ECHO OF A FAMOUS MANIFESTO

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 20, 18 October 1919, Page 4

ECHO OF A FAMOUS MANIFESTO

GERMAN PROFESSORS' WAR SCREED

THEIR OPINIONS TO-DAY

What'about the German "Intellectuals ?" What about those ninety-three representatives of professional "kultur" who in 1914 issued the famous manifesto absolving ' Germany from all guilt and wrongdoing? What has the courso of events taught these men,.who of all men, bo we thought, should have known better? My curiosity in this matter has during my stay in Germany led me to ask 1 some embarrassing Questions whonevef I had the privilege o£ interviewing ono of the 'famous ''signers" (says Hague correspondent of the Now York "Evening Post"). It was, of course, impossible to reach every ono of the ninetythree, scattered, all over Germany, and not all thoso whom I renchcd wore willing to talk. Some, indeed, are far beyond the realm of human intercourse, far' the five years that have passed Have not Keen sparing even with- o the lives of peaceful professors. But from those who. were willing to confide their thoughts': to me I wa6 able to gather enough to' see that a new day has dawned even ; for that stratum of German society which was the pride of the WilhelmiaD era. , The Supposed Author.

■ Of all. those whom I have seen, only one defended the document, and the fact that he is generally supposed to be the author of.tho.text may bo regarded as an extenuating circumstance. Hermann Sudermaiin. the famous author and dramatist, did not admit his authorship, saying that the time for publicity "had not yet. come." But the warmth of his .argument betrayed more than a platonic interest. "You of.the. Allied world," lio said, sitting in the study of his villa in Grunewald, near Berlin, "keep voicing your astonishment over the sentiments expressed In .this defence of Germany. What astonishes me .is that any one should oxpect anything else. I should consider Q& most unnatural, most cowardly, if .wo had said nothing." . "And do you still consider those argu'meitla.'valid?"..! asked..

