LORD ROSEBERY ON GERMAN CULTURE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 253, 4 December 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

LORD ROSEBERY ON GERMAN CULTURE.

" VERY NEAR DAMNATION." Lord Ko-ebory in a recruiting speech at Juniper Green, Midlothian, said that, in a war of this magnitude one marched into the rtry \ alley of the Shadow oi Death, bat tiiat was no reason tor II inching. We know when w 0 entered on a war like this wo mutt bo prepared for sacrifices every day that it last^<l. "Even to-night wv hear ot tho loss of three cruisers, to/pedocd in North S«a. That is lamentable enough. Tin 1 I.rave ships, jhe gallant crews —all gone from us. Uirt these are only incidents i 1 a w«r like this. Thiy must not Ov press u.s. We must expe'l them. JPir \\<- must pnss forward to our goal without for a moment hesitating in lho purpose to bring it to a triumphant 1 sue." (Cheers.) We were fighting not merely for the neutrality of Belgium, not merely for the cause of civilisation itself. We were fighting for our existence, our own independence, our own liberty, (Cheers.) He did not think that anyone who reali.<ed the importance of ttio war would htsitatq for a moment to give his services to the country in some way or other.

We were fighting for the public law of Europe, on which all ii torna'.ionul relations must bo founded unless we wished to rclap.-e into «, state of barbarism. W© were fighting against the military caste of Prussia. (Cheers.) ' 1 distinguish most broadly and strongly between Prussia and the rest of Germany. This policy of aggr.s-ion and of domination is entirely Prussian and is not German. Frederick 11. left a stamp on his country which has never been < tfaced and which, unless the nation undergoes a great humiliation, will never in my opinion le effaced.'' It was at the time of Frederick that the Prussian Monarchy was a long, narrow strip, uhen it was described, because of its geographical position and its aggressive tendency, as the kingdom that was "all sting," and "all sting"' it had always remained. (Cheers.)

A CTRSE TO PRUSSIA. . •' 'Might is right'—when that conies to bo the principle of Europe, when that comes to be the principle which o\emid©s treaties and regards them us .scraps of paper, the world has got very near to damnation.'' (Clieers.) That doctrine had bet'n a curse to Prussia, a cur-i.. to Germany, and a curse to the surrounding nations who had l>ccn obliged to tax th P sweat i,m ' blood of their people to an incredible extent in order to maintain nrmanVenU.

.Alight, according to the new philosophy of Germany, meant universal domination. No voice would l>e raised in Europe without the approbation of Prussia, and every State would practically lie the vassal of Prussia. In tho time of Prince Bismarck, who was n wis© and cautious statesman, the policy of Prussia was restrained, but the persons who luid taken his place nnd discarded him were determined to put the German Empire to the hazard of a war in order to acquire a universal domination.

Lou vain, Matures. Senlis, all attestid the benefits of Germna culture, nnd that day w© had the finnl report of one of the most glorious monuments of Christian architecture in the world, on© of the most historical, the cathedral ol Rheiins. wantonly bombarded and destroyed by the apostles of German culture. "Can j"OU oonocivo a mora deliberate and public repudiation of Christianity froai that State which is coni'tantlv arrogating to itself the speoi.il protection of the Almighty than ~-uch a wicked drfitrwtion of this great Christian temple? That is German culture. That is what is to be spread at the point of the bayonet by tlio Prussian armies all over the world. And that German culture is one of the tilings that we arc determined to resist." ;Oheers.)

He did not like to make even n ing jest on such a subject but it did occur to him that tb n destruction of historical monuments afforded some ground for our friends in the United states to intervene, because they annually M'nt an enormous populatio of sightseers who came only to see the glorious antiquities of Europe. "We stand forth now to combat the hideous doctrine that might i'> right and all that that doctrine involves, and ,e have come to realise that the overpowering predominance of Germany is inconsistent not merely with the liberty au<l independence of other nations but also with civilisation itself. Therefore this is a matter of life or death to Great lJiitain. We cannot afford to be beaten. " (Cheers.) He besought his hearers not to U backward in inscribing their names on the roll of honour, which would Ion,: survive them and their children's children. If they fell in with the intrepid ranks that were combating that wicked and dangerous foe. they would be welcomed to their homes as were the heroes of Ji'annockburn. (Chters.)