MR. MASSINGHAM'S ARTICLE ON GERMANY.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Simple facts seem to put a great strain on Brigadier- General McCall's intelligence. Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. The immigration from Eastern Europe into Germany is largely due, so far as its pleasure-seeking side is concerned, and to a considerable
extent its industrial side, to the fall in the mark ; a fine form of civilization is to be had cheap by thousands of people with a little money in their pockets, and the capacity to exploit it. That native Germany, the Germany that thousands of travelled Englishmen arc acquainted with, is dying fast no inquirer into her state can doubt.
As to the causes of this decay, people like General McCall,
who can only think, if they think at all, as if the War were still on, cannot be expected to discover it. The Prime Minister, the editor of the Spectator, and most sensible inhabitants of these islands, who have rid themselves of this mental attitude, can get a little nearer the truth. The German Government,
no more than the French or the Belgian Governments, are entirely responsible for the fall in their country's currency ; in particular no Government in its senses can have deliberately willed the ruin of their middle class, the flower of their country's intellectual and rural life.
Germans are not all bad, because Germany happened to be at war with this country, any more than Frenchmen arc
all good because France happened to be our Ally in that War. This simple fact most people are now in a position to appreciate. Nor is it true that all British prisoners were ill-treated in German prison camps ; there were good camps and bad camps, as anyone acquainted with the facts can discover by inquiring among the soldiers who were confined in them. As to the " self-control " of the French in the occupied territories (which I have twice visited), it is no better and no worse than that of most troops occupying (in time of peace) the territory of a hated enemy which they intend to retain. The occupation has been disfigured by a few brutal crimes, by a general system of civil oppression, in marked contrast with our own considerate rule, and by the odious practice of compelling the municipal authorities to provide brothels for the use of black and white troops. The result may have been what General McCall calls " self-control " on the part of the French soldiery, though this has not been universal, bat it is not a pleasant way of attaining that result.
In reply to Mr. Whalley, I willingly substitute Lusitania
for Titanic.' But does our religion allow us to rejoice in the suffering of millions because of the crime of a few of their countrymen ? In fact, England as a nation does not rejoice. Vindictive and short-sighted Englishmen may.—I am, Sir, &c.,
H. W. MASSINGIIAM.
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