GERMANY AND THE PACIFISTS.
[To T. Emma 05 T.
Sis,—Some of us who have watched the teaching and the policy of the Spectator for years past must have fully realized the restraint with which its views on "The Vantage Point of Peace" were expressed in its Christmas number. It must also have been recognized that behind the restraint there was the regret that this country could only send two army corps to the Continent when war broke out, and that the Spectator keenly realized how even one million of men at that time would have altered the face of the last five months' fighting. It is not to dwell upon that aspect of your article that I venture to write to you, but to bring under the notice of those of your readers, who may not have seen it, a paragraph bearing upon your view of the influence the nelvar talkers played in bringing war upon Europe at this time. The paragraph is to be found in the official German justification of itself, known as Truth about Germany, which was intended solely for American consumption, but has been made available in this country by Mr. Douglas Sladen. It is as follows (p. 26) r— "Only a few months ago influential men and newspapers of Great Britain, as well as of Paris, could be heard to express the opinion that nobody wanted war, and that especially the German Emperor and his Government had sincerely and effectively been working for peace. Especially the English Government in the course of the last two years asserted frequently and publicly, and was supported by the Westminster Gnostic and a number of influential English newspapers in the assertion, that Great Britain and the German Empire during the Balkan crisis of the last few years had always met on the same platform for the preservation of peace."
That the Kaiser, his Government, and people were devoted to peace and the maintenance of friendly relations with this country was the teaching for years of what has been called the Pacifist Press, which, from the above-quoted paragraph, would appear to be synonymous with the Radical Press, as it was the teaching of those persons who were unfortunately guiding the views of the people. In the paragraph quoted this double testimony is advanced in support of the German contention that a peace-loving Kaiser and people could not be responsible for the outbreak of war. Presumably the grain of truth, which may sometimes be discovered even in German statements, may be found here by assuming that, had it not been for the Pacifist Press and the utterances of politicians, and all the woeful unpreparedness consequent thereon, European peace might not have been broken at the particular moment. Thus, as the Spectator has so persis- tently taught, a peace policy leads to war, and the advent of a peace party to power encourages the enemy, or the false friend, in his aggressive aspirations and his military
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