DUELLING IN GERMANY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 8, 25 August 1911, Page 7

DUELLING IN GERMANY.

Mr W. T. Stead, in an interview with Mr Andrew Carnegie, in the “Chronicle,” asked him why the Arbitration Treaty, which was at first Anglo-American, was now changed into a general treaty between America and any other nation that may choose to come in. “It is more politic,” said Mr Carnegie. “Yon must remember .wo have to avoid antagonising any of the sections of the various populations which have settled in America. There ire many Germans with us, tor iugance, and it would never have done for us to have appeared to have stretched out a hand to Great Britain which we were not equally prepared to stretch out to the Fatherland. But it all comes to very much the same thing. The results which have followed the institution of Courts of Honour in Germany woidd seem to indicate that you can enormously diminish the number of appeals to the sword by establishing a tribunal which does not insist as a condition of its action that mortal combat should be ruled out in advance as impossible. The German Emperor, for whom 1 have the greatest, regard,” said Mr Carnegie, “as a God-fearing, patriotic man, with a high sense of responsibility for his country's welfare and his sincere love of peace, addressed himself to the question of duelling very shortly after his accession. “When he came to the throne there were 1200 fatal duels fought in the German Army every year. The Emperor was appalod at this loss of life, and instituted Courts of Honour, before whom all would-be duellists must go before they are permitted to fight. The net result of creating this Court of Honour was, not to abolish duelling altogether, but to reduce Hie number of fatal duels from 1200 per annum to twelve. If anything like a commensurate result can,,, be, brought about in appeals to the Commissions of Inquiry in. ; international disputes wo shall be well content.”