Germany. Almost any kind of fruit 
 stone contains glycerine. That is why notices have 
 been put on all trains which run through fruit districts, 
 such as Werder, near Berlin, and Baden, advising the 
 people to save their fruit stones and bring them to 
 special depots for collection. 
 
 Five pounds of fat treated with caustic soda can be 
 made to yield one pound of glycerine. This is one 
 reason, in addition to the British blockade, which causes 
 the great fat shortage among the civil population. 
 
 Glycerine united with ammonium nitrate is used in 
 the manufacture of explosives. Deprived of nitrogenous 
 material from South America, Germany has greatly 
 developed the process for the manufacture of artificial 
 nitrates. She spent £25,000,000 after the outbreak of 
 war to enable her chemists and engineers to turn out a 
 sufficient amount of nitric acid. 
 
 Toluol, a very important ingredient of explosives, is 
 obtained from coal-tar, which Germany is naturally 
 able to manufacture at present better than any other 
 country in the world, since she had practically a mon- 
 
1 60 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 opoly in coal-tar products before hostilities commenced. 
 
 Evidently, however, substitutes to reinforce goods 
 smuggled through the blockade have not sufficed to meet 
 the chemical demands of the German Government, for 
 great flaming placards were posted up all over the Em- 
 pire announcing the commandeering of such commodi- 
 ties as sulphur, sulphuric acid, toluol, saltpetre, and the 
 like. 
 
 Germany long ago claimed to have perfected wood- 
 pulp as a substitute for cotton in propulsive ammuni- 
 tion. She made this claim very early, however, for the 
 (purpose of hoodwinking British blockade advocates. 
 Her great need eventually led her to take steps to induce 
 the United States to insist on the Entente Powers rais- 
 ing the blockade on cotton. She went to great trouble 
 and expense to send samples by special means to her 
 agents in America. 
 
 The cotton shortage began to be seriously felt early in 
 1916 in the manufacturing districts of Saxony, where 
 so many operatives were suddenly thrown out of work 
 that the Government had to set aside a special fund for 
 their temporary relief, until they could be transferred to 
 other war industries. 
 
 The success which Germany claimed for a cotton- 
 cloth substitute has been greatly exaggerated. When 
 the Germans realised that Great Britain really meant 
 business on the question of cotton they cultivated nettle 
 and willow fibre, and made a cloth consisting for the 
 most part of nettle or willow fibre with a small propor- 
 tion of cotton or wool. 
 
 It was boasted in many quarters that the exclusion 
 of cotton would make but little difference so far as 
 
A LAND OF SUBSTITUTES 161 
 
 clothing was concerned. Not only does the universal 
 introduction of clothing tickets falsify this boast, but 
 the cloth is found to be a mere makeshift when tested. 
 Blouses and stockings wear out with discouraging rapid- 
 ity when made of the substitute. 
 
 My personal investigations still lead me to believe 
 in the motto of the Sunny South that : "Cotton is king." 
 
 Paper, although running short in Germany, is the 
 substitute for cloth in many cases. Sacking, formerly 
 used for making bags in which to ship potatoes and 
 other vegetables, has given way to it. Paper-string is 
 a good substitute widely used, although "no string" was 
 the verbal substitute I often got when buying various 
 articles, and it was necessary for me to hold the paper 
 on to the parcel with my hands. 
 
 The craze for substitutes has spread so extensively 
 that there have been some unpleasant results both for 
 the purchaser and the producer, as was the case with 
 several bakers, who were finally detected and convicted 
 of a liberal use of sawdust in their cakes. 
 
 Germany has worked especially hard to find a sub- 
 stitute for indiarubber, though with only moderate 
 success. I know that the Kaiser's Government is still 
 sending men into contiguous neutral countries to buy up 
 every scrap of rubber obtainable. In no other com- 
 modity has there been more relentless commandeering. 
 When bicycle tyres were commandeered — the authori- 
 ties deciding that three marks was the proper price to 
 pay for a new pair of tyres which had cost ten — there 
 was a great deal of complaining. Nevertheless, without 
 an excellent reason, no German could secure the police 
 pass necessary to allow him to ride a bicycle. Those 
 
1 62 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 who did obtain permission to ride to and from their 
 work had to select the shortest route, and "joy-riding" 
 was forbidden. 
 
 " Substitute rubber" heels for boots could be readily 
 obtained until the late summer, but after that only with 
 difficulty. They were practically worthless, as I know 
 from personal experience, and were as hard as leather 
 after one or two days' use. 
 
 Despite the rubber shortage, the Lower Saxon Eubber 
 Company, of Hildersheim, does a thriving business in 
 raincoats made from rubber substitutes. The factory 
 is running almost full blast, all the work being done by 
 women, and the finished product is a tribute to the skill 
 of those in charge. 
 
 It is impossible to buy a real tennis ball in the Ger- 
 man Empire to-day. A most hopeless makeshift ball 
 has been put on the market, but after a few minutes' 
 play it no longer keeps its shape or resiliency. 
 
 Germany has been very successful in the substitution 
 of a sort of enamelled-iron for aluminium, brass, and 
 copper. Some of the Khenish-Westphalian iron indus- 
 tries have made enormous war profits, supplying iron 
 chandeliers, stove doors, pots and pans, and other 
 articles formerly made of brass to take the place of 
 those commandeered for the purpose of supplying the 
 Army with much-needed metals. 
 
 For copper used in electrical and other industries 
 she claims to have devised substitutes before the war, 
 and her experts now assert that a two-years' supply of 
 copper and brass has been gathered from the kitchens 
 and roofs of Germany. The copper quest has assumed 
 such proportions that the roof of the historic, world- 
 
A LAND OF SUBSTITUTES 163 
 
 renowned Kathaus at Bremen has been stripped. Nearly 
 half the church bells of Austria have found their way 
 to the great Skoda Works. 
 
 Of course Germans never boast of the priceless orna- 
 ments they have stolen from Belgium and Northern 
 France. They joyfully claim that every pound of cop- 
 per made available at home diminishes the amount 
 which they must import from abroad, and pay for with 
 their cherished gold. 
 
 The authorities delight in telling the neutral visitors 
 that they have found adequate substitutes for nickel, 
 chromium, and vanadium for the hardening of steel. If 
 that is really so, why does the Deutschland's cargo con-* 
 sist mainly of these three commodities I 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE GAGGING OF LIEBKUECHT 
 
 Although Bismarck gave the Germans a Constitu- 
 tion and a Parliament after the Franco-Prussian 
 War as a sop for their sacrifices in that campaign, he 
 never intended the Reichstag to be a Parliament in the 
 sense in which the institution is understood in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 What Bismarck gave the Germans was a debating so- 
 ciety and a safety-valve. They needed a place to air 
 their theories and ventilate their grievances. But the 
 Chancellor of Iron was very careful, in drawing up the 
 plans for the "debating society," to see that it con- 
 ferred little more real power on the nation's "represen- 
 tatives" than is enjoyed by the stump-speakers near 
 Marble Arch in London on Sundays. 
 
 Many people in England and the United States of 
 America, I find, do not at all understand the meaning- 
 lessness of German Parliamentary proceedings. When 
 they read about "stormy sittings" of the Reichstag and 
 , ''bitter criticism" of the Chancellor, they judge such 
 things as they judge similar events in the House of 
 Commons or the American House of Representatives. 
 Nothing could be more inaccurate. Governments do 
 not fall in Germany in consequence of adverse Reich- 
 stag votes, as they do in England. They are not the 
 people's Governments, but merely the Kaiser's crea- 
 tures. They rise and fall by his grace alone. 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 165 
 
 Even this state of affairs needs to be qualified and 
 explained to the citizens of free countries. The Gov- 
 ernment is not a Cabinet or a Ministry. 
 
 The German Government is a one-man affair. It 
 :onsists of the Imperial Chancellor. He, and nobody 
 else > is the "Government," subject only to the All- 
 Highest will of the Emperor, whose bidding the Chan- 
 cellor is required to do. 
 
 The Chancellor, in the name of the "Government," 
 brings in Bills to be passed by the Reichstag. If the 
 Reichstag does not like a Bill, which sometimes hap- 
 pens, it refuses to give it a majority. But the "Gov- 
 ernment" does not fall. It can simply, as it has done 
 on numerous occasions, dissolve the Reichstag, order a 
 General Election, and keep on doing so indefinitely, 
 until it gets exactly the kind of "Parliament" it wants. 
 Thus, though the Reichstag votes on financial matters, 
 it can be made to vote as the "Government" wishes. 
 
 As I have said, the Reichstag was invented to be, and 
 has always served the purpose hitherto of, a forum in 
 which discontented Germany could blow off steam, but 
 achieve little in the way of remedy or reform. But 
 during the war the Reichstag has even ceased to be a 
 place where free speech is tolerated. It has been gagged 
 as effectually as the German Press. I was an eye- 
 witness of one of the most drastic muzzling episodes 
 which has occurred in the Reichstag during the war — 
 or probably in the history of any modern Parliament — 
 the suppression of Dr. Karl Liebknecht, member for 
 Potsdam, during the debate on military affairs on Jan- 
 uary 17, 1916. That event will be of historic im- 
 portance in establishing how public opinion in Germany 
 
1 66 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 during the war has been ruthlessly trampled under foot. 
 
 The Keichstag has practically nothing to do with the 
 conduct of the war. 
 
 Up, practically, to the beginning of 1916 the sporadic 
 Social Democratic opposition to the war, mainly by Dr. 
 Liebknecht, was ignored by the Government. The war- 
 machine was running so smoothly, and, from the Ger- 
 man standpoint, so victoriously, that the Government 
 thought it could safely let Liebknecht rant to his heart's, 
 content. 
 
 Dr. Liebknecht had long been a thorn in the War 
 Party's side. He inherited an animosity to Prussian 
 militarism from his late father, Dr. Wilhelm Lieb- 
 knecht, who with August Bebel founded the modern 
 German Social Democratic Party. Pour or five years 
 before the war Liebknecht, a lawyer by profession, cam- 
 paigned so fiercely against militarism that he was 
 sentenced to eighteen months' fortress imprisonment 
 for "sedition." He served his sentence, and soon after- 
 wards his political friends nominated him for the 
 Keichstag for the Royal Division of Potsdam, of all 
 places in the world, knowing that such a candidature 
 would be as ironical a blow as could be dealt to the war 
 aristocrats. He was elected by a big majority in 1912, 
 the votes of the large working-class population of the 
 division, including Spandau (the Prussian Woolwich), 
 being more than enough to offset the military vote which 
 the Kaiser's henchmen mobilised against him. Some 
 time afterwards Liebknecht was also elected to represent 
 a Berlin Labour constituency in the Prussian Diet, the 
 Legislature which deals with the affairs in the Kingdom 
 of Prussia, as distinct from the Keichstag (the Imperial 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 167 
 
 Diet), which concerns itself with Empire matters 
 only. 
 
 Dr. Liebknecht is forty-four years old. Of medium 
 build, he wears a shock of long, curly, upstanding hair, 
 which rather accentuates his "agitator" type of 
 countenance, and is a skilful and eloquent debater. A 
 university graduate and well-read thinker and student, 
 he turned out to be the one consistent Social Demo- 
 cratic politician in Germany on the question of the war. 
 When the war began the Socialist Party was effectually 
 and willingly tied to the Government's chariot — includ- 
 ing, nominally, even Liebknecht. A few hours before 
 making his notorious "]STecessity-knows-no-law" speech 
 in the Keichstag on August 4, 1914, Bethmann-Hollweg 
 conferred with all the Parliamentary parties, and con- 
 vinced them (including the Socialists) that Germany 
 had been cruelly dragged into a war of defence. Later 
 in the day, following other party leaders, Herr Haase, 
 spokesman for the Socialists, got up in the House, 
 voiced a few harmless platitudes about Socialist opposi- 
 tion to war on principle, and then pledged the party's 
 111 votes solidly to the War Credits for which the Gov- 
 ernment was asking. When the Chancellor afterwards 
 made his celebrated speech it was cheered to the echo by 
 the entire House, including the Socialists. I do not 
 know whether Liebknecht was present, though he is 
 almost certain to have been, but if so he made no note- 
 worthy protest. How completely the Government 
 befooled the Socialists about the war was proved a few 
 days later when Dr. Franck, one of the Social Dem- 
 ocracy's most shining lights and the man who was in 
 line to be Bebel's successor, volunteered for military 
 
1 68 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 service. He was one of the first to fall fighting in Sep- 
 tember, somewhere in the West. 
 
 The authorities might have known that Liebknecht 
 was a hard man to keep quiet if he ever decided to speak 
 out. Fresh in the Government's mind was his bold 
 exposure of the Krupp bribery scandals at the War 
 Office (in 1913) and his disclosures about how the 
 German munition trust for years systematically stirred 
 up war fever abroad, in order to convince the German 
 people of the necessity of speeding up their own huge 
 armaments on land and sea. As soon as Liebknecht's 
 Reichstag and Prussian Diet speeches began to show 
 that he was tired of the muzzle, the Government called 
 him up for military service. They stuck him into the 
 uniform of an Armierungssoldat (Army Service Corps 
 soldier). This meant that his public speeches in con- 
 nection with the war had to be confined to the two 
 Parliaments in which he held seats. Anything of an 
 opposition character which he said or did outside would 
 be "treason" or "sedition." 
 
 Liebknecht was put to work on A.S.C. jobs behind the 
 fronts alternately in the East and West, I believe, but 
 was given leaves of absence to attend to his Parlia- 
 mentary duties from time to time. On these occasions 
 he would appear in the Reichstag in the dull field-grey 
 of an ordinary private — the only member so clad in a 
 House of 397 Deputies, among whom are dozens of 
 officers in uniform up to the rank of generals. 
 
 I was particularly fortunate to be able to secure a 
 card of admission to the Strangers' Gallery of the 
 Reichstag on January 17, the day set for discussion of 
 military matters. I went to my place early — a few 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 169 
 
 minutes past the noon hour, as the Keichstag usually 
 convenes at 1 p.m. The floor was still quite empty, 
 though the galleries were filled with people anxious, like 
 myself, to see the show from start to finish. 
 
 The Reichstag's decorative scheme is panelled oak 
 and gilt-paint The members' seating space spreads 
 fanlike round the floor, with individual seats and desks 
 exactly like those used by schoolboys, which is not an 
 inappropriate simile. On the extreme right are the 
 places of the Conservative-Junker — landowners — 
 Party ; to their left sit, in succession, the Koman Catho- 
 lic Clericals (who occupy the exact centre of the floor 
 and are thus known as the Zentrum, or Centre Party). 
 The "Centre" includes many priests, mostly Rhine- 
 landers and Bavarians. Then come the National 
 Liberals, the violently anti-British and anti-American 
 Party, the Progressive People's Party, and the Social 
 Democrats. The latter are on the "extreme left." That 
 is why they are often so described in reports of Reich- 
 stag proceedings abroad. The Socialists comprise 111 
 out of 397 members of the House, so their segment of 
 the fan is the largest of all. Next in size is the Centre 
 Party, with eighty-five or ninety seats, the Conserva- 
 tives, National Liberals, and Progressives accounting 
 for the rest of the floor in more or less equal propor- 
 tions. 
 
 The outstanding aspect of the Reichstag is the 
 tribune for speakers, which faces the floor and is ele- 
 vated above it some five or six feet. It is flanked on the 
 right by the Government "table," consisting of indi- 
 vidual seats and desks for Ministers. In the centre of 
 the tribune the presiding officer, who is "President," not 
 
1 70 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Speaker, of the House, sits. On his left is a row of 
 seats and desks, like the opposite Government "table," 
 for the members of the Federal Council. The Federal 
 Council, I may remind my readers, consists of the 
 delegates of the various States of Germany. They are 
 not elected by the people, but are appointed by the rulers 
 of the several States. They constitute practically an 
 Imperial Upper Chamber, and are the real legislative 
 body of the Empire. Bills require the Federal Coun- 
 cil's approval before submission to the Reichstag. 
 
 On so-called "big days" in the Eeichstag a host of 
 small fry from the Departments collects behind the Gov- 
 ernment and this dominent Federal Council. The 
 Chancellor, whose place is at the corner of the Govern- 
 ment "table" nearest the President, is always shep- 
 herded by his political aide-de-camp, Dr. Wahnschaife. 
 There is always a group of uniformed Army and Navy 
 officers on the tribune, too, and to-day, of course, as the 
 Army discussions were on the agenda, there was an 
 unusually brave array of gold braid and brass buttons. 
 Herr von Oldenburg, a prominent Junker M.P., once 
 said if he were the Kaiser he would send a Prussian 
 lieutenant and ten men to close up the Reichstag. 
 
 Liebknecht arrived early, a slight and unimpressive 
 figure in somewhat worn field-grey, the German khaki. 
 The "debate" having begun, I noticed how he listened 
 eagerly to every word spoken, jotting down notes in- 
 cessantly for the evident purpose of replying to the 
 grandiloquent utterances about our "glorious army of 
 Kultur-hesLTers" which were falling from the lips of 
 "patriotic" party orators. Liebknecht had earned the 
 displeasure of the House a few days before by asking 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 171 
 
 some embarrassing questions about Turkish massacres 
 in Armenia. He was j erred and laughed at hilariously 
 when he went on to say that a "Black Chamber ; * was 
 spying on his every movement, shadowing other mem- 
 bers of the Keichstag, even eavesdropping on their tele- 
 phone conversations and opening their private corre- 
 spondence. 
 
 While a Socialist comrade, Iierr Davidssohn, was 
 speaking from the desk in the centre of the tribune, at 
 which all members must stand when addressing the 
 House, I now saw Liebknecht walking up the aisle 
 leading from the Socialist seats to the President's chair 
 as unobtrusively as possible. He was walking furtively 
 and he cut the figure of a hunted animal which is con- 
 scious that it is surrounded by other animals anxious 
 to pounce upon it and devour it if it dares to show itself 
 in the open. 
 
 Liebknecht has now reached the President's side. 
 The President, a long- whiskered septuagenarian, is pop- 
 ularly known as "Papa" Kaempf. I see Liebknecht 
 whispering quietly in Kaempf's ear. He is asking for 
 permission to speak, probably as soon as comrade 
 Davidssohn has finished making his innocuous sugges- 
 tions of minor reforms to relieve discomforts in the 
 trenches. Kaempf is shaking his head negatively. As 
 the official executor of the House's wishes, the old man 
 understands perfectly well that Liebknecht must under 
 no circumstances have a hearing. Davidssohn has now 
 stopped talking. Liebknecht has meantime reached the 
 bottom step of the stairway of five or six steps leading 
 from the tribune to the level of the floor. He can be 
 plainly seen from all sections of the House. I hear him 
 
172 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 start to say that he has a double right to be heard on 
 the Army Bill, not only as a member of the House, but 
 as a soldier. He gets no further. The Chamber is 
 already filled with shouts and jeers. "Maul flatten!" 
 'shut your mouth!) bursts from a dozen places in the 
 Conservative and National Liberal and Centre benches. 
 " 'Raus mit ihm!" (throw him out!) is another angry 
 taunt which I can distinguish in the bedlam. Lieb- 
 knecht has been howled down many times before under 
 similar circumstances. He is not terrified to-day, 
 though his face is pale with excitement and anger. He 
 stands his ground. His right arm is extended, a finger 
 levelled accusingly at the Bight and Centre from which 
 imprecations, unceasingly, are being snarled at him. 
 But he cannot make himself heard amid the 
 uproar. 
 
 A Socialist colleague intervenes, Ledebour, a thin, 
 grey-haired, actor-like person, of ascetic mien and reso- 
 nant voice. "Checking free speech is an evil custom 
 of this House," declares Ledebour. "Papa" Kaempf 
 clangs his big hand-bell. He rules out "such improper 
 expressions as 'evil custom' in this high House." Lede- 
 bour is the Beichstag's master of repartee. He rejoins 
 smilingly: — "Very well, not an 'evil custom,' but not 
 altogether a pleasant custom." Now the House is howl- 
 ing Ledebour down. He, too, has weathered such 
 storms before. He waits, impassive and undismayed, 
 for a lull in the cyclone. It comes. "Wait, wait !" he 
 thunders. "My friend Liebknecht and I, and others like 
 us, have a great following. You grievously underes- 
 timate that following. Some day you will realise tfhat 
 Wait " Ledebour, like Liebknecht, can no longer 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 173 
 
 proceed. The House is now boiling, an indistinguish- 
 able and most undignified pandemonium. I can detect 
 that there is considerable ironical laughter mixed with 
 ite indignation. Members are not taking Ledebour'g 
 threat seriously. 
 
 Liebknecht has temporarily returned to his seat 
 under cover of the tornado provoked by Ledebour's in- 
 tervention, but now I see him stealthily crawling, dodg- 
 ing, almost panther-like, back to the steps of the tribune. 
 He is bent upon renewing the attempt to raise his voice 
 above the hostile din. The sight of him unchains the 
 House's fury afresh. The racket is increased by the 
 mad ding-donging of "Papa" Kaempf, trying hopelessly 
 to restore a semblance of quiet. It is useless. The 
 House will not subside until Liebknecht is driven from 
 the speakers' tribune. He is not to have even the chance 
 of the lull which enabled Ledebour to say a pertinent 
 thing or two. A score of embittered deputies advance 
 toward the tribune, red-faced and gesticulating in tha 
 German way when excitement is the dominant passion. 
 Their fists are clenched. I say to myself that Lieb- 
 knecht will this time be beaten down, if he is not con- 
 tent to be shouted down. He makes an unforgettable 
 figure, alone there, assailed, barked and snarled at from 
 every side, a private in the German Army bidding 
 defiance to a hundred men, also in uniform, but superior 
 officers. Mere Kanonenfutter (cannon fodder) defying 
 the majestic authority of its- helmeted and epauletted 
 overlords ! An unprecedented episode, as well as an un- 
 forgettable one. . . 
 
 Liebknecht insists upon tempting fate once more. He 
 is going to try to outshout the crazy chorus howling 
 
1 74 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 at him. He succeeds, but only for an instant and to the 
 extent of one biting phrase : — "Such treatment/' I can 
 hear him shrieking, "is unverschaemt (shameless) and 
 unerhoert (unheard of) ! It could take place in no 
 other legislative body in the world !" 
 
 With that the one German Social Democrat of con- 
 viction, courage, and consistency retires, baffled and dis- 
 comfited. Potsdam's representative in the Eeichstag is 
 at last effectually muzzled, but in the muzzling I have 
 seen the German Government at work on a task almost 
 as prodigious as the one it now faces on the Somme — 
 the task of keeping the German people deaf, dumb, and 
 blind. 
 
 Of what has meantime happened to Liebknecht the 
 main facts are known. He was arrested on May 1 for 
 alleged "incitement to public disorder during a state of 
 war," tried, convicted, and sentenced to penal servitude. 
 A couple of months previously (on March 13) he had 
 delivered another bitter attack on the War Government 
 in the Prussian Diet. He accused the German educa- 
 tional authorities of systematically teaching hate to 
 school children and of distorting even contemporary his- 
 tory so as to poison their minds to the glorification of 
 Prussian militarism. He said it was not the business 
 of the schools to turn children into machines for the 
 Moloch of militarism. 
 
 "Let us teach history correctly/' declared Liebknecht, 
 "and tell the children that the crime of Sarajevo was 
 loolced upon by wide circles in Austria-Hungary and 
 Germany as a gift from Heaven. Let us * 
 
 He got no farther, for the cyclone broke. He had 
 dared to do what no other man in Germany had done. 
 
THE GAGGING OF LIEBKNECHT 175 
 
 He had publicly accused his Government of making the 
 war. From that moment his doom was certain. 
 
 This narrative should be instructive to those Brit- 
 ishers and Americans who think it possible that German 
 Socialists may one day have the power to end the war. 
 There are two effective replies to this curious Anglo- 
 Saxon misunderstanding of Germany. The first is that 
 Liebknecht had not, and has not, the support of his own 
 party ; the second, that were that party twice as numer- 
 ous as it is its votes would be worthless in view of the 
 power wielded by the Kaiser's representative, von 
 Bethmann-Hollweg, backed up by the Federal Council. 
 
 It is difficult to drive this fact into the heads of 
 British and American people, who are both prone to 
 judge German institutions by their own. 
 
 For, remember always that behind the dominant 
 Imperial Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, stands 
 the All-Highest War Lord, and behind him, what is still, 
 if damaged, the mightiest military machine in the world 
 ■ — the German Army. Opposed to that there is at 
 present a slowly increasing Socialist vote — the two have 
 grown to about twenty. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 PREVENTIVE ARREST 
 
 In the beginning of the war, when all seemed to be 
 going well, there was no disunity in Germany. 
 When Germany was winning victory after victory, prac- 
 tically no censorship was needed in the newspapers ; the 
 police were tolerant; every German smiled upon every 
 other German; soldiers went forth singing and their 
 trains were gaily decorated with oak leaves ; social de- 
 mocracy praised militarism. 
 
 All that has changed and the hosts who went singing 
 on their way in the belief that they would be home in 
 six weeks, have left behind homes many of them be- 
 reaved by the immense casualties, and most of them 
 suffering from the increased food shortage. 
 
 Class feeling soon increased. The poor began to 
 call the rich agrarians "usurers." The Government 
 forbade socialistic papers such as the Vorwaerts to use 
 the word "usurer" any more, because it was applied to 
 the powerful junkers. Such papers as the Tagliche 
 Rundschau and the Tageszeitung could continue to use 
 it, however, for they applied it to the small shopkeeper 
 who exceeded the maximum price by a fraction of a 
 penny. 
 
 As the rigour of the blockade increased, the discon- 
 tent of the small minority who were beginning to hate 
 their own Government almost as much as, and in many 
 
 176 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 177 
 
 ■jases more, than they hated enemies of Germany, as- 
 sumed more threatening forms than mere discussion.* 
 Their disillusionment regarding Germany's invincibil- 
 ity opened their eyes to faults at home. Some of the 
 extreme Social Democrats were secretly spreading the 
 treasonable doctrine that the German Government was 
 not entirely blameless in the causes of the war. It has 
 been my custom to converse with all classes of society, 
 and I was amazed at the increasing number of dis- 
 gruntled citizens. 
 
 But the German Government is still determined to 
 have unity. They had enlisted the services of editors, 
 reporters, professors, parsons and cinema operators to 
 Create it ; they are now giving the police an increasingly 
 important role to maintain it. 
 
 As the German Parliament in no way resembles the 
 British Parliament, so do the German police in no way 
 resemble the British police. The German police, 
 mounted or unmounted, are armed with a revolver, a 
 aword, and not infrequently provided with a machine- 
 gun. They have powers of search and arrest without 
 warrant They are allowed at their discretion to strike 
 or otherwise maltreat not only civilians, but soldiers. 
 Always armed with extraordinary power, their position 
 during the past few months has risen to such an extent 
 that the words used in the Beichstag, "The Beign of 
 Terror," are not an exaggeration. 
 
 Aided and even abetted by a myriad of spies and 
 agents-provocateurs, they have placed under what is 
 known as "preventive arrest" throughout the German 
 Empire and Austria so great a number of civilians that 
 
1 7 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the German prisons, as has been admitted, are filled to 
 repletion. 
 
 With the Reichstag shut up, and the hold on the 
 newspapers tightening, what opportunity remains by 
 which independent thought can be disseminated? 
 
 ~ In Poland meetings to consider what they call 
 "Church affairs/' but which were really revolutionary 
 gatherings, afforded opportunity for discussion. These 
 have been ruled out of order. 
 
 The lectures taking place in their thousands all over 
 Germany might afford a chance of expression of opin- 
 ion, but the professors, like the pastors, are, as I have 
 said, so absolutely dependent upon the Government for 
 their position and promotion, that I have only heard 
 of one of them who had the temerity to make any speech 
 other than those of the "God-punish-England" and 
 "We-must-hold-out" type. His resignation from the 
 University of Munich was immediately demanded, and 
 any number of sycophants were ready to take his place. 
 
 Clubs are illegal in Germany, and the humblest 
 working-men's cafes are attended by spies. In my re- 
 searches in the Berlin East-end I often visited these 
 places and shared my adulterated beer and war bread 
 with the working folk — all of them over or under mili- 
 tary age. 
 
 One evening a shabby old man said rather more 
 loudly than was necessary to a number of those round 
 him: — "I am tired of reading in the newspapers how 
 nice the war is. Even the Vorwaerts (then a Socialist 
 paper) lies to us. I am tired of walking home night 
 after night and finding restaurants turned into hos- 
 pitals for the wounded." 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 179 
 
 He was referring in particular to the great Schult- 
 heiss working-men's restaurants in Hasenheide. His 
 remarks were received with obvious sympathy. 
 
 A couple of nights later I went into this same place 
 and took my seat, but it was obvious that my visit was 
 unwelcome. I was looked at suspiciously. I did not 
 think very much of the incident, but ten days later in 
 passing I called again, when a lusty young fellow of 
 eighteen, to whom I had spoken on my first visit, came 
 forward and said to me, almost threateningly, "You 
 are a stranger here. May I ask what you are doing V 9 
 
 I said : "I am an American newspaper correspondent, 
 and am trying to find out what I can about the ways of 
 German working folk." 
 
 He could tell by my accent that I was a foreigner, 
 and said: "We thought that you had told the Govern- 
 ment about that little free speaking we had here a few 
 days ago. You know that the little old man who was 
 complaining about the restaurants being turned into hos- 
 pitals has been arrested?" 
 
 This form of arrest, by which hundreds of people are 
 mysteriously disappearing, is one of the burning griev- 
 ances of Germany to-day. In its application it re- 
 sembles what we used to read about Russian police. It 
 has created a condition beneath the surface in Germany 
 resembling the terrorism of the French Revolution. In 
 the absence of a Habeas Corpus Act, the victim lies in 
 gaol indefinitely, while the police are, nominally, col- 
 lecting the evidence against him. One cannot move 
 about very long without coming across instances of this 
 growing form of tyranny, but I will merely give one 
 other. 
 
1 80 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 A German family, resident in Sweden, were in corre- 
 spondence with a woman 'resident in Prussia. In one 
 of her letters she incautiously remarked, "What a pity 
 that the two Emperors cannot be taught what war really 
 means to the German peoples." She had lost two sons, 
 and her expression of bitterness was just a feminine 
 outburst, which in any other country, would have been 
 passed by. She was placed under preventive arrest, 
 and is still in gaol. 
 
 The police are armed with the censorship of the in- 
 ternal postal correspondence, telegrams and telephones. 
 One of the complaints of the Social Democrat members 
 of the Keichstag is that every movement is spied upon, 
 and their communications tampered with by what they 
 call the "Black Chamber." 
 
 There is no reason to suppose that the debates in 
 the closing session of the Keichstag in 1916 on police 
 tyranny, the Press censorship, the suppression of public 
 opinion, will lead to any result other than the familiar 
 expressions of mild indignation — such as that which 
 came from the National Liberal and Pan-German 
 leader, Dr. Paasche — and perhaps a little innocent leg- 
 islation. But the reports of the detailed charges against 
 the Government constitute, even as passed by the Ger- 
 man censorship for publication, a remarkable revela- 
 tion. It should be remembered in reading the follow- 
 ing quotations that the whole subject has been discussed 
 in the secrecy of the Reichstag Committee, and that 
 what is now disclosed is in the main only what the Gov- 
 ernment has been unable to hush up or hide. 
 
