"GOT! STRAFE ENGLAND'.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2488, 15 June 1915, Page 6

"GOT! STRAFE ENGLAND'.

GERMANY'S HATRED CAMPAIGN. ■ The success of the campaign of hatred against England which has spread among ' all classes in Germany is to British ' people one of the most puzzling effects of the war. The stolid British people aro astounded to find that the Germans, whom they credited with the virtue of stolidness, are a strangely , emotional race, capable of puerile forms of fanaticism, which make them appear ridiculous i<i the eyes of the world. The fact that there is among tlio German people a > hatred of the" English and .all things English has not astonished the British ' people so much as the childish ways ill | which this feeling is fostere'd. Among the British people there is no general . feeling of hatred towards the Germans, i and oven the proposal to form an antiGerman league in Great Britain for the . purpose of opposing all pro-German in- . fluences during the war and after its i conclusion has not been seriously received. The British people are at war " with Prussian militarism, which they " are determined to destroy, because its existence has been'a constant menace ' to the peace of Europe, but they have ' no bitter feelings towards the German people as a whole. They are even dis- . posed to make some allowance for the . fact that the participation of Great Britain in the war has ruined the Ger- . man military plans, must have caused . bitterness among the German people, but they fail to understand how a people who claim to be the most cultured in Europe find satisfaction in expressing a ■ blind, fanatical hatred of their foe. ' Hate songs are sung nightly in thousands of places of' amusement throughout Germany, the audience joining in the vociferous choruses with their full lung - power. Hate poems are recited nightly • at public and private entertainments. At the schools the children are taught to sing hate songs and to recite hate ; poems. But the most fatuous form of 5 this hatred is the salutation, "God punish England," to which the reply ' made by the person spoken to is "May He punish her." This salutation was the ' original discovery of a weak-minded German lieutenant. Instead of saying "Good I morning" to his men when he inspected them each day, he substituted the prayer, "God punish England," and insisted on his men roaring out in reply, "May He punish her." He waß so pleased with himself that he wrote to one of the newspapers published in the district from which he came, and suggested that other people might like to take up his idea. It was taken up so enthusiastically that it has spread throughout Germany. In the streets, in the cafes, in all public and private places, friends when they meet instead of uttering the con- ■ ventional salutations, offer up the pray- " er, "God punish England," "May He 8 punish her." ■ When the members of a well-to-do German family meet at ■ breakfast the head of the house greets them with the words, "God punish England," and each of them replies, "May • He punish her." The words "Gott Strafe England" are painted up in. public places throughout Germany. German firms have their business paper headed "Gott Strafe England." Letters posted in Germany have a paper seal affixed on which are the words "Gott Strafe England." Many of the German infants whioh have arrived since the outbreak of war have been christened "Gott Strafe England." Sniff up Fluenzol for Catarrh." Mr. Hall Caine began life as an 0 architect. The Bank of England was founded in 164!). In business there's no standing still. You must progress or retrogress. By employing us either for Customs work, shipping, or delivering goods, delivering pari- cols, you take n step forward towards efficiency, and efficiency means growth. 'The l, N. 5/. Express Co., Ltd., 87-91 Customhouse n Quay.—Advt.