TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 15, 17 January 1914, Page 13

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

(From Our' Special Correspondent.) LONDOX, December 5. ONE MAN'S MISCHIEF.

Among the opponents of national service, or, as they generally prefer to term any kind of compulsory military training ''conscription," there are many whose opposition is considerably strengthened by the fear that anything in the nature of compulsory service may lead to a military domination productive of evil results so iar as the liberty of.the private individual is concerned. Just now they are pointing to Germ-any to illustrate 'this particular point in their objections to conscription, and its more or less allied forms of national service. Certainly what lias happened in the little town of Zabern in Alsace this week is sufficient to make the average British citizen "think furiously," and to ask himself tne question whether the adoption of compulsory service could ever lead to such, an exhibition of militarism run mad.

It appears that Lieut, yon Foerstner, who commands the military garrison at Zabern, is a young mj.n who considers that the wearing of 'the Kaiser's uniform exalts him far aV>ove those who wear civilian garb; that it gives him the right to be as rude as he pleases to anyone who is not of the army, and empowers him 'to take unto himself the right to arrest anyone he pleases without reference to the civil powers.

His contemptuous attitude towards the inhabitants of Zabern had long been a source of annoyance to the citizens, and his unpopularity was much increased when recently the lieutenant offered a reward of 10 marks to. any recruit who baynoted! "Alsatian vagabonds."

It appears that on Friday evening Foerstner. and a iew brother officers were indulging in a constitutional, when some boys just released from school m*ade some chaffing, jeering remarks about the "Alsatian vagabons" incident. No doubt the chaff was, as Kipling put it, just about "as pointed as a -bayonet aud delicate as the buttend of a gun." Anyhow, it riled the lieutenant and his friends very badly, and Foerstner sent one of his juniors straight off to the barracks with orders to bring some soldiers to arrest the cheeky youngsters for "insulting the German Army," embodied for the time being iv the person of the commander of the garrison of Zabern. Presently there arrived on the scene about fifty soldiers with rifles and fixed bayonets to arrest the naughty boys.

There are many conflicting accounts as to what really happened after the soldiers arrived. One eyewitness declares that Lieut. Foerstner actually gave chase with drawn sword to the schoolboys, and that his action caused a big crowd to assemble, and brought bofc protests against the lieutenant's action, and against the calling out of the military to intervene in a matter that at its worst was only one for the local police. This same witness declares that on the arrival of the soldiers they were ordered to load with ball cartridges, and the citizens warned that: "Weapons will be used against all persons who do not immediately leave the streets." After a roll of the drums the soldiers moved -forward against the I citizens. Whoever could not succeed in I escaping into a. house or a shop was arrested, in some cases with violence. A member of the municipal fire brigade, on hearing tbe drums, hurried into the street, thinking that a fire had broken lout. When he saw what was tie I matter, he. burned hack home, but a

soldier followed him and" arrested" him in his flat,

The maddest, thing of all happened when the sitting of the law courts came to an end.- The judges and Crown counsel came down the street;- t<nd ono of the former went up to an- officer and said: "What you are doing is illegaL" At once the command was heard: "Arrest this man!" and the judge was led off in custody. He was detained till the president of the court came hurrying to his rescue.

All told, some thirty people—several of them men of local eminence—were arrested, but instead of being taken to the civilian lock-up, they were incarcerated in the coal cellars of the military barracks, and. in spite of the representations of the civil authorities, were kept ■there till- noon next day. They were taken under armed escort to tlie local court, and handed over to the civil authorities, who ordered their release as soon as their names were taken.

The action of the military authorities was promptly brought before the Minister for War and the Imperial Chancellor, and a -promise has been given that a strict inquiry into the conduct of Foerstner and. his military friends will be instituted.

Apart from "militarism run mad," this Zabern incident is a rather ugly affair, for it must be remembered that the Germans in Alsace arc. so to speak, still an "army of occupation"; that the heart of the province is really, to a great extent, French, and that there is always the danger that the cries of the Alsatians may find a dangerous echo in France. Great tragedies often spring from apparently trivial causes, and under given circumstances it is quite possibe for the puerile offensiveness of men who are quite "small potatoes" in the German army to produce catastrophic results.