 In his famous speech on "preventive arrest" the So- 
 cial Democratic Deputy, Herr Dittmann said: — 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 1 8 1 
 
 "Last May I remarked that the system of preventive 
 arrest was producing a real reign of terror, and since 
 then things have got steadily worse. The law as it was 
 before 1848 and the Socialist Law, of scandalous 
 memory, are celebrating their resurrection. The sys- 
 tem of denunciation and of agents-provocateurs is in 
 full bloom, and it is all being done under the mask of 
 patriotism and the saving of the country. Anybody 
 who for personal or other reasons is regarded by the 
 professional agents-provocateurs as unsatisfactory or 
 inconvenient is put under suspicion of espionage, or 
 treason, or other crime. And such vague denunciations 
 are then sufficient to deprive the victim of his freedom, 
 without any possibility of defence being given him. In 
 many cases such arrest has been maintained by the year 
 without any lawful foundation for it. Treachery and 
 low cunning are now enjoying real orgies. A criminal 
 is duly convicted and knows his fate. The man under 
 preventive arrest is overburdened by the uncertainty of 
 despair, and is simply buried alive. The members of 
 the Government do not seem to have a spark of under- 
 standing for this situation, the mental and material ef- 
 fects of which are equally terrible. 
 
 "Dr. HelfTerich said in the Budget Committee in the 
 case of Dr. Franz Mehring that it is better that he 
 should be under detention than that he should be at 
 large and do something for which he would have to be 
 punished. According to this reasoning the best thing 
 would be to lock up everybody and keep them from 
 breaking the law. The ideal of Dr. HelfTerich seems 
 to be the German National Prison of which Heine 
 spoke. The case of Mehring is classical proof of the 
 
1 8 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 fact that we are no longer far removed from the Helf- 
 ferich ideaL" 
 
 Herr Dittmann went on to say that Herr Mehring'g 
 only offence was that in a letter seized by the police 
 he wrote to a Reichstag deputy named Herzfeld in 
 favour of a peace demonstration in Berlin, and offered 
 to write a fly-sheet inviting attendance at such a meet- 
 ing. Mehring, who is over 70 years of age, was then 
 locked up. Herr Dittmann continued : — 
 
 "How much longer will it be before even thoughts 
 become criminal in Germany I Mehring is one of the 
 most brilliant historians and writers, and one of the 
 first representatives of German intellectual life — known 
 as such far beyond the German frontiers. When it is 
 now known abroad that such a man has been put under 
 a sort of preventive arrest merely in order to cut him 
 off from the public for political reasons, one really can- 
 not be astonished at the low reputation enjoyed by the 
 German Government both at home and abroad. How 
 evil must be the state of a Government which has to 
 lock up the first minds of the country in order to choke 
 their opposition!" 
 
 Herr Dittmann' s second case was that of Frau Roea 
 Luxemburg. He said that she was put under arrest 
 many months ago, without any charge being made 
 against her, and merely out of fear of her intellectual 
 influence upon the working classes. All the Socialist 
 women of Germany were deeply indignant, and he in- 
 vited the Government to consider that such things must 
 make it the positive duty of Socialists in France, Eng- 
 land, Italy and Russia "to fight against a Government 
 which imprisons without any reason the best-known 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 183 
 
 champions of the International proletariat." The treat- 
 ment of both Mehring and Frau Luxemburg had been 
 terrible. The former, old and ill, had had the greatest 
 difficulty in getting admission to a prison infirmary. 
 Prau Luxemburg a month ago was taken from her 
 prison bed in the middle of the night, removed to the 
 police headquarters, and put in a cell which was re- 
 served for prostitutes. She had not been allowed a 
 doctor, and had been given food which she could not 
 eat. Just before the Reichstag debate she had been 
 taken away from Berlin, to Wronke, in the Province 
 of Posen. 
 
 Herr Dittmann then gave a terrible account, some 
 of it unfit for reproduction, of the treatment in prison 
 of two girls of eighteen whose offence was that on June 
 27th they had distributed invitations to working women 
 to attend a meeting of protest against the procedure in 
 the case of Herr Liebknecht. He observed that they 
 owed it entirely to themselves and to their training if 
 they had not been ruined physically and morally in 
 their "royal Prussian prison." When they were 
 at last released they were informed that they would 
 be imprisoned for the rest of the war if they 
 attended any public meeting. Herr Dittmann pro- 
 ceeded : — 
 
 "Here we have police brutality in all its purity. 
 This is how a working-class child who is trying to make 
 her way up to knowledge and Kultur is treated in the 
 country of the promised 'new orientation/ in which 
 (according to the Imperial Chancellor) 'the road is to 
 be opened for all who are efficient/ These are the 
 ^methods by which the spirit of independence is syste- 
 
1 84 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 matically to be killed. That is the reason for the arrests 
 of members of the Socialist party who stand on the side 
 of determined opposition. You imagine that by isolat- 
 ing the leading elements of the opposition you can crush 
 the head of the snake." 
 
 Herr Dittmann' s next case was that of Dr. Meyer, 
 one of the editors of Vorwaerts, who was arrested many 
 months ago. He is suffering from tuberculosis, but is 
 not allowed to go to a sanatorium. Another Socialist 
 journalist named Hegge, father of six children, has 
 been under arrest since August, his only offence being 
 that he has agitated against the militarist majority. 
 Herr Dittmann then dealt at lenght with the Socialist 
 journalist named Kliihs, who has been in prison for 
 eight months, also for his activity on behalf of the So- 
 cialist minority against the majority, and was pre- 
 vented from communicating with his dying wife or at- 
 tending her funeral. 
 
 Herr Dittmann gave the details of three cases at 
 Diisseldorf and one at Brunswick, and then explained 
 how the military authorities in many parts of Germany 
 are deliberately offering Socialists the choice between 
 silence and military service. A well-known trade union 
 official at Elberfeld, named Sauerbrey, who had been 
 declared totally unfit for military service because he 
 had lost several fingers on his left hand, was arrested 
 and charged with treason. He was acquitted, but in- 
 stead of obtaining his freedom he was immediately 
 called up and is now in training for the front. Herr 
 Dittmann said that this case had caused intense bitter- 
 ness, and added: — 
 
 "The Military Command at Munster is surprised 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 185 
 
 that the feeling in the whole Wupper Valley is becom- 
 ing more and more discontented, and the military are 
 now hatching new measures of violence in order to be 
 able to master this discontent. One would think that 
 such things came from the madhouse. In reality they 
 represent conditions under martial law, and this case 
 is only one of very many." 
 
 Herr Dittmann gave several instances of men de- 
 clared unfit for service who had been called up for po- 
 litical reasons, and he ended his speech as follows: — 
 
 "In regard to all this persecution of peaceful citi- 
 zens there is a regular apparatus of agents-provoca- 
 teurs, provided by officials of all kinds, and the appara- 
 tus is growing every day. If these persecutions were 
 stopped a great number of these agents and officials 
 could be released for military service. In most cases 
 they are mere shirkers, and that is why they cling to 
 their posts and seek every day to prove themselves in- 
 dispensable by discovering all sorts of crimes. Because 
 they do not want to go to the trenches other people must 
 go to prison. Put an end to the state of martial law, 
 and help us to root up a state of things which disgraces 
 the German name." 
 
 The Alsatian deputy, Herr Haus, said that Alsace- 
 Lorraine is suffering more than any other part of the 
 country, and that more than 1,000 persons have been 
 arrested without any charge being brought against them. 
 Herr Seyda, for the Poles, said that the Polish popula- 
 tion of Germany suffers especially from the system of 
 preventive arrest. 
 
 In his contemptuous reply, which showed that the 
 Government was confident that it had nothing to fear 
 
1 8 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 from the majority in the Reichstag, ITerr Iielfferich 
 said : — 
 
 "The institution of the dictator comes from ancient 
 Rome, from the classical Republic of antiquity. 
 (Laughter.) When the State was fighting for its ex- 
 istence it was found necessary to place supreme power 
 in the hands of a single man, and. to give this Roman 
 dictator authority which was much greater than the au- 
 thority belonging to preventive arrest and martial law. 
 The whole development proceeds by way of compro- 
 mise between the needs of the State and the needs of 
 protection for the individual. The results vary accord- 
 ing to the particular level of civilisation reached by the 
 particular State. (Socialist cries of 'Very true/) We 
 are not at the lowest level. When one considers the 
 state of things in Germany in peace time we can tx\ 
 proud. (Socialist interruptions.) I am proud of Geis 
 many. I think that our constitutional system before 
 the outbreak of war and our level of Kultur were such 
 as every German could be proud of. ('No, no.') I 
 hope that we shall soon be able to revert to those con* 
 ditions." 
 
 Ilerr Helfferich went on to argue that repression in 
 Germany is really much milder than in France, Eng- 
 land, or Italy; and for the debate on the censorship, 
 which followed the debate on preventive arrest, he came 
 armed with an account of the Defence of the Realm 
 Acts. When he enlarged upon the powers of the Brit- 
 ish Government he was interrupted by cries of "It is 
 a question not of theory but of practice," and the So- 
 cialist leader Herr Stadthagen made a scathing reply. 
 He said: — 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 187 
 
 "Even if everything in England is as Herr Helf- 
 ferich described it, the state of things is much better 
 there than in Germany. Herr Helfferich stated the 
 cases in which arrest and search of dwellings may take 
 place, but those are cases in which similar a^ion can* 
 be taken in Germany in time of peace under the or- 
 dinary criminal law. The Englishman has quite other 
 rights. He has the right to his personality, and, above 
 all, the officials in England, unlike Germany, are per- 
 sonally responsible. When we make a law, that law 
 is repealed by the Administration. That is the whole 
 point, but Herr Helfferich does not see it, and he does 
 not see that we live in a Police State and under a po- 
 lice system. Did it ever occur to anybody in England 
 to dispute the right of immunity of members of parlia- 
 ment ? Did it ever occur to anybody in England 
 to go to members of the Opposition in Parliament and 
 demand that they should resign their seats on pain of 
 arrest ? Or has anybody in England been threatened 
 with arrest if he does not withdraw a declaration 
 against the committee of his party I Two newspapers 
 have been suppressed in England because they opposed 
 munitions work. I regret this check upon free criticism 
 in England, but what would have happened in Ger- 
 many? In Germany there would undoubtedly have 
 been a prosecution for high treason. In England, 
 moreover, the newspapers are allowed to reappear, and 
 that without giving any guarantees. In Germany we 
 are required to give guarantees that the papers shall be 
 conducted by a person approved of by the political po- 
 lice. Herr Helfferich employs inappropriate compari- 
 sons. I will give him one which applies. The political 
 
1 8 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 police in Germany is precisely what the State Inquisi- 
 tion was in Venice." 
 
 An interesting point in the censorship debate was 
 the disclosure of the fact that the local censors do what 
 they please. Herr Seyda protested against the peculiar 
 persecution of the Poles. He remarked that at Gnesen 
 no Polish paper has been allowed to appear for the past 
 two years. 
 
 But as significant as anything was Herr Stadthagen's 
 account of the recruiting for the political police. He 
 said that the police freely offer both money and exemp- 
 tion from military service to boys who are about to be- 
 come liable for service. He gave a typical case of a 
 boy of seventeen. The police called at his home and 
 inquired whether he belonged to any Socialist organisa- 
 tion and whether he had been medically examined for 
 the Army. A police official then waylaid the boy as 
 he was leaving work and promised him that, if he would 
 give information of what went on in his Socialist as- 
 sociation, he could earn from £4 to £4 10s. a month 
 and be exempt from military service. 
 
 There is a peculiar connection between censorship 
 and police. The evil effect of the censorship of their 
 own Press by the German Government is to hypnotise 
 the thousands of Government bureaucrats into the be- 
 lief that that which they read in their own controlled 
 Press is true. 
 
 No people are more ready to believe what they want 
 to believe than the governing class in Germany. They 
 wanted to believe that Great Britain would not come 
 into the war. They had got into their heads, too, that 
 Japan was going to be an ally of theirs. They wrote 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 189 
 
 themselves into the belief that France was defeated and 
 would collapse. 
 
 Regarding the Press, as they do, as all-important, 
 'they picked from the British Press any articles or 
 fragments of articles suitable for their purpose and 
 quoted them. They are adepts in the art of dissecting 
 a paragraph so that the sense is quite contrary to that 
 meant by the writer. 
 
 But the German Government goes further than that. 
 It is quite content to quote to-day expressions of Greek 
 opinion from Athens organs well known to be subsidised 
 by Germany. Certain bribed papers in Zurich and 
 Stockholm, and one notorious American paper, are used 
 for this process of self-hypnotism. The object is two- 
 fold. First, to influence public opinion in the foreign 
 country, and, secondly, by requoting the opinion, to in- 
 fluence their own people into believing that this is the 
 opinion held in the country from which it emanates. 
 Thus, when I told Germans that large numbers of the 
 Dutch people are pro-Ally, they point to an extract 
 from an article in De ToeJcomst and controvert me. 
 
 These methods go to strengthen the hands of the po- 
 lice when they declare that in acting severely they are 
 only acting against anarchistic opinions likely to create 
 the impression abroad that there is disunity within the 
 Empire. 
 
 2sTever, so far as I can gather, in the world's history 
 was there so complete a machine for the suppression of 
 individual opinion as the German police. 
 
 The anti-war demonstrations in Germany range all 
 the way from the smashing of a few food-shop windows 
 
190 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 to the complete preparations for a serious crippling of 
 the armies in the field by a general munition strike. 
 
 Half-way between were the so-called "Liebknecht 
 riots" in Berlin. The notices summoning these semi- 
 revolutionary meetings were whispered through fac- 
 tories, and from mouth to mouth by women standing 
 in the food lines waiting for their potatoes, morning 
 bread, meat, sugar, cheese, and other supplies. Lieb- 
 knecht was brought to secret trial on June 27th, on the 
 evening of which demonstrations took place throughout 
 the city. I was present at the one near the Rathaus, 
 which was dispersed towards midnight when the police 
 actually drew their revolvers and charged the crowd. 
 
 The following evening I was at an early hour in the 
 Potsdamer Platz, where a great demonstration was to 
 take place. It was the second anniversary of the mur- 
 der at Sarajevo. The city was clearly restless, agi- 
 tated; people were on the watch for something to hap- 
 pen. The Potsdamer Platz is the centre through which 
 the great arteries of traffic flow westward after the work 
 of the day is done. The people who stream through it 
 do not belong to the poorer classes, for these live in 
 the east and the north. But on this mild June evening 
 there was a noticeably large number of working men in 
 the streets leading into the Platz. I was standing near 
 a group of these when the evening editions appeared 
 with the news that Liebknecht had been sentenced. A 
 low murmur among the workmen, mutterings of sup- 
 pressed rage when they realised the significance of the 
 short trial of two days, and a determined movement 
 toward the place of demonstration. 
 
 I hurried to the Potsdamer Platz. The number of 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 1 9 1 
 
 police stationed in the streets leading into it increased. 
 The Platz itself was blue with them, for they stood 
 together in groups of six, ten and twelve. I went along 
 the Budapester Strasse to the Brandenburger Tor, 
 through which workmen from Moabit had streamed at 
 noon declaring that they would strike. They had been 
 charged by the mounted police, who drove them back 
 across the Spree. There was a blue patrol along the 
 Unter den Linden now. A whole army corps of police 
 were on the alert in the German capital. 
 
 I returned to the Potsdamer Platz. It was thick 
 with people now — curious onlookers. There were 
 crowds of workmen in the adjacent streets, but they 
 were not allowed to approach too near. Again and 
 again they tried, but, unarmed, they were powerless 
 when the horses were driven into them. I saw a few 
 of the most obstinate struck with the flat of sabres, and 
 on others were rained blows from the police on foot 
 Nobody hit back, or even defended himself. 
 
 There was practically no violence such as one expects 
 from a mob. It was something else which impressed 
 me. It impressed my police-lieutenant friend, also. 
 That was the dangerous ugliness in the workmen. Hate 
 was written in their faces, and the low growl in the 
 crowd told all too plainly the growing feeling against 
 the war. 
 
 The Government realised this. They had already 
 seen that the unity they had so artificially created could 
 only be held by force. They had used force in the muz- 
 zling of Liebknecht, and quietly they were employing 
 a most potent force every day, the force of preventive 
 arrest. 
 
192 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 In July there was agitation for the great munition 
 strike which was to have taken place on the day of the 
 second anniversary of the war. The dimensions of the 
 proposed rising were effectually concealed by the cen- 
 sorship. The ugly feeling in the Potsdamer Platz had 
 taught the Government a lesson. 
 
 £To detail was neglected in the preparations against 
 the strike. There was a significant movement of ma- 
 chine-guns to all points of danger, such as the Moabit 
 district of Berlin, and Spandau, together with count- 
 less warnings against so-called "anarchists." Any 
 workman who showed the slightest tendency to be a 
 leader in a factory group was taken away. The ex- 
 pressions of intention not to work the first four days 
 of August became so strong that the Press issued a 
 warning that any man refusing to work would be put 
 into a uniform, and he would receive not eight or more 
 marks a day as in munition work, but three marks in 
 ten days. Even the Kaiser supplemented his regular 
 anniversary manifestoes to the armed forces of the Em- 
 pire and the civilian population with a special appeal 
 to the workmen. 
 
 I was up and ready at an early hour on the morning 
 of August 1st. Again the city was blue with police. 
 But this time they were reinforced. As I walked 
 through streets lined with soldiers in the workingmen's 
 quarters, I realised the futility of any further anti-war 
 demonstrations in the Eatherland. 
 
 I stood in the immense square before the Royal Pal- 
 ace, and reflected that two years ago it was packed witli 
 a crowd wild with joy at the opportunity of going to 
 war. There was unity. I stood on the very spot where 
 
PREVENTIVE ARREST 193 
 
 the old man was jeered because he had said, "War is a 
 serious business, young fellow." 
 
 On August 1st, 1916, there were more police in the 
 square than civilians. On Unter den Linden paced the 
 blue patrol. There was still unity in Germany, but a 
 unity maintained by revolver, sword and machine- 
 gun. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 POLICE RULE IN BOHEMIA 
 
 In his speech to the Senate President Wilson said: 
 "No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not 
 recognise and accept the principle that Governments 
 derive all their just powers from the consent of the 
 governed. . . . "No nation should seek to extend 
 its polity over any other nation or people, hut every 
 people should be left free to determine its own policy, 
 its own way of development, unhindered, unthreatened, 
 unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful." 
 
 The realisation of these admirable sentiments pre- 
 sents infinite problems in various sections of Europe, 
 but nowhere, perhaps, more than in Austria-Hungary. 
 In his heterogeneous collection of peoples, the old Em- 
 peror had to make a choice between two courses in order 
 to hold his thirteen distinct races together in one Em- 
 pire. He could have tried to make them politically 
 contented through freedom to manage their own affairs 
 while owing allegiance to the Empire as a whole, or he 
 could suppress the individual people to such an extent 
 that he would have unity by force. 
 
 He chose the second course. With the Germans dom- 
 inant in Austria and the Magyars in Hungary, other 
 nations have been scientifically subjugated. As in the 
 case of the procedure of "Preventive Arrest" in Ger- 
 many, the authorities seek to work smoothly and si- 
 
 194 
 
POLICE RULE IN BOHEMIA 195 
 
 lently, with the result that only an occasional echo 
 reaches the outside world. 
 
 The description of the relations of the various peoples 
 and the "Unity-Machine" employed would fill a large 
 book. Control of public opinion has been the first ac- 
 tion of the rulers of the Dual Monarchy. In peace 
 time, not only were the suppressed nations, such as the 
 Czechs, Slovaks, Rumanians, Luthenians, Poles, Slo- 
 venes, Italians, but all the citizens of Austria-Hungary, 
 denied the right of free speech and freedom of the 
 Press. Some of the regulations by which the Govern- 
 ment held absolute sway over its subjects are: 
 
 (1) No newspaper or other printing business could 
 be established until a heavy deposit was made with 
 the police for the payment of fines, such fines to be 
 arbitrarily imposed by the police — in whom is vested 
 extraordinary power — when anything political was 
 written which did not please them. They are difficult 
 to please, I may add. 
 
 (2) A complete copy of each edition must be sent to 
 the police before it was put on sale. "Good" editors 
 whose inspiration was of a nature to enable them to 
 interpret the wishes of the Government, sometimes re- 
 ceived a dispensation from this formality. 
 
 (3) No club might hold a private meeting. A repre- 
 sentative of the police must be present. This rule was 
 often extended even to friendly gatherings in private 
 homes in such places as Bohemia. 
 
 (4) No political meeting might be held without a 
 permit, and a representative of the police must be 
 present. Often he sat on the platform. It is amusing 
 for the visitor from a free country to attend a political 
 
196 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 meeting where the chairman, speaker and policeman 
 file up on the stage to occupy the three chairs reserved 
 for them. The policeman may be heard by those in 
 the front rows continually cautioning the speaker. If 
 he thinks the speaker is talking too freely he either in- 
 tervenes through the chairman and #sks him to be 
 moderate or dismisses the meeting. 
 
 These regulations, I again remind the reader, were in 
 force in peace time. It is easy to see how an extension 
 of them effectually checks attempts of the Czechs (Bo- 
 hemians) and other peoples to legislate themselves into 
 a little freedom. 
 
 When I came to England early in the war from 
 Austria-Hungary and Germany I heard many expres- 
 sions of hope that the discontented races in the Empire 
 of Francis Joseph would rebel, and later expressions of 
 surprise that they did not. Englishmen held the opinion 
 that such races would be decidedly averse from fighting 
 for the Hapsburgs. The opinion was correct, and no- 
 body knew this better than the Hapsburgs themselves. 
 
 Like the German Government in the matter of 
 Alsace-Lorraine, the Austrian Government has en- 
 deavoured to mislead public opinion in foreign coun- 
 tries as to the state of mind of the Czechs by false 
 information and to conceal the true military and politi- 
 cal situation from the population at home. Austria's 
 first problem at the outbreak of war — a problem which 
 has been worked out to the last detail — was rapidly 
 to move the soldiers of the subjugated races from their 
 native lands. Since the Bosnians, for example, are of 
 the Serbian race, they were mobilised secretly in the 
 middle of July and sent out of Bosnia. I saw 30,000 
 
POLICE RULE IN BOHEML1 197 
 
 moved through Trieste several days before war was 
 declared on Serbia. A German acquaintance, with 
 great shipping interests, enthusiastically indiscreet at 
 sight of them, exclaimed to the little group of which 
 I was one : "A wonderful system — a wonderful system ! 
 The Bosnians could not be trusted to fight the Serbs. 
 But we Germans can use them if they prove trouble- 
 some to Austria," he continued excitedly. "We can 
 send them against the French. We will tell them that 
 if they do not shoot the French, we will shoot them." 
 I thought this a rather curious conversation for July 
 25th, 1914. 
 
 Less than fortnight later I saw two Bohemian regi- 
 ments arrive at Prasso, Transylvania, the province 
 farthest removed from their homes, to be garrisoned in 
 a region, the population of which is Rumanian, Hun- 
 garian and Saxon. I was told later that the Rumanians 
 who had left the garrisons at Brasso had gone to Bo- 
 hemia. As I observed these initial steps in the great 
 smooth-running Austiro-Hungarian military machine, 
 I was impressed with the impossibility of revolution. 
 With the soldier element scientifically broken up and 
 scattered all over the country, who could revolt — the 
 women and children? 
 
 The Slav soldiers of Austria-Hungary desert to Rus- 
 sia at every opportunity. The fact that she now has 
 upwards of 1,200,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners is 
 sufficient refutation of the sugar-coated propaganda 
 describing how all the peoples who make up Austria- 
 Hungary rushed loyally and enthusiastically to arms to 
 the defence of their Emperor and common country. 
 This is perfectly true of the politically dominant races, 
 
193 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the Germans and the Magyars, but the "enthusiasm" 
 I witnessed among the subjugated races consisted 
 chiefly of sad-faced soldiers and weeping women. 
 
 The Bohemians have given most trouble. One Ger- 
 man officer who was sent to Austria to help bolster up 
 her army told me that he didn't worry over the deser- 
 tion of Bohemians singly and in small groups. He ex- 
 pected that. But he did take serious exception to the 
 increasingly popular custom of whole battalions with 
 their officers and equipment passing over to the Kussian 
 lines intact. 
 
 The story of the Bohemian regiment trapped in the 
 Army of Leopold of Bavaria is generally known in 
 Austria. When the staff learned that this regiment 
 planned to cross to the Russians on a certain night, 
 three Bavarian regiments, well equipped with machine- 
 guns, were set to trap it. Contrary to usual procedure, 
 the Bohemians were induced by the men impersonating 
 the Russians to lay down their arms as an evidence of 
 good faith before crossing. The whole regiment was 
 then rounded up and marched to the rear, where a pub- 
 lic example was made of it. The officers were shot. 
 Then every tenth man was shot. The Government, in 
 order to circumvent any unfavourable impression which 
 this act might make in Bohemia, caused to be read each 
 day for three days in the schools a decree of the Em- 
 peror, condemning the treachery of this regiment, the 
 number of which was ordered for ever to be struck from 
 the military rolls of the Empire. 
 
 During the terrific fighting at Baranowitchi in the 
 great Russian offensive last summer, at a time when 
 the Russians repeatedly but unsuccessfully stormed that 
 
POLICE RULE IN BOHEMIA 199 
 
 important railway iunction, some Prussian units found 
 their right flank unsupported one morning at dawn, 
 because two Bohemian battalions had changed flags 
 during the night. The next Russian attack caused the 
 Prussians to lose 48 per cent, of their men. 
 
 This was the final straw for the Staff of Leopold's 
 Army. An Order was issued explaining to the troops 
 that henceforth no more Czechs would have the honour 
 of doing first line duty, since their courage was not of 
 as high a degree as that of the others. I found that 
 the Prussians, despite their depleted state, actually be- 
 lieved this explanation, which filled them with pride in 
 themselves and contempt for the Czechs. 
 
 But the German officers in charge of reorganising the 
 Austro-Hungarian Army were not content to let Bo- 
 hemians perform safe duties in the rear. Consequently, 
 they diluted them until no regiment contained more 
 than 20 per cent. 
 
 The authorities have been no less thorough with the 
 civilian population. From the day of mobilisation all 
 political life was suspended. The three narties of the 
 Opposition, the Radicals, the National-Socialists, and 
 the Progressives, were annihilated and their newspapers 
 suppressed. Their leaders, such men as Kramarzh, 
 Rasin, Klofatch, Schemer, Mazaryk, Durich, the men 
 who served as guides to the nation, were imprisoned or 
 exiled. This is surely a violation of the principle that 
 Governments derive their just powers from the consent 
 of the governed, for all these men were the true repre- 
 sentatives of the people. The fact that the Government 
 was obliged to get rid of the leaders of the nation shows 
 what the real situation in Bohemia is. 
 
200 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 The Czech deputies who were considered dangerous, 
 numbering forty, were mobilised. They were not all 
 sent to the front ; some were allowed temporary exemp- 
 tion ; but the Government gave them to understand 
 2hat the slightest act of hostility towards the Monarchy 
 on their part would result in their being called up imme- 
 diately and sent to the front. 
 
 The fetters of the Press were drawn more tightly. 
 Even the German papers were not allowed into Bohe- 
 mia. For some months, two or three enterprising 
 editors used to send a representative to Dresden to read 
 the German and English papers there. At present 
 three-quarters of the Czech papers and all the Slovak 
 newspapers have been suppressed. The columns of 
 those which are still allowed to appear in Bohemia and 
 Moravia are congested by mandates of the police and 
 the military authorities, which the editors are compelled 
 to insert. Recently the Government censorship has 
 been particularly active against books, collections of 
 national songs, and post-cards. It has even gone so 
 far as to co^^cate scientific works dealing with Slav 
 questions, Dostoyevski's novels, the books of Tolstoi 
 and Millioukoff, and collections of purely scientific Slav 
 study and histories. 
 
 The Government, however, have had to proceed to 
 far greater lengths. By May, 1916, the death sentences 
 of civilians pronounced in Austria since the beginning 
 of the war exceeded 4,000. Of these, 965 were Czechs. 
 A large proportion of the condemned were women. 
 The total of soldiers executed amounts to several 
 thousands. 
 
 Is it not peculiar that among people which the 
 
POLICE RULE IN BOHEMIA 201 
 
 Viennese propaganda represents as loyal, hostages are 
 taken in Bohemia, and condemned to death, under the 
 threat of execution if a popular movement takes place \ 
 The people are told of this and are given to understand 
 that the hostages have hopes for mercy if all is quiet. 
 
 Not only have the authorities confiscated the prop- 
 erty of all persons convicted of political offences and 
 of all Czechs who have fled from Austria-Hungary, but 
 a system has been established by which the property of 
 Czech soldiers who are prisoners in Russia is confis- 
 cated. The State profits doubly by this measure, for 
 it further suppresses the allowances made to the fam- 
 ilies of these soldiers. In order to terrorise its adver- 
 saries through such measures, the Government instructs 
 the Austrian newspapers to publish long lists of con- 
 fiscations and other penalties. 
 
 After a time, however, the Austrian Government 
 practically abdicated in favour of the Prussians and 
 now undertake to carry out the measures of Germanisa- 
 tion dictated by Berlin. The rights in connection with 
 the use of the Czech language in administration, in 
 the Law Courts and on the railways, rights which were 
 won by the desperate efforts of two generations of Czech 
 politicians, have been abrogated. The management of 
 the railways has been placed in the hands of Prussian 
 military officials; the use of the Czech language has 
 been suppressed in the administration, where it had 
 formerly been lawful. The Czechs have been denied 
 access to the Magistrature and to public offices where 
 they had occasionally succeeded in directing the affairs 
 in their own country. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 
 
 A comprehensive account of the German system of 
 espionage would need something resembling the 
 dimensions of a general encyclopedia, but for the 
 present I must endeavour to summarise the subject in 
 the course of a chapter. 
 
 Spying is just as essential an ingredient of Prussian 
 character as conceit, indifference to the feelings of 
 others, jealousy, envy, self-satisfaction, conceit, indus- 
 try, inquisitiveness, veneration for officialdom, imita- 
 tiveness, materialism, and the other national attributes 
 that will occur to those who know Prussia, as distinct 
 from the other German States. 
 
 Prussian men and women hardly know the meaning 
 of the word "private," and, as they have Prussianised 
 to a great or less degree all the other States of the 
 Empire, they have inured the German to publicity from 
 childhood upwards. 
 
 In the enforcement of food regulations the hands of 
 the Government in Germany are strengthened by cer- 
 tain elements in the German character, one of which 
 is the tendency of people to spy upon each other. Here 
 is a case. Last Easter the customary baking of cakes — 
 a time-honoured ceremony in Germany — was forbidden 
 all over Prussia from April 1 to 26. A certain good 
 woman of Stettin, whose husband was coming home 
 
 202 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 203 
 
 from the trenches, thought that she would welcome her 
 soldier with one of the cakes of which German men and 
 women are so fond. She foolishly displayed her treasure 
 to a neighbour, who had dropped in for gossip. The 
 neighbour cut short the interview, went home to her 
 telephone, called up the police and, as she put it, did 
 her duty. I suppose from the German point of view it 
 is the duty of people to spy in each other's houses. 
 From an Anglo-Saxon point of view it is something 
 rather like sneaking at school. 
 
 With these elements in their character, it is natural 
 that the Germans should be past masters in the art of 
 espionage. It does not follow that they are equally 
 successful in the deductions formed from their investi- 
 gations in foreign matters, but they are so egoistical and 
 so literal, so fond of making reports, so fond of seeing 
 things only from their own point of view, that, while 
 they may be successful in obtaining possession by spy- 
 ing, purchase, or theft, of the plans, say, of a new bat- 
 tleship, they are not able to form an accurate estimate 
 of the character and intentions of the people among 
 whom they may be spying. 
 
