GERMAN HATE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 5, 7 January 1915, Page 6

GERMAN HATE.

| MR BLATGHFORD'SOPEN LETTER TO ANGRY BANKER. : ' Mr Blatchford, who has actively asf.sisted the* ||Bngland, :,d^alt t 're^eiltly '* with Brit"lain's position iiinr, the war by means of <? f a scathing ;'|p"peh ■to Privy Councillor Witting, . presi--s'dent of the/National; P^iils^of^er*

i many. ? : Herr Witting staged to, an Anieri-. I'can / newspaper correspondent' thafc i England brought on. this'waXj. and fix-.; »Waimed,tn an outburst-.of l|"God, how*'■»'«? hate England 'English!" ■".. ' <■ -:/ IWHAT ENGLAND HAS NOT DONE Mr Blatchford's reply : is : as lows:— :i To Herir•; i Witting.—Sir,—Having Kread your'angry "statement to the ■correspondent .if the "New Ye/Jc^un,". I'am tempted'to" point out to you,,'for I :your own "benefit, that' your:" violent I outbreak of hatred and besides | being extremely bad for your health, i; .is based misconception of "the I facts as between Germany and Britii'ain. ' x ' That yoii ;hate us we are well | aware; your countrymen have m§de fit plain to us in many ways. In t this morning's "ThuesV ■_£ r statement of a Belgian lady, just escaped, from Bruges!. .hat] >a little dog which had been named Kit- ; chener. Your gallant soldiers seized

»;'the little animate and. (Mi'ib* up into 1 pieces. Such, ■.& malignancy of hatred and such an inhuman expression of s that un-Christian fury ought* to | satisfy the quietest business man iri I Germany. I is no roonf;lo|-doußl''/ibopijt jj

But when you give your reasons * for the murde'raus ampler ol,erice with I [which the bi|l.k of your people ...seeafc at present" t& be seething, almost to ■ the point of .insanity I find myself un. I able to agre& with you, ,„-; ' ' You say,jftei;r. "Witting,., that "England, arul t Etighrod alone,.brought on jthis criminalHy&iyout'df greed and "out P of envy, to crush Germany." If you \ are not too excited to listen, I will beg leaver to out to; yon tbaifc'i't was not an Englishman whomurdered the Austrian Archduke. ,'Xb-w;>-\ ryot the British who dictated the Austrian Note to Servia.. When Russiai iVus-* tria, and Servia seemed to'be at a

| deadlock, anjfl';.. Sir Edward!-, Grey , pros''posed a conference In the,.Powers; it was not Britain which held back; it its was Germany which refused-'.Then, 'again, the British -did not'-nsk Germany to declare .war. with Rusa|ar,sor.■fwith - France. At fife time wneh'"* 1 Austria had declared' w:ar upon Servia, and '■i- when Germany had declared.■»:»?•■ uppw Russia and was mobilising to attack France, the British' Government was -still; urging s peace upon all .Powers, I These are facts, Herr Witting, and at though, to be frank/Ve would Vainer have your hatred" than your' friendI ship, preferring the genuine to the I spurious , article, still these" facts do not justify'the hatred whi'ph fan 'have '% expressed with so, much rhf torfc. and I . so little dignity, •» ■ - : .\\\".''; •■ • „ PEOPLES DISTASTE >ORW#R2 \ Again it was Ger^di^^W^C^nb^

Britain whioh violated the neutrality of-Belginm. You do not explain, Herr Witting, why the Germans invaded Belgium, nor why, having forced a I passage and secured their advance, they turned to destroy the Belguim villages and cities and to exterminate the'Belgian people. Britain did not wish for this war, and tried to prevent it.'" T know my councrvineu very well (I have reason), and I know that they did not want war with Germany, and Were very hard to convince that . the German intentions were not eq<ually pacific. Neither had our people any'motives of greed or envy-in the matter. The British people- envied no nation and wished 'far nothing that Germany possessed—not even her 'culture. The. British people were content to jog along in their own easy way. They were what you call "decadent." 'They had no love for the howitzer or for the goosestep, and no &em& to domineer over anyone; just a decadent people, hating swank and and loving best their football and their music-halls and thenraces and their creature .comforts. Envy? The country was full of Germans. There were German merchants and German manufacturers and Getman clerks and managers, and artisans and waiters all ever the place, and though most of these Germans were the meanest kind of spies, our people never suspected and, in fact, would not believe it. Talk of greed! We allowed all.your goods to come into Britain duty free, although you put up tariffs ..against ours. ( We did not envy you or covet your possessions. We have great colonies, great Dependencies, a !g reat Empire. We only asked to be left aJ one,,, You had no'colonies and no Empire worth mentioning: Why should we enVy you? TL is not more reasonable to suppose that yoa envied us? You assure'd the -woiid that you needed room iM expansion. You said you must have colours, and that the only means for obtaining colonies was the =word. And then you thought it was mean of us to form alliances. You said" we wanted to strangle you .And v<jt-vou.had a Triple Alliance before we formed our Triple Entente. Do you hate us for defending ourselves you who speak so passionately of ; t"el'mihation to defend your own country? ,

| .„PITY FOR FRANCE. You told the' American gentleman that you only feel pity for France. You must: have a low estimile of American intelligences Do you think the world } uls forgotten your, rush for Pans, your desire to seize the French colonies, you often avowed intention to so France that she could never again cross your path"? Do you suppose* the -French, have forgotten how you bullied and insulted them since 1870., how you. shelled their cities and burped thei> villages, and looted their Rouses; and outraged their women apd. murdered their priests ? You call the British hypocrites. You: Imply that we' did not go to war in defence of Belgium, but in defencei of : own 'interests. Suppose that is true,', what right have .you to complain. You say that colonies must ,J)e won by the sword and held by the are out to capture what when we defend what we i'hay© won you callus criminals andj 'hypocrites, and say you hate us. j •sjj You make a point of our going to the many go to the help of; the Austrians? an alliance' worth if/bne may itot help one's allies? On the whole I submit to you. HenWitting, that the reasons you give tor hating us,, are inadequate, and I suggest thai there«,is another reason. We fepoiled "-yonr gamer We have *pr 4 .Jt your ..deep-laid plan for defeating %uropf in detail. You meant to conqiier. ajiid.' dismember France and then'you. ruea-nt'to punishnis and plun. der otir Jlitfpirc. Like the gentleman in "The Mikado," we "objected," and I suggest/that "we were right to so object," and I understand, and so does .ailjiurope, that the validity of our obhas to be proved by the sword. Your boastings, which, like ( your ful- ! mhiatioiis of hate,* are. somewhat theatrical, leave us cold. We know that in order to glut.your rage you will shrink from ho baseness. or .savagery i/i your rabid haste to do us harm. But *w.a ,]do not hate you as you hate us. It Jampot in our nature to nurse so black and venomous a malice. We do not mavjt you, but we do not trust you, and, we [cannot-respect you. You have earned the scorn and condemnation of 'till decent people. Centuries of atone"nient will not'wash clean the name of Germany.

Still, I offer you sound advice. Do so mubh.j you will neecLyour wind wJien it comes to the in-fighting. Curb your vile temper, consider you I'flt' Herr Witting; these emotional 'frh'/iards, besides being rather contemptible, are bound to shorten your vkhiahle life. '''What a loss would that W£ to civilisation, to Christianity, to culture. '> . X i