, "On the whole,-yes. This documentis a defence against the defamations of the enemy propaganda, It embodies the simple truth ns wo saw it, honestly and frankly set forth. . . Of the thintrs which we. believed' and which thus far jiave not been satisfactorily disproved should turn out to lie different, if the official explanations should, prove to be • false, our intellectuals would be the first to recant. But we cannot judge, even in that case, whether we were deliberately deceived by the' Government' or' whether the people who misled / us did not themselves believe what they said. ~ . . I repeat that I cannot understand' the amazement which our declarations caused in the outside world.'' Quite different is the attitude of the other signers. Besides tlw statement of the famous author I shall give those of a famous scientist, Lujo Brentano; a famous artist; Max Liebermann; a • famous dramatic director, Max Beinhardt; and a famous musician, Felix Weingartner. Brentano's Disclaimer, Professor Brentano's disclaimer is typical." "I am surely the most inno--cent of them all," he began. "In September. 1914, I was in Florence, and I must say that I was embittered by the eavase attacks and tlio deliberate lies that were, printed in the Italian Prep. For Italy, mirid you, was still our ally. I was positive that German soldiers did not make a pastime of "killing babies and that sort of 'thing. and' I resented what I- considered a vilo slander against- ,iny;! own" people. 1 Just then'; I received - a telepiram from my colleague, 'the late Professor von Schmollor, in Berlin. WouldI add my name to protest against - the shameful lies alx>ut Germany that were being spread through the Press of 'the world? : I answered that I must first see the text of the protest. Answer came that it was not possible to telegraph' ifc' l'O a- foreign' country, l)ut that, the local' sißiierS'included So-and-so* and-So-aiid-so—all people wh050..,-integrity, and..judgment; -I.had-.oy.ery-.reason ; _to trust. - And-so I wired ray consent, oiie,, Word' - 'Meinetwegen!'—and' proceeded - to fonret about tlio whole matter. ><ot until I received a ■ venomous-. protest from Yves Guyot, directed against me, of all people, as tlio 'author' of the manifesto, did I look up the text. I 'saw. of course, that there were in it many things which I would, never have said, but, still, under tlio influence of that awfulpropaganda in the Italian Press.-1 answered. Having once set my na-ny) to the unfortunate . document; I had to defend: my position as best I could." - , Aftnost the same story, with different , -oharactcis, was told me by Professor Max Keinhaftlt, The great producer poured out a stream of invoctivo against the Pan-Gernmn propagandists who man-, aged by every means, fair and foul, to use the influence of right-thinking people. 'Tho Cultural Union of German Scientists and Artists, it would appear, was cleverly turned into a vehicle of .German propaganda. . At any rate, tho man who. stage managed the. thing, seoms to' have been the Mayor of Berlin,. Here. Bur-, germeister. Beike. ....' • One day Professor Beinhardt was. called on the telephone by this super-loyal personage and. worried into'giving ly>. consent to sign, also • without having seen the-text... That.ho.soon realised his mistake is evident from the fact that his •manedow, not appear among the signers (rf the answor -which' was made, to'tho i ffiiglish-professors who protfsted against the manifesto.Art, accoidinpr.'to BeinHardt, has nothing to do with politics, and. a jma.n who .in the midst' of war produces Shakespeare and Moliere alongside of Goethe and Schiller does not easily yield to national hysteria** • J Another Dupe. ; .Especially interesting is the statement of? Felix Weingartner' (he has; dropped the "von"), who eaitly in the war en. gaged in a controversy with Camilla Saint-Saens.. yeingartner told me his 6tory of the signing as follows:— "On September 19, 19U, the following telegram arrived for me in Saint-Sulpice, Switzerland, from. Berlin:—'Your signature urgency desired for protest German intellectuals in • neutralt press against fore : >gn lies. Haste imperative. Please don't require text. Wire reply. Bnrtrer•meister Beike, Berlin; Emil Fischer, THilda. Harnnck, Hnmperdinck, Max Liebermann, Liszt, Eeike, Buhl Scltmoller.' Without liesitat ; on, I telegraphed' my consent! since I had every reason to expect froni the contents and signatures of this message, a fitting defence, instead of that singularly clumsy tirade, trumpeted out with the strong voice of conviction, but concaved without any knowledge of the troth. "As one of the signers of the tirade I do riot wish to oseapo my shnro of the responsibility. I do not even neenw fliose wh* originated it of biid -faith. But wo should till ropudiats, its purooso and' rcgiird it' merely as- a great warning ; for'tho future.' If'.wo had'knoi™ that i the 1 former German Government lied to j the people in the most sham»lpsg mnn-I ner, if wo had known that tho unanimous, fanatical war enthusiasm of the , Germans was only the result of blind belief in the faWo that we were the j o.ttnokpd and the others the attackers, | if \i{b had reak'sed in time that tho atro- j cities which are unavoidable in war j could' 'onlv thi«ugh a moral wonder ' Ivw ovnifUnl 'liv the Germans. then the j manifesto would certainly not have been , written. '* ! "One Extenuating Circumstance." j "There is only one extenuating circumstance, a circumstance without precedence, which differentiated this war from any other: This was the bitter attack of France on German art and science, begun at the very moment of the outbreak of hostilities, This; could not but have an antagonising' effect in Germany, where there,-was an evident j endeavour .to leave spiritual domains untouched. ' No- opportunity . to | French" savants and artists ivas-missed j and French "works wero performed with. • out opposition. But Franco struck German names'from the list of its academicians and banned German works, from its theatres and platforms. . I was reminded of Professor Bren tano's pride in telling mo how he voted against a. retaliatory measure in the Munich Acadomy. Both in Munich.and Berlin, as is well known, tho Allicd'academicians are retained,

"At any Tale/' continued. "I offer this only as an extenuating circumstance. It does not improve tiho manifesto. Sinco it was sent into tho world ovonts have gone tho way they had to go ; The sabre-rattling Germany which introduced conscription, m order to take its fathers from their families, its sons from tho fields and the classrooms, to subjeot them to tho rascalities of the drill sergeant, and to teaoh them_to take as their highest,aim death for Kaiser and fatherland—this Germany hits gone to. ruin by virtue of the glorious and general conscription. The t way to a new, better Germany, worthy of the spiritual heroes which it' possessed, has been, pointed by America. That great work of culture has been accomplished by America. To America tho thanks of the intellectuals is due."