OUR GERMAN COUSINS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 77

OUR GERMAN COUSINS.

' Beyond the knowledge that the Kaiser is an energetic _ and versatile monarch, or of the supposed capacity of German dockyards for laying down Dreadnoughts, or of the enthusiasm engendered by the latest Zeppelin airship, English people ai*e too apt to leave Germany and the Germans severely alone outside of business hours. To a certain extent the public are not , to blame for this. Books like the " Ho- ' henlohe Memoirs," which ehed a strong sidelight on the German people and their rulers, lie beyond the reach of the aver- . age Englishman because of their price, J while hitherto no book dealing thoroughly j with the modern German and hdis ways ! has been produced at a popular figure, j Fortunately this disability no longer i exists. For the modest sum of 7d every- j one can now become the possessor of a thoughtful, vivid, ajid substantial volume entitled " Our German Cousins," which d-eals fully with every aspect of the life — national and private — of modern Germany. It discusses bus.ine.ss and pleasure, women and children. It provides a keen analysis of the character of a people which, 50 yea.Tß ago scarcely a first-class Power, is perhaps now the most progressive nation in the world. ; [ How has this tremier.dous result been ', : achieved ? Is there something exceptional in the character of the Teuton which ha« • enabled him to make such vast forwaid ' Strides in so short a epace of years? Pro- j vidsnee has certainly not altogether smiledi ' on him as regards the land he lives in, j for on the whole Germany has not a ! fertile soil. In industrial pursuits other ' nations — notably, the English — had long | established industries a.nd held the world's ' markets while Germany was yet a collec- ! tron of small and often struggling States without cohesion. This progress has been achieved partly , through the new type of business man the book discusses : | The German business ma.n lias wool j hie high place in the world's estimation | by legitimate means. He is well edu- | cated ; he ie- industrious ; he is enterprising. He is dedicrtin^ himself with ! iron determination and military ds.~h to incessant triumphs in the field hs has marked out for his own — the markets of the world. He is not to he gainsaid by mene advertisements of hk rapacity iior by imprecations on has successes. The only way Gciman commercial competition can be met and cheeked is by the employment of 'die weapons Germany has "found so potent. Tariffs alone will not avail. They can only supplement the fabric upon which the whole system of Ceim-an industrial efficiency has b&e.n reared — primary education, technical training, n ilitarv service, thrift, perssvorance. ambition, and patriotism. That is tbe German combination, and it i*> a combination that must win. This amazing acee=s of material prosperity has not unnaturally been accompanied, in certain circles of society. b3* a t€R<3«Bcj- towards luxury and display. In vigorous phVa.se this aspect of modern : Germany Ls described in " Our Ge.rman Coueiiis "' : Focus in your mind'<; eye Bond street at noonday, the Carlion at tea-time,

Covent Garden at a" "gala," the Savoy after theatre, and you will have modern Germany in a nuitsbell. If you care to add to the mirage, think of Ascot on Gold Cup Day, Piccadilly's endless chain of motor oars — private and taxis — miles of fashionable Mayfair and West Kensington apartment houses, vr.di then of a dozen gaudy palaces of "pleasure" in Paris Montmartpe, awd you will be still closer to the Germany that is. I* will all be blatantly imitative, bizarre, amd overdone", but the picture will be sufficiently realistic for ever to blot out the beer and sausage notion, and leave in its stead the Germans' true aspect as a- luxury-loving, plutocratic people. It should not be imagined that this kaleidoscope of ■wealth and fashion is limited to Berlin, as its counterpart in England and France is confined to London and* Paris. More of the passing show of ostentation and extravagance may be eeen in the capital, of course, because of its greater population ; but there- axe half a dozen other centres wliere fine feathers and champagne have supplanted homespun and beer — HambuTg, with its elaborate, hotels and shops ; Munich, Dresden, Leipzig, and Cologne, great cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, wh©*e all have caught the luxurious spirit in whioh the Germany of 1909 ha 6 its being, and have made the "Einfaohheit" and " Sparsamkeit " — simplicity and thrift — of the Teuton fathers' forgotten ideals. Luxury has become the rule, modest living the exception. — The Nation of Discipline. — Such developments a.s these, though confined, one must recollect, to but a ©action of society, are particularly noticeable in the manners and lives ot nrcd'em German women : They motor in high-power oars or" drive in the smartest of horse equipages, and they are decked from head to foot in the richest garment* that German gold can. buy. Thoi*e who can afford it, and thousands who cannot, will not hear of gown-s or millinery that do not come from Paris, London, or Vienna. Most of them go thore to order and "fit." For modern Germany is new, and. has the defects of new societies. English, people are frequently accused of caste distinctions, but English j-nobbi.-hnefts — which, by the bye, i.« far less narrow tha.n it used to be — is rivalled now by our German cousins. Social distinctions pormeate the empire and all ddre-e*. The fame sentiment inspires the adulation v. hich Germany l>e.<-tovis en the uniform, becau.se it gives |)re«t.i"« to the wearer. Those who are entitled to woir a uniform aie apt to look down on thoie -nbo a.re not. It it. a most fierioiw; matter to speak sharply to vonr postman or to a telephone official, for you may find yourfelf clvvrj'C-d with " insi'ilting a.n official." and regiet your temerity. The uprise of Germany marks the triumph of collectivism a*, opposed to BritL-h individuaili«sm. With a doci'e, unimasri.mtive. an-d mallei')!* population to ha.ndtle, the jpenitip of Bi.-!.i?.rck evolve/1 a mighty machine. K^iy tit.!z°n hr j hi« exact 2> os ikicn oarpfuLh defined for him by the State. Where in (irent Britain, except when a man has to pay taxes, I he is not inteTfered with by the Rtatp. in . Gernvwiy " the <-it!7on by upbrii'^-ipg and conivictio.n is but a unit of i>ho fiT&it whole, with his place in the «>cial system, his duties, and rf--poir-iibilrt i >., to h^ country, to Li« family. and to himself, p:t down and exractlv d-e^n^l " The °anr | i' > principle hfl< been adapted to all matters. From childhood t-o tb a grave tho German is di.vip'ined, un'il to-dfliv tbe German Empire Minds a« th<> most jvcrfect example the wold hap ever seen of llkj triumph of mind over matter, [

the subordination of everything to tibe interests of the State.