MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16119, 25 January 1918, Page 7

MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY.

0Y JAMES TT. GEBAED (LATE U.S. AMBASSADOR IN BERLIN.

(NEW ZEALAND RIGHTS SPECIALLY SECURED BY "THE PRESS.")

CHAPTER XLVI

CHARITABLE WORK

COUNTRIES AT WAR

As soon as the war -was declared, and millions of men marched forward intent upon killing, hundreds of men and yoinen immediately took up tho problem of helping the soldiers, the wounded, and the prisoners, and of caring for those left behind by the men who had gone to the front. The first war charity to come under my observation w3(s tho American Rod Cross. Two units — containing thro© doctors and about twelve nurses each —were sent to Germany by tho American National Red Cross. Before their arrival I took up the questions as to whether these would be accepted by the German authorities and whero they would bo placed. The German authorities accepted the units, and at first decided to send one to each front. The young man assigned to the West front was Goldschmidt Rothschild, one of the last descendants of the great Frankfort family of Rothschild. Ho bad been attached to the German Embassy in London before the war. The one assigned to the unit for the East front was Count Helie de Talleyrand. Both of these young men epoko English perfectly, and were chosen for that reason, and both have many friends in. England and America. Talleyrand was of a branch of this celebrated Talleyrand family, and possessed German citizenship. During tho Napoleonic era tho great Talleyrand married one of his nephews to a Princess of Courland, who, with her sister, was a joint .heiress of tho Principality of Sagan in Germany. Tho share of the other sister was bought by the sister who married young Talleyrand, and the descendants of that union became Princes of Sagan and held the Italian title of Ihiko de Dino and the French title of Duke de Valengay. Some of tho descendants of this nephow of the great Talleyrand remained in Germany, and this young Talleyrand, assigned to the Red Cross unit, • belonged to that branch. Others settlod in France, and among these was the last holder of tho title and the Duke de Dino, who marriod two Americans, first Miss Curtis and secondly Mrs Sampson. It was a custom in this family that the holder of tho principal title, that of tho Prince of Sagan, allowed tho next two members in succession to bear tho titles of Duke do Dino and Duko de Vnlengay. Before tho last Princo of Sagan died in Franco his ejm Helie married tho American, Anna Gould, who had divorced the Count Castellan©. On tho death of his father, and in accordance with the statutes of tho houso of Sagan, the members of the family who were German citizens held a family council and, with tho approval of tho Emperor of Gormany, passod over the succession from Anna Gould's husband to her son, $o that her son has now the right to the title and not his father, but the 6on must become a German citizen at his majority.

The younger brother of the husband of Anna Gould bears tho title of Duke d«j ValenQay, and is the divorc« # husband of tho daughter of Levi P. Morton, formerly Vice-President of the United States. This young Talleyrand to whom I have referred, and who was assigned to tho American Red Cross unit, although he was a Gorman by nationality, did not wish to fight in this war against France, in which country he had so many friends and relations, and, therefore, this assignment to tho American Red Cross was niost weloomo to him. , ■ _ AMERICAN MEDICAL Afb. On the arrival of tho American doctors and nurses in Borlin it was decided to send both units to the East front, and to put one in the small Silesian town of Gleiwitz and the other in the neighbouring town of Kosel. Count Tallyrand went with these two units, Goldsohmidt Rothschild being attached to the Prussian Legation in Munich. Wo had a reception in the Embassy for these doctors and nurses, attended by Prince Hatzfeld, Duke of Trachenberg, who was head of the Gorman Red Cross, and other Germans interested in this lino of work. Tho Gleiwitz and Kosel units remained in these towns for about a year and until the American Red Cross withdrew its anits from Europe. At about the time of tho withdrawal of these ■unite I had hoard much of the sufferings of German prisoners in Russia. I had many conversations with Zimmermann, of tho German Foreign Office, and Princo Hatzfeld on the question, as well as with Prince Max of Baden, the heirpresumptive to the throne of that country, and I finally arranged that such of these American doctors and nurses as volunteered would be sent to Russia to do what they could for the German prisoners of war there. Nine doctors and thirty-eight nurses volunteered. They were given a great reception in Berlin. Tho German authorities placed a large credit in the hands of this mission, and, after I had obtained tlirough our State Department the consent of the "Russian Government for admission of tho mission, it started from Berlin for Petrograd. Tho German authorities and the Germans as a whole were very much pleased with this arrangement. Officers of the Prussian army wero present at the departure of the trains, and gave flowers to all the nurses.

■ It is very unfortunate that after their arrival in Russia this mission was hampered in every way, and had the great-

(Copyright, 1917, by tho Public Ledger Company.) (Copyright, Cana««, 191", by Public Ledjor Company.) Bnteraational Copyright, 1917, by Pu.-.g Ledger Company.)

