NOTES 669 



little action on the part of Germany did rather annoy Britain ; 

 but surely the fault lay not with us but with Germany. Again, 

 in 191 1, Prof. Kuno Meyer belonged to the University of 

 Liverpool — which is not a very warlike body, and which, 

 foolishly enough, actually refused to allow military teaching 

 within its walls, while at about the same time it gave away two 

 of its professorships to Germans ! What fiery, warlike, or 

 blood-thirsty symptoms Prof. Kuno Meyer ever found in the 

 worthy citizens of Liverpool it would be difficult to see. They 

 were like himself, gentle and very simple. On the other hand, 

 we find in every action of the German authorities a carefully 

 and secretly prepared organisation for robbing and murdering 

 the nations which surround them, including Britain. Now, 

 when at last these dull neighbours of theirs have actually 

 begun to see through the German designs, the latter accuse 

 them of precisely their own intentions. It is like the story of 

 the wolf and the lamb in the fable, and is a lie that can be uttered 

 once — but not twice. 



A Converted Pacifist 



The Morning Post of February 1 1 contained an illuminating 

 article by Mr. James Sexton, the General Secretary of the 

 National Union of Dock Labourers. " Two short years ago — 

 nay, even less — I believed in the international brotherhood of 

 man," he said ; " I was a fervent advocate of international dis- 

 armament and questioned the wisdom of a big navy. I still 

 retain my ideals ; but I frankly recognise that under existing 

 circumstances they are but ideals and completely out of the 

 range of practical politics. As regards the latter point, it is 

 scarcely necessary to say that I question the wisdom of a big 

 navy no longer." Few of our party politicians or of our in- 

 numerable wire-pullers and members of caucuses have ventured 

 to be quite so frank as Mr. Sexton is — and we commend him for 

 this quality. Some years ago a large meeting of the National 

 Service League was held in Liverpool under the Presidency of 

 Lord Derby. The meeting was packed with working men and 

 was even then enthusiastically in favour of universal military 

 training for Britain. There were only a few dissentients, and 

 Mr. Sexton was one of these. He spoke the usual words of 

 unwisdom and sentimentality so dear to the Briton. He insisted 

 on freedom even to be slaughtered. The word " free " seems to 

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