PRUSSIAN CHARACTER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 8, 29 January 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

PRUSSIAN CHARACTER.

BY ONE WHO KNOWS IT

No sensible person would attempt the task, which an oft-quoted dictum has declared to be an impossible one, of drawing up an indictment against a nation. But every people has its national idiosyncrasies, and the Prussian is. of cour.se. no exception. Combined with certain household virtues, the predominant partner in Germany has characteristics which make him disliked even by sections of the German race.

At first the people of this country would hardly credit the accounts of German outrages in Belgium. France, and Russian Poland. Their scepticism was to their credit, but it was not shared by these who knew the Prussian well, and were acquainted with the wild beast vein in his nature. Coarse to begin with, his feelings are further blunted by his army training. The brutality of many of the officers is notorious; it is, indeed, a Prussian tradition, handed on from generation to generation. The non-commissioned officer, obliged to submit, retaliates on the private. What wonder if tho latter, trained in such a school and haying the example of bis superiors before him behaves sometimes liko an uncivilised savage!

NOT A SPORTSMAN. In no sense is the Prussian a sportsman ; he does not possess the intinct. Moderation in victory and equanimity in defeat are equally foreign to Ins nature. No triumph is complete which is not accompanied by humiliation of his opponent. When he loses, his temper goes. Then tho wild beast vein breaks out.

The Prussian is a curious mixture of sentimentality and insensibility. Till

you begin to know him you are apt to r regard him as one of th'2 most tenderj hearted and weakly .sentimental persons !in the world. But by-and-by you come ! to see that tho sentimentality is a e*irI face froth, and that in reality his sensjI bilities are extraordinarily blunt. No | consideration for others, not even for those nearest and dearest to him, will , prevent his having his own way and as- . serting and maintaining his authority. 1 recollect a scene at which I was present which illustrate this. The husband of a lady who had undergone a serious operation in a nursing home was highly indignnnt because the doctor did not want him to see her immediately afterwards. " But surely." urged an English lady. " you would not wish to see her if tli? doctor thought it would bo hurtful? " It turned out that, as a matter of fact, he had acted in defiance of tho doctor's orders. " She is my wife; I have th e right." was his angry ! argument. " I have pa'd KHK) marks (£SO) for tho operation," he added inconsoquently. " An English doctor,'' ho "as told'drily, " might have threatened that he would not be responsible for tho case if bis orders were djsobeyed." " I should tlijn say." retorted the husband, going through the pontomime of bowing a person out. " Good morning. Hon- Doctor." And his lips curled with characteristic Prussian snarl.

I ABSENCE OF CHIVALRY. I Authority, power, " rights." legal cr pretended,"real ni' iniaginiu\v—thf*e aro things no considerations of affection, mercy or pity, will cans? the average Prussian to forego or abate. Chivalry has no place in the eliarae- | ter of tin* Prussian. The weak to the Willi I

Hi attitude to women he shows np badly. From the cradle almost, the Piussian hoy is taught to regard those of the othir'.-'X as inferior to him. Girls must give way to hoys: women to men. It may seem paradoxical, hut it is strietIry In'io that in social life th 0 Prussian ticatft women with great reremoniousno.ss and utter lack of consideration. Ho will overwhelm a lady with virbal courtesies, pay her extravagant compliments -in her appearance and her dres-;. make her a how like a dancing rnaslei- address her as " Oracious Madam " fOnadi<re Fran), and veil " Most, Oracious." hut it would never occur to him to share his umhrella with her if she were caught in a shower, to offer to carry her cloak, or to assist her with parcels with wh'eh she was hurdened. It would he hen-nth his dignity to In In her into a carriage or tramenr. or railway train, and persons acquainted with travelling in Germany know how difficult it is sometimes for a lady to scale a train from the low platforms common throughout the country. To offer her his Rent, if sh ' were standing ic- an undreamt of courtesy. He null kiss the hand of his hostess hut will

never think of taking the trouble to open the door for her tvhen she Reaves 1113 room.

VANITY AND SELF-SATISFACTION

The average male Prussian is inordinately vain. He may m normal times bo seen using a small pocket mirror to admire himself even in public places. I have in my mind's eye an affectionate husband who kissed his wife every time he came home (although his absence may not have lasted beyond an hour or two), but whom I never saw do so without first glancing in a mirror, arranging his necktie, twisting his moustache, and so forth. Tho Prussian takes exquisite care of his hands, and in the eyes of many it would be a fatal objection to any game or sport that it roughened or hardened these. A traveller of worldwide experience has declared that Germany is the only country in the world in which the hands of the men are found to He better cared for than those of the women. On the vagaries of the military officers —their corsets, padded uniforms, and "airs'' —it is unnecessary to dwell. Any unamiable characteristic of tho people generally will lie found in strongly accentuated form in the Army.