[est difficulty in obtaining permission to Ido any work at all. But many of | them managed to get in positions where they assisted the German prisoners. For instance, in one town whore there were about 5000 Germans who had been sent there to live, one of our doctors managed to get appointed as city physician, and, aided by several of the American nurses, was able to do a great work for the German population. Others of our nurses managed to get as far as Tomsk, in Siberia, and others were scattered through the Russian Empire. Had this mission, under Dr. Snoddy, been able to carry out its work as originally planned it would not only have done much good to the German prisoners of war, but would have helped a great deal to do away with the bitter feeling entertained by Germans toward Americans. Even with the limited opportunity given this mission it undoubtedly materially helped the prisoners. On arriving in Berlin on "their way homo to America from Gleiwitz and Kosel tho doctors and nurses of these American units were all awarded the German Red Cross Order of tho Second Class, and those who had been in Austria wero similarly decorated by the Austro-Hungarian Government.

ADMIRATION FOB MB HOOVER. Among those who devoted themselves to works of charity during this war, no one stands higher than Herbert C. Hoover. I cannot find words to ex-, press my admiration for this man, whose great talents for organisation were placed at tho service of humanity. Everyone knows of wli.it ho accomplished in feeding the inhabitants of Belgium and Northern France. Mr Hoover asked mo to beeomo one of the chairmen of the International Commission for tho Relief of Belgium, and I was happy to have tho opportunity, in Berlin, to second his efforts. There was considerable business in connexion with tjie work of tho Cwnmission. I had many interviews with those in authority with reference to getting their ships through, etc. Mr Hoover and I called on Chancellor von BethmannHolhveg and endeavoured to get him to remit tho fino of 40,000,000f a month which the Germans had imposed upon Belgium. This, however, tho Chancellor refused to do. Later on, in April, 1915, 1 was able as an eye-witness tio seo how efficiently Mr Hoover's organisation fed, in addition to the people of Belgium, the French population in that part of Northern France in the occupation of the Germans. Mr Hoover surrounded himself with an able staff, Mr Vernon Kellogg, and others,_ and m America men like A. J. Hemphill were his devoted supporters. Early in 1915 Ernest P. Bicknell, who had first come to Germany representing the American Red Cross, returned representing not only that organisation, "but the Rockefeller Foundation. With him was Wickliffe Rose, also of tho Rockefeller Foundation, and with thoso two gentlemen I took up the question of tho relief of Poland. Mr Jloso and Mr Bicknell together visited Poland, and saw with their own oyes tho necessity for relief. A meeting was held in tho Reichstag, attended by Princo Hatzfeld, of the German Red Cross; Director Guttmann, of the Dresdner Bank; Geheimrat Lewald, of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, representing tho German Government: and many others connected with the Government, military, and financial interests of Gormany.

SORT OF TREATY FOR RELIEF. Tho Commission for tho Relief of Poland was organised, of which I was to to chairman, and included tho Spanish Ambassador, his Excellency the Bishop of Posen the Princo Bishop of Cracow, Jacob H\ Schiff, of New York, and others. Messrs Warwick, Greene, and Wadsworth wero to take up the actual executive work. In conjunction with Messrs Rose and Bicknoll I drew up a sort of treaty, having particularly in mind certain difficulties encountered by the American Roliof Commission in Bo'gium. The main point in this treaty ■was that tho Gorman Government agreed not to requisition either food or money within the limits of tho territory to be relieved, which territory comprised that part of Poland witlnn Gorman occupation up to within, as I recall it, fifty kilometres of the firingline. The* one exception was that a fine might be levied on a community where all the inhabitants had mado themselves jointly and severally liablo according to the provisions of The Hague Convention. The Rockefeller Foundat : on on its part agreed to pay all the expenses of the executive work of the Commission. This treaty, after being submitted to General Hindenburg and approved by him, was signed by Dr. Lewnld, representing the German Government; by Mr Bieknell, representing tho Rockefeller Foundation; and by me, representing the new Commission for tho Relief of Poland. "Work was immediately commenced under this arrangement, and, sa. far as possible, food vns purchased in Holland and I>enmark, but there was little to be had in these countries. The Allies, however, refused to allow food to enter Germany for the purpose of this Commission, and so tho matter fell through. Later, when the Allies wejje willing 1o permit the food to enter, it was the German Government that refused to reaffirm this treaty, and refused to agree that the German army of occupation would not requisition food in occupied Poland. Of course, under these circumstances no one could expect the Allies to consent to the entry of food, because the obvious result would be that the Germans would immediately, following the precedent established bv them in Northern France, take all the food produced in the country for their army and the civil oopulation of Germany and allow the Poles to be fed with food sent in from outside, while perhaps their labour was utilised in the very fields tho products of which were destined for German consumption. (To be continued to-morrow.)