GERMAN BRUTALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1917, Page 6

GERMAN BRUTALITY.

To the Editor. Sir—Many of us are astonished .at the brutality that has been shown by tiio Germans in the course of Um present war. Formerly we looked on them as a uglily civilised people, and we are now looking round for some explanation of the change. Professor Daly, of Harvard' University, gives the reason for all this brutal conduct. He says it is attributable to lifelong beer drinking. He, however, is not alone in that opinion, and 1 would ask- you to give space for an extract or two from Mr. Daly's article in Munsey's Magazine, and other writers on this topic. He writes: "I venture the hypothesis that lifelong drinking of mild beer has been one of the most potent causes for the amazing brutalities of oflicial Germany. These crimes have been ordered by meij who for decades have been poisoned by beer. In times of peace and quiet the'poison causes derangement of brain, tissue, often expressed merely in some form of sentimentality, plain or maudlin. If, however, the victim is put under stress, his nervous disorder is likely to lead to bad temper and bad judgment-, with endless possibilities in the way of loss of dignity, poise and the sense of human fellowship." Then Professor Daly adds that tho Germans are the only people who feed alcohol to babies (this is a warnin" for Baby Week), and children thus rear" ed are handicapped in the development of moral character. It may be remembered here that Moltke, the great German general said: "Beer is a far more dangerous enemy t 0 Germany than all the allies of France." Other German writers point out the same danger from beer-drinking. Professor Adolphe Stille, of Leinsie, has made a special study of this'subject, both in his own country and in Germany. He points out that every club or society formed, ostensibly for study, art or music, soon degenerates into a mere beer club: until the reading room is deserted, and the beer hall full. The German in America, he says, takes but little interest in public affairs unless it be in question? relating to beer; then he rises in his wrath to contend for ''personal liberty,' that is, liberty to drink beer, especially on Sundays 'and at concerts. Another says: "If we look through our German history we see that many of our intellectual heroes have suffered from chronic alcoholism; and wc learn that till our German history has been more deeply influenced by it* than most of us would think. . . Two things struck me immediately on my landing in Hamburg or Bremen—the immense number of uniforms and the immense number of corpulent mon."No doubt these Germans professors are right. Beer has brutalised Germany and has very largely made hc-r what she is to-day.' Beer, too, in America is all pro-German. Notice the names of the great bulk of the brewery firms-nearly all German. We, too, may say, as Moltke above, only somewhat adapted to our country: Beer is a far more dangerous enemy to New Zealand than the Germans and their Allies I am, etc., GEO. H. MAUNDER.