Sm,—The appalling difficulty of re-educating the German nation has hardly
been realised even by those representatives of the Allies who' are fully alive to the necessity of severe control. Possibly suggestions born of some sixty years touch with German political thought may be worth making, and receive a better hearing than one's urgent insistence in 1934 that we were bound in honour to check the Nazi presumption at once: the fighting of nearly six years was the penalty of our failure to face our responsibility.
National character cannot easily be reformed, especially when its analysis works out as badly as that of the Germans. Natural brutality, blending with inherent stupidity, leads, even in the case of those who acquire a certain so-called culture, to exaggerated self-importance and . disregard of others ; when, as recently in Germany, it comes under the insidious influence of evil instructors it is quickly corrupted, and under the impulses of an ignorant sentimentalism may breed fanaticism.
The German officer class stands by itself : very narrow in its ideas, it has a certain rough decency, and can actually appeal to our " generosity " as a fair concession. There is little to be done for them beyond making the existence of the professional soldier impossible. They must be taught that their calling was degraded by the maxims of von Bernhardi, and that they allied themselves with the National Socialists and were a great factor in the ruin of their country.
The rest of the nation set a complex problem which will probably require a somewhat complicated administration. Iii a study not yet published the following suggestions have been made: (1) Reinstate in the Universities the professors who were ejected by the Nazis, and often displaced by quite unfit persons ; establish in all Universities a course of lectures demonstrating the error of war and insisting on the importance of industrial life ; the course to be constantly repeated.
(2) Establish a Borstal system of echication (with rewards and punish- ments) at different centres throughout the country ; link this as far as possible with different industries or _groups of related industries. (3) Effect a primary control of the principal industries by a system of guilds, which would attach to each industry, or parts of an industry,
the men-or women whO"wished to learn the particular job. For the large numbers who will -be required for agriCulture, it will probably be sufficient to provide proper registration, taking care that those of fanatical bent are kept under special observation in- the Borstal centres.
From the very first the immediate superintendence of any educational reform should be, as far as possible, in the hands of Germans. After all, the hope-of a peace-loving German State lies in the Germans them-
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