 Their military spying is believed to be as perfect a3 
 such work can be, marred occasionally by the contempt 
 they feel for other nations in military matters. I pre- 
 sume that there is not much difference in the systems 
 of various nations except that the German military spy- 
 ing is probably more thorough. 
 
 It is also true that Germans of social distinction will 
 often take positions far beneath their rank in order to 
 gather valuable information for their Government. 
 The case of the hall porter in the Hotel des Indes, the 
 
20 4 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 most fashionable hotel in The Hague, is a notorious 
 example. He is of gentle birth, a brother of Baron von 
 Wangenheim, late German Ambassador to Constanti- 
 nople. 
 
 In one of the most luxurious dining-saloons on one of 
 the most luxurious of the great German liners — I 
 promised my trustworthy informant not to be more L 
 definite — the man who was head-waiter during the year 
 preceding the war impressed those under him with 
 being much more interested in some mysterious busi- 
 ness ashore than in his duties aboard ship. He threw 
 most of his work on subordinates, who complained, 
 though unsuccessfully, to the management. Unlike 
 other head-waiters and chief stewards, he was never 
 aboard the ship when it was in port. He was the only 
 German in the dining-saloon, and he seemed to have 
 great influence. He conversed freely with influential 
 passengers of various nationalities. 
 
 The liner was in the English Channel eastward 
 bound when news came that Germany had declared 
 war upon Kussia. What little interest he had pre- 
 viously displayed in his duties now vanished completely, 
 and he paced the deck more and more impatiently as 
 the vessel neared Cuxhaven. He was one of the first to 
 go ashore, but before leaving he turned to two of the 
 stewards and exclaimed, "Good-bye. I am going to 
 Wilhelmshaven to take command of my cruiser." 
 
 In general, the work of military attaches of all coun- 
 tries is added to by more or less formal reports by 
 officers who may be travelling on leave. But German 
 military spying goes much farther than this, for inas- 
 much as most Germans have been soldiers, the majority 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 205 
 
 of Germans travelling or resident in a foreign country 
 are trained observers of military matters and often act 
 as semi-spies. 
 
 The system of "sowing" Germans in foreign coun- 
 tries, as I have heard it called in Germany, and getting 
 them naturalised, was begun by Prussia before the war 
 of 1866 against Austria. It was so successful under 
 the indirect auspices of the Triumvirate — Moltke, 
 Koon, and Bismarck — that it was developed in other 
 countries. Thus it is that, while there are compara- 
 tively few Frenchmen, for example, naturalised in Eng- 
 land, many German residents go through this more or 
 less meaningless form just as suits their partic- 
 ular business or the German Government, double 
 nationality being regarded as a patriotic duty to the 
 Fatherland. 
 
 There are, as a rule, three schools of German espion- 
 age in other countries — the Embassy, the Consulates, 
 and the individual spies, who have no connection with 
 either and who forward their reports direct to Ger- 
 many. 
 
 There is a fourth class of fairly well-paid profes- 
 sional spies, men and women, of all classes, who visit 
 foreign countries with letters of introduction, who 
 attend working-men's conventions, scientific, military, 
 and other industrial congresses, receiving from £40 to 
 £100 monthly by way of pay. The case of Lody, whom 
 the British caught and executed, was a type of the 
 patriotic officer spy. But his execution caused no real 
 regret in Germany, for he was regarded as a clumsy 
 fellow, who roused the vigilance of the British author- 
 ities, with the result, I was informed in Germany, of 
 
206 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the arrest and execution of several others, mostly, it is 
 said, Dutch, South American and other neutrals. 
 
 The atmosphere of spying in business is a subtle and 
 comparatively modern form of German espionage, and 
 has developed with the remarkable rise of German in- 
 dustry in the last quarter of a century. It fits in 
 admirably with the Consular spy system, and links up 
 Germans, naturalised and otherwise, in a chain which 
 binds them together in a solidarity of workers for the 
 cause. The Deutsche Bank and the Hamburg-Amerika 
 Line were very potent engines of espionage. 
 
 ~Not does the "Viktoria Insurance Company of 
 Berlin" limit its activities to the kind of business sug- 
 gested by the sign over the door. A "Special Bureau" 
 in the Avenue de 1' Opera, Paris, consisted of German 
 Reserve officers who spent a half-year or more in 
 Prance. As soon as one of these "finished his educa- 
 tion" he was replaced by another Reserve officer. Their 
 duties took them on long motor-trips through eastern 
 Prance, strangely enough to localities which might be 
 of strategic importance in the event of war. It is not 
 without significance that all the clerks of the "Special 
 Bureau" left for Germany the day of mobilisation. 
 
 Many of the semi-spies of the German commercial, 
 musical, and theatrical world are, from their point of 
 view, honest workers and enthusiastic for German 
 Kultur. They recently fastened upon England, because 
 the Germans for many years have been taught to regard 
 this country as their next opponent. 
 
 They are now as industrious in the United States as 
 they were in England before the war, because those 
 Germans who think they have won the war believe that 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 207 
 
 the United States is their next enemy. How active 
 they have been in my country may be gathered from 
 the revelations concerning Bernstorff, von Papen, Boy- 
 ed, Dumba, the officials of the Hamburg- Amerika Line, 
 and many others, whose machinations have been re- 
 vealed by the New York World and other journals. 
 
 It is the duty of the German Minister and his staff 
 in any foreign conutry, and particularly in countries 
 likely to become hostile, to get as close as possible to 
 members of Governments, members of Legislatures, 
 leaders of thought and society, and members of the 
 Press, especially the first and the last in this category. 
 Count Bernstorff in the United States did exactly what 
 Prince Lichnowsky did in Britain before the war, and, 
 if I may say so, did it a great deal more successfully, 
 though it is the plea of the Prince's defenders that he 
 succeeded in making very powerful and permanent con- 
 nections in Great Britain. 
 
 Our American Ambassadors, on the other hand, con- 
 fine their attention to strictly ambassadorial work, 
 attend to the needs of travelling Americans, and com- 
 municate with their Government on matters vital to 
 American interests. 
 
 The excellent German Consular system, which has 
 done so much to help German trade invaders in foreign 
 countries, is openly a spy bureau, and is provided in 
 almost every important centre with its own secret 
 service fund. Attached to it are spies and semi-spies, 
 hotel-keepers, hairdressers, tutors, governesses, and em- 
 ployees in Government establishments, such as ship- 
 building yards and armament factories. It is a mistake 
 to suppose that all these are Germans. Some, I regret 
 
208 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 to say, are natives of the land in which the Germans are 
 spying, mostly people who have got into trouble and 
 with whom the German agents have got into touch. 
 Such men, especially those who have suffered imprison- 
 ment, have often a grudge against their own country 
 and are easily caught in the spy net. 
 
 Part of the system in England before the war was a 
 commercial information bureau resembling the Ameri- 
 can Bradstreets and the English Stubbs, by which, on 
 payment of a small sum, the commercial standing of 
 any firm or individual can be obtained. This bureau, 
 which had its branches also in France and Belgium, 
 closed its activities immediately prior to the war, the 
 whole of the card-indexes being removed to Berlin. 
 
 It is the German boast, and I believe a legitimate 
 one, that they know England better than do the English. 
 Their error is in believing that in knowing England 
 they know the English themselves. 
 
 At the outset of the war, when the Germans were 
 winning, Herr Albert Ulrich, of the Deutsche Bank, 
 and chief of their Oil Development Department, speak- 
 ing in perfect English, told me in a rather heated 
 altercation we had in regard to my country that he 
 knew the United States and Great Britain very thor- 
 oughly indeed, and boasted that the American subma- 
 rines, building at Fore Kiver, of which the Germans 
 had secured the designs, would be of little value in the 
 case of hostilities between Germany and the United 
 States, which he then thought imminent. 
 
 It is typical of German mentality that when I met 
 him in Berlin, fifteen months later, he had completely 
 altered his tune as to the war, and his tone was, "When 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 209 
 
 is this dreadful war going to end?" This, however, 
 is by the way. Ilerr Ulrich is only an instance of the 
 solidarity of Pan-Germanism. An English or Amer- 
 ican banker visting a foreign country attends to his 
 affairs and departs. A German in a similar position is 
 a sort of human ferret. An hotel with us is a place of 
 residence for transient strangers. The Hotel Adlon 
 and others in Berlin are excellent hotels as such, but 
 mixed up with spying upon strangers; TIerr Adlon, 
 senior, a friend of the Kaiser's, assists the Government 
 spies when any important or suspicious visitor registers. 
 The hotel telephones or any other telephones are syste- 
 matically tapped. German soldiers are granted special 
 leave for hotel service — that is to say, hotel spying. 
 
 When Belgium and France were invaded, German 
 officers led their men through particular districts to 
 particular houses with certainty, with knowledge gained 
 by previous residence and spying. I know an officer 
 with von Kluck's army who received the Iron Cross, 
 Eirst Class, for special information he had given to 
 von Kluck which facilitated his progress through 
 Belgium. 
 
 Any German spies who may be working in England 
 to-day have no great difficulty in communicating with 
 Germany, though communication is slow and expen- 
 sive. They can do so by many routes and many means. 
 As it is impossible to isolate Great Britain from Europe, 
 it is equally impossible to prevent the conveyance of 
 information to the enemy with more or less rapidity. 
 Agents of the various belligerent Powers are plentiful 
 in Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, Norway and 
 Sweden, and the United States. So far as the maritime 
 
2 1 o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 countries are concerned, ships leave and enter daily. 
 It is quite impossible to control the movements of neu- 
 tral sailors and others engaged in these vessels. To 
 watch all the movements of all those men would require 
 a detective force of impossible dimensions. That in- 
 formation comes and goes freely by these channels is 
 notorious. That all the sailors are legitimate sailors 
 I do not believe, and as a matter of fact I know that 
 they are not. 
 
 The transmission of documents via Switzerland, 
 Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway has been 
 rendered difficult, but not always impossible. Cabling 
 and telegraphing have been made very risky. 
 
 Judging by the impatience manifested in certain 
 quarters in Berlin at delay in getting news of Zeppelin 
 raids, for example, I believe that the steps taken to 
 delay communication between England and Germany 
 have been effective, and delay in spy work is very often 
 fatal to its efficiency. The various tentacles of the 
 German spy system, its checks and counter-checks, 
 whereby one spy watches another; whereby the naval 
 spy system has no connection with the military spy 
 system, and the political with neither, greatly mars its 
 utility. 
 
 Take one great question — the question that was all- 
 important to Germany as to whether Great Britain 
 would or would not enter the war in the event of an 
 invasion of Belgium or declaration of war against 
 Erance. I was informed on good Berlin authority 
 that from every part of Great Britain and Ireland 
 came different reports. So far as London was con- 
 cerned, Prince Lichnowsky said "No." Baron von 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 2 1 1 
 
 Kuhlmann was non-committal. A3 a result Lichnowsky 
 was disgraced and von Kuhlmann continued in favour. 
 
 It is common knowledge in Berlin, and may be else- 
 where, that the most surprised person in Germany at 
 Great Britain's action was the Kaiser, whose violent 
 and continual denunciations of Great Britain's Govern- 
 ment, of King Edward, and King George, are repeated 
 from mouth to mouth in official circles with a sameness 
 that indicates accuracy. 
 
 All the ignorance of Great Britain's intentions in 
 1914 is to me the best proof that the German minute 
 system of working does not always produce the result 
 desired 
 
 As one with Irish blood in my veins, I found that 
 Germany's Irish spy system (largely conducted by hotel 
 waiters and active for more than five and twenty years) 
 had resulted in hopeless misunderstanding of Irish 
 affairs and Irish character, North and South. 
 
 German spies are as a rule badly paid. The semi- 
 spies, such as waiters, were usually "helped" by the 
 German Government through waiters' friendly so- 
 cieties. It was the duty of these men to communicate 
 either in writing or verbally with the Consul, or with 
 certain headquarters either in Brussels or Berlin, and 
 it is only in accordance with human nature that spies 
 of that class, in order to gain a reputation for acumen 
 and consequent increase of pay, provided the kind of 
 information that pleased the paymaster. That, indeed, 
 was one of the causes of the breakdown of the German 
 political spy system. A spy waiter or governess in the 
 County of Cork, for instance, who assiduously reported 
 that a revolution throughout the whole of Ireland would 
 
2 1 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 immediately follow Great Britain's entry into the war, 
 received much more attention than the spy waiter in 
 Belfast who told the authorities that if Germany went 
 to war many Irishmen would join England. Ireland, 
 I admit, is very difficult and puzzling ground for spy 
 work, but it was ground thoroughly covered by the Ger- 
 mans according to their methods. 
 
 The military party in Germany, who are flaying von 
 Bethmann-Hollweg for his ignorance of the intentions 
 of Britain's Dominions and of Ireland, never cease to 
 throw in his teeth the fact that he had millions of 
 pounds (not marks) at his back to make the necessary 
 investigations, and that he failed. That and his lack 
 of the use of ruthlessness, his alleged three days' delay 
 to mobilise in 1914, are the principal charges against 
 him — charges which, in my opinion, may eventually 
 result in his downfall. 
 
 The great mob of semi-spies do not derive their whole 
 income from Germany, nor are they, I believe, all actu- 
 ally paid at regular intervals^ The struggling German 
 shopkeeper in England was helped, and I have no 
 doubt is still helped, by occasional sums received for 
 business development — sums nominally in the nature of 
 donations or loans from other Germans. The army of 
 German clerks, who came to England and worked with- 
 out salary between 1875 and 1900, received, as a rule, 
 their travelling money and an allowance paid direct 
 from Germany, or, when in urgent need, from the Con- 
 sul in London or elsewhere. Their spying was largely 
 commercial, although many of them formed connec- 
 tions here which became valuable as Germany began 
 to prepare directly for war with Britain. They also 
 
SPIES AND SEMI-SPIES 213 
 
 helped to spread the knowledge of the English language 
 which has enabled Germany to analyse the country by 
 means of its books, Blue-books, statistical publications, 
 and newspapers. They also brought back with them 
 topographical and local knowledge that supplemented 
 the military spy work later achieved by the German 
 officers who came to live here for spying purposes, and 
 the great army of trained spy waiters, who are not to be 
 confused with the semi-spies in hotels, who drew small 
 sums from Consuls. 
 
 One of the finest pieces of spy work achieved by 
 Germany was the obtaining by a German professor of a 
 unique set of photographs of the whole of the Scottish 
 coast, from north to south. Those photographs show- 
 ing every inlet and harbour, are now at the Keichs- 
 Marine-Amt (Admiralty) in the Leipsigerplatz. They 
 have been reproduced for the use of the Navy. I do 
 not know how they were obtained. I know they are in 
 existence, and they were taken for geological purposes. 
 
 Thefts of documents from British Government De- 
 partments are not always successfully accomplished by 
 German agents, I was told. Some of the more astute 
 officials are alleged, especially by the Naval Depart- 
 ment, to have laid traps and supplied the spies with 
 purposely misleading designs and codes. 
 
 Assiduous fishing in the troubled waters around the 
 Wilhelmstrasse — waters that will become more and 
 more troubled as the siege of Germany proceeds — ren- 
 ders the gathering of information not so difficult as it 
 might appear. 
 
 By sympathising with the critics of the German 
 "Foreign Office in the violent attacks upon the Govern- 
 
2 1 4 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ment by the non-official Social Democrats, a sym- 
 pathetic listener can learn a great deal. 
 
 One thing I learned is that, beyond question, the 
 German spy system, in that misty period called "after 
 the war," will be very completely revised. The huge 
 sums of money mentioned in the Keichstag as having 
 been expended on secret service have, so far as England 
 is concerned, proved of no political value, and the topo- 
 graphical and personal knowledge gained would only 
 be of service in case of actual invasion and the conse- 
 quent exactions of ransoms from individuals, cities, and 
 districts. 
 
CHAPTEK XVm 
 
 THE IRON HAND IN AlLSACT^LORBAINJC 
 
 The state of affairs in Alsace-Lorraine i9 one of 
 Germany's most carefully hidden secrets. 
 
 In the first months of the war I heard so much talk 
 in Germany — talk based upon articles in the Press — of 
 how the Alsatians, like the rest of the Kaiser's subjects, 
 "rushed to the defence of the Fatherland," that I was 
 filled with curiosity to go and see for myself if they 
 had suddenly changed. I could hardly believe that 
 they had, for I had studied conditions in the "lost 
 provinces" before the war. 
 
 Still, the Wilhelmstrasse propaganda was convincing 
 millions that the Alsations received the French very 
 coldly when they invaded the province to Mulhouse, 
 and that they greeted the German troops most heartily 
 when they drove back the invader. Indeed, Alsatian 
 fathers were depicted as rushing into the streets to cheer 
 the German colours, while their wives and daughters 
 "were so beside themselves with joy that they hung 
 upon the necks of the brave German Michaels, hailing 
 them as saviours." 
 
 A pretty picture of the appreciation of the blessings 
 of German rule, but was it true i 
 
 Some months later in Paris, when I stood in the 
 Place de la Concorde before the Monument of Strass- 
 burg, covered with new mourning wreaths and a Brit- 
 
 215 
 
2 1 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ish flag now added, I felt an irresistible yearning to 
 visit the closely guarded region of secrecy and mystery. 
 
 On my subsequent trip to Germany I planned and 
 planned day after day how I could get into Alsace 
 and go about studying actual conditions there. When 
 I told one American consul that I wished to go to 
 Strassburg to see things for myself, he threw up his 
 hands with a gesture of despair and reminded me that 
 not an American or other consulate was allowed in 
 Alsace-Lorraine, even in peace time. When I replied 
 that I was determined to go he looked grave, and said 
 earnestly: "Remember that you are going into a damn 
 bad country, and you go at your own risk." 
 
 It is extremely difficult for Germans, to say nothing 
 of foreigners, to enter the fortress-city of Strassburg. 
 Business must be exceedingly urgent, and a military 
 pass is required. A special pass is necessary to remain 
 over night. 
 
 How did I get into Strassburg in war-time? 
 
 That is my own story, quite a simple one, but I do 
 not propose to tell it now except by analogy, in order 
 not to get anybody into trouble. 
 
 During my last voyage across the ocean, which was 
 on the Dutch liner Rotterdam, I went into the fo'castle 
 one day to talk to a stowaway, a simple young East 
 Prussian lad, who had gone to sea and had found him- 
 self in the United States at the outbreak of war. 
 
 "How on earth did you manage to pass through tho 
 iron-clad regulations at the docks of Hoboken (New 
 York) without a permit, and why did you do it?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "I was home-sick," he answered, "and I wanted to 
 
IRON HAND IN ALSACE-LORRAINE 217 
 
 go back to Germany to see my mother. I got on board 
 quite easily. I noticed a gentleman carrying his own 
 baggage, and I said to him, 'Can I carry your suit- 
 cases on board, sir V " 
 
 Once on board his knowledge of ships told him how 
 to hide. 
 
 Having myself stood for more than two hours on the 
 quay in a long and growling queue of passengers, I 
 could not but be amused by the simple device by which 
 this country youth had outwitted the stringent war em- 
 barkation regulations of war-time ]STew York. He was 
 in due course taken off by the British authorities at 
 Falmouth, and is now probably enjoying the sumptuous 
 diet provided at the Alexandra Palace or the Isle of 
 Man. 
 
 Well, that is not exactly how I got into Strassburg, 
 but I got in. 
 
 Night had fallen when I crossed the Khine from 
 Baden. I was conscious of an indescribable thrill when 
 my feet touched the soil so sacred to all Frenchmen, 
 and I somehow felt as if I were walking in fairyland 
 as I pushed on in the dark. I had good fortune, 
 arising from the fact that a great troop movement 
 was taking place, with consequent confusion and 
 crowding. 
 
 On all sides from the surrounding girdle of forts the 
 searchlights swept the sky, and columns of weary sol- 
 diers tramped past me on that four-mile road that led 
 into Strassburg. I kept as close to them as possible 
 with some other pedestrians, labourers returning from 
 the great electric power plant. 
 
 Presently I was alone on the road when suddenly a 
 
2 1 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 soldier lurched from the shadows and accosted me. I 
 let him do the talking. But there was no need to be 
 alarmed; he was only a drunken straggler who had got 
 separated from his company and wanted to know 
 whether any more troops were coming on. 
 
 I had already passed through two cordons of func- 
 tionaries outside, and felt little fear in Strassburg it- 
 self, so long as I was duly cautious. I had thought out 
 my project carefully. I realised that I must sleep in 
 the open ; for, unprovided with a pass it was impossible 
 for me to go to an hotel. Thankful that I was familiar 
 with my surroundings I wended my way to the beauti- 
 ful park, the Orangerie, where I made myself com- 
 fortable in a clump of bushes and watched the unceas- 
 ing flash of searchlights criss-cross in the sky until I 
 fell asleep. 
 
 Next day I continued my investigations, but in Al- 
 sace as elsewhere my personal adventures are of no im- 
 portance to the world unless, as in some instances, they 
 throw light on conditions or are necessary to support 
 statements made, whereas the facts set down belong to 
 the history of the war. Therefore I shall here sum- 
 marise what I found in the old French province. 
 
 The Germans have treated Alsace-Lorraine ruth- 
 lessly since the outbreak of war. In no part of the 
 Empire is the iron hand so evident. In Strassburg it- 
 self all signs of the French have disappeared. Headers 
 who know the place well will remark that they were 
 vanishing before the war. Externally they have now 
 gone altogether, but the hearts and spirit of the people 
 are as before. 
 
 What I saw reminded me of the words of a Social 
 
IRON HAND IN ALSACE-LORRAINE 219 
 
 Democrat friend in Berlin, who told me that the Prus- 
 sian Government determined at the beginning of the 
 war that they would have no more Alsace-Lorraine 
 problem in the future. 
 
 They have, therefore, sent the soldiers from these two 
 provinces to the most dangerous places at the various 
 fronts. One Alsace regiment was hurled again and 
 again at the old British Army on the Yser in Novem- 
 ber, 1914, until at the end of a week only three officers 
 and six men were left alive. Some of the most perilous 
 work at Verdun was forced upon the Alsatians. 
 
 The Prussian authorities deliberately retain with 
 the colours Alsatians and Lorrainers unfit for military 
 service, and wounded men are not allowed to return to 
 their homes. 
 
 In the little circle to which I was introduced in 
 Strassburg I talked with one sorrowing woman, who 
 said that her son, obviously in an advanced state of 
 tuberculosis, had been called up in spite of protests. 
 He died within three weeks. Another young man, suf- 
 fering from haemorrhage of the lungs, was called up. 
 He was forced to stand for punishment all one winter's 
 day in the snow. In less than two months a merciful 
 death in a military hospital released him from the 
 Prussian clutch. 
 
 The town of Strassburg is a vast hospital. I do not 
 think I have ever seen so many Red Cross flags before. 
 They waved from the Imperial Palace, the public li- 
 brary, the large and excellent military hospitals, the 
 schoolhouses, hotels, and private residences. The 
 Orangerie is thronged with convalescent wounded, and 
 when hunger directed my steps to the extensive Park 
 
2 20 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Restaurant I found it, too, converted into a hospital. 
 Even the large concert room was crowded with cots. 
 
 The glorious old sandstone Cathedral, with its gor- 
 geous facade and lace-like spire, had a Red Cross flag 
 waving over the nave while a wireless apparatus was 
 installed on the spire. Sentries paced backwards and 
 forwards on the uncompleted tower, which dominates 
 the region to the Vosges. 
 
 The whole object of Prussia is to eliminate every 
 vestige of French influence in the two provinces. The 
 use of the French language, whether in speech or writ- 
 ing, is strictly forbidden. To print, sell, offer for sale, 
 or purchase anything in French is to commit a crime. 
 Detectives are everywhere on the alert to discover vio- 
 lations of the law. All French trade names have been 
 changed to their German equivalents. For example, 
 the sign Guillaume Bondee, Tailleur, has come down, 
 and if the tradesman wants to continue in his business 
 Wilhelm Bondee, Schneider, must go up. He may have 
 a quantity of valuable business forms or letter-heads in 
 French — even if they contain only one French word 
 they must be destroyed. And those intimate friends 
 who are accustomed to address him by his first name 
 must bear in mind that it is Wilhelm. § 
 
 Eloise was a milliner at the outbreak of the war. To- ' 
 day, if she desires to continue her business, she is 
 obliged to remove the final "e" and thus Germanise her 
 name. 
 
 After having been fed in Berlin on stories of Alsatian 
 loyalty to the Kaiser, I was naturally puzzled by these 
 things. If Guillaume had rushed into the street to 
 cheer the German colours when the French were driven 
 
IRON HAND IN ALSACE-LORRAINE 221 
 
 back, and Eloi'se had hung upon the neck of the German 
 Michael, was it not rather ungrateful of the Prussians 
 subsequently to persecute them even to the stamping 
 out of their names ? Not only that, but to be so efficient 
 in hate that even inscriptions on tombstones may no 
 longer be written in French? 
 
 Alsace-Lorraine is to be literally Elsass-Lothringen 
 to the last detail. 
 
 The truth of the matter is that the Alsatians greeted 
 the French as deliverers and were depressed when they 
 fell back. This, as might be expected, exasperated 
 Prussia, for it was a slap in the face for her system of 
 government by oppression. Thus, at the very time that 
 the Nachrichtendienst (News Service) connected with 
 the Wilhelmstrasse was instructing Germans and neu- 
 trals that the Alsatians' enthusiastic reception of Ger- 
 man troops was evidence of their approval of German 
 rule, the military authorities were posting quite a dif- 
 ferent kind of notice in Alsace, a notice which reveals 
 the true story. 
 
 "During the transport of French prisoners of war a 
 portion of the populace has given expression to a feel- 
 ing of sympathy for these prisoners and for France. 
 This is to inform all whom it may concern that such 
 expressions of sympathy are criminal and punishable, 
 and that, should they again take place, the persons tak- 
 ing part in them will be proceeded against by court- 
 martial, and the rest of the inhabitants will be sum- 
 marily deprived of the privileges they now enjoy. 
 
 "All crowding around prisoners of war, conversations 
 with them, cries of welcome and demonstrations of sym- 
 pathy of all kinds, as well as the supply of gifts, is 
 
222 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 strictly prohibited. It is also forbidden to remain 
 standing while prisoners are being conducted or to fol- 
 low the transport." 
 
 The result of the persecution of the French-speaking 
 portion of the population has been a boomerang for 
 Prussia. The Germans of the region, most of whom 
 never cared much for Prussia, are now bitterly hostile 
 to her, and thus it is that all citizens of Alsace, whether 
 French or German, who go into other parts of Germany 
 are under the same police regulations as alien enemies. 
 
 In order to permit military relentlessness to proceed 
 smoothly without any opposition, the very members of 
 the local Parliament, the Strassburg Diet, are abso- 
 lutely muzzled They have been compelled to promise 
 not to criticise at any time, or in any way, the military 
 control ; otherwise their Parliament will be closed. As 
 for the Local Councils, they are not allowed to discuss 
 any political questions whatsoever. A representative 
 of the police is present at every meeting to enforce this 
 rule to the letter. 
 
 The people do not even get the sugared Reichstag re- 
 ports, as does the rest of Germany. These are specially 
 re-censored at Mulhouse. The official reports of the 
 General Staff are often days late, and sometimes do not 
 appear at all. In no part of the war zone is there so 
 much ignorance about what is happening at the various 
 fronts as in the two "lost provinces." 
 
 Those who do not sympathise with Germany in her 
 career of conquest upon which she so joyfully and ruth- 
 lessly embarked in August, 1914, may well point to 
 Alsace-Lorraine as an argument against the probability 
 
IRON HAND IN ALSACE-LORRAINE 223 
 
 of other peoples delighting in the rule which she would 
 force upon them. 
 
 She has become more intolerant, not less, in the old 
 French provinces. It will be recalled that by the Treaty 
 of Frankfurt, signed in March, 1871, they became a 
 "Reichsland," that is, an Imperial Land, not a self- 
 governing State like Bavaria, Saxony, or Wurttemberg. 
 As Bismarck bluntly and truly said to the Alsatian 
 deputies in the Reichstag: "It is not for your sakes 
 nor in your interests that we conquered you, but in tho 
 interests of the Empire." 
 
 For more than forty years Prussia has employed 
 every means but kindness to Germanise the conquered 
 territory. But though she has hushed every syllable of 
 French in the elementary schools and forced the chil- 
 dren to learn the German language and history only; 
 though freedom of speech, liberty of the Press, rights 
 of public meeting, have been things unknown; though 
 even the little children playing at sand castles have 
 been arrested and fined if in their enthusiasm they 
 raised a tiny French flag, or in the excitement of their 
 mock contest cried "Vive la France !" ; though men and 
 women have been fined and thrown into prison for the 
 most trifling manifestations that they had not become 
 enthusiastic for their rulers across the Rhine; and 
 though most of the men filling Government positions — ■ 
 and they are legion — are Prussians, the Alsatians pre- 
 serve their individuality and remain uncowed. 
 
 Having failed in two score of years to absorb them 
 by force, Prussia during the war has sought by scien- 
 tific methods carried to any extreme to blot out for ever 
 themselves and their spirit. 
 
2 24 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 To do the German credit, I believe that he is sincere 
 when he believes that his rule would be a benefit ta 
 others and that he is genuinely perplexed when he dis- 
 covers that other people do not like his regulations. The 
 attitude which I have found in Germany towards other 
 nationalities was expressed by Treitschke when he said, 
 "We Germans know better what is good for Alsace than 
 the unhappy people themselves." 
 
 The German idea of how she should govern other 
 people is an anachronism. This idea, which I have 
 heard voiced all over Germany, was aptly set forth be- 
 fore the war by a speaker on "The Decadence of tha 
 British Empire," when he sought to prove such deca- 
 dence by citing the fact that there was only one British 
 soldier to every 4,000 of the people of India. "Why," 
 he concluded, "Germany has more soldiers in Alsace- 
 Lorraine alone than Great Britain has in all India." 
 
 That is a bad spirit for the world, and it is a bad 
 spirit for Germany. She herself will receive one great 
 blessing from the war if it is hammered out of her. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 
 
 The handling of the always difficult question of the 
 eternal feminine was firmly tackled by the Ger- 
 man Government almost immediately after the out- 
 break of war. 
 
 To understand the differences between the situation 
 here and in Germany it is necessary first to have a lit- 
 tle understanding of the German woman and her status. 
 With us, woman is treated as something apart, some- 
 thing on a pedestal. In Germany and in Austria the 
 situation is reversed. The German man uses his home 
 as a place to eat and sleep in, and be waited upon. The 
 attitude of the German woman towards the man is 
 nearly always that of the obedient humble servant to 
 command. If a husband and wife are out shopping it 
 is often enough the wife who carries the parcels. In 
 entering any public place the middle-class man walks 
 first and the wife dutifully follows. When leaving, it 
 is the custom for the man to be helped with his coat be- 
 fore the woman. Indeed* she is generally left to shift 
 for herself. 
 
 Woman is the under sex, the very much under sex, in 
 Germany, regarded by the man as his plaything or as 
 his cook-wife and nurse of his children; and she will 
 continue to be the under sex until she develops pride 
 enough to assert herself. She accepts her inferiority 
 
 225 
 
226 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 without murmur; indeed, she often impresses one as 
 delighting in it. 
 
