The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10. 1917. AMERICANS IN BERLIN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 36, 10 February 1917, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10. 1917. AMERICANS IN BERLIN.

■ » For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

In spite of various circumstantial rumours to the contrary, the American Ambassador seems to be still in Berlin, I and there is an evident reluctance on j the part of the German Government to let him go. Obviously so long as he is still there, there is some faint hope that he may be induced to make representations to Washington- that may avert the worst catastrophe—at least [ that is how the Germans eeem to look at the matter. But they apparently I do not understand Mr. Gerard, or they would never have expected him to com- | mit the absurd "faux pae" of accepting official responsibSlity after his diplomatic 6tatus had been cancelled. However, apart from this characteristic German inability to comprehend the thoughts and feelings of other people, the Kaiser and hie advisers are probably actuated by the desire to prevent, ac long as possible, any exodus of Germans from the United States. The German Government is even credited with having proposed to Washington that the " Nationals " of the two countries should not be disturbed for at least six months. The advantage of such an arrangement which would leave countless thousands of German spies and secret agents free to work their will in the United States hardly needs eerious comment. But the Americans are by no means so stupid as the Germans would like to believe, and there is not much doubt that they will clear up the situation promptly enough when once they have made up their minds. Meanwhile Mr. Gerard and many hundreds of American citizens are still in Berlin; and to realise what their circumstances are, or what their position may easily become, we have only to turn back over a few pages of history to those momentous days early in August, 1014, when the Germans first learned that Britainhad actually come into the war against them. .'JT - '■'.'—.'t ' ' Then, as now, Mr. James .Gerard was. American Ambassador at Berlin, and he; played so prominent a part in the crisis that then overwhelmed British subjects in Germany that we can easily imagine the attitude he will take up now, when the risks and perils from which he so courageously defended others assail hia own people. When Mr. Gerard took office in 1013 he was formally welcomed by the American colony in Berlin, and to his compatriots he made the following characteristic speech:—"When the time comes for mc to retire, if you will call mc the most American Ambassador who ever represented you in Germany, you can call mc after that anything you please." Mr. Gerard certainly realised this ambition, for he has been above all else typically American. He ia a trained lawyer, and an experienced judge, but he is also, as a man, vigorous, bold and businesslike to a most exceptional degree. He possesses physical and mental qualifications of no ordinary kind, and he has often proved their value during his varied and adventurous career. An expert swimmer, a clever boxer, a crack shot, an enthusiastic volunteer soldier, be has always been a popular and attractive figure in American social life, and his cool intrepidity as well as hie long training in| New York politics, was an invaluable asset for his many British friends during the great crisis, at the. outbreak of the war. Looking back upon those eventful days one of his - admirers observes: "Jimmy Gerard never- knew the meaning of the word fear, and the unfailing courage and pugnacity, with which he has; 'stood up to' the Kaiser's Government have been in full keeping with his virile temperament." Straightforward, manly i and decisive, Mr. Gerard has been an I ideal representative for .the ..Unitedj States*.i- .i*9 dealings with the evasive, dishoiitL ud bullying methods in vogue at Berlifc. AIL this he proved nearly! three years ago, and during the past, months he must have had, countless opportunities for confirming the high reputation that he then won. To realise the condition of things ' that must have supervened among the ' Americans in Berlin when diplomatic ; relations were broken off, one can hardly do better glance over the vivid and" graphic narrative in which Mr. F. W. Wile,, the well known " Daily Mail" correspondent, has recorded his own experiences in, the German capital after August 4, 1014. When it was announced on July 25th that Serbia had rejected Austria's ultimatum, Berlin, Mr. Wile tells ue, "gave way to a babel and pandemonium of sheer war fever, probably never equalled in a civilised community." All his long-standing preconceptions of Berlin as " the phlegmatic capital of an unemotional people" were simply annihilated as he listened to the countless thousands yelling "War! war!" (this foe it remembered, a week before hostilities were declared), and heard the ceaseless tramp of the "patriotic, demonstrations" that, pa.ra.ded the capital throughout the night. But all this «v as nothing to whal,. happened

as soon as ever the German people' realised - that Britain actually stood by the side of Russia and France against them. For the moment we are concerned chiefly with the effect of the declaration of war upon the Americans in Berlin; and here we may most appro,priatefy quote Mr. Wile. The American Ambassador and his staff, he tells us, became at once "merely comforters of distracted compatriots plunged suddenly into the abyss of terror and helplessness in a strange land by the spectre of war." The Embassy was besieged day arid night by great crowds of American citizens, all wanting two things only —money and a quick passage out of Germany. For many days Mr. Gerar.d and his wife, who, by the way, is herself an American celebrity, being the daughter of Marcus Daly, the great Montana copper king—laboured patiently, taqt-. fully and 'bravely to encourage, pacify and help their fellow countrymen; and in the end, after almost incredible difficulties, succeeded in meeting their most urgent needs. Naturally this is the sort of task that has fallen once more to the lot of MrGerard and his wife during the past week. But there is a darker side to the picture still. For when Berlin once realised that Britain was " the enemy," every one. of British nationality in Berlin went in peril of his life. The desperate efforts of a huge crowd to storm the British Embassy would certainly have culminated in a tragedy if Sir Edward Gobchen or the members of the legation had been captured by the mob. Mr. Wile, though an American, was attacked at once as an English spy, ' and furiously assaulted, the police making little effort to protect him;"and it was only .after most perilous adventures that he secured liberty and comparative safety, under the shelter of the American flag. Mr. Wile declares that he owed his life twice to the intervention of. Mr. Gerard and his attaches; and no one who reads " The Assault" is likely to regard his statement as exaggerated. When the British Ambassador finally left Berlin, Mr. Wile managed to escape in his train; but the representative of Britain was solemnly, warned by the German authorities that he must leave secretly and from an unfrequented station, or they could not be answerable for the consequences. All this is quite in keeping with the circumstances surrounding the departure of thfe French Ambassador, M. Cambon, which, Mr." Wile tells us, would have disgraced a community of Pacific cannibals, and with the ferocious insults and personal violence with which the members of the Russian Legation, even the women and children, were- assailed. Mr." Gerard has had exceptional opportunities of forming hie judgment_of._ths German national character already; let us. hope that he anil his. companions will not be forced to endure the outrageoue treatment to which their British and French and Bussian confreres were subjected two years, ago,. when the people of Berlin rose in righteous wrath to demonstrate the virtues of " kultur" to the representatives of their enemies.