RIVAL LEADERS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 41, 24 January 1916, Page 4

RIVAL LEADERS.

A well-lrnown Dntrh journalist who was recently ihrough Germany gives a conversation with a German Army oHicer who deeply regretted that the exterminating capacity of the troops i had so greatly diminished, and that the men in the ranks were no! now what they were daring the drive on Paris in August and September, 1914, but, he added bitterly, th- troops ot von Klnek and von Buelow are no more. The officer, however, ivoukl not admit what other Germans had said, that there is a feeling of general lassitude and a desire to be done with the war as quickly as possible, and that the feeling is manifested largely in impatience with the inactivity of tin 1 commanders, and in demand for ener- i getic action. "When this officer was asked about what the army thought of America, he said: "Oh, America: that does not cause us any concern. The Notes which America sends and nothing are one and the same thing. With the sinking of the Lusitania is dated the first break in the extraordinary unity of sentiment which practically hound together the entire Ger- ' man nation at the beginning of the war. Little by little the breach widened until to-day the nation really is divided into two sections, those who are for "ruthless warfare" and those who demand that a humane policy be followed on the ground that it is Germany's imperative duty to have an eye to the future. As is usual in such cases, a concrete leadership for the conflicting parties has been chosen in the persons of Admiral von Tirpitz and the Chancellor, Dr. von Beth-mann-Hollweg. A neutral account of a recent trip made through Germany declares there is actually a struggle between these two leaders, and that,, though quiet, it is continuous. The German upper circles profess to make light of the matter and many witticisms are in circulation regarding this conflict of pei'somliiies.