 It is no dishonour for a girl of the middle or lower 
 class to have a liaison with some admirer, particularly 
 if he is a student or a young officer ; in fact, it is quite 
 the proper thing for him to be welcomed by her parents, 
 although it is perfectly well understood that he has not 
 the slightest idea of marrying her. The girls are doing 
 their part to help along the doctrine of free love, the 
 preaching and practice of which are so greatly increas- 
 ing in the modern German State. 
 
 After marriage the woman's influence in the world is 
 nearly zero. The idolatry of titles is carried to an 
 extreme in Germany which goes from the pathetic to 
 the ludicrous. One does not address a German lady by 
 her surname, as Frau Schmidt, but by her husband's 
 title or position, as Frau Hauptmann (Mrs. Captain), 
 Frau Doktor, Frau Professor, Frau Backermeister 
 (Mrs. Bakershopowner), or even Frau Schornstein- 
 fegermeister (Mrs. Master Chimneysweep), although 
 her husband may be master over only some occasional 
 juvenile assistant. In military social functions, and 
 they are of daily occurrence in garrison towns, Mrs. 
 Colonel naturally takes precedence in all matters over 
 the wives and daughters of other members of the regi- 
 ment. Contemplate the joyful existence of a vivacious 
 American or British girl, accustomed to the respectful 
 consideration of the other sex, married to a young lieu- 
 tenant and ruled over by all the wives of his superior 
 officers ! 
 
 To try to marry money is considered praiseworthy 
 and correct in German military circles. In Prussia a 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 227 
 
 lieutenant in peace times receives for the first three 
 jears £60 a year, from the fourth to the sixth year £85, 
 from the seventh to the ninth year £99, from the tenth 
 to the twelfth year £110, and after the twelfth year 
 £120 a year. A captain receives from the first to the 
 fourth year £170, from the fifth to the eighth year 
 £230, and the ninth year and after £255. 
 
 Thus it is that no young lady, however ugly, need be 
 without an officer husband if she has money enough to 
 buy one. If he has not a private income, the Govern- 
 ment forbids him to marry until his pay is sufficient. 
 That point is seldom reached before he is thirty-five 
 years of age. Marriage helps him out of the difficulty, 
 and since the army is so deified in the Fatherland that 
 the highest ambition of nearly every girl is to marry an 
 officer, his opportunity of trading shoulder-knots for a 
 dowry is excellent. 
 
 The efforts of some women to increase their fortune 
 sufficiently to enable them to invest in a military better- 
 half are pathetic from an Anglo-Saxon point of view. 
 One woman who requested an interview with me said 
 that as I was an American correspondent I might be 
 able to advise her how she could dispose of a collection 
 of autographs to some American millionaire. She ex- 
 plained that her financial condition was not so good as 
 formerly, but she was desperate to better it as she was 
 in love with an officer, who, although he loved her, 
 would have to marry another if she could not increase 
 her income. The autographs she showed me were from 
 Prince Henry of Prussia, Prince Biilow and other not- 
 ables, and most of them were signed to private letters. 
 
 Take the story of Marie and Fritz, both of whom I 
 
228 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 knew in a garrison city in eastern Germany, Nothing 
 could illustrate better the difference between the Ger- 
 man attitude and our own on certain matters. She 
 was a charming, lovable girl of nineteen engaged to an 
 impecunious young lieutenant a few years older. They 
 moved in the best circle in the Garnisonstadt. 
 
 Two years after their engagement her father lost 
 heavily in business and could no longer afford to settle 
 £5,000 on her to enable them to marry. 
 
 It mattered not ; theirs was true love, and they would 
 wait until his pay was sufficient. 
 
 All went well until another girl, as unattractive as 
 Marie was charming, decided that she would try to buy 
 Fritz as a husband. After four months of her acquaint- 
 ance he found time at the end of a day's drill to write a 
 few lines informing the young lady, nine years of whose 
 life he had monopolised, of his intention to marry the 
 new rival. Life became black for Marie, the more as 
 she realised that she and Fritz had only to wait a little 
 longer and his pay would be sufficient. 
 
 How would Fritz be regarded in this country, and 
 how was he regarded according to German standards? 
 That is what makes the story worth telling. With us 
 such a man as Fritz would have been cut socially and 
 there would have been great sympathy for the sweet 
 girl whose years had been wasted. But on the other 
 side of the Rhine women exist solely for the comfort 
 of men. In militaristic Germany Fritz lost not an iota 
 of the esteem of his friends of either sex ; as for Marie, 
 she had failed in a fair game, that was all. The girl's 
 mother even excused his conduct by saying that he was 
 ambitious to get ahead in the army. Like most of her 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 229 
 
 sex in Germany she has been reared to venerate the 
 uniform so much that anything done by the man who 
 wears it is quite excusable. Indeed, Marie's mother 
 still listens with respectful approval at Kaffeeklatsch 
 to Fritz's mother when she boasts of what her son is 
 doing as a major over Turkish troops. 
 
 German women have many estimable qualities, but a 
 proper amount of independence and pride is noticeably 
 foreign to their natures. Is it surprising that the Amer- 
 ican girl of German parents requires only a very brief 
 visit to the Fatherland to convince her that the career 
 of the Hausfrau is not attractive. 
 
 On the whole, the efforts of the German woman have 
 almost doubled the national output of war energy. Ex- 
 cept in Berlin few are idle, and these only among the 
 newly-rich class. The women of the upper classes, both 
 Cn Germany and Austria, are either in hospitals or are 
 making comforts for the troops. Women have always 
 worked harder in Germany and at more kinds of work 
 than in Britain or the States, and what, judging by 
 London illustrated papers, seems to be a novelty — the 
 engagement of women in agricultural and other pur- 
 suits — is just the natural way of things in Germany. 
 It should always be remembered, when estimating Ger- 
 man man-power and German ability to hold out, that 
 the bulk of the work of civil life is being done by pris- 
 oners and women. A German woman and a prisoner 
 of war, usually a Russian, working side by side in the 
 fields is a common sight throughout Germany. 
 
 It is the boast of the Germans that their building 
 oonstructions are going on as usual. I have myself 
 
230 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 seen plenty of evidence of this, such as the grading of 
 the Isar at Munich, the completion of the colossal rail- 
 way station at Leipzig, the largest in Germany, the 
 construction of the new railway station at Gorlitz, the 
 complete building since the war of the palatial Hotel 
 Astoria at Leipzig, also two gigantic new steel and con- 
 crete palaces in the same city for the semi-annual fair, 
 the erection of a new Hamburg-America Line office 
 building adjacent to the old one and dwarfing it. The 
 slaughter-house annexes, contracted for in days of 
 peace, continue their slow growth, although Berlin has 
 no present need for such extension in these half-pound- 
 of-meat-a-week times. 
 
 The construction of the ISTord-Sud Bahn of the under- 
 ground railway, for linking up the north and south sec- 
 tions of Berlin has proceeded right along, the women 
 down in the pit with picks and shovels doing the heavy 
 work of navvies. That department o± the German Gov- 
 ernment whose duty it is to enlighten Neutrals is not 
 too proud of the fact, surprisingly enough. An Amer- 
 ican kinematograph operator, (Mr. Edwards, of Mr. 
 Hearst's papers, was desirous of taking a film of these 
 women navvies — heavy, sad creatures they are. The 
 Government stepped in and suggested that, although 
 they had no objection to a personally conducted and 
 posed picture — in which the women would no doubt 
 Bmile to order — they could not permit the realities of 
 this unwomanly task to be shown in the form of a truth- 
 telling moving picture. 
 
 German authorities are utilising every kind of 
 woman. The social evil, against which the Bishop of 
 London and others are agitating in England, was effee- 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 231 
 
 tively dealt with by the German authorities, not only 
 for the sake of the health of the troops, but in the in- 
 terests of munitions. Women of doubtful character 
 were first told that if found in the neighbourhood of 
 barracks or in cafes they were liable to be arrested, and 
 when so found were immediately removed to their na- 
 tive places, and put into the nearest cartridge filling or 
 other shop. The double effect has been an increased 
 output of munitions for the army and increased health 
 for the soldier, and such scenes as one may witness in 
 Piccadilly or other London streets at night have been 
 effectively squelched by the strong Prussian hand, with 
 benefit to all concerned. 
 
 I am not speaking of German morals in general, 
 which are notorious. I merely state the practical way 
 the Germans turn the women of the street into useful 
 munition makers. 
 
 The lot of the German woman has been much more 
 difficult than the lot of her sister in the Allied countries, 
 for upon her has fallen the great and increasing burden 
 of the struggle to get enough to eat for her household. 
 In practically all classes of Germany it has been the 
 eustom of the man to come home from his work, 
 whether in a Government office, bank, or factory, for 
 his midday meal, usually followed by an hour's sleep. 
 
 The German man is often a greedy fellow as regards 
 meals. For him special food is always provided, and 
 the wife and children sit round patiently watching him 
 eat it. He expects special food to-day. The soldier, 
 of course, is getting it, and properly, but the stay-at- 
 homes, who are men over forty-five or lads under nine- 
 teen, still get the best of such food as can be got. Ex- 
 
232 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ceptions to the nineteen to forty-five rule are very few 
 indeed. National work in Germany means war work 
 pure and simple, and now the women are treated ex- 
 actly as the men in this respect, except that they will 
 not be sent to the front. 
 
 In January, 1917, Germany at length began formally 
 to organise the women of the country to help in the 
 war. Each of the six chief army "commands" through- 
 out the Empire now has a woman attached to it as 
 Directress of the "Division for Women's Service." 
 Hitherto, as in England, war work by women has been 
 entirely voluntary. The Patriotic Auxiliary Service 
 (Mass Levy) Law is not compulsory so far as female 
 labour is concerned. German women, however, having 
 proclaimed that they regard themselves liable for 
 national service under the spirit if not the letter 
 of the law, it has finally been decided to mobilise 
 their services on a more systematic basis than in the 
 past. 
 
 None of the countless revolutions in German life 
 produced by the war outstrips in historical importance 
 this official linking up of women with the military ma- 
 chine. Equally striking is the fact that the directresses 
 of Women's Service, who hold office in Berlin, Breslau, 
 Magdeburg, Coblenz, Konigsberg, and Karlsruhe, are 
 all feminist leaders and promoters of the women's eman- 
 cipation movement. The directress for the Mark of 
 Brandenburg (the Berlin-Potsdam district) is an able 
 Jewess named Dr. Alice Salomon, who is one of the 
 pioneers of the German women's movement. The main 
 object of the "Women's Service" Department is to or- 
 ganise female labour for munitions and other work 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 233 
 
 from which men can be liberated for the fighting 
 line. 
 
 I have nothing but praise and admiration for the way 
 in which the German women have thrown themselves 
 into this struggle. Believing implicitly as they have 
 been told — and with the exception of the lower classes, 
 after more than two years of war, they believe every- 
 thing the Government tells them — that this war was 
 carefully prepared by a Sir Grey" (Lord Grey of Fallo- 
 don), "the man without a conscience," as he is called 
 in Germany, they feel that they are helping to fight a 
 war for the defence of their homes and their children, 
 and the cynics at the German Foreign Office, who man- 
 ufacture their opinions for them, rub this in in sermons 
 from the pastors, novels, newspaper articles, faked 
 cinema films, garbled extracts from Allied newspapers, 
 books, and bogus photographs, Reichstag orations by 
 Bethmann-Hollweg, and the rest of it, not forgetting the 
 all-important lectures by the professors, who are un- 
 ceasing in their efforts all over Germany. 
 
 To show how little the truth of the war is under- 
 stood by the German women, I may mention an inci- 
 dent that occurred at the house of people of the official 
 class at which I was visiting one day. The eldest son, 
 who was just back from the Somme trenches, suffering 
 from slight shell-shock, brought home a copy of a Lon- 
 don illustrated paper, which had been thrown across 
 the trenches by the English. In this photograph there 
 was a picture of a long procession of German prisoners 
 captured by the English. The daughter of the house, 
 a well-read girl of nineteen, blazed up at the sight of 
 this photograph, and showed it to her mother, who was 
 
234 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 equally surprised. The son of the house remarked, 
 "Surely you know the English have taken a great many 
 prisoners V 9 
 
 His mother, realising her mistake, looked confused, 
 and simply said, "I didn't think." In other words, the 
 obvious fact that Germans were sometimes captured 
 had never been pointed out to her by the Government, 
 and most Germans are accustomed to think only what 
 they are officially told to think. 
 
 While there are an increasing number of doubters 
 among the German males as to the accuracy of state- 
 ments issued by the Government, in the class with 
 which I mostly came into contact in Germany, the 
 women are blindfold and believe all they are told. So 
 strong, too, is the influence of Government propaganda 
 on the people in Germany that in a town where I met 
 two English ladies married to Germans, they believed 
 that Germany had Verdun in her grasp, had annihi- 
 lated the British troops (mainly black) on the Somme, 
 had defeated the British Fleet in the battle of Skager- 
 rak (Jutland), and reduced the greater part of the for- 
 tifications, docks, and munition factories of London to 
 ruins by Zeppelins. 
 
 Their anguish for the fate of their English relatione 
 was sincere, and they were intensely hopeful that 
 Britain would accept any sort of terms of peace in 
 order to prevent the invasion which some people in Ger- 
 many still believe possible. 
 
 At the beginning of the war the click of the knitting 
 needle was heard everywhere; shop-girls knitted while 
 waiting for customers, women knitted in trams and 
 trains, at theatres, in churches, and, of course, in the 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 235 
 
 home. The knitting is ceasing now for the very prac- 
 tical reason that the military authorities have comman- 
 deered all the wool for the clothing of the soldiery., A 
 further reason for the stoppage of such needlework is 
 the fact that women are engaged in countless forms 
 of definite war work. 
 
 Upon the whole it is beyond question that the Ger- 
 man women are not standing the losses as well as the 
 British women. I have been honoured in England by 
 conversations with more than one lady who has lost 
 many dear ones. The attitude is quieter here than in 
 Germany, and is not followed by the peace talk which 
 such events produce in German households. 
 
 What surprises me in England is the fact that the 
 word "peace" is hardly ever mentioned anywhere, 
 whereas in any German railway train or tramcar the 
 two dominant words are Friede (peace) and Essen 
 (food). The peace is always a German idea of peace 
 — for the extreme grumblers do not talk freely in pub- 
 lic) — and the food talk is not always the result of the 
 shortage, but of the great difficulty in getting what is 
 to be obtained, together with the increasing monotony of 
 the diet. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that the life of 
 feminine Germany is entirely a gloomy round of duty 
 and suffering. Among the women of the poor, things 
 are as bad as they can be. They are getting higher 
 wages than ever, but the food usury and the blockade 
 rob them of the increase. 
 
 The middle and upper classes still devote a good deal 
 of time to the feminine pursuits of shopping and dress- 
 ing. The outbreak of war hit the fashions at a curious 
 
236 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 moment. Paris had just abandoned the tight skirt, and 
 a comical struggle took place between the Government 
 and those women who desired to be correctly gowned. 
 
 The Government said, "In order to avoid waste of 
 material, you must stick to the tight skirt," and the 
 amount of cloth allowed was carefully prescribed. 
 Women's desire to be in the mode was, however, too 
 powerful for even Prussian ism. Copies of French 
 fashion magazines were smuggled in from Paris 
 through Switzerland, passed from dressmaker to dress- 
 maker, and house to house, and despite the military 
 instructions and the leather shortage, wide skirts and 
 high boots began to appear everywhere. 
 
 This feminine ebullition was followed by an appeal 
 from the Government to abandon all enemy example 
 and to institute new German fashions of their own 
 making. Models were exhibited in shop windows of 
 what were called the "old and elegant Viennese fash- 
 ions." These, however, were found to be great con- 
 sumers of material, and the women still continued to 
 imitate Paris. 
 
 The day before I left Berlin I heard an amusing 
 conversation in the underground railway between two 
 women, one of whom was talking about her hat. She 
 told her friend that she found the picture of the hat in 
 a smuggled fashion paper, and had it made at her mil- 
 liner's and she was obviously very pleased with her 
 taste. 
 
 The women in the munition factories, who number 
 millions, wear a serviceable kind of uniform overall. 
 
 The venom of the German women in regard to the 
 war is quite in contrast to the feeling expressed by Eng* 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 237 
 
 lish women. They have read a great deal about British 
 and American women and they cordially detest them. 
 Their point of view is very difficult to explain. When 
 I have told German women that in many States in my 
 country women have votes, their reply is, "How vul- 
 gar!" Their attitude towards the whole question of 
 women's franchise is that it is a form of Anglo-Saxon 
 lack of culture and lack of authority. 
 
 The freedom accorded to English and American girk 
 is entirely misunderstood. A Dutch girl who, in the 
 presence of some German ladies, expressed admiration 
 for certain aspects of English feminine life, was fiercely 
 and venomously attacked by that never-failing weapon, 
 the German woman's tongue. The poor thing, who 
 mildly expressed the view that hockey was a good gam© 
 for girls, and the fine complexions and elegant walk of 
 English women were due to outdoor sports, was reduced 
 almost to tears. 
 
 The intolerance of German women is almost impos- 
 sible to express. I know a case of one young girl, a 
 German-American, whose parents returned to Ham- 
 burg, who declined to repeat the ridiculous German 
 formula, "Gott strafe England," and stuck to her point, 
 with the result that she was not invited to that circle 
 again. 
 
 To the cry "Gott strafe England" has been added 
 "Gott strafe Amerika," the latter being as popular with 
 the German women as the German men. The pastors, 
 professors, and the Press have told the German women 
 that their husbands and. sons and lovers are being killed 
 by American shells. A man who ought to know better, 
 like Prince Rupert of Bavaria, made a public statement, 
 
238 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 that half of the Allies' ammunition is American. After 
 the British and French autumn offensive of 1915 the 
 feeling against America on the part of German women 
 became so intense that the American flag had to be 
 withdrawn from the American hospital at Munich, al- 
 though that hospital, supported by German-American 
 funds, has done wonderful work for the German 
 wounded. 
 
 Arguments with German women about the war are 
 absolutely futile. They follow the war very closely 
 after their own method, and believe that any defeats, 
 such as on the Somme or Verdun, are tactical rear- 
 rangements of positions, dictated by the wisdom of the 
 General Staff, and so long as no Allied troops are upon 
 German soil so long will the German populace believe 
 in the invincibility of its army. I am speaking always 
 of the middle and upper classes, who are on the whole, 
 but with increasing exceptions, as intensely pro-war as 
 the lower classes are anti-war. 
 
 The modern German Bible is the Zeitung (the rough 
 translation of which is "newspaper") and German 
 women are even more fanatical than the men, if pos- 
 sible, in their worship of it. 
 
 On one occasion, when I candidly remarked that von 
 Papen and Boy-Ed came back to the Fatherland for 
 certain unbecoming acts, some of which I enumerated, 
 a Frau Hauptmann jumped to her feet and, after the 
 customary brilliant manner of German argument, 
 shrieked that I was a liar. She declared that their 
 Zeitung had said nothing about the charges I men- 
 tioned, therefore they were not true. She further- 
 more promised to report me to Colonel at the 
 
THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOW 239; 
 
 Kriegsministerium (War Office), and she kept her 
 word. 
 
 The neglect, and, in some cases refusal, to attend the 
 British wounded by German nurses are a sign both of 
 their own intensity of feeling in regard to the war and 
 their entirely different mentality. Again and again 
 I have heard German women say, "In the event of a 
 successful German invasion of England the women will 
 accompany the men, and teach the women of England 
 that war is war." Their remarks in regard to the 
 women of my own country are equally offensive. In- 
 deed, States that Germany regards as neutral, and who 
 are treated by the officially controlled German Press 
 with a certain amount of respect, are loathed by Ger- 
 man women. Their attitude is that all who are not ob. 
 their side are their enemies. American women who are 
 making shells for the British, French, and Russians are 
 just as much the enemies of Germany as the Allied sol- 
 diers and sailors. One argument often used is that to 
 be strictly neutral America should make no munitions 
 at all, but it would not be so bad, say the Germans, if 
 half the American ammunition went to Germany and 
 half to the Allies. 
 
 I lost my temper once by saying to one elderly red- 
 faced Frau, "Since you have beaten the British at sea, 
 why don't you send your ships to fetch it?" "Our 
 fleet," she said, "is too busy choking the British Fleet 
 in its safe hiding places to afford time to go to Amer- 
 ica. You will see enough of our fleet one day, remem- 
 ber that !" 
 
 Summing up this brief and very sketchy analysis of 
 German femininity in the war, I reiterate views ex- 
 
240 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 pressed on previous visits to Germany, that German 
 women are not standing the anxiety of the war as well 
 as those of Trance and Britain. 
 
 They have done noble work for the Fatherland, but 
 the grumblings of the lower third of the population are 
 now such as have not been heard since 1848. German 
 officials in the Press Department of the Foreign Office 
 try to explain the unrest away to foreign correspond- 
 ents like myself, but many thinking Germans are sur- 
 prised and troubled by this unexpected manifestation 
 on the part of those who for generations have been al- 
 most as docile and easily managed as children, 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE WAR SLAVES OF ESSEN 
 
 Essen, the noisiest town in the world, bulks largely 
 in the imagination of the Entente Allies, but "Es- 
 sen" is not merely one city. It is a centre or capital of 
 a whole group of arsenal towns. Look at your map of 
 Germany, and you will see how temptingly near they 
 are to the Dutch frontier. Look at the proximity of 
 Holland and Essen, and you will understand the Dutch 
 fear of Germany. You will grasp also the German 
 fear, real as well as pretended, that the battle of the 
 Somme may one day be accompanied by a thrust at the 
 real heart of Germany, which is Westphalia — West- 
 phalia with its coal and iron and millions of trained 
 factory hands. 
 
 I saw when in Germany extracts from speeches by 
 British politicians in which the bombing of Essen by 
 air was advocated. Perhaps the task would have been 
 easier if the bombing had come first and the speeches 
 afterwards. Forewarned, forearmed ; and Essen is now 
 very much armed. 
 
 All German railroads seem to lead to this war 
 monster. Attached to almost every goods train in Ger- 
 many you will see wagons marked "Essen — special 
 train." Wagons travel from the far ends of Austria 
 and into Switzerland, which is showing its strict neu- 
 trality by making munitions for both sides. 
 
 241 
 
242 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 On the occasion of my second visit to Essen during 
 the war I arrived at night. It was before the time of 
 the bombing speeches, and, though it was well into the 
 hours when the world is asleep, the sky glowed red with 
 a glare that could be seen for full thirty miles. My 
 German companion glowed also, as he opened the car- 
 riage window and bade me join him in a peep at what 
 we were coming to. "This is the place where we make 
 the stuff to blow the world to pieces," he proudly 
 boasted. "If our enemies could only see that the war 
 would be over." 
 
 I suggested that Essen was not the only arsenal. 
 There were, for instance, Woolwich, Glasgow, New- 
 castle, Creusot, and in my own strictly neutral country 
 Bethlehem, Bridgeport, and one or two other humble 
 hamlets. He brushed aside my remarks, "But we have 
 also here in this very region Dortmund, Bochum, Wit* 
 ten, Duisburg, Krefeld, Diisseldorf, Solingen, Elber- 
 feld and Barmen." 
 
 As we approached nearer, freight trains, military 
 trains and passenger trains were everywhere. Officers 
 and soldiers crowded the station platforms, and though 
 it was night the activity of these Rhenish- Westphalian 
 arsenal towns impressed me with the belief that unless 
 the British blockade can strictly exclude essentials, such 
 as copper and nickel, especially from their roaring fac- 
 tories, the war will be needlessly protracted. 
 
 It is not necessary to be long in Rhineland and West- 
 phalia to realise that a shortage in these and other es- 
 sentials is much more disturbing to the heads of these 
 wonderful organisations than the fear of aerial bombs. 
 
 On the occasiou of my first war-time visit to Essen 
 
THE WAR SLAVES OF ESSEN 243 
 
 it would have been easy to have bombed it. There is 
 an old saying that a shoemaker's children are the worst 
 shod, and the display of anti-aircraft guns which has 
 since manifested itself was then non-existent. The 
 town was ablaze. It is still ablaze, but the lighting has 
 been cunningly arranged to deceive nocturnal visitors, 
 and any aeroplanes approaching Essen at a height of 
 twelve or fifteen thousand feet would find it hard to dis- 
 cover which was Essen, and which Borbeck, and which 
 was Steele. 
 
 Miilheim is easily found, because it is close to the 
 River Ruhr. We had to halt a long time outside the 
 station of Essen, so great was the pressure of traffic, 
 The cordon surrounding the entrance to the city is some 
 distance away, and having passed that safely I had no 
 fear of being again interrogated. 
 
 I told the hotel manager that I was a travelling news- 
 paper correspondent, and should like to see as many as 
 possible of the wonders of his town. After praise of 
 his hostelry, which, as the sub-manager said, was too 
 good for the Essenites, I set out on my travels to see 
 the sights of the city, foremost among them being the 
 regulation statue of William I. 
 
 It was easy to find Krupps, for I had only to turn 
 my steps towards the lurid panorama in the sky. As I 
 came nearer, not only my sense of sight but my sense 
 of hearing told me that Germany's great arsenal was 
 throbbing with unwonted life. The crash and din of 
 mighty steam hammers and giant anvils, the flame and 
 flash of roaring blast furnaces, the rumbling of great 
 railway trucks trundling raw and finished products in 
 and out, chimneys of dizzy height belching forth mon- 
 
244 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ster coils of Cimmerian smoke, seem to transport one 
 from the prosaic valley of the Ruhr into the deafening 
 realm of Vulcan and Thor. The impression of Krupps 
 by night is ineffaceable. The very air exudes iron and 
 energy. You can almost imagine yourself in the midst 
 of a thunderous artillery duel. You are at any rate in 
 no doubt that the myriad of hands at work behind those 
 carefully guarded walls are even more vital factors in 
 the war than the men in the firing line. The blaze and 
 roar fill one with the overpowering sense of the Kaiser's 
 limitless resources for war-making. For you must roll 
 Sheffield and Newcastle-on-Tyne and Barrow-in-Fur- 
 ness into one clanging whole to visualise Essen-on-the- 
 Ruhr. 
 
 In some way Essen is unlike any other town I have 
 visited. It has its own internal network of railways, 
 running to and from the various branches of Krupps, 
 and as the trains pass across the streets they naturally 
 block the traffic for some minutes. They are almost 
 continuous and the pedestrians' progress is slow, but it 
 is exciting, for it is here that one realises what it means 
 to be at war with Germany. If the resolution of the 
 German people were as rigid as the steel in the great 
 cranes and rolling mills, the Allied task would be im- 
 possible. 
 
 The brief noon-tide rush of the workpeople resembles 
 our six o'clock rush in America towards Brooklyn 
 Bridge. I can say no more than that. There is noth- 
 ing like it in London. The home-going crowd round 
 the Bank of England does not compare with the Essen 
 crowd, because the crowd at Essen is for a few minutes 
 more concentrated. Old and young, men and women, 
 
THE WAR SLAVES OF ESSEN 245 
 
 refugees and prisoners of several nationalities (I saw 
 no British), Poles and Russians predominating, grimy, 
 worn, and weary, they pour out in a solid mass, and 
 cover the tramcars like bees in swarming time. The 
 pedestrians gradually break up into little companies, 
 most of them going to Kronenberg and other model col- 
 onies founded by Frau Krupp — "Bertha," as she is 
 affectionately called throughout Germany. The highest 
 honour the Germans can bestow upon her is to name 
 their 16-inch howitzer "Fat Bertha." Frau Bertha 
 Krupp, it may be well to recall, was the heiress to the 
 great Krupp fortune, and on her marriage in 1906 'to 
 Herr von Bohlen und Hal bach, a diplomatist, he 
 changed his name to Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. 
 
 Though a private corporation with £12,500,000 share 
 capital owned by the "Cannon Queen" and her fam- 
 ily, it is to all intents and purposes a Government De- 
 partment just as Woolwich Arsenal is an adjunct of the 
 British War Office. In the past, as the elaborate cen- 
 tenary (1910) memorial proudly recites, fifty-two Gov- 
 ernments throughout the world have bought Krupp 
 guns, armour, shells, and warships, with Germany by 
 far the biggest customer. 
 
 Out of the stupendous profits of war machines the 
 Krupps have built workpeople's houses that, as regards 
 material comfort, would not be easy to excel. These 
 houses are provided with ingenious coal-saving stoves, 
 that might well be copied elsewhere, for though Essen 
 is in the coal centre of Germany, they are just as care- 
 ful about coal as though it were imported from the 
 other end of the world. 
 
 Frau Bertha and her husband (a simple and modest 
 
246 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 man, who is, I was informed, entirely in the hands of 
 his specialists, and who has the wisdom to let well 
 alone) have put up a big fight with Batocki, the food 
 dictator. The semi-famine had not reached its height 
 when I was in Essen, and the suffering was not great 
 there. A munition-maker working in any of the Rhen- 
 ish-Westphalian towns is regarded by Germans as a 
 soldier. As the war has proceeded he has been subject 
 to continuous combing out. 
 
 The amount of food allowed to those engaged in 
 these great factories and rolling mills is, I estimate, 33 
 per cent, more than that allowed to the rest of the civil 
 population. In all the notices issued throughout Ger- 
 many in regard to further food restrictions, there is 
 appended the line, "This change is necessary owing to 
 the need for fully supplying your brothers in the army 
 and the munition works." 
 
 Essen is a town that before the war had a population 
 exceeding 300,000. A conservative estimate makes the 
 figure to-day nearly half a million. The Krupp Com- 
 pany employ about 120,000. A prevalent illusion is 
 that Krupps confine their war-time effort exclusively to 
 making war material. That is a mistake. A consider- 
 able part of Krupp's work is the manufacture of ar- 
 ticles which can be exchanged for food and other prod- 
 ucts in neighbouring countries, thus taking the place of 
 gold. At Liibeck, I saw the quays crowded with the 
 products of Essen in the shape of steel girders and other 
 building machinery going to Sweden in exchange for 
 oil, lime from Gotland, iron ore, paper, wood, and food 
 products. 
 
 A mining engineer of the great mines at Kiruna, 
 
THE WAR SLAVES OF ESSEN 247 
 
 Lapland, told me that lie had just given an order for 
 steam shovels from the Westphalian manufacturers, 
 who are also sending into Holland knives and scissors 
 and other cutlery and tools. 
 
 Germany's principal bargaining commodities witH 
 contiguous neutral nations are steel building materials, 
 coal, and dye-stuffs. Coal dug in Belgium by Belgian 
 miners is a distinct asset for Germany, when she ex- 
 changes it for Swiss cattle, Dutch cheese, and Swedish 
 wood. When we consider that the great industrial 
 combinations of Rhineland and Westphalia are not 
 only reaping enormous munition profits, but supply the 
 steel and coal which form the bulk of German war-time 
 exports, we can easily understand why some Social 
 Democrats grew dissatisfied because the all-powerful 
 ISTational Liberals resisted a war profits tax for two 
 years. It is noteworthy that several of the more out- 
 spoken German editors have been suspended for attack- 
 ing these profiteers. 
 
 I should qualify this statement of exports slightly by 
 saying that they pertained up to ^November, 1916. The 
 effort to put more than ten million men into military 
 uniform resulted not only in the slave-raids in Belgium 
 but in a concentration in munition output that stopped 
 further exports of steel products and coal on a large 
 scale. 
 
 We should always remember in this great war of 
 machinery that Germany secured a tremendous advan- 
 tage at the expense of France at the outset when she 
 occupied the most important French iron region of 
 Longwy-Briey. The Germans, as I previously observed, 
 have been working the French mines to the utmost — 
 
248 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 indeed, they boast that they have installed improved 
 machinery in them. They have, furthermore, been im- 
 porting ore steadily from Sweden, some of the Swedish 
 ore, such as Dannemora, being the best in the world for 
 the manufacture of tool steel — so important in muni- 
 tion work. 
 
