GERMAN LIFE AND CHARACTER.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 80, 4 December 1900, Page 1

GERMAN LIFE AND CHARACTER.

The Southland Timfcs says; — A large audience assembled in the , First Preßbyterian Church yester- 1 day evening to welcome Di* John Smyth who had been aunouuced to lecture on the training of the German people. The Rev. J. Gibson Smith presided; and songs were sung at the beginning of the ; lecture, at an interval in the mid- ! die of it and at its close, the singers being Misses N. G. Thomson and Murray, Mesdatnes ForbesWilliams and Smyth md Messers Taylor and Grenfell all of whom were in capital voice and sang most acceptably. Dr Smyth prefaced his remarks by saying that never^had he more devoutedly wished for the gift of eloquence than on such an ' occasion, when he was to address so many who were well-known and rery dear to him. Wherever he had travelled — in Germany or elsewhere — he had always in grateful remembrance Invercargill and its people; and now that he had the pleasure of being with them once again he was anxious to speak so that he might give no cause for them to regret that they they had come to the lecture. It was a somewhat difficult matter he had undertaken — to represent adequately the life of a people very different in many respects from those whom he had the privilege of addressing. Ho would do his best to portray some oE the most noteworthy characteristics. Perhaps the first noteworthy thing that struck the visitor to Germany was the obedience to authority that prevailed everywhere. ; Thia was hinted at in oftrepeated saying that the ideal dis. [ tinction aimed at by a German j lad was to be patted on the head by a policeman. In Germany there existed no larrikin element. The species was quite unknown. Again a visitor could not but be struck with the circumstance that orchards were often unenclosed. Along the sides of the road grew cherry trees. Folks passed to and fro all day long, but no oue thought of taking the fruit. How, the lecturer asked, would such trees fare if they were growing along North or East road? The training of the youth was thorough, especially that of the boys. Education began compulsorily at the age of six, and the primary course continued till the pupil was fourteen. Nor was there any evasion, as is so common in British Unds. The German authorities took good care that the provisions of the law were carried out. No exceptions were made. If widowhood were pleaded, the State paid the fees and societies for the purpose helped the mother. The German view of the matter was very simpleeach lad had, at whatever cost, to be trained so as to develop into an intelligent, profitable citizen. Schools opened at 7 a.m. and the classes continued at intervals, according to circumstances, to 5 p.m. Work began with a short prayer, followed by a hymn. Then came religious instruction. Sectarianism did "not count. German argued that education must be complete. Not only the physical and intelleotual, but the emotional faculties, had to be cultivated, and so every child got religious instruction — whatever the views of the patents might be. Not did education cease on leaving the primary s6hool. When a lad became apprenticed his master was compelled ' -to send him -to a continuation aohool, where he would learn the> branches of knowledge; most intiniaftily ednneafced trade eh .was W^W^vlle jbwm

time to loiter about street comers and become a larrikin. He had to learn fche reason for every process jin the work by which he was to earn his livelihood and assist in the welfare of his fatherland. What a training that was, compared, ;fot example, with what most youths got in New Zealand I It was no wonder the Germans were in so many branches of industry excelling all other nations. The lecturer ! gave an interesting account of the training a soion of the upper olassea got during the same period of life — from sixteen to nineteen.- There were — it must be remembered — very Btrict lines of demarcation among fche Germans in their social divisions. After industrial training came the milittary lifo. Every German lad had to learn the duties and responsibilities of a soldier. He had garrison training for two jearg. It gave him new ideas of the world and of citizen -hip, and it most certainly improved' his physique. He was after that ready at a moment's call to Berve for tho defence of his hearth and. home, or, if need be, to march off to fighfe the foe beyond the boundaries of the empire. The upper olassea were compelled to serve but one year, and that year they could select to suit themselves ; any tima between the ages of 19 and 25. The lecturer continued in the most interesting way to descant on the humours of the people, the duelling of students, the gravity of the folks in general, and the quainfc customs that still survive in the rural parts ; customs reminiscent of old historical times in Britain. He spoke of the marvellous military strength of the empire, of the wondrous quickness with which forces numbering million's of men could bo placed in the field in readiness for battle. No one country, nor two, could long maintain a footing in Germany. Its growth during the last generation had been amazing. A saying of Bismarck's was worth quoting ; «Up to 1866 the struggle had been to make Prussia, the leading state of the German Confederation ; up to 1870 the aim was to make Germany the leading country in Europe ; since 1870 the effort had been to make Germany the first country in the world." Thus the Doctor passed from topic to topic, each seeming more interesting than fche previous one, till the hoar approached the stroke of ten and warned that the lecture must be brought to a close.