Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1931. THE NEW GERMANY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 19 June 1931, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1931. THE NEW GERMANY.

Miss Cicely Hamilton cannot be accused of pro-German prepossessions. In a novel she published some years ago she painted a caustic picture of the Germans. But the impressions which she received. of their country during a recent visit to it, and which are described in ‘‘Modern Germanics,” the title suggesting the various aspects of life observed, are, on the whole, distinctly favourable. It seems as though the downfall of the Hohenzollerns, with their chauvinistic influences and the loss by the army of its pre-emin-ence had wrought a transformation in the national character. The change is the most striking because it has not been a gradual process, but has come about within a space of a few years. Nowhere is it more conspicuous than in the place occupied by the army in popular esteem. Before the war the army, still exulting in the memory of its victories between 1864 and 1871, was at the head of the social hierarchy and set the tone for the rest of the community. As service was universal, every family had a personal connection with the military. The Treaty of Versailles limited the army to 100,000 or all ranks, and, to prevent a strong body of reservists being built up by the adoption of a system of short, intensive training, insisted that enlistment should be for 12 years. As a result, the proportion of people who have any association with the military is exceedingly small. Soldiers used to be seen everywhere; now they are a rare spectacle. Moreover, the new army consists of. volunteers, according to the German tradition, “mercenaries” who have joined the colours for the sake of gain and not in pursuance of the duty enforced by the State of every sound man to defend his country. This reasoning may appear to us to be peculiar, but on several occasions Miss Hamilton was struck by lack of interest in the army exhibited by civilians. Their attitude is one of an indifference that is “almost slighting.” In a certain town a Government official could not even tell her where the troops stationed there were quartered. The cult of militarism has been superseded by that of athletics, for which there is now an extraordinary enthusiasm. It is fostered by the authorities, who regard sport as a substitute for the disciplinary training, and also for the physical exercise in the shape of drill and gymnastics formerly provided by service in the army. But the practice of sport is not

confined to men; women are encouraged, and, in equipping themselves for certain vocations, are required to engage in it. The Englishman plays games as an end in themselves because he likes them. In Germany they are regarded as a means to an end. They are played avowedly and self-consciously as a method of improving the race.