 Diisseldorf, probably the most attractive large manu- 
 facturing city in the world, had planned an industrial 
 exhibition for 1915 or 1916, and the steel skeletons of 
 many of the buildings had already been erected at the 
 outbreak of war. But the Germans immediately set to 
 work to tear down the steel frames to use them for more 
 practical purposes. "We were going to call it a German 
 Fair" said a native manufacturer to me early in the 
 war; "but we can have it later and call it a World's 
 Fair, as the terms will be synonymous." 
 
 Isolated near the Rhine is the immense reconstructed 
 Zeppelin shed which British airmen in November, 
 1914, partly destroyed, together with the nearly com- 
 pleted Zeppelin within it. The daring exploit evidently 
 work up the newly appointed anti-aircraft gunners, for 
 they subsequently annihilated two of their own ma- 
 chines approaching from the West. 
 
 The badly paid war slaves of Essen are working the 
 whole twenty-four hours, seven days a week, in three 
 shifts a day of eight hours each, under strict martial 
 law. The town is a hotbed of extreme Social Democ- 
 racy, and as a rule the Socialists of Westphalia are 
 almost as red as those of the manufacturing districts of 
 Saxony. But Socialists though they be, they are just 
 as anti-British as the rest of Germany, and they like 
 to send out their products with the familiar hall-mark 
 
THE WAR SLAVES OF ESSEN 249 
 
 of "Gott strafe England," or "Best wishes for King 
 George." It is the kind of Socialism that wants more 
 money, more votes, less work, but has no objection to 
 plenty of war. It is a common-sense Socialism, which 
 knows that without war Essen might shrink to its pre- 
 war dimensions. 
 
 Essen is very jealous of the great Skoda works near 
 Pilsen in Austria. My hotel manager spoke with some 
 acerbity of the amount of advertising the Austrian siege 
 howitzers were receiving. "You can accept my assur- 
 ance," he said, "that the guns for the bombardment of 
 Dover were made here, and not at the skoda works, a« 
 the Austrians claim." 
 
 Every German in Essen seems to feel a personal 
 pride in the importance of the works to the Empire at 
 the fateful hour. The 42-centimetre gun "which con- 
 quered Belgium" — as the native puts it — is almost dei- 
 fied. Everybody struts about in the consciousness that 
 he or she has had directly or indirectly something to do 
 with the murderous weapon which has wrought such 
 death and glory in Germany's name. "The Empire has 
 the men, Essen has the armour-plate, the torpedoes, the 
 shells, the guns. It is the combination which must 
 win." That is the spirit in Kruppville. 
 
CHAPTEK XXI 
 
 TOMMY IN" GERMANY 
 
 One day the world will be flooded with some of the 
 most dramatic, horrible, and romantic of narra- 
 tives — the life-stories of the British soldiers captured 
 in the early days of the war, their gross ill-treatment, 
 their escapes, and attempts at escape. I claim to be the 
 only unofficial neutral with any large amount of eye- 
 witness, hand-to-hand .knowledge of those poor men in 
 Germany. 
 
 One of the most difficult tasks I assumed during the 
 war was the personal and unconducted investigation of 
 British prisoners of war. The visitor is only allowed 
 to talk with prisoners when visiting camps under the 
 supervision of a guide. My tramps on foot all over 
 Germany gave me valuable information on this as on 
 other matters. 
 
 My task was facilitated by the Germany policy of 
 showing the hated British captives to as many people as 
 possible ; thus the 30,000 men have been scattered into 
 at least 600 prison camps. In the depleted state of 
 the German Army it is not easy to find efficient guards 
 for so many establishments. Prisoners are constantly 
 being moved about. They are conveyed ostentatiously 
 and shown at railway stations en route, where until re* 
 cently they were allowed to be spat upon by the public, 
 and were given coffee into which the public were al- 
 
 250 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 251 
 
 lowed to spit. These are but a few of the slights and 
 abominations heaped upon them. Much of it is quite 
 unprintable. 
 
 Many a night did I lie awake in Berlin cogitating 
 how to get into touch with some of these men. I learned 
 something on a previous visit in 1914, when I saw the 
 British prisoners at one of the camps. At that time it 
 was impossible to get into conversation with them. 
 They were efficiently and continually guarded by com- 
 paratively active soldiers. 
 
 On this occasion I came across my first British pris- 
 oner quite by accident, and, as so often happens in life, 
 difficult problems settle themselves automatically. In 
 nothing that I write shall I give any indication of the 
 whereabouts of the sixty prisoners with whom I con- 
 versed privately, but there can be no harm in my men- 
 tioning the whereabouts of my public visit, which took 
 place in one of the regular neutral "Cook's tours" of 
 the prisoners in Germany. 
 
 The strain of my work in so suspicious a place as 
 Berlin, the constant care required to guard one's ex- 
 pressions, and the anxiety as to whether one was being 
 watched or not got on my nerves sometimes, and one 
 Sunday I determined to take a day off and go into the 
 country with another neutral friend. There, by acci- 
 dent, I came across my first private specimen of Tommy 
 in Germany. 
 
 We were looking about for a decent Gasthaus in 
 which to get something to eat when we saw a notice 
 high up in large type on a wall outside an old farm- 
 house building, which read: — 
 
252 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Jeder Verhehr der Zivilbevolherung mit den 
 Kriegsgefangenen ist Streng Verboten". 
 
 "Any intercourse of the civil population with the 
 prisoners of war is strictly forbidden." 
 
 These notices, which threaten the civilian population 
 with heavy penalties if they exchange any words with 
 the prisoners, are familiar all over Germany, but I did 
 not expect to find them in that small village. 
 
 My neutral friend thought it would make a nice 
 photograph if I would stand under the notice, which I 
 did after a cautious survey showed that the coast was 
 clear. 
 
 As I did so a Russian came out of the barn and said, 
 in rather bad German, "Going to have your photograph 
 taken ?" I replied, in German, "Yes." 
 
 He heard me speaking English to my friend, and 
 then, looking up and down the street each way to see if 
 we were being watched, he addressed me in English 
 with a strong Cockney accent. 
 
 "You speak English, then ?" I said. 
 
 "I am English," he replied. "I'm an English pris- 
 oner." 
 
 "Then what are you doing in a Russian uniform ?" 
 
 "It is the only thing I could get when my own clothes 
 wore out." Keeping a careful eye up and down the 
 street, he told us his story. He was one of the old Ex- 
 peditionary Force; was taken at lions with Rve bullet 
 wounds in him, and, after a series of unpublishable hu- 
 miliations, had been drafted from camp to camp until 
 he had arrived at this little village, where, in view of 
 the German policy of letting all the population see an 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 253] 
 
 Englishman, lie was the representative of his race in 
 that community. "The local M.P." he called himself, 
 in his humorous way. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe on his island was not more ignorant 
 of the truth about the great world than that man, for, 
 while he had learnt a few daily expressions in German, 
 he was unable to read it. The only information he 
 could gather was from the French, Belgian, and Rus- 
 sian prisoners with him, and some he got by bribing one 
 of the Landsturm Guards with a little margarine or 
 sugar out of his parcel from England. He was full of 
 the battle of Mons and how badly he and his comrades 
 in Germany felt at the way they had been left unsup- 
 ported there. 'None the less, though alone, with no 
 Englishman for miles, living almost entirely on his par- 
 cels, absolutely cut off from the real facts of the war, 
 hearing little but lies, he was as calmly confident of the 
 ultimate victory of the Allies as I am. 
 
 I asked him if he heard from home. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "now and then, but the folks tell me 
 nothing and I can tell them nothing. If you get back 
 to England you tell the people there not to believe a 
 word that comes from English prisoners. Those who 
 write favourably do so because they have to. Every 
 truthful letter is burned by the military censor. Tell 
 the people to arrange the parcels better and see that 
 every man gets a parcel at least once a week — not send 
 five parcels to one man and no parcels to some poor 
 bloke like me who is alone. How is the war going on, 
 guv'nor?" he asked. I gave him my views. "I think 
 it's going badly for the Germans — not by what they tell 
 me here or what I gets in that awful Continental Times 
 
254 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 paper, but from what I notice in the people round 
 about, and the officers who visit us. The people are not 
 so abusive to the English as they used to be. The su- 
 perior officers do not treat us like dogs, as they did, and 
 as for the Landsturmers — well, look at old Heinrich 
 here." 
 
 At that moment a heavy, shabby old Landsturm sol- 
 dier came round the corner, and the Cockney prisoner 
 treated him almost as though he were a performing 
 bear. 
 
 "You're all right, ain't you, Heiny, so long as I give 
 you a bit of sugar now and then?" he said to his de- 
 crepit old guardian in his German gibberish. 
 
 This state of affairs was a revelation to me, but I was 
 soon to find that if the British prisoners are weary of 
 their captivity their old German guardians are much 
 more weary of their task. These high-spirited British 
 lads, whom two years of cruelty have not cowed, are an 
 intense puzzle to the German authorities. 
 
 "You see," remarked a very decent German official 
 connected with the military censorship department, 
 "everyone of these Britishers is different. Every one 
 of them sticks up for what he calls his 'rights' : many 
 of them decline to work on Sunday, and short of taking 
 them out on Sunday morning at the point of the bayonet 
 we cannot get them to do it. We have to be careful, too, 
 with these Englishmen now. As a man of the world, 
 you will realise that though our general public here do 
 not know that the English have captured many Germans 
 lately, and the fact is never mentioned in the communi- 
 ques, we have had a hint from Headquarters that the 
 British prisoners may one day balance ours, and that 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY *S$ 
 
 hardship for these verfluchte Engldnder may result in 
 hardship for our men in England." 
 
 That incident was long ago. It is important to relate 
 ihat since the beginning of the battle of the Somme 
 there is, if I was correctly informed, a marked improve- 
 ment in the condition of English prisoners all over Ger- 
 many — not as regards food supplied by the authorities, 
 because the food squeeze naturally affects the prisoners 
 as it does their guardians, but in other ways. 
 
 In addition to the British capturing numbers of Ger- 
 man hostages on the Somme to hold against the treat- 
 ment of their men in Germany, I think I may claim 
 without undue pride that much good work has been 
 done by the American Ambassador and his staff of 
 attaches, who work as sedulously on behalf of the pris- 
 oners as though those prisoners had been American. 
 
 The German authorities hate and respect publicity^ 
 and force in matters not to their liking, and Mr. 
 Gerard's fearlessness in reports of conditions and urgent 
 pleas for improvement have been of great service. All 
 the threats and bluster of Germany have failed to cow 
 him. 
 
 To continue my narrative of the Cockney soldier in 
 Russian uniform. So many Englishmen are in Rus- 
 sian uniform, Belgian uniform, French uniform, or a 
 mix-up uniform that there is no possibility of my Cock- 
 ney Russian being recognised by the authorities, and 
 the photograph which my neutral friend took of him 
 and me was taken under the very eyes, of his Land- 
 sturmer. 
 
 "Heiny," said the Russian Cockney, "is fed up with 
 the war. Aren't you, old Heiny ? During the last few 
 .Mreeks a fresh call for more men has cleared the district 
 
256 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 of everything on two legs. We have had to work four- 
 teen hours a day, and I wonder what my mates at home 
 would think of 3s. pay for ten days' work ¥* 
 
 I was able to comfort him by giving him some cigars, 
 and a great deal of really true and good news about the 
 war, all of which he repeated to Landsturmer Heinrich. 
 I suggested that this might be unwise. "]$Tot a bit of 
 it," he said. "Lots of these old Germans are only too 
 anxious to hear bad news, because they think that bad 
 news will bring the thing to a stop." 
 
 How true that remark was I knew from my minute 
 investigations. The incident was closed by the distant 
 appearence of a Feldwebel (sergeant-major). My 
 Cockney vanished, and Heinrich patrolled onward. 
 
 This particular incident is not typical of the life of a 
 
 British prisoner in Germany, but it is indicative of the 
 
 position many of the 30,000 prisoners have taken up by 
 
 reason of their strong individuality and extraordinary 
 
 cheerfulness and confidence. My impression of them 
 
 is of alert, resourceful men (their escapes have been 
 
 wonderful) — men who never know when they are 
 
 beaten. If Britain has sufficient of these people she 
 
 cannot possibly lose the war. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The world does not need reminders such as that of 
 [Wittenberg or of such singularly accurate narratives as 
 several in Blackwood's Magazine to know what has 
 happened to British prisoners in Germany. 
 
 It is common knowledge throughout the German 
 Empire that the most loathsome tasks of the war iu- 
 connection with every camp or cage are given to th© 
 British. They have had to clean the latrines of negro 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 257 
 
 prisoners, and were in some cases forced to work with 
 implements which would make their ^task the more 
 disgusting. One man told me that his lunch was 
 served to him where he was working, and when he 
 protested he was told to eat it there, or go without. 
 
 Conversations that I have had here in London 
 about prisoners give me the impression that the BritisE 
 public does not exactly apprehend what a prisoner 
 stands for in German eyes. 
 
 First, he is a hostage. If he be an officer his exact 
 eocial value is estimated by the authorities in Berlin, 
 who have a complete card index of all their officer 
 prisoners, showing to what British families they belong 
 and whether they have social or political connections 
 in Britain. Thus when someone in England mistakenly, 
 and before sufficient German prisoners were in their 
 hands, treated certain submarine marauders differently 
 from other prisoners, the German Government speedily 
 referred to this card-index, picked out a number of 
 officers with connections in the House of Lords ano! 
 House of Commons, and treated them as convicts. 
 
 The other German view of the prisoner is his casE. 
 value as a labourer. I invite my readers to realise the 
 enormous pecuniary worth of the two million prisoner 
 slaves now reclaiming swamps, tilling the soil, building 
 roads and railways, and working in factories for their 
 German taskmasters* 
 
 The most numerous body of prisoners in Germany 
 are the Russians. They are to be seen everywhere. In 
 some cases they have greater freedom than any other 
 prisoners, and often, in isolated cases, travel unguarded 
 by rail or tramway to and from their work. If they are 
 
258 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 not provided with, good Russian uniforms, in which, 
 of course, they would not be able to escape, they are 
 made conspicuous by a wide stripe down the trouser 
 or on the back. They are easy, docile, physically strong, 
 and accustomed to a lower grade of food than any other 
 prisoners, except the Serbs. 
 
 The British, of course, are much the smallest num- 
 ber in Germany, but much the most highly prized for 
 hate propaganda purposes. 
 
 "More difficult to manage," said one Unteroffizier to 
 me, "than the whole of the rest of our two million." It 
 Is, indeed, a fact that the 30,000 British prisoners, 
 though the worst treated, are the gayest, most outspoken, 
 and rebellious against tyranny of the whole collection. 
 
 There is, however, a brighter side to prison life in 
 Germany, I am happy to record. A number of really 
 excellent camps have been arranged to which neutral 
 visitors are taken. When I told the German Foreign 
 Office that I would like to see the good side of prison 
 life, I was given permission by the Krieg&ministerium 
 (War Office) to visit the great camp at Soltau with its 
 31,000 inmates with Halil Halid Bey (formerly Turk- 
 ish Consul in Berlin) and Herr Miiller (interested in 
 Germany's Far Eastern developments). 
 
 Five hours away from Berlin, on the monotonous 
 Luneberger Heide (Liineberg Heath), has sprung up 
 this great town with the speed of a boom mining town 
 in Colorado. 
 
 On arrival at the little old town of Soltau we were 
 met by a military automobile and driven out on a road 
 made by the prisoners to the largest collection of huts 
 I have ever seen. 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 259 
 
 There is nothing wrong that I could detect in the 
 camp, and I should say that the 200 British prisoners 
 there are as well treated as any in Germany. The Com- 
 mandant seems to be a good fellow. His task of ruling 
 so great an assemblage of men is a large and difficult 
 one, rendered the easier by the good spirit engendered 
 by his tact and kindness. 
 
 I had confirmation of my own views of him later, 
 when I came across a Belgian who had escaped from 
 Germany, and who had been in this camp. He said : — 
 "The little captain at Soltau was a good fellow, and if 
 I am with the force that releases the prisoners there 
 after we get into Germany, I will do my best to see that 
 he gets extra good treatment." 
 
 Our inspection occupied six hours. Halil Halid 
 Bey, who talks English perfectly, and looks like an 
 Irishman, was taken for an American by the prisoners. 
 In fact, one Belgian, believing him to be an American 
 official, rushed up to him and with arms outstretched 
 pleaded: "Do you save poor Belgians, too, as well as 
 British ?" 
 
 The physical comfort of the prisoners is well looked 
 after in the neat and perfectly clean dormitories. The 
 men were packed rather closely, I thought, but not more 
 than on board ship. 
 
 One became almost dazed in passing through these 
 miles of huts, arranged in blocks like the streets of an 
 American town. 
 
 We visited the hospital, which was as good as many 
 civilian hospitals in other countries. There I heard 
 the first complaint, from a little red-headed Irishman, 
 his voice wheezing with asthma, whose grievance was 
 
266 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 not against the camp itself, but against a medical or- 
 der which had reversed what he called his promise to 
 be sent to Switzerland. He raised his voice without 
 any fear, as our little group, accompanied by the Com- 
 mandant and the interpreter, went round, and I was 
 allowed to speak to him freely. I am not a medical 
 man, but I should think his was a case for release. His 
 lungs were obviously in a bad state. 
 
 We were also accompanied by an English sergeant, 
 one Saxton — a magnificent type of the old Army, so 
 many of whom are eating out their days in Germany. 
 He spoke freely and frankly about the arrangements, 
 and had no complaint to make except the food shortage 
 and the quality of the food. 
 
 The British section reminded one now and then of 
 England. Portraits of wives, children, and sweethearts 
 were over the beds ; there was no lack of footballs, and 
 the British and Belgians play football practically every 
 day after the daily work of reclaiming the land, erect- 
 ing new huts, making new roads, and looking after the 
 farms and market gardens has been accomplished. 
 
 An attempt has been made to raise certain kinds of 
 live stock, such as pigs, poultry, and Belgian hares — a 
 large kind of rabbit. There were a few pet dogs about 
 — one had been trained by a Belgian to perform tricks 
 equal to any of those displayed at variety theatres. 
 
 Apparently there is no lack of amusement. I visited 
 the cinematograph theatre, and the operator asked, 
 "What would you like to see — something funny ?" He 
 showed us a rather familiar old film. The reels are 
 those that have been passed out of service of the Ger- 
 man moving picture shows. In the large theatre, which 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 261 
 
 would hold, I should think, seven hundred to a thou- 
 sand people, there was a good acrobatic act and the 
 performing dog, to which I have referred, with an or- 
 chestra of twenty-five instruments, almost all prisoners, 
 but a couple of German Landsturmers helped out. The 
 guarding of the prisoners is effected by plenty of 
 barbed wire and a comparatively small number of old- 
 ish Landsturmers. 
 
 A special cruelty of the Germans towards prisoners 
 is the provision of a lying newspaper in French for 
 the Frenchmen, called the Gazette des Ardennes. The 
 Gazette des Ardennes publishes every imaginable kind 
 of lie about the French and French Army, with garbled 
 quotations from English newspapers, and particularly 
 The Times, calculated to disturb the relations of the 
 French and English prisoners in Germany. For the 
 British there is a paper in English which is quite as 
 bad, to which I have already referred, called the Con- 
 tinental Times, doled out three times a week. The 
 Continental Times is, I regret to say, largely written by 
 renegade Englishmen in Berlin employed by the Ger- 
 man Government, notably Aubrey Stanhope, who for 
 well-known reasons was unable to enter England at the 
 outbreak of war, and so remains and must remain in 
 Germany, where, for a very humble pittance, he con- 
 ducts this campaign against his own country. 
 
 For the Russians a special prevaricating sheet, called 
 the RussJci Visnih, is issued. All these newspapers pre- 
 tend to print the official French, British, and Eussian 
 communiques. 
 
 For a long time the effect on the British prisoners 
 was bad, but little by little events revealed to them that 
 
2 62 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the Continental Times, which makes a specialty of at- 
 tacks on the English Press, was anti-British. 
 
 The arrival of letters and parcels is, of course, the 
 great event for the prisoners and, so far as the large 
 camps are concerned, I do not think that there are now 
 any British prisoners unprovided with parcels. It is 
 the isolated and scattered men, moved often from place 
 to place for exhibition purposes, who miss parcels. 
 
 Soltau, although a model camp, is bleak and dreary 
 and isolated. At the outset cases of typhus occurred 
 there, and in a neat, secluded corner of the camp long 
 lines of wooden crosses tell the tale of sadness. The 
 first cross marked a Russian from far-away Yilna, the 
 next a Tommy from London. East had met West in 
 the bleak and silent graveyard on the heather. Close to 
 them slept a soldier from some obscure village in Nor- 
 mandy, and beside him lay a Belgian, whose life had 
 been the penalty of his country's determination to de- 
 fend her neutrality. Here in the heart of Germany the 
 Allies were united even in death. 
 
 As I made the long journey back to Berlin I re- 
 flected with some content on the good things I had seen 
 at Soltau, and I felt convinced that the men in charge 
 of the camp do everything within their power to make 
 the life of the prisoners happy. But as the train 
 pounded along in the darkness I seemed to see a face 
 before me which I could not banish. It was the face 
 of a Belgian, kneeling at the altar in the Catholic 
 chapel, his eyes riveted on his Saviour on the Cross, his 
 whole being tense in fervent supplication, his lips quiv- 
 ering in prayer. My companions had gone, but I was 
 held spellbound, feeling "How long! How long!" was 
 
TOMMY IN GERMANY 263 
 
 the anguish of his mind. He must have been a man 
 
 who had a home and loved it, and his whole expression 
 
 told unmistakably that he was imploring for strength 
 
 to hold out till the end in that dreary, cheerless region 
 
 of brown and grey. 
 
 His captors had given him a chapel, to be sure, but 
 
 why was he in Germany at all ? 
 
 # •* * ■* * 
 
 Soltau and other camps are satisfactory — but there 
 are others, many others, such as unvisited punishment 
 camps. The average Britisher in confinement in Ger- 
 many is under the care of an oldish guard, such as 
 Heiny of the Landsturm, but the immediate authority 
 is often a man of the notorious Unteroffizier type, whose 
 cruelty to the German private is well known, and whose 
 treatment of the most hated enemy can be imagined. 
 
 The petty forms of tyranny meted out to German 
 soldiers such as making a man walk for hours up and 
 down stairs in order to fill a bath with a wineglass; 
 making him shine and soil then again shine and soil 
 hour after hour a pair of boots ; making him chew and 
 swallow his own socks have been described in suppressed 
 German books. 
 
 I believe that publicity, rigorous blockade and big 
 shells are the only arguments that have any effect on the 
 Prussians at present. It is publicity and the fear of 
 opinion of certain neutrals that has produced such 
 camps as Soltau. It is difficult for the comfortable 
 sit-at-homes to visualise the condition of men who have 
 been in the enemy atmosphere of hate for a long period. 
 All the British soldiers whom I met in Germany were 
 captured in the early part of the war when their shell- 
 
264 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 less Army had to face machine-guns and high explosives 
 often with the shield of their own breasts and a rifle. 
 
 Herded like cattle many of the wounded dying, they 
 travelled eastwards to be subject to the insults and vili- 
 fications of the German population. That they should 
 retain their cheery confidence in surroundings and 
 among a people so ferociously hostile so entirely un- 
 British, so devoid of chivalry or sporting instinct, is a 
 monument to the character of their race. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 HOW THE PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME FROM 
 THE SOMME 
 
 Early in August, 1916, I was in Berlin. The Brit- 
 ish and French offensive had commenced on July 
 1st. Outwardly it appeared to attract very little no- 
 tice on the part of Germany and I do not believe that 
 it attracted sufficient attention even in the highest mili- 
 tary quarters. It was considered to be Great Britain's 
 final "bluff." The great maps in the shop windows in 
 every street and on the walls in every German house 
 showed no change, and still show no change worth no-- 
 ticing. "Maps speak," say the Germans. 
 
 One hot evening in Berlin I met a young officer whonu 
 I had known on a previous visit to Germany, and who 
 was home on ten days' furlough. I noticed that he was 
 ill or out of sorts, and he told me that he had been un- 
 expectedly called back to his regiment on the Western 
 front. "How is that ?" I said. He made that curious 
 and indescribable German gesture which shows discon- 
 tent and dissatisfaction. "These English are put- 
 ting every man they have got into a final and ridiculous 
 attempt to make us listen to peace terms. My leave 
 is cut short, and I am off this evening." We had a glass 
 of beer at the Bavaria Restaurant in the Friedrich- 
 strasse. 
 
 "You have been in England, haven't you?" he in- 
 
 265 
 
266 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 quired. I told him that I had been there last year. 
 "They seem to have more soldiers than we thought," he 
 said. "They seem to be learning the business ; my bat- 
 talion has suffered terribly." 
 
 Within the next day or two there were other rumours 
 in Berlin — rumours quite unknown to the mass. How 
 and where I heard these rumours it would be unfair 
 to certain Germans, who were extremely kind to me, 
 to say, but it was suggested to me by a friend — a mem- 
 ber of the Extreme Left of the Social Democratic Party 
 — that if T wanted to learn the truth I should go out to 
 Potsdam and see the arrival of the wounded men of the 
 famous Prussian Guard, who had, he said, had a ter- 
 rible experience at the hands of the English at Contal- 
 maison on July 10th. 
 
 He drew me aside in the Tiergarten and told me, for 
 he is, I am sure, a real German patriot, that the state 
 of things in the Somme, if known throughout Germany, 
 would effectively destroy the pretensions of the annexa- 
 tionist party, who believed that Germany has won the 
 war and will hold Belgium and the conquered portion 
 of France and Poland. 
 
 He told me to go out to Potsdam with caution, and 
 he warned me that I should have the utmost difficulty 
 in getting anywhere near the military sidings of the 
 railway station there. 
 
 I asked another usually extremely well-informed 
 friend if there was anything particular happening in 
 the war, and told him that I thought of going to Pots- 
 dam, and he said, "What for ? There is nothing to be 
 seen there — the same old drilling drilling, drilling." 
 So well are secrets kept in Germany. 
 
HOW PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME 267 
 
 The 4th of August is the anniversary of what is 
 known in Germany as "England's treachery" — the day 
 that Britain entered the war in what the German Gov- 
 ernment tells the people is a a base and cowardly at- 
 tempt to try and beat her by starving innocent women 
 and children." 
 
 On that sunny and fresh morning I looked out of the 
 railway carriage window some quarter of a mile before 
 we arrived at Potsdam and saw numerous brown trains 
 marked with the Red Cross, trains that usually travel 
 by night in Germany. 
 
 There were a couple of officers of the Guard Cavalry 
 in the same carriage with me. They also looked out, 
 "Ach, noch 'mal" ("What, again?") discontentedly re^ 
 marked the elder. They were a gloomy pair and they 
 had reason to be. The German public has begun to 
 know a great deal about the wounded. They do not yet 
 know all the facts, because wounded men are, as far as 
 possible, hidden in Germany and never sent to Socialist 
 centres unless it is absolutely unavoidable. The official 
 figures which are increasing in an enormous ratio since 
 the development of Britain's war machine, are falsified 
 by manipulation. 
 
 And if easy proof be needed of the truth of my as* 
 sertion I point to the monstrous official misstatement 
 involved in the announcement that over ninety per cent, 
 of German wounded return to the firing line ! Of the 
 great crush of wounded at Potsdam I doubt whether 
 any appreciable portion of the serious cases will return 
 to anything except permanent invalidism. They are 
 suffering from shell wounds, not shrapnel, for the most 
 part, I gathered. 
 
268 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 As our train emptied it was obvious that some great 
 spectacle was in progress. The exit to the station be- 
 came blocked with staring peasant women returning 
 from the early market in Berlin, their high fruit and 
 vegetable baskets empty on their backs. When I 
 eventually got through the crowd into the outer air and 
 paused at the top of the short flight of steps I beheld a 
 scene that will never pass from my memory. Filmed 
 and circulated in Germany it would evoke inconceivable 
 astonishment to this deluded nation and would swell the 
 malcontents, already a formidable mass, into a united 
 and dangerous army of angry, eye-opened dupes. This 
 is not the mere expression of a neutral view, but is also 
 the opinion of a sober and patriotic German states- 
 man. 
 
 I saw the British wounded arrive from Neuve Cha- 
 pelle at Boulogne; I saw the Russian wounded in the 
 retreat from the Bukovina ; I saw the Belgian wounded 
 in the Antwerp retreat, and the German wounded in 
 East Prussia, but the wounded of the Prussian Guard 
 at Potsdam surpassed in sadness anything I have wit- 
 nessed in the last two bloody years. 
 
 The British Neuve Chapelle wounded were, if not 
 gay, many of them blithe and smiling — their bodies 
 were hurt but their minds were cheerful; but the . 
 wounded of the Prussian Guard — the proudest military 
 force in the world — who had come back to their home 
 town decimated and humbled — these Guards formed 
 the most amazing agglomeration of broken men I have 
 ever encountered. As to the numbers of them, of these 
 five Reserve regiments but few are believed to be un- 
 hurt. Vast numbers were killed, and most of the rest 
 
HOW PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME 269 
 
 are back at Potsdam in the ever growing streets of hos- 
 pitals that are being built on the Bornstadterfeld. 
 
 One of the trains had just stopped. The square was 
 blocked with vehicles of every description. I was sur- 
 prised to find the great German furniture vans, which 
 lay comparison with those used in England and the 
 United States look almost like houses on wheels, were 
 drawn up in rows with military precision. As if these 
 were not enough, the whole of the wheeled traffic of 
 Potsdam seemed to be commandeered by the military 
 for the lightly wounded — cabs, tradesmen's wagons, pri- 
 vate carriages — everything on wheels except, of course, 
 motor-cars, which are non-existent owing to the 
 rubber shortage. Endless tiers of stretchers lay 
 along the low embankment sloping up to the line. 
 Doctors, nurses, and bearers were waiting in quiet 
 readiness. 
 
 The passengers coming out of the station, including 
 the women with the tall baskets, stopped, but only for 
 a moment. They did not tarry, for the police, of which 
 there will never be any dearth if the war lasts thirty 
 years, motioned them on, a slight movement of the hand 
 being sufficient. 
 
 I was so absorbed that I failed to notice the big con- 
 stable near me until he laid his heavy paw upon my 
 shoulder and told me to move on. A schoolmaster and 
 his wife, his Rucksack full of lunch, who had taken ad- 
 vantage of the glorious sunshine to get away from Ber- 
 lin to spend a day amidst the woods along the Havel, 
 asked the policeman what the matter was. 
 
 The reply was "Nichts Uer zu sehen" ("Nothing t<? 
 
2 7 o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 be seen here. Get along!"). The great "Hush! Hush! 
 Hush!" machinery of Germany was at work. 
 
 Determined not to be baffled, I moved out of the 
 square into the shelter of a roadside tree, on the prin- 
 ciple that a distant view would be better than none at 
 all, but the police were on the alert, and a police lieu- 
 tenant tackled me at once. I decided to act on the 
 German military theory that attack is the best defence, 
 and, stepping up to him, I stated that I was a news- 
 paper correspondent. "Might I not see the wounded 
 taken from the train?" I requested. He very cour- 
 teously replied that I might not, unless I had a special 
 pass for that purpose from the Kriegsministerium in 
 Berlin. 
 
 I hit upon a plan. 
 
