WHAT GERMANS MAYN'T DO.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 129, 7 January 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHAT GERMANS MAYN'T DO.

HOW THE AUTHORITIES SUEEER FROM " YERBOTEN-MADNESS."

The Jife of the German is hedged round by innumerable "don'ts." It would be a long list indeed if fchq things that are "verboten" were to be written down. " Yerboten" means literally " forbidden," and the curious point to notice is that the prohibitions are worded like so many railway commands. Thus you maw read in a railway carriage " Smoking forbidden," or "Spitting forbidden," or "Entrance forbidden." We miss the "please" of civilised peoples. But, then, it may be truly said that a people gets the orders it deserves. Above all else, the Germans may not talk slightingly of the Kaiser. You ask why? Well the Kaiser is something holy; he wears his crown " by the Grace of 90d," and has a bit of the Divine in him. So the German may not talk about the Kaiser disrespectfully. But then human nature is human nature, and even in Germany there are people who cannot and will not hold their tongues. A simple way of talking about the Kaiser has been discovered. "His Majesty" in German is "Seiner Majestat," usually abbreviated into S.M. Just as we talk of H.M. the King, so the Germans speak of S.M. Der Kaiser. Now, S.M. are also the initials of the name Sigmund Meyer (just any name) in the same way as H.M. might be the initials of, say. Henry Morley. "SIGMUND MEYER" MEANS THE KAISER. So if you want to criticise the Kaise you talk about Sigmund Meyer, and one may hear after one of the Kaiser's numerous speeches, "Sigmund Meyer has been talking rot again." All Berlin knows who Sigmund Meyer is. Nevertheless, you must be extremely cautious if you criticise royalty. There is a story told of a man who in a public cafe was heard to say " the Emperor Is a fool!" It was not long before n policeman appeared on the scene abou'. to arrest the culprit. "But I did noz mean the Emperor here," protested the sinner, "I meant another L'.upvor " "Don't talk to me, s:r,' said the henchman of the law; " there is only ono fool of an Emperor, and that is ours. I arrest you, sir!" Another thing the German may not do is to hold a public meeting undisturbed. The police must be informed of the time, place, and object of the meeting, and, in every case a police official is present on the platform. He usually takes notes, and should anything "be said which he regards as "verboten," he may close the meeting and clear the hall. NEWSPAPERS HA YE "PRISON" EDITORS." Just as the Germans have no freedom of speech, so they have no freedom of the press. In every paper or periodical published in Germany there must be the name of the responsible editor. Thus you will find : Responsifor news, So-and-so; responsible for leaders, So-and-So; responsible for advert isements, So-and-So. This means, in effect, that if the police disapprove of anything that appears, down they come on the responsible editor, and haul him off before the judges. Some advanced papers, notably among the, Socialist press, actually have what are jocularly called "prison editors." That is to say. these men are not really responsible for what appears in the paper, but their names are set down in case the police disapprove, and they it is who go to prison when their paper offends the authorities.