The Wanganui Herald (Published Daily.) MONDAY, APRIL 9, 1917. GERMAN HYSTERIA.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15189, 9 April 1917, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald (Published Daily.) MONDAY, APRIL 9, 1917. GERMAN HYSTERIA.

Tins entry of America into the war on the side of the Allies emphasises the opinions recently expressed by a distinguished American, who left Berlin as soon as the submarine Note was presented. He informed a Sydney Sun representative that great efforts were being made to inflame, incite, and render desperate every man, woman, and child in Germany. The Department of the Interior has sot about it methodically. It is called ‘‘combative patriotism.” This new tyranny is particularly rampant in Prussia. It works through the local autocrats—the “Landrats” or local government officials, who control the inspections and reviews of the populace. These bureaucrats use the Kriegervercine or Veterans’ Union of Soldiers and Sailors. This vast Organisation of 2,750,000 veterans was described by Bebol as the great link between army militarism and civil militarism.. They are the special pets of the Kaiser, who once described them as his stedfast bulwark against Socialism. They are, of course, beyond military age and have had their military spirits kept alive by uniforms and so’ on since serving their

time in army and navy. They drew up a catechism of patriotism and sent members to every house in Prussia to “explain Germany’s war aims and make clear Germany’s victories to everyone, including children old enough to understand, and to warn all of the sacrifices they have yet to make,” That is not to be scoffed at, especially when it is accompanied by a catechism which pledges everyone to suffer unto death:

Do you understand the aims of the war? Are you ready to suffer privation, anxiety, pain, mutilation, and even death in our cause? Do you feel the sacred anger, and desperate repulsion which you should feel? Do you feel resignation at the thought of being orphaned for Germany’s sake? The unions have spread their propaganda to South and West Germany where the Landrats have again provided them with ample funds. They are going to white-wash Germany all over and patch her up for her most critical hours. Will they succeed? The Hamburger Nachrichten lays down the underlying principle : —The privations and losses which we still have to endure will be withstood better if our race is nerved by wild desperation. The grimmer, the more tragic our mood, the'lighter our material sufferings will be felt. It is, says the Sun correspondent, the most interesting psychological experiment of the war, this tuning up of a vast suffering nation to endure further losses and heart-breaking mental sickness; it is having its effect, for all Germany is to-day gnashing its teeth in public aud tearing its hair in holy hatred of the Allies, raging and fuming in a fury that no human people can keep up for long. The question is when will the disillusionment, when will the snap come? The correspondent, who wrote on February 7th, did not think it would be just yet, for the spirit of the German people is not yet broken. Inflamed by the military authorities and the so-called Christian Church in Germany, which latter almost appears to have been organised for aggressive warfare, the whole German public are kept tightly secured to the great Prussian military machine, are prepared to palliate any crime that brings gain to Germany, and to excuse murders, cruelties, and lawlessness. The correspondent believed that the disillusionment of Germany required a resounding military defeat, aud he thought that the intervention of the United Sfcaes would make so many Germans think hard that it will bring the end well within sight.