LORD NORTHCLIFFE IN GERMANY.

Evening Star, Issue 18034, 31 July 1922, Page 6

LORD NORTHCLIFFE IN GERMANY.

Lonn Northceiffe’s health has been causing anxiety to his friends, and it is possible that the days of his most obstreperous activities as a world regulator and admonishcr have passed. If his travels and' his “stunts” should require to be made in a less strenuous manner in the future than they have been recently, however, it is probable that ho will always find some pleasure in remembering the trip to Germany, made in the character of “Mr Leonard Brown,” which he has been describing in a senes of articles in ‘The Times.’ There was a real spice of audacity in the conception of that journey. It might have been attended with some danger. As tho Director of Propaganda, whoso exposures in war time of all the weaknesses of the Teuton’s cause were admitted to bo more deadly than tho sword, it was impossible that Lord Northclific should bo a welcome visitor to Germany. There was at least a chance that ho might find a knife or a revolver bullet deadlier than the pen if he should be recognised, and on that account he preferred to go incognito; Ho did not fear, however, to announce beforehand that he was going to Germany. His purpose in so doing was to attract certain Germans to meet him whom he had known before the war, and it was successful.. His former friends met him as soon as he arrived in Belgium, but they preferred not to bo seen with him within the Fatherland. Since he states in the earlier articles, now to hand, which describe his impressions of the conquered country, that he learned more from them than ho did afterwards from his personal observations, in tho Rhineland, it might be gathered that tho ostensible object of his journey, which was the obtaining ol data on the spot, which would serve for a correct judgment of Germany’s economic conditions, was not realised in any great degree. Certainly it is not to Lord Northcliffe’s articles, if the first two are typical of the series, that anyone would go for convincing evidence of whether Germany to-day is prosperous or impoverished, or acting, ill or honestly by the Treaty. Of investigations, in a real sense, there is no trace in the rambling, superficial story which he tells. It is interesting, however, to note his impression of Belgium, where the Germans did less damage than in Franco, as, thanks to the hard work of its inhabitants, the “ most prosperous country I have seen since I left New Zealand.” The prosperity of this dominion must have impressed the great traveller powerfully from the little that he saw of it. Tho reason why the Germans did not know him—he was recognised only twice throughout his tour—-was found by him in the simplicity with which he journeyed. They expected l him to travel in state, with a Inigo staff. One suspects that the failure of recognition—and of interest—was not without its chagrin for the great man. The Ilhineland he found to bo “ the embodiment of peace,” as well as prosperity. “ There are very few policemen, not sufficient to cope with the burglaries, I was told. , . . The word ‘ verboten ’ has

totally disappeared. You never hear the tramp of armed men.” Sport, including football, was a passion, but “ nowhere did 1 see drilling or the ridiculous goose-step-ping.” The gratification felt ingoing able to buy medals, struck in war time, of himself as Director of Propaganda must have been damped somewhat by their cheapness ; only a little dearer than those of tho Crown Prince. Northcliffe medals could bo had for six marks, those of llindenburg for twenty-five marks, of the Kaiser, who is “ very popular in parts of Germany,” for fifty marks, and of the younger hope of the Hohenzollems for four marks. But it is not much that suc\i gossip tells of cither the mind or tho material conditions of Germany.