Self-satisfaction and complacency are marked national characteristics. The self-conceit of th e Prussian is. to use a favourite German term, "kolosaal.'' It pertains to personal, domestic, national, and foreign affairs, and is witnessed in varying degrees among all ranks and classes. Arising out of it, doubtless, is that arrogance which is another national characteristic. In every phase of life the man who is a step above another lords it over the latter. The spirit is found among different classes of working men just as it is found in the innumerable ranks of the Civil Service and in tho Army. It has been pithily observed that when two Prussians are introduced each takes a keen look at the other so as to decide whether he is to bullv or fawn on him.

THE NAME OF GOD. Tlie Kaiser's habit of using the name of God is a general one, and does not affect his subjects as it does us. It has always been a Prussian practice. _ The namo of God is dragged into ordinary conversation in a way persons in th:s country would consider as vulgar profanation. During the war of 1870-1871 ''Punch," parodying, not unfairly, the pious Royal messages sent from the front, represented the King of Prussia writing to the Queen:— "Ten thousand French sent lielow, Prai&e God from Whom all blessings flow."

In the course of a poem referring to '■ another broken treaty," " Punch " haid:—

"The pious K'ng of Prussia His plighted word denies." This touches an idiosyncrasy which is centuries old. Owing to some twist, the Prussian seems lacking in the sense of moral obligation and in tlie moral sense. Ho really sees nothing wrong in breaking his word, if thereby some advantago is to be gained. And he is perfectly convinced others would do the samo in similar circumstances. Anyone who knows the Prussian well, can readily believ.3 that the Imperial Chancellor's contemptuous disregard for " a scrap of paper " is shared by. the nation generally. There'is in the Army a keen sense of wnat purports to be "honour." But it is a strangely perverted sense. Let me mention a case with the particulars ot which I was personally acquainted. At a ball a young officer in a condition asked a young lady to dance. On her declining, he became insulting. Her brother interfered for her protection. Next day tli3 brother received a challenge. By the laws of "honour"he was bound to accept., and in the encounter he was mortally wounded. The young blackguard who killed him wa.s held to havo simplv vindicated his honour, atul so got off with a brief confinement in a fortress. In another case an officer in tho Reserve who had been grossly slandered by a fellow-officer raised an action for libel, m which hj? was entirely successful. His libeller then challenged ii'm. Having vindicated his character, tho officer refused to fight, but a "Court of Honour" declared he was bound to do so. As he still refused to meet his Uaducer, tho outcome was that he was required to send in his resignation, while his slanderer retained his position. Other and worse eases could bs mentioned illustrative of the Prussian s distorted sense of honour. Hardly a "arr'.son town but has had its scandals, largely due to the arrogan.ee. the immorality, and the drinking habits ot oihcers. BUT HE IS NO COWARD. I do not like, however, to hear the physical courage of the Prussian inipugnetl. Ho i-s no seldom find him performing an act oi individual biavery involving personal initiative. In the latter lie is notoriously deficient, But what he has been told to do lie usually will do to the bitter end. There is more truth than is usually found in (.lonium statements, m 0110 which was uiud'» ret eiuly that no Prussian soldier woiud march till he ill or was ordered to halt, and in another that both oHicci's and men were contein to be pawns. Jtis a pity the I russian s other qualities are so far from being eoual to his courage. ' \. I'e.r his patriotism, it amounts to a ration. It is instilled in him at school and cultivated throughout lite. It 'S untinged by poliucs-or by ethxs. ueinianv alwav.s-not ev-u Germany right or wrong, because Germany never can Im wrong. Some persons in Great Jintiiin have be.ll surprised to find the Social IJeniecrats t-uppurting the pief.i«:tt- war of engivsv.ou. Ido net snaic 1 hat | •• Years ago 1 !-, aiue convinced . hat the glamour <•} i>atr:ot.sm wou'd 1)1 "-I «il 1 la-scs of tli • cm sunitv in any war oil wlurli t lio Kai-ri might embark. Tie re i* an exagg. rated' tendency in Knjdaiul to dis.mjpiish between the military ca-t > am, " the p,.opk\'' 'Ho - vvhn base Itopp 01 pe-ee on antic:- - by "the people are deluding thciu 'lves.

Win!- Holgiai, icfusrees are still nujurninu; th" drs.nin on wrought by the Kaiser'h Huiu a German newspaper is eallotislv advertiser,.!: " five-day trips through devastated Holgium to view tlio ruined cities of Liege, Dinant, and Naniur."