 I regretfully sighed that I would go back to Berlin 
 and get a pass, and retracing my steps to the station I 
 bought a ticket. 
 
 A soldier and an Unteroffizier were stationed near the 
 box in which stood the uniformed woman who punches 
 tickets. 
 
 The TJnteroffizier looked at me sharply. "No train 
 for an hour and a half," he said. 
 
 "That doesn't disturb me in the least when I have 
 plenty to read," I answered pleasantly, at the same time 
 pointing to the bundle of morning papers which I car- 
 ried, the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of the For- 
 eign Office, on the outside. 
 
 I knew Potsdam thoroughly, and was perfectly fa- 
 miliar with every foot of the station. I knew that there 
 was a large window in the first and second-class dining- 
 
HOW PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME 271 
 
 room which was even closer to the ambulances in the 
 square than were the exit steps. 
 
 I did not go directly to the dining-room, but sat on 
 one of the high-backed benches on the platform and be- 
 gan to read the papers. The Unteroffizier looked out 
 and found me fairly buried in them. He returned a 
 little later and saw me asleep — or thought he did. 
 
 When he had gone I sauntered along the platform 
 into the dining-room, to find it vacant save for a youth- 
 ful waiter and a barmaid. I walked straight to the 
 window — where the light would be better for reading — 
 and ordered bread and Edam cheese, tearing off a fifty 
 gram amount from my Berlin bread ticket, which was 
 fortunately good in Potsdam. 
 
 My position enabled me to look right out upon the 
 square below, but rendered me inconspicuous from the 
 street. 
 
 By this time the wounded were being moved from 
 the train. The slightly wounded were drawn up in 
 double ranks, their clean white arm- and head-bandages 
 gleaming in the noonday light. They stood dazed and 
 dejected, looking on at the real work which was just 
 beginning — the removal of the severely wounded. 
 
 Then it was that I learned the use of those mam- 
 moth furniture vans. Then it was, I realised that these 
 vans are part of Germany's plans by which her wounded 
 are carried — I will not say secretly, but as unob- 
 trusively as possible. In some of the mammoths were 
 put twelve, into others fourteen; others held as many 
 as twenty. 
 
 The Prussian Guard had come home. The steel 
 jeorps of the army of Germany had met near Contal- 
 
272 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 maison the light-hearted boys I had seen drilling in 
 Hyde Park last year, and in a furious counter-attack, 
 in which they had attempted to regain the village, had 
 been wiped out. 
 
 These were not merely wounded, but dejected 
 wounded. The whole atmosphere of the scene was that 
 of intense surprise and depression. Tradition going 
 back to Frederick the Great, nearly two hundred years 
 ago, had been smashed — by amateur soldiers. The cal- 
 low youth of sixteen who served my lunch was mutter- 
 ing something to the barmaid, who replied that he was 
 lucky to be in a class that was not likely to be called up 
 yet. 
 
 The extreme cases were carried at a snail's pace by 
 bearers, who put their feet down as carefully as if they 
 were testing very thin ice, and who placed the com- 
 fortable spring stretchers in the very few vehicles which 
 had rubber or imitation rubber tyres. The work was 
 done with military precision and great celerity. The 
 evacuation of this train was no sooner finished than an- 
 other took its place, and the same scene was repeated. 
 Presently the great furniture vans returned from hav- 
 ing deposited their terrible loads, and were again filled. 
 One van was reserved for those who had expired on the 
 journey, and it was full. 
 
 This, then, was the battered remnant of the five Re- 
 serve regiments of the Prussian Guard which had 
 charged the British lines at Contal maison three weeks 
 before in a desperate German counter-attack to wrest 
 the village from the enemy, who had just occupied it. 
 Each train discharged between six and seven hundred 
 
HOW PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME 273 
 
 maimed passengers. Nor was this the last day of the 
 influx. 
 
 The Guard had its garrisons chiefly in Potsdam, but 
 also partly in Berlin, and represents the physical flower 
 of German manhood. On parade it was inspiring to 
 look at, and no military officer in the world ever 
 doubted its prowess. Nor has it failed in the war to 
 show splendid courage and fighting qualities. English 
 people simply do not understand its prestige at home 
 and among neutra]s. 
 
 The Guard is sent only where there is supreme work 
 to be done. If you hear that it has been hurled into a 
 charge you may rest assured that it is striving to gain 
 something on which Germany sets the highest price — 
 for the life-blood of the Guard is the dearest that she 
 can pay. 
 
 In the battle of the Marne the active regiments of 
 the Guard forming a link between the armies of von 
 Biilow and von Hausen were dashed like spray on 
 jagged cliffs when they surged in wave after wave 
 against the army of Foch at Sezanne and Fere Cham- 
 penoise. 
 
 Germany was willing to sacrifice those superb troops 
 during the early part of the battle because she knew 
 that von Kluck had only to hold his army together, even 
 though he did not advance, and the overthrow of Foch 
 would mean a Teuton wedge driven between Verdun 
 and Paris. 
 
 One year and ten months later she hurled the Guard 
 Reserve at Contalmaison because she was determined 
 that this important link in the chain of concrete and 
 ; steel that coiled back and forth before Bapaume-Pe- 
 
274 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 ronne must remain unbroken. The newly-formed lines 
 of Britain's sons bent but did not break under the 
 shock. They were outnumbered, but, like all the rest 
 of the British that the back-from-the-front German sol- 
 diers have told me about, these fought on and on, never 
 thinking of surrender. 
 
 I know from one of these that in a first onslaught 
 the Guard lost heavily, but was reinforced and again 
 advanced. Another desperate encounter and the men 
 from Potsdam withered in the hand-to-hand carnage. 
 The Germans could not hold what they had won back, 
 and the khJri succeeded the field grey at Contalmaison. 
 
 The evacuation of the wounded occupied hours. I 
 purposely missed my train, for I knew that I was prob- 
 ably the only foreign civilian to see the historic picture 
 of the proudest soldiery of Prussia return to its gar- 
 rison town from the greatest battle in history. 
 
 Empty trains were pulled out of the way, to be 
 succeeded by more trains full of wounded, and again 
 more. Doctors and nurses were attentive and always 
 .busy, and the stretcher-bearers moved back and forth 
 until their faces grew red with exertion. 
 
 But it was the visages of the men on the stretchers 
 that riveted my attention. I never saw so many men 
 so completely exhausted. Not one pair of lips relaxed 
 into a smile, and not an eye lit up with the glad recog- 
 nition of former surroundings. 
 
 It was not, however, the lines of suffering in those 
 faces that impressed me, but that uncanny sameness 
 of expression, an expression of hopeless gloom so deep 
 that it made me forget that the sun was shining from 
 an unclouded sky. The dejection of the police, of the 
 
HOW PRUSSIAN GUARD CAME HOME 275 
 
 soldier onlookers, of the walking wounded, and those 
 upturned faces on the white pillows told as plainly as 
 words could ever tell that the Guard had at last met a 
 force superior to themselves and their war machine. 
 They knew well that they were the idol of their Father- 
 land, and that they had fought with every ounce of their 
 great physical strength, backed by their long traditions. 
 They had been vanquished by an army of mere sports- 
 men. 
 
 My thoughts went back to Berlin and the uninformed 
 scoffings at the British Army and its futile efforts to 
 push back the troops of Rupprecht on the Somme. Yet 
 here on the actual outskirts of the German capital was 
 a grim tribute to the machine that Great Britain had 
 built up under the protection of her Navy. 
 
 In Berlin at that moment the afternoon editions were 
 fluttering their daily headlines of victory to the crowds 
 on the Linden and the Friedrichstrasse, but here the 
 mammoth vans were moving slowly through the streets 
 of Potsdam. 
 
 To the women who stood in the long lines waiting 
 with the potato and butter tickets for food on the other 
 side of the old stone bridge that spans the Havel they 
 were merely ordinary cumbersome furniture wagons. 
 
 How were they to know that these tumbrils contained 
 the bloody story of Contalmaison ? 
 
CHAPTEE XXIII 
 
 HOW GERMANY DENIES 
 
 Germany, according to Reichstag statements, is 
 spending millions of pounds upon German propa- 
 ganda throughout the universe. The trend of that pro- 
 paganda is: — 
 
 1. To attempt to convince the neutral world that 
 Germany cannot be beaten; and 
 
 2. Above all, to convince Great Britain (the chief 
 enemy) that Germany cannot be beaten. 
 
 The only factors really feared by the Germans of 
 the governing class are the Western front and the 
 blockade. 
 
 I went into Germany determined to try to find out 
 the truth, and to tell the truth. I had an added incen- 
 tive to be thorough and work on original lines, since I 
 was fortunate enough to secure possession of an official 
 letter which advised those whom it concerned to give no 
 information of value to Americans in general. I also 
 got accurate information that the Wilhelmstrasse had 
 singled me out as one American in particular to whom 
 nothing of value was to be imparted. 
 
 The German, with his cast-in-a-mould mind, does 
 not understand the trait developed among other peoples 
 of seeing things for themselves. He is unacquainted 
 with originality in human beings. He thinks a corre 
 
 276 
 
HOW GERMANY DENIES 277 
 
 apondent does not observe anything unless it is pointed 
 out to him. 
 
 Last summer, for example, one could learn in the 
 Wilhelmstrasse that the potato crop was a glittering 
 success. By walking through the country and pulling 
 up an occasional plant, also talking to the farmers, I 
 concluded that it was a dismal failure, which conclu- 
 sion I announced in one of the first newspaper articles 
 I wrote after I had left Germany. Recent reports from 
 that country show that I was right, which increases my 
 conviction that the confidential tips given by Germany's 
 professional experts, who instruct neutral visitors, do 
 very well to make Germany's position seem better than 
 it actually is, but they seldom stand the acid test of 
 history. 
 
 Seeking to invent excuses is not peculiar to the Ger- 
 mans, but it is more prevalent among them than among 
 any other people that I know. In this one respect the 
 German Government is a Government of the people. 
 Some of the diplomatic explanations which have ema- 
 nated from Berlin during the war have been weird in 
 their absurdity and an insult to the intelligence of those 
 to whom they were addressed. 
 
 President Wilson did not accept the official lie con- 
 cerning the sinking of the Arabic, in view of the posi- 
 tive proof against Germany, and Germany backed 
 down. President Wilson did not accept the official lie 
 concerning the sinking of the Sussex. Incomprehensible 
 as it is to the Teutonic mind, he attached greater weight 
 to the first-hand evidence of reliable eye-witnesses, plus 
 fragments of the torpedo which struck the vessel, than 
 to the sacred words of the German Foreign Office, 
 
2 7 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 which had the impertinence to base its case on a sketch, 
 or alleged sketch, hastily made by a U-boat manipulator 
 whose artistic temperament should nave led him to 
 Munich rather than to Kiel. The crime and the lie 
 were so glaring that Germany once more backed down. 
 
 Germany lied about the Dutch liner Tubantia. As 
 in the case of the Sussex, the evidence of the fragments 
 of torpedo was so incontrovertible that Berlin had to 
 admit that a German torpedo sank the Tubantia. In- 
 deed, one fragment contained the number of the tor- 
 pedo. During my travels in the Fatherland at that 
 time I found no doubt in the minds of those with whom 
 I discussed the matter that a German submarine sank 
 the vessel, though many were of the opinion that it was 
 a mistake. 
 
 The Wilhelmstrasse is tenacious, however, and we 
 awoke one morning to read what was probably its most 
 remarkable excuse. To be sure, a German torpedo sank 
 the Tubantia, but it was not fired by the Germans. The 
 expert accountant who was in charge of the U-boat 
 learned upon consulting his books that he fired that 
 torpedo on March 6. It did not strike the Tubantia 
 until March 16. So that it had either been floating 
 about aimlessly and had encountered the liner, or per- 
 haps the cunning British had corraled it and made use 
 of it. At any rate, Berlin disclaimed all responsibility 
 for its acts subsequent to the day it parted company 
 with the German submarine. 
 
 The path of the torpedo, however, had been observed 
 from the bridge of the Tubantia. 
 
 I remarked to one of my well-informed confidants 
 among the Social Democratic politicians that although 
 
HOW GERMANY DENIES 279 
 
 it is perfectly true that a rolling stone gathers no moss, 
 it is equally true that a floating torpedo leaves no 
 wake. 
 
 "Yes," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "our For- 
 eign Office is well aware of that Have you not noticed 
 the significance of the two dates, March 6, when the 
 torpedo is said to have heen fired, and March 16, when 
 it struck ? Do you not see that our diplomats have still 
 one more loop-hole in case they are pressed ? Is it not 
 clear that they could find a way out of their ahsurd 
 explanation by shifting the responsibility to the man 
 or the men who jotted down the date and transferred 
 it ? The question in my mind is : Who lost the 1 from 
 the 16 ?" 
 
 Be that as it may, little Holland, enraged at the 
 wanton destruction of one of her largest vessels, was 
 not in a position to enforce her demands. Therefore 
 Germany did not back down — that is, not publicly. 
 
 My description of the return of the Prussian Guard 
 to Potsdam naturally aroused the wrath of a Govern- 
 ment which strives incessantly to hide SO much from its 
 own people and the outside world. 
 
 Directly the article reached Germany the Govern- 
 ment flashed a wireless to America that no members of 
 the Potsdam Guard returned to Potsdam from Contal- 
 maison. This is a typical German denial trick. I 
 never mentioned the Potsdam Guard. 
 
 I had referred to the Prussian Guard. 
 
 If any reader of this chapter cares to look into the 
 files of English newspapers at the time of the Contal- 
 maison battle, for such it was, they will find confirma- 
 tion of my statements as to the presence of the Prus- 
 
28o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 sian Guard in the English despatches published in the 
 second week in July. 
 
 The Contalmaison article has in whole or in part 
 been circulated in the United States, and also in the 
 South- American Republics, and probably in other neu- 
 tral countries. This has now called forth a semi-official 
 detailed denial, which I print herewith. 
 
 It is signed by the Head Staff Doctor at Potsdam, 
 one Geronne, by name. He divides his contradiction 
 into ten clauses. Each of the first nine contains an 
 absolute untruth. 
 
 The last is a mere comment on a well-known German 
 statesman, who told me that as I was seeking the truth 
 in Germany I had better go and find it at Potsdam. 
 
 I wish to deal with the denials one by one, as each 
 is a revelation of German psychology. 
 
 1. The hospital train, This says "Hospital 
 which reached Potsdam on train* (singular). I de- 
 August 4, and was there scribed hospital trains 
 unloaded, brought wound- (plural). It may be true 
 ed men from various troop that one train did not con- 
 divisions. There were no tain any Prussian Guards. 
 Prussian Guards among I did not happen to see 
 them. that train. All the trains 
 
 that I saw unloaded Prus- 
 sian Guard Reserves. 
 
 2. No wounded man is I have never said that 
 kept concealed in Ger- any wounded man was 
 many. All are consigned kept concealed in Ger- 
 to public hospitals or laz- many. I have pointed out 
 arets, where they may at that the whole system of 
 any time be visited by the German placing of tho 
 their relatives and friends, wounded is to hide from 
 
HOW GERMANY DENIES 
 
 281 
 
 3. Hospital trains travel 
 by day as well as by night, 
 and, in accordance with 
 instructions, are unloaded 
 only in the daytime. In 
 case they reach their des- 
 tination during the night, 
 the regulations provide 
 that they are to wait until 
 the following morning be- 
 fore unloading. 
 
 4. In order that the 
 loading or unloading of 
 the vehicles which trans- 
 port the wounded to the 
 lazarets may proceed as 
 rapidly as possible, it is 
 necessary to keep the sur- 
 roundings of the train 
 clear. The wounded must 
 also be spared all annoy- 
 ance and curiosity on the 
 part of the public. 
 
 5. Dead men have 
 never been unloaded from 
 the lazaret trains at Pots- 
 dam — t herefore there 
 could have been none on 
 
 the German population, 
 and especially in Social 
 Democrat districts, the ex- 
 tent of their wounded. 
 
 This is absolutely un- 
 true. The number of 
 wounded arriving at the 
 depots in Germany is now 
 so great that the trains are 
 obliged to be unloaded 
 whenever they arrive, by 
 day or by night. I have 
 witnessed both. 
 
 The whole of this para- 
 graph is a transparent dis- 
 tortion of fact. What hap- 
 pens at Potsdam and what 
 happens everywhere else 
 is that a cordon of police 
 surrounds the scene and 
 drives the public by force 
 in the usual Prussian way, 
 if necessary, from the 
 scene. I described the 
 method by which I wit- 
 nessed what was going on 
 at the railway station from 
 the railway station re- 
 freshment room itself. 
 
 I saw the dead men re* 
 moved. 
 
2 8 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 August 4, 1916. The prin- 
 ciple of transporting the 
 wounded is based upon the 
 ability of the wounded to 
 bear transportation. All 
 those who suffer during 
 the journey are removed 
 to a hospital at the fron- 
 tier. 
 
 6. The furniture vans 
 used for transporting 
 wounded to the hospitals 
 at Potsdam and other 
 cities have proved a great 
 success. These vans, more- 
 over, all bear the sign of 
 the Eed Cross, and may 
 easily be recognised as 
 hospital vehicles. 
 
 7. That men who are 
 seriously wounded should 
 give one an impression of 
 weariness goes without 
 saying. Lightly wounded 
 men who travel from the 
 Somme to Boulogne may 
 make a better appearance 
 than the seriously wound- 
 ed who have made the long 
 journey from the West 
 front to Potsdam. 
 
 A transparent untruth 
 on the face of it. If only 
 one train came into Pots- 
 dam why use furniture 
 vans at all? The furni- 
 ture vans are used for pur- 
 poses of concealment, and 
 because the very large am- 
 bulance supply always on 
 duty at the great military 
 hospitals at Potsdam was 
 unequal to the task. I saw 
 no Ked Cross indications. 
 
 My statement is that all 
 the German wounded at 
 the present stage of the 
 war, lightly or otherwise, 
 compare badly with the 
 English and French 
 wounded, whom I have 
 seen. They are utterly 
 war weary and suffering 
 not so much from shell 
 shock as from surprise 
 shock, the revelation of the 
 creation of a British 
 Army that had never oc- 
 curred to the German sol- 
 diers. 
 
HOW GERMANY DENIES 
 
 283 
 
 8. As to the great 
 "Hush ! hush ! machinery" 
 ■ — what is one to call the 
 attempt to keep the truth 
 from neutrals by closing 
 English harbours near the 
 Channel to neutral ship- 
 ping for whole days at a 
 time — during which the 
 English ship-transports of 
 wounded proceed to Eng- 
 land ? 
 
 9. The figures pub- 
 lished by the Ministry of 
 War concerning the num- 
 bers of men dismissed 
 from lazarets (hospitals) 
 are based upon unques- 
 tionable statistics. These 
 statistics remain as given 
 — despite all the asper- 
 sions of our enemies. 
 
 I have made inquiries 
 of British officials, and 
 they tell me that it is abso- 
 lutely untrue that the 
 channel is closed to neu- 
 tral shipping when the 
 English hospital trans- 
 ports proceed to England. 
 This untruth is on a par 
 with the others. 
 
 An interesting revela- 
 tion as to German casualty 
 lists. It is stated by this 
 head medical officer of 
 Potsdam that these lists 
 are drawn up from the 
 men dismissed from laz- 
 arets (hospitals), that is 
 to say, this doctor admits 
 that the custom is now to 
 keep back the casualty 
 lists until the man is dis- 
 charged, whereas your 
 British lists, I am in- 
 formed on authority, are 
 published as speedily as 
 possible after the soldier is 
 wounded. The whole of 
 the German wounded now 
 in hospitals have not yet, 
 therefore, been included 
 in casualty lists — the cas- 
 ualties which are forcing 
 the Germans to employ 
 every kind of labour they 
 
284 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 10. It would prove in- 
 teresting to learn the name 
 of the "patriotic German 
 Statesman," who is said to 
 cherish the same opinions 
 as this writer in the Daily 
 Mail. 
 
 can enslave or enroll from 
 Belgium, Poland, France, 
 and now from their own 
 people from sixteen up to 
 sixty years of age of both 
 sexes. 
 
 For obvious reasons I 
 decline to subject nry 
 friend to the certain pum 
 ishment that would follow 
 disclosure of his name. 
 
 I regret to burden readers with a chapter so personal 
 to myself, but I think that anyone who studies these 
 German denials with the preceding chapter on the Con- 
 talmaison wounded will learn at least as much about 
 the German mind as he would by studying the f amour 
 British White paper of August, 1914. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 Three factors are of chief importance in estimating 
 German man-power. First, the number of men of 
 military age; second, the number of these that are in- 
 dispensable in civil life; third, the number of casual- 
 ties. Concerning the last two there are great differences 
 of opinion among military critics in Allied and neu- 
 tral countries. As regards the first there need be little 
 difference, although I confess surprise at the number 
 of people I have met who believe the grotesque myth 
 that Germany has systematically concealed her increase 
 in population, and that instead of being a nation of 
 less than seventy millions she has really more than one 
 hundred millions. 
 
 It is safe to say that at the outbreak of war Germany 
 was a nation of 68,000,000, of whom 33,500,000 were 
 males. Of these nearly 14,000,000 were between 18 
 *nd 45 ; 350,000 men over 45 are also with the Colours. 
 The boys who were then 16 and 17 can now be added, 
 giving us a grand total of some 15,000,000. 
 
 formally Germany employed men of between 18 and 
 45 as follows: — Mines, 600,000; metals, 800,000; 
 transport, 650,000; agriculture, 3,000,000; clothing, 
 food preparation, 1,000,000, making a total of 6,- 
 050,000. 
 
 Up to this point there can be little difference of 
 
 28s 
 
2 8 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 opinion. From this point on, however, I must, like 
 others who deal with the subject, make estimates upon 
 data obtained. During my last visit to Germany I 
 systematically employed a rough check on the figures 
 derived through the usual channels. Concentrated ef- 
 fort to obtain first-hand information in city, village, and 
 countryside, north, east, south, and west, with eyes 
 and ears open, and vocal organs constantly used for 
 purposes of interrogation, naturally yielded consider- 
 able data when carried over a period of ten months. 
 The changes from my last visit and from peace time 
 were also duly observed as were the differences between 
 Germany and the other nations I had visited during 
 the war. Walking, of which I did a colossal amount, 
 was most instructive, because it afforded me an oppor- 
 tunity to study conditions in the villages. Discreet 
 questioning gave me accurate statistics in hundreds of 
 these that I visited, and of many more hundreds that 
 I asked about from people whom I met on my travels. 
 For example, in Oberammergau, which had at the be- 
 ginning of the war 1,900 inhabitants, about 350 had 
 been called to the Colours when I was there, and of 
 these thirty-nine had been killed. 
 
 My investigations in the Fatherland convinced me 
 that of the 3,000,000 men between 18 and 45 formerly 
 engaged in agriculture, considerably fewer than 100,- 
 000 continue to be thus occupied. This work is done 
 by prisoners and women. Mine and metal work have 
 kept from 60 to 70 per cent, of their men of military 
 age; but transport, already cut somewhat, lost 25 per 
 cent, of the remainder when Hindenburg assumed su- 
 preme command, which would reduce 650,000 to about 
 
GERMANY'S HUMAN RESOURCES 287 
 
 300,000. More than 90 per cent, of those engaged in 
 the preparation of food and the making of clothing have 
 been called up. Thus of the 6,050,000 engaged in the 
 occupations given above, about 1,750,000 remain, 
 which means that more than 4,000,000 have been called 
 to the Colours. 
 
 From building and allied trades at least 90 per cent, 
 are in military uniform. Assuming that some 2,000,- 
 000 men of military age are included in indispensable 
 engineers, fishermen, chemists, physically unfit, and so 
 forth, we conclude on this basis that Germany can en- 
 rol in her Army and Navy more than 11,000,000 men. 
 
 We may approach the subject from a somewhat dif- 
 ferent angle by considering what percentage of her 
 total population Germany could call to the Colours un- 
 der stress — and she is to-day under stress. Savage 
 tribes have been known to put one-fifth under arms. 
 An industrial State such as Germany cannot go to this 
 extreme. Yet by using every means within her power 
 she makes a very close approach to it. In practically 
 every village of which I secured figures in Saxony, Ba- 
 varia, Posen, East Prussia, West Prussia, Pomerania, 
 Mecklenburg, and Oldenburg, a fifth or nearly a fifth 
 have been called up. In some Silesian and Ehenish- 
 Westphalian districts, however, not more than from a 
 seventh to a tenth. If we allow for all Germany a lit- 
 tle less than one-sixth, we get 11,000,000. 
 
 What are the factors which enable Germany to call 
 this number or a little more than this number to the 
 Colours 1 Eirst, the organisation of the women. I 
 have seen them even in the forges of Rhineland doing 
 the work of strong men. "The finest women in the 
 
288 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 world, these Rhinelanders," as one manager put it. 
 "Just look at that one lift that weight. Few men could 
 do better." And his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. 
 
 Second, and of tremendous importance, are the huge 
 numbers of prisoners in Germany, and her sensible de- 
 termination to make them work. She has taken about 
 one and two-third millions on the field of battle. There 
 also happen to he in Germany nearly a million other 
 prisoners, buried alive, whose existence has apparently 
 escaped the notice of the outside world. These are the 
 Russian civilians who were caught in the German trap 
 when it snapped suddenly tight in the summer of 1914. 
 Before the war 2,000,000 Russians used to go to Ger- 
 many at harvest time. The war began at harvest time. 
 The number of these men, which from my own first- 
 hand investigations in the remote country districts I 
 estimate at nearly a million, would have escaped my 
 notice also, had I not walked across Germany. 
 
 Another important factor in the labour problem in 
 Germany is the employment of the Poles. Not only 
 are they employed on the land, but great colonies of 
 them have grown up in Diisseldorf and other industrial 
 centres. I saw an order instructing the military com- 
 mandants throughout Germany to warn the Poles, 
 whose discontent with the food conditions in Germany 
 made them desire to return home, that conditions in 
 Poland were much worse. This, then, is an official 
 German admission that there is starvation in Poland, 
 for much worse could mean nothing else. Germany is 
 keeping Poland a sealed book, although I admit that 
 she occasionally takes tourists to see the German-fos- 
 tered university at Warsaw. Just before I left Ger- 
 
GERMANY'S HUMAN RESOURCES 289 
 
 many still another order was issued for the regulation 
 of neutral correspondents. Under no circumstances 
 were they to be allowed to talk with the natives in Po- 
 land. From unimpeachable authority I learned that 
 the Poles were intensely discouraged at the thorough- 
 ness with which the Prussians stripped the country af- 
 ter the last harvest, and that in some sections the people 
 are actually dying of hunger. Even in Warsaw, the 
 death-rate in some neighbourhoods has increased from 
 700 to 800 per cent. I was witness to German rage 
 when Viscount Grey stipulated that food could be sent 
 there only if the natives were allowed to have the prod- 
 uce of their own land. Prussia wanted that produce, 
 and she got it. 
 
 I mention these supplies here because the Poles who 
 worked to produce them must be included in German 
 labour estimates just as much as though they had been 
 working in Germany. 
 
 Germany also adds to her man-power by utilising 
 her wounded so far as possible. Her efforts in this 
 direction are praiseworthy, since they not only con- 
 tribute to the welfare of the State, but benefit the in- 
 dividual. I have seen soldiers with one leg gone, or 
 parts of both legs gone, doing a full day's work mend- 
 ing uniforms. The blind are taught typewriting, which 
 enables them to earn an independent living in Govern- 
 ment employ. In short, work is found for everybody 
 who can do anything at all. 
 
 In a previous chapter I have spoken of the organisa- 
 tion of the children, a factor which should not be left 
 out of consideration. 
 
290 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Having considered the assets, let us turn to the debits. 
 
 The German casualty lists to the end of 1916 total 
 4,010,160, of which 909,665 have been killed or died 
 of wounds. My investigations in Germany lead me to 
 put the German killed or died of wounds at 1,200,000, 
 and the total casualties at close to 5,000,000. If we 
 assume that 50 per cent, of all wounded return to the 
 front and another 25 per cent, to service in the interior, 
 we must also consider in computation of man-power 
 that the casualty lists do not include the vast num- 
 bers of invalided and the sick, which almost balance 
 those that return to the front. This means, in short, 
 that the net losses are nearly as great at any one time 
 as the gross losses. Consequently, according to my es- 
 timates there must be at least 4,500,000 Germans out 
 of action at this moment. 
 
 In a war of attrition it is the number of men def- 
 initely out of action which counts, for the German lines 
 can be successfully broken, and only successfully 
 broken, when there are not enough men to hold them. 
 The Germans now have in the West probably about 130 
 divisions. 
 
 Hindenburg's levies in the late summer were so enor- 
 mous that I am convinced from what I saw in Germany 
 that she has now called almost everything possible to 
 the Colours. One of Hindenburg's stipulations in tak- 
 ing command was that he should always have a force 
 of half a million to throw wherever he wished. We 
 have seen the result in Rumania, and the men skimmed 
 from the training units then have been replaced by this 
 last great levy from civilian life. 
 
 Therefore, with something over 11,000,000 men 
 
GERMANY'S HUMAN RESOURCES 291 
 
 called up, Germany has now 6,000,000, or a little more 
 all told, many of whom are not at all suited for service 
 at the front. 
 
 Germany on the defensive at the Somme certainly 
 lost at least 600,000 men. Attrition, to be sure, works 
 both ways, but if the Germans are out-gunned this year 
 in the West to the extent expected their position must 
 become untenable. The deadly work of reducing Ger- 
 man man-power continues even though the Allied line 
 does not advance. I know of a section of the German 
 front opposite the French last winter which for five 
 months did not have an action of sufficient importance 
 to be mentioned by either side in the official reports, yet 
 the Germans lost 10 per cent, of their effectives in 
 killed. 
 
CHAPTEK XXV 
 
 The poor of Berlin live in the north and east of the 
 city. I have seen Berlin's East-end change from 
 the hilarious joy of the first year of the war to an 
 ever-deepening gloom. I have studied conditions there 
 long and carefully, but I feel that I can do no better 
 than describe my last Saturday in that interesting quar- 
 ter of the German capital. 
 
 Late in the morning I left the Stettiner Bahnhof in 
 the north and walked eastward through the Invaliden- 
 strasse. There was practically no meat in the butchers' 
 shops, just the customary lines of empty hooks. A long 
 queue farther on attracted my attention and I crossed 
 the street to see what the people were waiting for. A 
 glance at the dark red carcases in the shop told me that 
 this was horse-meat day for that district. 
 
 The number of vacant shops of all descriptions was 
 increasing. The small shoemaker and tailor were clos- 
 ing up. The centralisation of food distribution is 
 greater here than in the better-class districts, with the 
 result that many small shopkeepers have been driven 
 out of business. In parts of Lothringerstrasse a quar- 
 ter of the shops were vacant, in other parts one-half. 
 The bakers' shops are nearly empty except at morning 
 and evening. In fact, after my long sojourn in block- 
 aded Germany I still find myself after two months in 
 
 292 
 
BERLIN'S EAST-END 293 
 
 England staring in amazement at the well-stocked shop 
 windows of every description. 
 
 Shortly before noon I reached the Zentral Viehund- 
 Schlachthof (the slaughter-houses). Through a great 
 gateway poured women and children, each carrying 
 some sort of a tin or dish full of stew. Some of the 
 children were scarcely beyond the age of babyhood, and 
 their faces showed unmistakable traces of toil. The 
 poor little things drudged hard enough in peace 
 time, and in war they are merely part of the big 
 machine. 
 
