Villanova Digital Library - The Fatherland v. 4 no. 24 :: Digital Library@Villanova University

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Full Title	The Fatherland v. 4 no. 24
Author	Viereck, George Sylvester, 1884-1962. Ed.
Date Added	11 January 2014
Format	Newspaper
Language	English
Publish Date	1916-07-19
Publisher	New York : International Monthly Inc.
Topic	World War, 1914-1918 > Periodicals. Europe > Politics and government > 1871-1918 > Periodicals.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR .THE FATHEREAND 375 ' GREAT BRITAIN’S SCHEME TO STRANGLE ALLVAHER RIVALS TO the Editor of The FArm:tu.ANo. Sir: . . S , Mr. Collman's article in your last issuc.is interesting. as all his articles are. but I believe that he is doing Great Britain an injustice in crediting her with nothing morctlian desperate fear for bringing about the economic understanding announced by the Allies. I doubt that England is seeing the end of her rope. I do not think that she is acting from a fear that all may not be going well as much as that she is slowly but surely executing the scheme that was laid when she entered the war. I believe that England never counted upon a crushing victory of the Allies over Germany. "Her states- men are too astute for that. She is content with a draw. Sh? Would be Content even with an end of her war favorable to Germany as long as that end falls short of a crushing victory of Germany over the Allies. , Her goal, so she figures, will be reached no matter which side wins. Her aim and purpose, so persistently and fervently denied by the British and the majority ofthe American press, was from the very beginning, world dominion by economic preponderance. She was too wise to say it, or even to let it appear. “A fair held and no favor" is what she always pronounced as her politico-commercial motto, and upon this inotto she appeared to be acting. Many were deceived. The Germans were not. They demanded freedom of the seas and they were derided by the Anglo-Saxon world. inclusive of the United States, for demanding a thing which England had never denied them despite her naval predominance- But murder will out and it has come out now. The horse-hoof is showing at last, now that the Mephistophclian schemer among the nations has succeeded inlimposing this economic alliance upon his brothers-in-arms. England weak and fearful? By no means! Eng- land is still and will increasingly be the strong partner in the allied Concern. She has control of vastly more than 50% of the allied Stock and she is now, while she holds the trumps in her hand, en- forcing her will upon the minority stockholders. What has 5095 on behind the doors of the Paris conference chamber is easy to imagine. l.Villy-nilly France and the rest of England's vassals have had to bow to the decree of London. Theheartsiof non-British conferces must have been heavy when Engli"ld.Cl3PPCd llle llalld‘ cuffs on her impotent rival-allies. . ' 5' " ‘A ‘ No doubt Mr. Collman is right in assuming.tltat Enslanilfs ‘V“3l“ “ltd by the war, but so are all the bcllilzercnts, and England '5 ablc to Stand the strain a good bit longer than can fillet‘ of llcf NP 8”?“ allies. France and Russia, xvhetheryictorious or defcalelh 0.’ 99"“ Dclled to acknowledge a draw, will emerge fr'om the contest with a British mortgage on their economic’powers,that‘will for 3.1009 while keep them in such cruel bondagethat. even with tl1er"l3lfC5l" Of economic treaties in their pockets?,tl1'iY“Vlll d9‘.‘l0‘l‘l“l='l ‘Q’, dfi" adcs to come but work for the rebuilding Oil‘ Glieat. lB.“l'am’5 strength. 7 V ’. i If the Allies were to win a crushing victory England would If paramount hereafter in European trade. l0l' l0 ll" 9"-'-’l‘0l"l‘i fan“ would be added those of her allied serfs, slaving f0)‘ lie!’ 213 ill? Nlllelungen did for Alberich, pi mg up the golden hoard without any llenctit to themselves or others and solely for ll“? ll1le“?Sl5 Of. ill” merciless master. s , A , If the warLshould end in a draw. Or Wllll 3 Gelman Vlclorlll Elle situation would be different only in 4631’ 65- 1“ raga“! l".l‘",3“"i5' England's position would proportionally be, as far as economic and financial power is concerned, thetsamb. EnHl3lld'5 3lllC5. ""'0“ld bf‘ tllminated as commercial rivals. 