WHAT WILL THE KAISER DO ?

Lieut. Foerstner followed up his Zabern outbreak a few days later with an exhibition of brutal cowardice at the expense of a lanne bootmaker. ' Early last Tuesday morning Foerstner-wassentin charge of some soldiors- stationed 'at Zabern to carry out certain exercises. The troops reached Dettweiler, a village in the neighbourhood, about seven o'clock, and met a number of youths on the way to their work in a local boot factory. Some of these youths recognised Foerstner, and in passing made some derisive remarks. The lieutenant halted 'his company, and ordered a number of soldiers to arrest tie delinquents. All the youths fled, except a liame cobbler, who could not, or at least did not, run, on the ground that •he was not .wit- the youths and had made no remark. He was at once 6cized, but resisted with all his strength. A scuffle ensued, and in order to help (his subordinates Lieut, yon (Foerstner drew Ibis sword and struck the struggling cobbler over the head with it. The resiult was a wound about t'lrree inches long. Lieut, yon Foerether bad his captive taken, under a strong guard, to the house of the burgomaster, and ordered his men to surround the house and prevent anyone leaviing or entering while ■he reported the incident. After the officer had made 'his statement .the cobiMerr was allowed to 'have (his wound attended to.

Sucb is l the substance of a report published ■wit— a 'wealth of unimportant and divergent detail in nearly all the Berlin newspapers. The Zabern and "Dettweiler affaire are being diecusßed at length in .the "Reichstag, but it is quite evident that whatever 'punishment" may be assigned to Foerstner he will* like the Jackdaw of Blheims, be "not a penny the worse" -as: regards bis military career for having "upheld the honour of the army." [The Chance_ori in his speech, told the -called to

account" for .his indiscretions of speech, but practically commended the action of the military authorities at Zabern. Whilst admitting ,Uhat 'those actions 'were not strictlyvtvithirr thc'law, declared that *hey~\ve!re taken "in order to prevent w-orse things happening." The Chancellor concluded by declaring in- a loud voice and arniid great uproar: "I would beg you, however, in this serious, and in ma.ny respects sad, affair, not to forget thai 'the .rrmy h.is a rigiht to defend itself agarinst direct attacks—if. has not only a right, 'but a duty. If it docs not do that, no army in .the world can continue to exist. The King's coat must in all circumstances be respected." His final remark was: "The authority of the public forces muet be protected as well as .the authority of t!he laws. That 1 stick to, ajid bha-t I will continue to stick to.*'

Lieutonant-Gener.il yon Faikenhyn, the Prussian Minister lot War, then addressed the House, amd his speed, produced most intense excitement. The whole tenor tff the War Minister's oration was that tihe army must be assured of respect at all costs. The army, he suid, was a terrible weapon, and must be so if it "was to attain its end. The army was not intended, he declared, to do .police service, and would not have done so at Zahepn, but it *was [necessary after repeated warnings had 'been given to the civil authorities. When, however, he asked the House to reflect whether it would .not have been better that an. officer.at Zabern should run his sword through tbe body of a man who least insulting remarks at him, he could root finish bis sentence ©wing to the uproar.

The. debate lasted a couple of days, and in the end the Reichstag, by tihe overwhelming vote of 293 to 54, censured the Imperial Chancellor for his astonishing attempt to justify the dTiagooning of Zabern. In a constitutionally governed country this would mea<n the fall of the Chancellor and the Government, but in Germany the Ohajicellor is appointed by the Kaiser, and remains in office e.o long as lie retains the Kaiser's coirrßdewce. The resolution of censure, therefore, is only an expression of the Reichstag's opinion, and is only effective in so far as it may influence the Kaiser.

The Kaiser has sent for the Chancellor and General yon Deimrimg, head of the Alsatian military forces, and Count IWedel, .head of the civilian administration, and all Germany is anxiously i awairbing the xesulit of (his Majesty's inI itervention. [Lieut. Foerstner and bis commanding officer were exonerated by cofurt-ma/rtiaf, according to cables received this week.— Ed.] i ===■