 The diminishing supply of cattle and pigs for kill- 
 ing has afforded an opportunity to convert a section 
 of the slaughter-houses into one of the great People's 
 Kitchens. Few eat there, however. Just before noon 
 and at noon the people come in thousands for the 
 stew, which costs forty pfennigs (about 5d.) a quart, 
 and a quart is supposed to be enough for a meal and a 
 half. 
 
 I have been in the great Schlachthof kitchen, where 
 I have eaten the stew, and I have nothing but praise 
 for the work being done. This kitchen, like the others 
 I have visited, is the last word in neatness. The labour- 
 saving devices, such as electric potato-parers, are of the 
 most modern type. In fact, the war is increasing the 
 demand for labour-saving machinery in Germany to at 
 least as great an extent as high wages have caused such 
 a demand in America. Among the women who prepare 
 the food and wait upon the people there is a noticeable 
 spirit of co-operation and a pride in the part they are 
 playing to help the Fatherland durchhalten (hold out). 
 Should any of the stew remain unsold it is taken by a 
 
294 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 well-known restaurant in the Potsdamer Platz, which 
 has a contract with the municipal authorities. Little 
 was wasted in Germany before the war; nothing, abso- 
 lutely nothing, is wasted to-day. 
 
 As at the central slaughter-house, so in other districts 
 the poor are served in thousands with standard stew. 
 The immense Alexander Market has been cleared of 
 its booths and tables and serves more than 30,000 
 people. One director of this work told me that the 
 Berlin authorities would supply nearly 400,000 people 
 before the end of the winter. 
 
 The occasional soldier met in the streets looked shab- 
 bier in the shabby surroundings of the East. The Ger- 
 man uniform, which once evoked unstinted praise, is 
 suffering sadly to-day owing to lack of raw materials. 
 I was in a Social Democratic district, but the men in 
 uniform who were home on leave were probably "good" 
 Social Democrats, since it is notorious that the regular 
 variety are denied this privilege. 
 
 The faces of the soldiers were like the rest of the 
 faces I saw that day. There was not the least trace 
 of the cheerful, confident expression of the days when 
 all believed that the Kaiser's armies would hammer 
 their way to an early peace — "in three months," as 
 people used to say during the first year and a quarter of 
 the war. Verdun had been promised them as a certain 
 key to early peace, and Admiral Scheer was deified as 
 the immortal who tore loose the British clutch from the 
 German throat. But Verdun and Jutland faded in 
 succeeding months before the terrible first-hand evi- 
 dence that the constant diminution of food made life a 
 struggle day after day and week after week. The newe 
 
BERLIN'S EAST-END 295 
 
 from Rumania, though good, would bring them no cheer 
 until it was followed by plenty of food. 
 
 In the vicinity of the Schlesischer Rahnhof occurred 
 a trifling incident which gave me an opportunity to see 
 the inside of a poor German home that day. A soldier 
 in faded field-grey, home on leave, asked me for a 
 match. During the conversation which followed I said 
 that I was an American, but to my surprise he did not 
 make the usual German reply that the war would have 
 been ended long ago if it had not been for American 
 ammunition. On the contrary, he showed an interest 
 in my country, as he had a brother there, and finally 
 asked me if I would step into his home and explain a 
 few things to him with the aid of a map. 
 
 Though I was in a district of poverty the room I 
 entered was commendably clean. An old picture of 
 William I. hung on one wall; opposite was Bismarck. 
 Over the low door was an unframed portrait of "unser 
 Kaiser/' while Hindenburg completed the collection. 
 Wooden hearts, on which were printed the names Liege, 
 Maubeuge, and Antwerp, recalled the days when Ger- 
 man hearts were light and German tongues were full 
 of brag. 
 
 A girl of ten entered the room. She hated the war 
 because she had to rush every day at noon from school 
 to the People's Kitchen to fetch the family stew. In 
 the afternoon she had to look after the younger chil- 
 dren while her mother stood in the long lines before 
 the shops where food was sold. The family were grow- 
 ing tired of stew day after day. They missed the good 
 German sausage and unlimited amount of bread and 
 butter. 
 
296 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 The mother looked in on her way to the street, bas* 
 ket under arm. She was tired, and was dulled by the 
 daily routine of trying to get food. She talked bitterly 
 about the war, but though she blamed the Agrarians for 
 not doing their part to relieve the food situation, she 
 expressed no animosity against her own Government. 
 The father had been through Lodz in Hindenburg's two 
 frontal assaults on Warsaw, where he had seen the 
 slopes covered with forests of crosses marking the Ger- 
 man dead, and his words were bitter, too, when he 
 talked of his lost comrades. And then, the depressing 
 feeling of returning from an army pursuing the mirage 
 of victory to find his family and every other family 
 struggling in the meshes of that terrible and relentless 
 blockade ! 
 
 It never had occurred to him that his Government 
 might be in the least responsible for the misery of his 
 country. Like the great bulk of the German people he 
 is firmly convinced that the Fatherland has been fight- 
 ing a war of defence from the very beginning. "To 
 think that one nation, England, is responsible for all 
 this suffering !" was the way that he put it. He is a 
 "good" Social Democrat. 
 
 When I once more resumed my walk I saw the lines 
 of people waiting for food in every street. Each time 
 I turned a corner great black masses dominated the 
 scene. I paused at a line of more than three hundred 
 waiting for potatoes. Ten yards away not a sound 
 could be heard. The very silence added to the depres- 
 sion. With faces anxious and drawn they stood four 
 abreast, and moved with the orderliness of soldiers. 
 Not a sign of disturbance, and not a policeman in sight. 
 
BERLIN'S EAST-END 297 
 
 Some women were mending socks; a few, standing on 
 the edge of the closely packed column, pushed baby car- 
 riages as they crawled hour after hour toward the nar- 
 row entrance of the shop. 
 
 Every line was like the rest. The absence of police- 
 men is particularly noteworthy, since they had to be 
 present in the early days — a year ago — when the butter 
 lines came into being. Drastic measures were taken 
 when the impatient women rioted. Those days are over. 
 The Government has taught the people a lesson. They 
 will wait hour after hour, docile and obedient hence- 
 forth, if necessary until they drop — make no mistake 
 of that. 
 
 But the authorities also learned a lesson. "People 
 think most of revolution when they are hungry," was 
 what one leader said to me. On this Saturday of which 
 I write not a potato was to be bought in the West-end 
 of Berlin, where the better classes live. Berlin had 
 been without potatoes for nearly a week. To-day they 
 had arrived, and the first to come were sent to the East- 
 end. In the West-end the people are filled with more 
 unquestioning praise of everything the Government 
 does ; they applaud when their Kaiser confers an Order 
 upon their Crown Prince for something, not quite clear, 
 which he is supposed to have accomplished at Verdun. 
 Therefore they can wait for potatoes until the more 
 critical East-end is supplied. 
 
 I went farther eastward through the Kottbuser dis- 
 trict to the Kottbuser Ufer on the canal, along which 
 a couple of hundred people waited in an orderly column 
 without any guardian — another evidence of the success 
 of the drastic measures of July and early August, when 
 
Z98 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the demonstrations against the war were nipped in the 
 bud. These people were waiting for the free advertise- 
 ment sheets from the gaudily painted yellow Ullstein 
 newspaper building across the square. They had to 
 stand by the side of the canal because a queue of sev- 
 eral hundred people waiting for potatoes wound slowly 
 before Ullstein's to the underground potato-shop next 
 door. 
 
 I had not heard a laugh or seen anybody smile all 
 day, and when darkness fell on the weary city I went to 
 a cheap little beer-room where several "bad," but really 
 harmless, Social Democrats used to gather. Among 
 them was the inevitable one who had been to America, 
 and I had become acquainted with them through him. 
 They talked in the new strain of their type, that they 
 might as well be under the British or Trench as under 
 their own Government. 
 
 Their voices were low — a rare event where Germans 
 gather at table. They did not plot, they merely 
 grumbled incessantly. The end of the war had def- 
 initely sunk below their horizon, and peace, not merely 
 steps to peace, was what they longed for. There was 
 the customary cursing of the Agrarians and the expres- 
 sions of resolve to have a new order of freedom after 
 the war, expressions which I believe will not be real- 
 ised unless Germany is compelled to accept peace by 
 superior forces from without. 
 
 I left the dreary room for the dreary streets, and 
 turned towards the centre and West-end of Berlin, 
 where the cafe lights were bright and tinkling music 
 made restricted menu-cards easier to bear. 
 
 Suddenly the oppressive feeling of the East-end was 
 
BERLIN'S EAST-END 299 
 
 dispelled by the strains of military music drawing 
 closer in a street near by. I hurried towards it, and 
 saw a band marching at the head of two companies of 
 wounded soldiers, their bandages showing white under 
 the bright street lights of Berlin. 
 
 The men were returning to their hospital off the 
 Prenzlauer Allee from a day's outing on the River 
 Spree. Scores of followers swelled to hundreds. The 
 troubles of the day were forgotten. Eyes brightened 
 as the throng kept step with the martial music. A roll 
 of drum, a flare of brass, and the crowd, scattered voices 
 at first, and then swelling in a grand crescendo, sang 
 ^Deutschland iiber Alles. To-morrow they would com- 
 plain again of food shortage and sigh for peace, but to- 
 night they would dream of victory. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 A little, bent old woman, neat, shrivelled, with 
 clear, healthy eye and keen intelligence, was col- 
 lecting acorns in the park outside the great Schloss, the 
 residence of von Oppen, a relative of the Police Presi- 
 dent of Berlin. 
 
 I had walked long and was about to eat my picnic 
 lunch, and stopped and spoke with her. We soon came 
 to the one topic in Germany — the war. She was eighty- 
 four years of age, she told me, and she worked for 
 twelve hours a day. Her mother had seen Napoleon 
 pass through the red-roofed village hard by. She well 
 remembered what she called "the Bismarck wars." She 
 was of the old generation, for she spoke of the Kaiser 
 as "the King." 
 
 "No," she said, "this war is not going like the Bis- 
 marck wars — not like the three that happened in 1864, 
 1866, 1870, within seven years when I was a young 
 woman." She was referring, of course, to Denmark, 
 Austria, and Prance. "We have lost many in our vil- 
 lage — food is hard to get." Here she pointed to the two 
 thin slices of black bread which were to form her mid- 
 day meal. She did not grumble at her twelve hours' 
 day in the fields, which were in addition to the work 
 of her little house, but she wished that she could have 
 half an hour in which to read history. 
 
 300 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 301 
 
 Her belief was that the war would be terminated by 
 the Zeppelins. "When our humane King really gives 
 the word, the English ships and towns will all be de- 
 stroyed by our Zeppelins. He is holding back his great 
 secret of destruction out of kindness." 
 
 The remark of that simple, but intelligent old woman 
 as to the restraint imposed by the Kaiser upon the Zep- 
 pelins constituted the universal belief of all Germany 
 until the British doggedly built up an air service under 
 the stress of necessity, which has brilliantly checked the 
 aerial carnival of frightfulness. People in Great 
 Britain seem to have no conception of the great part 
 the Zeppelins were to play in the war, according to 
 German imagination. That simple old peasant lady 
 expressed the views that had been uttered to me by in- 
 telligent members of the Reichstag — bankers, mer- 
 chants, men and women of all degrees. The first de- 
 struction of Zeppelins — that by Lieutenant Warneford, 
 and the bringing down of L Z77 at Revigny, did not 
 produce much disappointment. The war was going 
 well in other directions. But the further destruction 
 of Zeppelins has had almost as much to do with the de- 
 sire for peace, in the popular mind, as the discomfort 
 and illness caused by food shortage and the perpetual 
 hammerings by the French and British Armies in the 
 West. 
 
 It should be realised that the Zeppelin has been a 
 fetish of the Germans for the last ten years. The 
 Kaiser started the worship by publicly kissing Count 
 Zeppelin, and fervently exclaiming that he was the 
 greatest man of the century. Thousands of pictures 
 have been imagined of Zeppelins dropping bombs on 
 
302 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Buckingham Palace, the Bank of England, and the 
 Grand Fleet. For a long time, owing to the hiding of 
 the facts in England of the Zeppelin raids, even high 
 German officials believed that immense damage had 
 been done. The French acted more wisely. They al- 
 lowed full descriptions of the aeroplane and Zeppelin 
 raids in France to be published, and the result was dis- 
 couraging to the Germans. I remember studying the 
 British Zeppelin communiques with Germans. At that 
 time the London Authorities were constantly referring 
 to these raids taking place in the "Eastern counties," 
 when the returned Germans knew exactly where they 
 had been. The result was great encouragement. Noth- 
 ing did more to depress the Germans than the humorous 
 and true accounts of the Zeppelin raids which were 
 eventually allowed to appear in the English newspapers. 
 
 The Germans have now facts as to the actual dam- 
 age done in England. They know that the British pub- 
 lic receive the Zeppelins with excellent aircraft and 
 gun-fire. They know that anti-aircraft preparations 
 are likely to increase rather than decrease, and while, 
 for the sake of saving the nation's "face," it will be 
 necessary that Zeppelins be further used, the people 
 who are directing the war know that, so far as land 
 warfare is concerned, they are not a factor. 
 
 There have been more mishaps than have been pub- 
 lished ; more wounded and damaged Zeppelins than the 
 Germans have ever announced. I was informed that 
 the overhauling and repair of many Zeppelins after a 
 successful or unsuccessful raid was a matter, not of 
 days, but of weeks. There was great difficulty in ob- 
 taining crews. Most of them are sailors, as are the 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 303 
 
 officers. There have been suppressed mutinies in con- 
 nection with the manning of the Zeppelins. 
 
 Count Zeppelin, who, up to a year ago, was a na- 
 tional hero, is already regarded by a large section of 
 the population as a failure. The very house servants 
 who subscribed their pfennigs and marks in the early 
 days to help conduct his experiments now no longer 
 speak of him with respect. They have transferred their 
 admiration to Hindenburg and the submarines. 
 
 The majority of Germans of all classes believe what 
 they are officially instructed to believe, no more, no 
 less. The overmastering self-hypnotism which leads 
 the present-day German to believe that black is white, 
 if it adds to his self-satisfaction, is one of the most 
 startling phenomena of history. But what of Ballin, 
 Heineken, von Gwinner, Gutmann, Thyssen, Rathenau, 
 and other captains of industry and finance ? Some of 
 them have expressed opinions in interviews, but what 
 do they really think? I am not going to indulge in 
 any guesswork on this matter. I am simply going to 
 disclose some important statements made at a secret 
 meeting attended by many of the business directors of 
 the German Empire. The meeting was for the pur- 
 pose of discussing actual conditions in a straightfor- 
 ward manner, therefore no member of the Press, Ger- 
 man or foreign, was present. 
 
 In striking contrast with custom when the war is 
 discussed, nothing was said of Kultur, of German in- 
 nocence or enemy guilt, of an early and victorious 
 peace, of British warships hiding always in safety, or 
 of the omniscience and infallibility of the Supreme 
 Military Command. 
 
304 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 The little circle of Germans who have displayed such 
 brilliant organising ability in commerce and industry 
 are practical men, who look at the war and the days to 
 follow the war in the cold light of debit and credit. 
 This being the case, the honest opinions expressed by 
 Arthur von Gwinner, President of the Deutsche Bank, 
 are worthy of serious consideration. His chief points 
 were : — , 
 
 1. The belief cherished by the mass of the nation 
 that a Central Europe Economic Alliance will amply 
 compensate us for any shortcomings elsewhere, and en- 
 able us to sit back and snap our fingers at the rest of the 
 world is too absurd to be entertained by serious men. 
 Our trade, import and export, with Austria-Hungary 
 was as great as it could be for many years to come, and 
 it was only a small part of our total trade. After the 
 war, as before, the bulk of our trade must be with coun- 
 tries now neutral or enemy, and we must seriously con- 
 sider how to hold and add to this trade in the future. 
 
 2. The solution of the labour problem will be vital 
 in the work of reconstruction. We must make every 
 provision in order to forge rapidly ahead immediately 
 after the close of the war. 
 
 No German, except for necessary reasons of State, 
 should he allowed to leave the country for a number of 
 years after the war. 
 
 3. Before the war 2,000,000 Kussians came to us 
 every year at harvest time. These must continue to 
 come. 
 
 4. We have done wonderful work in scientific agri- 
 culture, but the limit of productivity of the soil has 
 undoubtedly been reached. 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 305 
 
 5. Do not place too much, hope in an early war be- 
 tween the United States and Japan. 
 
 6. There is great rejoicing over the sinking of enemy 
 ships. It should also be remembered, however, that 
 we are not paying any dividends at present. 
 
 In the discussion which followed the statements of 
 Herr von Gwinner and from various channels of re- 
 liable information which I made use of in Germany, 
 I found a serious view taken of these and other topics, 
 of which the great body of Germans are quite un- 
 aware. 
 
 Take the labour problem, for example. For years 
 Germany has recognised the necessity of a rapid in- 
 crease of population, if a nation is to smash rivals in 
 industry and war. Not for a moment during this 
 struggle has Germany lost sight of this fact. Many 
 times have I heard in the Fatherland that the assurance 
 of milk to children is not entirely for sentimental but 
 also for practical reasons. Official attempts are being 
 made at present to increase the population in ways 
 which cannot be discussed in this book. "You get your- 
 self born and the State does all the rest" was an ac- 
 curate analysis of Germany before the war; but the 
 State looks after everything now. 
 
 When men go home on leave from the army, mar- 
 ried or single, they are instructed in their duty of doing 
 their part to increase the population so that Germany 
 will have plenty of colonists for the Balkans, Turkey 
 and Asia in the great economic development of those 
 regions. To impress this they argue that Germany 
 and France had nearly the same number of inhabitants 
 in 1870. "See the difference to-day," says the German, 
 
306 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 "This difference is one of the chief causes of our greatly 
 superior strength." 
 
 Working girls in Dresden have not only been en- 
 couraged but quietly advised to serve the State "by en- 
 abling Deutschland to achieve the high place in the 
 -world which God marked out for it, which can only be 
 done if there are a sufficient number of Germans to 
 make their influence felt in the world." They have 
 tterj told not to worry, that the State will provide for 
 the offspring. In fact, societies of godfathers and god- 
 mothers are growing all over Germany. They do not 
 necessarily have to bring up the child in their own 
 home ; they can pay for its maintenance. Thus the rich 
 woman who does not care to have many children her- 
 self is made to feel in ultra-scientific Germany that she 
 should help her poorer sister. 
 
 The Germans treat the matter very lightly. In 
 Bremen, for example, where the quartering of Land- 
 stiirmers (the oldest Germans called to military service) 
 among the people resulted in a large batch of illegiti- 
 mate children, I found it the custom, even in mixed so- 
 ciety of the higher circles, to refer to them jokingly as 
 "young Landstiirmers." 
 
 A serious consideration of what Germany, or any 
 other belligerent, will do after the war is usually of 
 little value, as conditions after the war depend upon 
 ■ what is done during the war. The amount of freedom 
 which the German people attain in the next few years 
 is in direct proportion to the amount of thrashing ad- 
 ministered to their country by the Allies. Perhaps 
 they will have something to say about the frontier regu- 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 307 
 
 lations of Germany; but assuming that the training of 
 centuries will prevent their hastily casting aside their 
 docility, it is extremely probable that few, if any, Ger- 
 mans will be allowed to leave Germany during the first 
 years of reconstruction. 
 
 This will disappoint several million Germans. De- 
 spite the snarling rage displayed everywhere in the 
 Fatherland, except in diplomatic circles, against the 
 United States, I heard an ever-increasing number of 
 malcontents declare that, immediately after the close 
 of war, they would go to the States to escape the bur- 
 den of taxation. One hears two words — Friede (peace) 
 and Essen (food) — constantly. The third word I 
 should add is Steuern (taxes). It is all very well to 
 sit by some neutral fireside reading Goethe or Schopen- 
 hauer, while listening to the Meistersinger von Nurn- 
 berg, or the "Melody in F," and lull yourself into the 
 belief that the Germans are a race of idealists. This 
 touch is used to a considerable extent in German propa- 
 ganda. Any one familiar, however, with conditions in 
 modern Germany knows that Germans are ultra-ma- 
 terialistic. 
 
 I have heard them talk of the cost of the war from 
 the very beginning. They gloated over the sweeping 
 indemnities they would exact. After they realised the 
 possibilities of State-organised scientific burglary in 
 Belgium they were beside themselves in joyful antici- 
 pation of what Paris, London, and a score of other 
 cities would yield. When the war became a temporary 
 stalemate, I heard it said, particularly by army officers, 
 that Germany was taking no chances with the future, 
 but was exacting indemnities now from the occupied 
 
308 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 districts. When taxes rose and food shortage increased, 
 the possibility that the Germans themselves would have 
 to pay some of their own costs of the war in various 
 forms of taxation determined a rapidly growing num- 
 ber to seeek a way out by emigrating at the first op- 
 portunity. 
 
 As Herr Ballin said, "The world will find us as 
 strongly organised for peace as we were organised for 
 war." The labour problem, however, not only now, 
 but for the days of reconstruction, is viewed very seri- 
 ously, how seriously may be., gathered from the fact that 
 there is so much apprehension that Russia may refuse 
 to allow her workers to go to Germany for some years 
 after the war, that nearly everyone at the secret con- 
 ference mentioned above was in favour of making con- 
 cessions at the peace conference, should Russia insist. 
 Indeed one Rhinelander was of the opinion that it 
 would be worth while giving up Courland to get an un- 
 limited supply of labour. 
 
 In the meantime the Germans have not been idle in 
 other directions. Until Hindenburg called up his im- 
 mense levies in the late summer, Germany exported 
 steel building materials and coal to contiguous neutral 
 countries, but she can no longer do this. Nevertheless, 
 she did make elaborate preparations to "dump" into 
 Russia on a colossal scale immediately after the resump- 
 tion of intercourse. Immense supplies of farming im- 
 plements and other articles of steel have been stored in 
 the Rhineland, Westphalia, and Silesia, ready for im- 
 mediate shipment to Russia, thus enabling Germany 
 to get ahead of all rivals in thi3 field. 
 
 Germans also derive comfort from the fact that their 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 3<>9 
 
 ships will be ready at once to carry cargoes and pas- 
 sengers, while so many of those of the Allies will be 
 used for the transport of troops after the close of the 
 war, and must then refit. 
 
 With such plans for "getting the jump" on com- 
 petitors it is only natural that I saw more and more ir- 
 ritability on the part of the financial men with each 
 month of the war after last April. 
 
 Von Gwinner's remark about the improbability of 
 war between Japan and the United States in the near 
 future would, if known to the German people, cause 
 still another keen disappointment, since one of their 
 solaces has been the thought that they would soon have 
 an opportunity of reaping a munition harvest them- 
 selves. 
 
 When Germany tried to make a separate peace with 
 Russia, Japan was also approached — how far, I do not 
 know. The Wilhelrnstrasse still maintains a Japanese 
 department, and any possible thread, however light, 
 which may be twisted from a Tokyo newspaper to 
 show that perhaps Japan may be won over, is pounced 
 upon most eagerly. Germany, Japan, and Russia was 
 the combination whispered in Berlin at the time of the 
 unsuccessful attempt to separate the Allies. 
 
 Absolute governments have certain advantages in 
 war. They have also disadvantages. When things are 
 not running smoothly in Germany the Germans worry 
 more than do the English when things are not going 
 well in England. When the German leaders began to 
 disagree as to the best methods to conduct the war, the 
 effect upon the people was demoralising. Only theii 
 gullibility saved them from complete dismay. 
 
3 1 o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Month after month the great struggle raged, under 
 the surface for the most part, but occasionally boiling 
 over. Would it be to the best interests of Germany to 
 go the limit with the submarines or not ? ]STot once did 
 I hear the subject discussed on ethical grounds. Some 
 remarks made to me by Doctor Stresemann, one of the 
 powerful National Liberals behind the mammoth indus- 
 trial trust in Germany, and the most violent apostle 
 of frightfulness in the Reichstag, aptly express the sen- 
 timent in favour of unrestricted submarine warfare. 
 He and the rest of the men behind Tirpitz had fought 
 and lost in the three Committee Assemblies called to 
 discuss U-boat policy in 1916. 
 
 As the day set for the September meeting of the 
 Reichstag approached I noticed that Herr Stresemann 
 was growing more and more excited. "This war is 
 lasting too long," he declared to me in great agitation. 
 "The Kaiser's most glaring fault is that of trying to 
 fight Great Britain with one foot in the grave of chiv- 
 alry. If the Chancellor continues to sway him, we will 
 wreck the Chancellor at all costs. The only way to win 
 this war is to publish again, and this time enforce, the 
 decree of February 4th, 1915, warning all neutrals to 
 keep out of the submarine zone." 
 
 "But, according to the 'Sussex Ultimatum/ that will 
 cause a break with the United States," I said. 
 
 "We cannot let that deter us," he declared. "Britain 
 is the keystone of our enemies. If she falls they all 
 fall. We must attack her where she is vulnerable. We 
 must starve her out. As for America, we have little to 
 fear from her. In the first place, although she may 
 break off diplomatic relations, she will not enter the 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 311 
 
 war if we are careful not to sink her ships. As Ameri- 
 can ships play a small part in the carrying trade to 
 England, we can thus refrain from sinking them — 
 although we naturally should not proclaim this. 
 
 "In the second place, if America does declare war 
 upon Germany, it would have little effect. The war 
 will be over before she can organise after the manner of 
 Great Britain. Herr Helfferich (former Minister of 
 Finance and now Vive-Chancellor) feels that we 
 should do everything possible to keep America out, inas- 
 much as thereby we shall be in a better position to con- 
 clude commercial treaties after the war. Herr Helffe- 
 rich exerted powerful influence in the meeting at Great 
 Headquarters at the time of the Sussex Crisis. But 
 our duty to ourselves is to win the war. If we starve 
 out England we win, no matter how many enemies we 
 have. If we fail, another enemy, even the United 
 States, would not make our defeat more thorough. We 
 are justified, for our existence is at stake. The only 
 way we can escape defeat is by a successful U-boat war 
 against England. That would change defeat into over- 
 whelming victory. I am absolutely confident; that is 
 why the slow methods of the Chancellor make me so 
 angry. It will take at least half a year to bring Eng- 
 land to her knees, and with our increased privations he 
 may wait too long. But we shall compel him ; we shall 
 compel him." 
 
 Herr Stresemann later requested me not to publish 
 these statements — at least, not until a decision had been 
 reached. I did, however, lay the matter before the 
 'American Embassy in London as soon as I arrived in 
 England, since my investigations in Germany left no 
 
3 1 2 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 doubt in my mind that she would play two great cards 
 — one, to work for peace through negotiation ; the other, 
 the last desperate recourse to the submarine. 
 
 As I write (January 21st, 1917) I am convinced 
 that it is only a question of time until Germany is 
 reduced to this last desperate resort. The men who will 
 decide that time will be Hindenburg and Batocki. The 
 successful siege of Germany is a stupendous though not 
 impossible task. 
 
 On the other hand, the human system is a very 
 elastic piece of mechanism, and modern man, far from 
 being the degenerate which some admirers of cave-man 
 hardihood have pictured him, is able to undergo a 
 tremendous amount of privation. Besieged cities have 
 nearly always held out longer than the besiegers ex- 
 pected. In the besieged city the civilian population 
 is for the most part a drag on the military, but in be- 
 sieged Germany the civilian population, reinforced by 
 slave labour from Belgium, France and Poland, con- 
 tinues working at high pressure in order to enable the 
 military to keep the field. Fat is the vital factor. The 
 more munitions Germany heaps up the more fat she 
 must use for this purpose, and the less she will have for 
 the civil population, with a consequent diminution of 
 their output of work. Germany simply cannot burn 
 the candle at both ends. It is my personal opinion that 
 Verdun marks the supreme culmination of German 
 military offensive in the West, and the West is the 
 decisive theatre of war. If that is Hindenburg's 
 opinion, then he realises that another colossal German 
 offensive in the West would not bring a victorious 
 peace. There remains only the alternative of building 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 313 
 
 up a defensive against the coming Allied attacks — an 
 alternative depending for its success upon .sufficient 
 food for the mass of the people. Thus the U-boat de- 
 cision clearly rests upon the Chief of Staff and the Food 
 Dictator, since their advice to the Imperial Chancellor 
 and the All Highest War Lord must be determinative. 
 
 When the day comes for Germany to proclaim to the 
 world that she will sink at sight all ships going to and 
 from the ports of her enemies, that day will be one of 
 the great moments of history. Germany's last card will 
 be on the table. It will be war to the knife. Either 
 she will starve Great Britain or Great Britain will 
 starve her. 
 
 These are problems for the leaders, who have the 
 further task of keeping the population hopeful on an 
 alarmingly decreasing diet. Superficially, or until you 
 want something to eat, or a ride in a taxicab, Berlin 
 at night is gay. But you somehow feel that the gaiety 
 is forced. London at first sight is appallingly gloomy 
 is the evening, and foreigners hardly care to leave 
 their hotels. But I find that behind the gloom and the 
 darkness there is plenty of spontaneous merriment at 
 the theatres and other places of entertainment. There 
 is plenty of food, little peace talk, and quiet confidence. 
 
 Across the North Sea, however, great efforts are- 
 made by the German Government to keep up the spirits 
 of the people. "No public entertainer need go to the 
 war at all, and the opera is carried on exactly as in 
 peace time, though I confess that my material soul 
 found it difficult to enjoy Tristan on a long and mono- 
 tonous diet of sardines, potatoes, cheese and fresh- 
 water fish — chiefly pike and carp. A humorous 
 
3 14 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 [American friend used to laugh at the situation — the 
 brilliantly dressed house, officers Jn their extremely 
 handsome grey uniforms, ladies, some of them with 
 too many diamonds, and — very little to eat. 
 
 At the slightest military gain the bells of victory peal 
 wildly, and gay flags colour mile after mile of city 
 streets, flags under which weary, silent women crawl 
 in long lines to the shops where food is sold. A bewil- 
 dering spectacle is this crawling through victory after 
 victory ever nearer to defeat. 
 
 Early in the war a Norwegian packer, who had not 
 had much demand for his sardines in Germany, put 
 the picture of Hindenburg on the tins and christened 
 them the "Hindenburg Sardines." When he changed 
 the trade-mark the Germans bought them as fast as he 
 could supply them — not because they were short of food 
 at that time, but through the magic of a name. To-day 
 all that is changed. Norwegians no longer have to flat- 
 ter the Germans, who are anxious to buy anything in 
 the way of food. They flood Germany now with im- 
 punity with sardines whose merits are extolled in the 
 hated English language, sardines which had originally 
 been intended for Britain or America, but which are 
 now eagerly snapped up at four and five times the peace 
 price by people who invariably bid one another good- 
 bye with "Gott strafe England" I saw the gem of the 
 collection in a Eriedrichstrasse window. It was en- 
 titled: "Our Allies Brand," on a bright label which 
 displayed the flags of Great Britain, Erance, Russia, 
 Italy, Belgium and Japan. 
 
 In Germany you feel that the drama of the battle- 
 field has changed to the drama of the larder. Hope and 
 
IN THE DEEPENING SHADOW 3*5 
 
 despair succeed one another in the determination to 
 hold out economically while soldier and sailor convince 
 the world that Germany cannot be beaten. People 
 laugh at the blockade, sneer at the blockade and curse 
 the blockade in the same breath. A headline of victory, 
 a mention of the army, the army they love, and they 
 boast again. Then a place in the food line, or a seat at 
 table, and they whine at the long war and rage against 
 "British treachery." Like a cork tossing on the waves 
 — such is the spirit of Germany. 
 