1059“ 0’ Vlcllllsv lll ‘am lo “fell nnancial bondagc to Great Britain. The only serious comvellltfl‘ would be Germany. herself groaning under a very heavy ecommlc burden. Whatever the result of the clash of arms, England would Staff ‘lie new commercial race with more odds in her favor ‘than before the war, and the only one in Europe that would be ablcll’ “l“"lle“B6 lltr would be Germany. "4 ’ Hence the slogan, "Germanlam cssc delendam." must be trans- lated into the economic sphere by binding EYlSl3ml'5 Cnllllallcd I allies in solemn treaty 'not to parley with Germany in commercial matters, all for the greater glory and the fatter purse and the more ' powerful economic dominance of England. ' Sir Edward Grey must have had, the situation which has now dc- veloped-'-England the paramount figure in the otherwise anaemic allied combine-clearly before his eyes when he decided in favor of a. .war by which, according to him, England would suffer “but little more" than if she stood aside. Surely, she has sutiered more in many a respect, but she has suffered “but little more” because she now has within her grasp the white-bled nations that have sold themselves into economic slavery to the scheming shopkeeper. But has Sir Edward Grey, has the British Government, taken all the factors into account? They have been able to rely on the moral and economic support of the “Great Neutral" to a degree which has paid them well for the propagandist pains they have taken to pervert public opinion against ’the Germanic allies. They felt the ground ‘ was safe under their feet where they stood, safe enough they thought‘ for them to go one step further; safe enough to take a leaptfrom , those battle-torn days into the dimly dawning future of coming peace. But here they ovcrreached themselves. Here they touched‘ a sensitive spot in the Great Neutral’s moral consciousness perhaps, and surely in his economic flair. I do not believe in any inter-relation of the Allied, economic com: bination and the new Revenue Law as Mr. Collman seems to do. But even if such inter-relation exists, there are other things stirring "within the United States which portend much more than that. I believe the New York Times is quite sincere in the antagonistic attitude which it takes toward the economic peace plans of the Allies, And the New York Time: is not alone. VVe have been witnessing an unanimous uprising of the American press, even of the most anti. German papers of New York, against the scheme of the Allies to carry the glowing embers fallen from the extinct torch of war into the realm of peace. And I do not belieye that only business sense is prompting this revulsion of feeling against such a. scheme; I believe it to be the moral sense of America which the Paris con. fcrence is setting on edge. ‘ However that may be. it seems sure that England has sadly misv calculated if she believed that she could in any way coerce the neu- tral world, and above all the United States, to endorse a pact that serves in the main no purpose but to guarantee to Great Britain an tmshackled progress towards the domination of the world's economic affairs which I am more than ever convinced by the present dcv velopment was all she aspired to when she'thrcw her sword into the scales of war. I see in the present economic alliance the justification of Ger- many's contention that England went to war for no other reason than her hatred of the successful German competitor, whom. though she may not defeat him by force of arms. she -now vainly hopes to bring under her heel by an economic boycott of the world. - Krmusm M. ltfnnrm. Brooklyn. July 6. 1915- THE HEAT IS AFFECTING BILL TAFT MONG the many painful incidents connected with the war sit. uation which confronts the United States, not the least agoniz- ing incident is the talk of ex-President Taft. When a man of his dignity and fine judicial instinct tells American students, as he did in addyegsing the University Club at Detroit, that “we should be prepared tosrcsist the unjust military aggression of any nation that , is prepared to land 300,000 or 400,000 men on our coasts, and there are such nations. . . . Germany could land such an army hero in a month or six weeks"-vhc descends to the level of George Haven Putnam and other irresponsible jingoes. It isia pity that some in- dependently thinking studcnt did not ask him to demonstrate to the University Club where Germany would get the ships to perform such a miracle. Also, why Germany, is not landing thern‘on the British malt, within an hour's journey of her ports. If men of Mr. Tait’: capacity talk hit: this, what is to be expected of the multitude?

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