23 OCTOBER 1915, Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

GERMANIA MENDAX.

[To 'rss EDITOR OF TEX ”SPICTATOTI."] SIR,-111 his notice of Mr. Bland's translation of the French Minister's Report on German atrocities, Lord Cromer pi-efaces his comments with the remark : "No publication calls for more serious consideration." The problem to be solved is— given our conclusive victory—What terms can we impose upon a nation that has no respect for the most solemn engage- ments P Are the difficulties as overwhelming as apprehended P " A systematic process of education " based on "the principles embodied in the Hague Conventions " is Mr. Bland's only hope for future peace. But, as Lord Cromer shrewdly observes, "education is a slow process. We shall have to wait for at least a generation" for its results. He adds : "There can be but one solid security against the menace" of such a nation. "It con- slats in crippling its warlike strength to such an extent as to render it impotent for at least a generation." This is obviously

true ; but Lord Cromer does not indicate the shortest road to its achievement. The simplest, the most direct, nay, the only, way is to exterminate the Hohenzollern dynasty. We ended the European War of one hundred years ago by removing' flee aggressor to St. Helena. Why not deal as sanely with our Moloch's agent ? Will it be said that Junkerdom is a dragon in our path P Those who best know what the German " Cons stitution" means will tell you it is simply an alias for William II. The Junkers, forsooth ; they dare not call their lives their own. If any one doubts their lord's despotic power, let him read Count Schwering's biographical sketch of the tyrant with whom he was so intimate, and for whom be voluntarily sacrificed his life in order to speak the truth. And what was the fate of Bismarck P As to the sixty millions whose adoration for the autocrat Lord Cromer is afraid of; the fear would be warranted if they remained united. But here comes in the second step in the crippling process, even more essential to security. The German Empire must be reduced to its primary elements, again restored to the former principalities. The work of Bismarck must be undone. That accomplished, the civilized world may again dream of pence and prosperity. The appropriation of German Dreadnoughts and the abolition of munition factories will be a welcome aid