 The majority struggle on in the distorted belief that 
 Germany was forced to defend herself from attack 
 planned by Great Britain, while the minority are kept 
 in check by armed patrols and "preventive arrest." 
 
 The spirit of "all for the Fatherland" is yielding to 
 the spirit of self-preservation of the individual. Every- 
 where one sees evidence of this. The cry of a little girl 
 running out of a meat shop in Friedenau, an excellent 
 quarter of Berlin, brought me in to find a woman, worn 
 out with grief over the loss of her son and the long wait- 
 ing in the queue for food, lying on the floor in a semi- 
 conscious condition. It is the custom to admit five or 
 six people at a time. I was at first surprised that no- 
 body in the line outside had stirred at the appeal of the 
 child, but I need not have expected individual initiative 
 even under the most extenuating circumstances from 
 people so slavishly disciplined that they would stolidly 
 wait their turn. But the four women inside — why did 
 they not help the woman ? The spirit of self-preserva- 
 tion must be the answer. For them the main event of 
 the day was to secure the half-pound of meat which 
 would last them for a week. They simply would not 
 
3 1 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 be turned from that one objective until it was reached. 
 And the soldier3 passing through Berlin ! I saw some 
 my last afternoon in Berlin, loaded with their kit, 
 marching silently down Unter den Linden to the troop 
 trains, where a few relatives would tearfully bid them 
 good-bye. There was not a sound in their ranks — 
 only the dull thud of their heavy marching boots. They 
 didn't sing nor even speak. The passers-by buttoned 
 their coats more tightly against the chill wind and 
 hurried on their several ways, with never a thought or a 
 look for the men in field-grey, moving, many of them 
 for the last time, through the streets of the capital. 
 The old man who angered the war-mad throng before 
 the Schloss on August 1st, 1914, with his discordant 
 croak of "War is a serious business, young man," lives 
 in the spirit of to-day. And he did not have to go to 
 the mountain! 
 
CHAPTEK XXYII 
 
 ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 
 
 After my last exit from Germany into Holland I 
 was confronted by a new problem. I had found 
 going to England very simple on my previous war-time 
 crossings. Kow, however, there were two obstacles in 
 my path — first, to secure permission to board a vessel 
 bound for England; secondly, to make the actual pas- 
 sage safely. 
 
 The passport difficulty was the first to overcome. 
 The passport with which I had come to Europe before 
 the war, and which had been covered with frontier 
 visees, secret service permissions and military permis- 
 sions, from the Alps to the White Sea and from the 
 Thames to the Black Sea, had been cancelled in Wash- 
 ington at my request during my brief visit home in the 
 autumn of 1915. On my last passport I had limited 
 the countries which I intended to visit to Germany 
 and Austria-Hungary. I purposed adding to this list 
 as I had done on my old passport, but subsequent Amer- 
 ican regulations, aimed at restricting travellers to one 
 set of belligerents, prevented that. 
 
 I was not only anxious to return to London to con* 
 tinue my work with Lord Northcliffe on The Times and 
 the Daily Mail, but I was encouraged by two American 
 officials in Germany and Austria-Hungary to write the 
 truth about Germany — a feat quite impossible, as o'vo 
 
 3i7 
 
3 1 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 of them said to me, for a correspondent remaining in 
 the zone of the Central Powers. The official in Austria- 
 Hungary had become righteously indignant at the sneer- 
 ing German remarks about how they could "play with 
 Washington in the U-boat question." He asked me to 
 learn all possible news of submarines. The official in 
 Germany had been impressed by my investigations 
 among the men behind Tirpitz, men who never for a 
 moment ceased in their efforts to turn on f rightfulness 
 in full force. When I mentioned the new American 
 passport regulations which would delay me getting to 
 England, he said : "In Holland fix it with the British. 
 I hope you will do some good with all this information, 
 for you have the big scoop of the day. Now is the 
 time." 
 
 I tried to "fix it" with the British authorities in 
 Rotterdam, but as they did not know me my progress 
 was slow for a few days. Then I went to Amsterdam 
 to my old newspaper friend, Charles Tower, correspon- 
 dent for the Daily Mail, a man of broad experience, and 
 ir close touch with affairs in Holland, a country which 
 war journalists have grown to look upon as an im- 
 portant link in the news chain between Germany and 
 England. I realised that this move might confirm the 
 suspicions of von Kiihlmann's spies who were on my 
 trail. However, the free air of Holland was making 
 me a little incautious, a little over-confident. 
 
 "There is the man who is following you," said Tower, 
 as we stepped in the evening from his home on to the 
 brightly lighted street and made our way along the edge 
 of the canals. The tall, round-shouldered German 
 shadowed us through the crowded streets to the Amstel 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 3*9 
 
 Hotel. Then we shadowed him, while he telephoned for 
 help which came in the form of a persistent Hollander, 
 who insisted in sitting at the table next to us, although 
 it had just been vacated by diners and needed re-arrang- 
 ing, whereas many other tables were entirely free. 
 
 That is a sample of the manner in which we were 
 systematically spied upon. In order to make arrange- 
 ments it was necessary for us to travel together so that 
 we could talk, as our time was limited. It was abso- 
 lutely impossible for us to go into a restaurant or get 
 into a railway compartment without having a satellite 
 at our elbow. They were very persistent and very 
 thorough; but the system in Holland has the same 
 glaring flaw that is common to the German system 
 everywhere — too much system and not sufficient clever- 
 ness in the individual. 
 
 Von Kiihlmann, the German Minister, certainly does 
 not lack men. We encountered them everywhere. Travel- 
 ling first class gives one more or less privacy in Holland, 
 so that it was decidedly irritating to have a listener 
 make for our compartment, while adjoining first-class 
 compartments were entirely empty. If the intrusion 
 resulted in our going to another compartment, an ever- 
 ready Kamerad would quickly join us. 
 
 In all countries Germany considers certain telephone 
 ^connections to be of great strategic importance. It is 
 practically impossible to be connected with the British 
 Consulate at Rotterdam until the "interpreter" is put 
 on. Mr. Tower experiences the same annoyance. In- 
 deed, the Germans are extremely attentive to him. 
 Although he needs only a small flat, since he lives alone, 
 he has to protect himself by hiring the floor above and 
 
3 *o THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 the floor below, as the Germans are continually trying 
 to get rooms as close to him as possible. The German 
 Government has for years been pouring out money like 
 water to conquer the world. If I were a German 
 taxpayer I should feel much like the man who 
 discovers that the Florida land which some smooth- 
 talking combination travelling book-agent and real 
 estate agent persuaded him to buy is several feet under 
 water. 
 
 Tower and the British authorities finally obtained 
 permission for me to land in England, but they insisted 
 that it would be worse than useless for me to attempt 
 to go on a Dutch steamer, as I should be taken off. 
 Within a week two of these steamers had been con- 
 ducted by the Germans to Zeebrugge. 
 
 After I had left word that I wished to go at the first 
 possible opportunity, and had received some further 
 instructions, Tower and I left for Rotterdam on our 
 last train ride together in Holland. The little man 
 with the book who sat beside us in the tram to the 
 Central station turned us over to a big man with 
 whitish eyebrows and reddish hair and moustache, who 
 followed us into a second-class compartment, which we 
 had entered purposely, although we had bought first- 
 class tickets. We then pretended to discover our mis- 
 take and changed to a vacant first-class compartment. 
 Through some rare oversight there was no Kamerad 
 on hand, whereupon the man with the reddish hair fol- 
 lowed us with the pathetically feeble explanation that 
 he, too, had made the same mistake. 
 
 When Tower and I had talked ad nauseam on such' 
 fiercely neutral subjects as Dutch cheese and Swiss 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 3*i 
 
 scenery, I felt an impelling desire to "get even" with 
 the intruder, and began to complain to Tower of the 
 injustice of the British not allowing me to return to 
 America via England, which I wished to see for a few 
 days. He took the cue readily, and accused me of being 
 "fed-up like all neutral correspondents in Berlin." He 
 frankly expressed his disgust at the enthusiasm which 
 he declared that I had been showing for everything 
 German since I met him in Holland. As the train 
 pulled into the Hague, where I prepared to leave him, 
 he concluded by saying, "After all, you ought not to 
 blame the British authorities for refusing you permis- 
 sion to go to England. I have done my best and have 
 failed ; there is nothing more that I can do. I did get 
 one concession for you, however. You will not be 
 roughly handled or otherwise maltreated when your 
 vessel touches at Ealmouth." 
 
 I had to make a serious effort to keep a straight face 
 while leaving the train with this last realistic touch of 
 "British brutality" ringing in my ears. Tower, I might 
 add, had voiced the extraordinary myth one hears in the 
 Fatherland about the terrible manner in which the 
 British treat passengers on neutral steamers touching 
 at their ports. 
 
 The man with the reddish hair followed me to the 
 office of the Holland- America Line, where I made appli* 
 cation for a reservation on the boat which would sail in 
 a week or ten days. Erom there I went to a small 
 restaurant. He seemed satisfied and left me, where- 
 upon I followed him. He hurried to the large Cafe 
 Central, stepped straight to a table in the front room, 
 which is level with the street, and seated himself beside 
 
322 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 a thin, dark German of the intellectual type who ap- 
 peared to be awaiting him. From my seat in the 
 shadows of the higher room I watched with amusement 
 the increasingly puzzled expression on the face of the 
 intellectual German while the man with the reddish 
 hair unfolded his tale. When they parted my curiosity 
 caused me to trail after the thin, dark man. He went 
 straight to the German Legation. 
 
 For two days I nervously paced up and down the 
 sands at Scheveningen looking out upon the North Sea 
 and waiting for the call. It came one short drizzly 
 afternoon. The Germans, of course, knew the where- 
 abouts of the vessel on which I should embark for Eng- 
 land, though it is highly improbable that they knew 
 the sailing time, and they did not know when I 
 should go on it. 
 
 I did everything possible to throw any possible spies 
 off the trail as I made my way in the dark to a lonely 
 wharf on the Maas River where I gave the password to 
 a watchman who stepped out of a black corner near 
 the massive gates which opened to the pier. 
 
 I went aboard a little five hundred ton vessel with 
 steam up, and stood near two other men on the narrow 
 deck, where I watched in considerable awe the silent 
 preparations to cast away. 
 
 A man stepped out of the cabin. "I presume, sir, 
 that you are the American journalist," he said. He 
 explained that he was the steward. From the bridge 
 came the voice of the captain, "We can give them only 
 a few minutes more," he said. 
 
 Two minutes of silence, broken only by the gentle 
 throbbing of the engines. Then from the blackness 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 323 
 
 near the street gate came the sound of hurrying feet. 
 I could make out three stumbling figures, apparently 
 urged along by a fourth. a Who are they?" I asked 
 the steward. 
 
 "They must be the three Tommies who escaped from 
 Germany. Brave lads they are. A couple more days 
 and we'll have them back in England." 
 
 a A couple of days ?" I exclaimed. "Why, it's only 
 eight hours to the Thames estuary, isn't it ?" 
 
 "Eight hours in peace time; and eight hours for 
 Dutch 'boats now — when the Germans don't kidnap 
 them away to Zeebrugge. But the course to the Thames 
 is not our course. The old fourteen-hour trip to Hull 
 often takes us forty now. Every passage is different, 
 too. It isn't only on the sea that the Germans try to 
 bother us ; they also keep after us when we are in port 
 here. Only yesterday the Dutch inspectors did us a 
 good turn by arresting five spies monkeying around the 
 boat — three Germans and two Dutchmen." 
 
 The little vessel was headed into the stream now, 
 the three Tommies had gone inside, followed a little 
 later by the two men who were on the deck when I 
 arrived, men who talked Erench. When the steward 
 left I was alone on the deck. 
 
 I watched the receding lights of Eotterdam till they 
 flickered out in the distance. The night was misty and 
 too dark to make out anything on shore. My thoughts 
 went back to the last time, nearly a year before, when 
 I had been on that river. I saw it then, in flood of 
 moonlight as I stepped on the boat deck of the giant 
 liner Rotterdam. The soft strains of a waltz floated up 
 from the music room, adding enchantment to the wind- 
 
3 24 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 mills and low Dutch farmhouses strung out below the 
 level of the water. 
 
 At that time my thoughts were full of my coming 
 attempt to get into Germany, a Germany which was 
 smashing through Serbia, and already planning the 
 colossal onslaught against Verdun, the onslaught which 
 she hoped would put France out of the war. I had got 
 into Germany, but for a long time I had almost de- 
 spaired of getting out; twice I had been turned back 
 courteously but firmly from the frontiers, once when I 
 tried to cross to Switzerland and again when I started 
 for Denmark. A reliable friend had told me that the 
 Wilhelmstrasse had suspected me but could prove 
 nothing against me. The day before I felt Germany I 
 was called to the Wilhelmstrasse, where I received the 
 interesting and somewhat surprising information that 
 the greatest good that a correspondent could do in the 
 world be to use his influence to bring the United States 
 and Germany to a better understanding. I made 
 neither comment nor promise. I was well aware that 
 the same Wilhelmstrasse, while laying the wires for an 
 attempt to have my country play Germany's game, was 
 sedulously continuing its propaganda of Gott sirafe 
 AmeriJca among the German people. As in the hatred 
 sown against Great Britain hate against America was 
 sown so that the Government would have a united Ger- 
 many behind them in case of war. 
 
 I was at last out of Germany, but the lights of the 
 Hook of Holland reminded me that a field of German 
 activity lay ahead — floating mines, torpedoes, subma- 
 rines, and swift destroyers operating from Ostend and 
 Zeebrugge. They are challenging British supremacy 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 325 
 
 in the southern part of the Eorth Sea, through the 
 waters of which we must now feel our way. 
 
 We were off the Hook running straight to the open 
 sea. The nervous feeling of planning and delay of 
 the last few days gave way now to the exhilaration 
 which comes of activity in danger. If the Germans 
 should get us, the least that would happen to me would 
 be internment until the end of the war. I was risking 
 everything on the skill and pluck of the man who paced 
 the bridge above my head, and on the efficiency of the 
 British patrol of the seas. 
 
 The little steamer suddenly began to plunge and roll 
 with the waves washing her decks when I groped my 
 way, hanging to the rail, to the enug cabin where six 
 men sat about the table. The pallor of their faces made 
 them appear wax-like in the yellow light of the smoking 
 oil lamp which swung suspended overhead. Three of 
 them were British, two were Belgian, and one was 
 French, but there was a common bond which drew them 
 together in a comradeship which transcends all barriers 
 of nationality, for they had escaped from a common 
 enemy. 
 
 They welcomed me to the table. It is surprising 
 what a degree of intimacy can spring up between seven 
 men, all with histories behind, and all with the same 
 hope of getting to England. They were only beginning 
 to find themselves, they were indeed still groping to 
 pick up the threads of reality of a world from which 
 they had been snatched two years before. 
 
 The Englishman at my right, a corporal, had been 
 taken prisoner with a bullet in his foot at the retreat 
 from Mons. In the summer of 1916 he had been sent 
 
3 2 6 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 to a punishment work camp near Windau in Courland. 
 I had already heard unsavoury rumours of this camp 
 while I was in Germany, of men forced to toil until 
 they dropped in their tracks, of an Englishman shot 
 simply because his guard was in bad temper. But the 
 most damning arraignment of Windau came from a 
 young Saxon medical student, who told me that affer 
 he had qualified for a commission as second lieutenant 
 he declined to accept it. This was such an unusual 
 occurrence in a country where the army officer is a 
 semi-deity that I was naturally curious to know 
 why. 
 
 "I am loyal to the Fatherland," the young Saxon 
 said to me, "and I am not afraid to die. I was filled 
 with enthusiasm to receive a commission, but all that 
 enthusiasm died when I saw the way Russian prisoners 
 were treated in East Prussia and at Windau. I saw 
 them stripped to the waist under orders from the camp 
 officers, tied to trees and lashed until the blood flowed. 
 When I saw one prisoner, weak from underfeeding, cut 
 with switches until he died in the presence of a Berlin 
 captain, my mind was made up. My country has gone 
 too far in making the army officer supreme. I now 
 could see the full significance of Zabern, a significance 
 which I could not realise at the time. During the first 
 part of the war I became angry when outsiders called ua 
 barbarians; now I feel sad. I do not blame them. 
 But it is our system that is at fault, and we must cor- 
 rect it. Therefore, although I am an insignificant indi- 
 vidual and do not count, I shall, as I love my country, 
 obey the dictates of my conscience. I will not be an 
 officer in the German system." 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 327 
 
 I thought of that sincere young student while the 
 boat staggered under the onslaughts of heavy seas, and 
 the corporal told of how twelve hours' daily toil on the 
 railway in Courland with rations entirely inadequate 
 for such work, finally put him on the sick list, and he 
 was sent back to Miinster in western Germany. 
 
 He was then sent into the fields with two companions 
 — the two who were in the group about the table — and 
 with them he seized a favourable opportunity to escape. 
 His companions had tried on previous occasions, each 
 separately, but had been caught, sent back and put into 
 dark cells and given only one meal a day for a long and 
 weakening period. That did not daunt them. The 
 Germans thought that men who had gone through that 
 kind of punishment would not try to escape again. Yet 
 as soon as their strength was restored through their food 
 parcels from home they were off, but in an entirely 
 different direction. 
 
 I asked one of them, a little Welshman, where he got 
 the waterproof rubber bag on the floor at his feet, in 
 which were all his earthly belongings. "That used to be 
 the old German farmer's tablecloth," he said. 
 
 To-day in Europe Jthere are millions of civilians 
 dressed in military uniform, which fails to.hide the fact 
 that their main work of life is not that of the soldier. 
 But the three British soldiers sitting under the smoky 
 brass lamp were of a different sort. Twelve years of 
 service had so indelibly stamped them as soldiers of 
 the King that the make-shift clothing given them in 
 Holland could not conceal their calling. Their faces 
 were an unnatural white from the terrible experiences 
 which they had undergone, but, like the rest of the 
 
3 2 8 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 Old Army, they were always soldiers, every inch of 
 them. 
 
 The two men whom I had heard talking French on 
 the deck were Belgians. The one had been a soldier at 
 Liege, and had managed to scramble across a ditch 
 after his three days' tramp to Holland, although the 
 sentry's bullet whistled uncomfortably close. He said 
 that his strongest wish was to rejoin the Belgian army 
 so that he might do his part to avenge the death of seven 
 civilian hostages who had been shot before his eyes. 
 
 The other Belgian was just over military age, but 
 he wanted to reach England to volunteer. His nerve 
 and resource are certainly all right. He knew of the 
 electrified wire along the Belgian-Dutch frontier, so he 
 brought two pieces of glass with him, and thus held the 
 current of death away from his body while he wriggled 
 through to freedom. 
 
 We talked until after midnight. The French cap- 
 tain, formerly an instructor of artillery at Saint Cyr — 
 the West Point and the Sandhurst of France — taken 
 prisoner in the first autumn of the war, was the last to 
 tell his story. 
 
 At Torgau, Saxony, in the heart of Germany, he 
 plunged into the Elbe in the darkness of night, stemmed 
 the swift waters, and on landing, half-drowned, rose 
 speedily and walked fast to avoid a fatal chill. 
 
 For twenty-nine days he struggled on towards liberty. 
 Nothing but the tremendous impulse of the desire for 
 freedom could have carried him on his own two feet 
 across Germany, without money, through countless 
 closely-policed villages and great cities, in a country 
 where everyone carries an identity book (with which, 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 329 
 
 of course, he was unprovided), without a friend or 
 accomplice at any point of the journey, with only a map 
 torn from a railway time-table, and no other guides 
 than the sun, moon, and stars and direction posts. 
 
 I will give the rest of the man's story in his own 
 words. 
 
 "I came to the conclusion that my brain would not 
 stand the captivity. I knew some of the difficulties 
 before me, but I doubt whether I would have started if 
 I had known them all. I lived on unthreshed wheat 
 and rye, apples, blackberries, bilberries, carrots, turnips 
 and even raw potatoes. I did not taste one morsel of 
 cooked food or anything stronger than water till I 
 arrived in Holland. I did not speak one word to any 
 human being. On two occasions I marched more than 
 thirty miles in the twenty-four hours. I slept always 
 away from the roadside, and very often by day, and as 
 far as possible from any inhabited house. I am, as 
 you see, weak and thin, practically only muscle and 
 bone, and during the last three days, while waiting in 
 Holland for the boat, I have had to eat carefully to 
 avoid the illness that would almost certainly follow 
 repletion." 
 
 After I had lain down for a few hours' sleep, I 
 thought, as I had often thought during the past thirty 
 months, that although this is a war of machinery there 
 is plenty of the human element in it, too. People who 
 tell only of the grim-drab aspect of the great struggle 
 sometimes forget that romances just as fine as were ever 
 spun by Victor Hugo happen around them every day. 
 
 At dawn I hung to the rail of the wildly tossing ship, 
 looking at the horizon from which the mists were 
 
33° THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 clearing. Two specks began to grow into the long low 
 black lines of destroyers. Our most anxious moment 
 of the voyage had come. We waited for the shot that 
 would show them to be German. 
 
 I "They're all right. They're the escort !" came a voice 
 ton the winds that swept over the bridge. 
 
 They grew rapidly large, lashed the sea white as 
 they tore along one on each side of us, diving through 
 the waves when they could not ride them. When 
 abreast of us they seemed almost to stop in their own 
 length, wheel and disappear in the distance. Somehow 
 the way they wheeled reminded me of the way the Cos- 
 sacks used to pull their horses sharply at right angles 
 when I saw them covering the rearguard in the retreat 
 through the Bukovina. 
 
 The rough soldier at my side looked after them, with 
 a mist in his eyes that did not come from the sea. "I'll 
 be able to see my wife again," he said, more to the waves 
 than to me. "I didn't write, because I didn't want to 
 raise any false hopes. But this settles it, we're certain 
 to get home safe now. I suppose I'll walk in and find 
 her packing my food parcel for Germany — the parcel 
 that kept me alive, while some of them poor Russian 
 chaps with nobody to send them parcels are going under 
 every day." 
 
 We ran close to two masts sticking up out of the 
 water near the mouth of the Humber, the mast of our 
 sister ship, which had gone down with all on board 
 when she struck a mine. 
 
 That is the sort of sight which makes some critics 
 say, "What is the matter with the British Navy?" 
 Those critics forget to praise the mine-sweepers that 
 
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 33 1 
 
 we saw all about, whose bravery, endurance and noble 
 spirit of self-sacrifice lead them to persevere in their 
 perilous work and enable a thousand ships to reach port 
 to one that goes down. 
 
 On that rough voyage across the North Sea, through 
 the destroyer and armed motor launch patrol, main- 
 tained by men who work unflinchingly in the shadow of 
 death, I felt once again the power of the British Navy. 
 I cast my lot with that Navy when I left Holland. I 
 know what its protection means, for I could not have 
 crossed on a neutral Dutch vessel. 
 
 It is all very well to complain about a few raiders 
 that manage in thirty months to pierce the British 
 patrols, or the hurried dash of swift destroyers into the 
 Channel, but when you look from the white chalk cliffs 
 of the Kentish coast at hundreds of vessels passing 
 safely off the Downs, when you sail the Atlantic and 
 the Mediterranean and see only neutral and Allied 
 ships carrying on commerce, when you cross the Rhine 
 and stand in food lines hour after hour and day after 
 day, where men and women who gloried in war now 
 whine at the hardships it brings, when you see a mighty 
 nation disintegrating in the shadow of starvation, and 
 then pass to another nation, which, though far less self- 
 sustaining in food, has plenty to eat, you simply have 
 to realise that there are silent victories which are often 
 farther reaching than victories of eclat. 
 
CHAPTEE XXVIII 
 
 THE LITTLE SHIPS 
 
 I have been particularly impressed with two miscon- 
 ceptions which have existed, and to some extent 
 still exist, not only in Germany but in neutral countries. 
 The first is that England lacks virility, is degenerate, 
 has had her day of greatness; the second, that in the 
 present war she is continuing what is alleged to have 
 been her policy in the past, namely, pulling the strings 
 and reaping the benefit while other nations do the fight- 
 ing. Through personal investigation I find these con- 
 tentions so thoroughly refuted that to develop the point 
 would be to commence another book instead of finishing 
 this one. 
 
 As I write I can look from my desk in the Alexandra 
 Hotel, Bridlington, on to the North Sea where it 
 washes the "Frightfulness Coast," for Bridlington lies 
 between Hull and Scarborough. 
 
 I see trawlers fishing and mine-sweeping whenever 
 I raise my eyes from my writing. Their crews know 
 that they work in the shadow of death in what they 
 describe in the dock-side taverns as the greatest sport 
 in the world. Praise of the big ships often causes us 
 to forget the little ships. I admire the one and rev- 
 erence the other. For if the men on the humbler craft 
 could be intimidated, the doctrine of Frightfulness 
 would be justified by victory. 
 
 332 
 
THE LITTLE SHIPS 333 
 
 Intimidation is a favourite weapon of the people 
 across the Rhine. I was among them when their air- 
 men dropped bombs on Paris early in the war. "It is 
 really humane/' they said, "for it will frighten the 
 civilian population into imploring the military to yield 
 to us to save them." They thought the same of Zep- 
 pelin raids over England. Intimidation was their guid- 
 ing star in Belgium. The first I heard of the massacre 
 of Louvain was from one of its perpetrators. 
 
 Intimidation was again their weapon in the case of 
 Captain Fryatt. "We planned it well," snarled a mem- 
 ber of the Reichstag, incensed over my expression of 
 disapproval. "Before we sent our ships to intercept 
 the Brussels we determined to capture him, try him 
 quickly and execute him. Since our submarines will 
 win the war we must protect them by all possible means. 
 You see, when the next British captain thinks of ram- 
 ming one of our submarines he will remember the fate 
 of Captain Fryatt and think twice !" 
 
 Once more Germany is attempting intimidation, and 
 seeking to make neutrals her ally in an attempt to 
 starve Britain into defeat. The American Ambassador 
 is leaving Berlin, hundreds of neutral vessels hug 
 havens of safety all over the world, but the women in 
 Grimsby and Hull still wave farewell to the little 
 trawlers that slip down the Humber to grapple with 
 death. Freighters, mine-sweepers, trawlers, and the 
 rest of the unsung toilers of the sea continue their 
 silent, all-important task. They know that for them 
 Germany has declared the law off, that they will be 
 slaughtered at sight. They know also that despite the 
 Grand Fleet and the armies in France^ the Allies and 
 
334 THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 their cause will go down in complete defeat if Germany 
 succeeds in blocking the routes of commerce. The in- 
 surmountable obstacle in her path is the simple, old- 
 fashioned dogged courage of the average British seaman. 
 
 The Germans have developed to an astounding degree 
 the quality of incorrectly diagnosing other peoples, due 
 partly to the unbounded conceit engendered by their 
 three wars of unification and their rapid increase of 
 prosperity. Their mental food in recent years has been 
 war, conquest, disparagement of others and glorification 
 of self. They entered the struggle thinking only in 
 army corps and siege artillery. Certain undefinable 
 moral qualities, such as the last-ditch spirit of the old 
 British Army on the Yser, did not come within their 
 scope of reckoning. 
 
 British illusions of the early part of the war are 
 gone. The average Briton fully appreciates Germany's 
 gigantic strength, and he coldly realises that as condi- 
 tions are at present, his country must supply most of 
 the driving force — men, guns, and shells — to break it. 
 He thinks of the awful cost in life, and the thought 
 makes him serious, but he is ready for any sacrifice. 
 He welcomes help from Allies and neutrals, but 
 whether the help be great or small, he is willing and re- 
 solved to stand on his own feet, and carry on to the end. 
 It is this spirit which makes Britain magnificent to-day. 
 
 When losses are brought home to the Germans they 
 generally give vent to their feelings by hurling maledic- 
 tions upon their enemies. The Briton, under similar 
 circumstances, is usually remarkably quiet, but, unlike 
 the German, he is individually more determined, in 
 consequence of the loss, to see the thing through. Some- 
 
THE LITTLE SHIPS 335 
 
 how the German always made me feel that his war 
 determination had been organised for him. 
 
 Organisation is the glory and the curse of Germany. 
 The Germans are by nature and training easily influ- 
 enced, and as a mass they can be led as readily in the 
 right path as in the wrong. Common-sense administra- 
 tion and co-operation have made their cities places of 
 beauty, health, comfort and pleasure. But when you 
 stop for a moment in your admiration of the streets, 
 buildings, statues, bridges, in such a city as Munich 
 and enter a crowded hall to sit among people who listen 
 with attention, obedience and delight to a professor 
 venomously instructing them in their duty of "hating 
 with the whole heart and the whole mind/' and convinc- 
 ing them that "only through hate can the greatest 
 obstacles be overcome," you begin to suspect that some- 
 thing is wrong. 
 
 It is part of the Prussian nature to push everything 
 to extremes, a trait which has advantages and disad- 
 vantages. It has resulted in brilliant achievements in 
 chemical and physical laboratories, and in gout, dyspep- 
 sia and flabbiness in eating establishments. A virtue 
 carried too far becomes a vice. In Germany patriotism 
 becomes jingoistic hatred and contempt for others,, or- 
 ganisation becomes the utilisation of servility, obedi- 
 ence becomes willingness to do wrong at command. 
 
 Americans and British are inclined to ascribe to the 
 Germans their own qualities. In nothing is this more 
 obvious than in the English idea that the fair treatment 
 of Germans in England will beget fair treatment of the 
 English in Germany. The Prussians, who have many 
 Oriental characteristics- — and some of them, a good deal 
 
33^ THE LAND OF DEEPENING SHADOW 
 
 of Oriental appearance — think orientally and attribute 
 fair, or what we call sportsmanlike, treatment to fright 
 and a desire to curry favour. 
 
 When Maubeuge fell I heard Germans of all classes 
 boast of how their soldiers struck the British who 
 offered to shake hands after they surrendered to the 
 Germans. Nearly two years later, during the Battle of 
 the Somme, some Berlin papers copied from London 
 papers a report of how British soldiers presented arms 
 to the group of prisoners who had stubbornly defended 
 Ovillers. I called the attention of several German 
 acquaintances to this as an evidence of Anglo-Saxon 
 sporting spirit, but I got practically the same response 
 in every case. "Yes, they are beginning at last to see 
 what we can do !" was the angry remark. 
 
 The Germans have become more and more "Prus- 
 sianised" in recent years. State worship had advanced 
 so far that the German people entered the conflict in the 
 perverted belief that the German Government had used 
 every means to avert war. It is a mistake, however, to 
 suppose that the German people entered the war reluc- 
 tantly. They did not There was perfect unity in the 
 joyful thought of German invincibility, easy and com- 
 plete victory, plenty of plunder, and such huge indem- 
 nities that the growing burden of taxation would be 
 thrown off their shoulders. 
 
 A country where the innocent children are scientifi- 
 cally inoculated with the virus of hate, where force, and 
 only force, is held to be the determinant internationally 
 of mine and thine, where the morals of the farmyard 
 are preached from the professorial chair in order to 
 manufacture human cogs for the machine of militarism, 
 
THE LITTLE SHIPS 337 
 
 is an undesirable and a dangerous neighbour and will 
 continue so until it accepts other standards. A victori- 
 ous Germany would not accept other standards. 
 
 That is why I look on the little ships with so much 
 admiration this morning. They sail between Germany 
 and victory, for if they could be intimidated Britain 
 would be starved out. Then the gospel that "only 
 through hate can the greatest obstacles be overcome," 
 would be the corner-stone of the most powerful Empire 
 of history. 
 
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