lb 
LAND & WATER 
August 3, 1916 
lives. What is their woith if foreign governments know 
that they are not be taken seriously ? It is the strength 
and resolution behind the words that count. American 
diplomacy has failed because American cree'it is im- 
paired, and there is a manifest lack of disposition to 
back words with action. "A tirm American policy," 
he says, " would have been strongly supported by our 
people." Nor can there be the least doubt that nothing 
could more certainly ensi;re President \\^i'son^s re- 
election than that Germany should provoke America's 
active intervention in the war. It may be necessary 
to incur even this final disaster, but for the moment 
there is no other evidence to make it seem imminent. 
Thus the necessity of terrorising British captains 
seems an insuflicient explanation. Is there not .another, 
and that more obvious ? When, towards the end of 
May, the Allied attack, east, west and south, was to its 
knowledge about to begin, the German Government 
fully realised that that attack, when it came, would be 
the beginning of the end. Germany would be put upon 
the defensive, and in very few weeks, at most a couple of 
months, the German people would at last understand 
that the whole structure of brags and boasts, which 
had led them into war and carried them through the 
first two years, was but a tissue of lies and mystihcations, 
and that Nemesis was on its inevitable way. The imme- 
diate necessit\f was to provide the sinews of war before 
disillusion came. The German Fleet was risked in the 
Battle of Jutland so that the £600,000,000 credit might 
be rushed through the Reichsta'g on the crest of a verbal 
victory. Eight weeks have passed since then, and they 
have been weeks in which the Central Powers have had 
their man-power reduced by at least a million effectives. 
The full truth has no doubt been kept from the German 
people, but the general character of the situation cannot 
be concealed. 
Internal Privations 
It is breaking on a peojile already largely demoralised 
by privations. There is no reason for supposing that 
the Swiss Socialist papers are misrepresenting the facts 
when they say that for three months now, Leipzig has 
been in a state of siege. It is significant that the 
frontier is reported closed. The Higher Command, then, 
whatever its preoccupations about the gathering and 
increasing strength of its enemies, is still more pro- 
foundly preoccupied by the possibility of a total collapse 
of its own people. It has long since lost all illusions of 
ultimate victory. It realises the certainty of defeat and 
it knows from the e.xpression of the unalterable resolu- 
tion of the Allies that the defeat — unless a miracle 
occurs — will be pushed until the military power of Prussia 
is utterly destroyed. The " military power of Prussia " 
means the whole structure of autocracj' — not the Em- 
peror alone, not the Royal Family' alone — but the whole 
pyramid of Junkers, nobles and the military caste. But 
below this is the German people, and if their resolution 
is equal to fighting to the last ditch, then the autocracy 
has this chance of survival, that the Allies satiated 
with the apparent destruction of Germany's power for 
further evi\, may make peace before their final object is 
achieved — that is before the Imperial House and all it 
stands for is brought to ruin. 
Saving the Crown 
The fight is then no longer to save Germany, but to 
save the Imperial Crown and the hierarchy that it 
personifies. Its continuance depends on the German 
people. For two years their fighting spirit has been 
maintained by the promise of victor}'. It is a spell that 
has clearly lost its potency, and a substitute must be 
found. The murder of Fr\'att and the slave driving of 
Lille, but particularly the former, are now the sole base 
of Germany's hopes. For, by these things, the final 
exasperation of the Allied peoples has been achieved. 
Have they been done simply to provoke the protests 
with which, in fact, they have been met ? It is these 
protests that will afford the German Government the 
excuse for the change of front that has become inevitable. 
Until May, the Germans put up with their misfortunes 
and struggled on bravely because victory and with it 
the larger and safer Germany would be assured. Now 
they will be told they must tight on bravely, because, if 
they surrender, they will be exterminated, whereas if 
they fight, they may at least get such terms as will save 
the lives of their men, the honour of their women and 
the integrity of their beloved Fatheriand. It is, in 
fact, the last and desperate effort to unite Germany 
behind the military caste. There will be no safety in 
rebellion — none in throwing over the authors of Germany's 
ruin and the instigators of Christendom's revenge. 
Unless the Allies can be wearied, a common ruin must 
await all. 
The Allied Governments have a great opportunity. 
It is to be hoped that they will allow the men of war to 
seize it. Mr. Asquith spoke sternly and well on Monday. 
His words are in sharp contrast with the feeble protests 
sent through Mr. Page, while Fryatt's fate was certain, 
but not accomplished. Would the language of resolu- 
tion have saved him ? Probably not — but that is 710 
reason why it should not have been used. Henceforth, 
let us act together with our Allies and make it plain 
to the world that we intend to hold the authors 
of these crimes personally responsible for their com- 
mission. It would give a fresh significance to the destruc- 
tion of the military power of Prussia, if it includes the 
public trial of the War Lord. Arthur Pollen 
Medals of Jutland Battle 
A DMIRAL PRINCE LOUIS OF BATTENBERG 
/% has had this medal struck to commemorate the 
/ % Battle of Jutland. The obverse shows the 
-Z jL Union Jack and the White Ensign, the staffs 
crossed in front of a trident and tied to it by a riband, 
from which depends a small shield inscribed : " 31st 
May, 1916." The legend around is : " To the glorious 
memory of those who fell that day." On the reverse are 
the following particulars : " May 31st, 1916, the German 
Fleet attacked off the coast of Jutland and driven back 
into port with heavy loss. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, 
Commander-in-Chief ; Vice- Admiral Sir David Beatty,- 
Commanding Battle Cruiser Fleet." Copies of the 
medal, in two sizes, are to be obtained from Messrs. 
Spink and Sons, 17 and 18, Piccadilly, who are acting 
as agents for Prince Louis. The entire profits are in- 
tended to go to naval orphanages, which should benefit 
considerably, for this idea of Prince Louis is an admirable 
one. These medals will be highly valued in all households 
which have any connection with this great naval victory. 
The latest addition to Messrs. Heinemann's series of per- 
sonal narratives of the war. Contemptible, by " Casualty," 
(3s. 6d. net) is a record of fighting from Mons to the Aisne, 
given by a subaltern who has the art of infusing reality into 
a plain story. It is as concise as an official report, but out 
of it one may gather the weary bewilderment of the retreat, 
the muddled impressions that men actually in the firing line 
got of the battle of the Marne, and always and above all the 
splendid devotion to duty of the " old contemptibles." 
One of the most poignant and realistic studies of the develop- 
ment of a man that has appeared in recent years is The 
Sailor, by J. C. Snaith. (Smitli, Elder and Co., 6s.). Henry 
Harper, untaught and battered slum boy, earned his title in 
a grim six years of life before the mast, after which he deter- 
mined never to go to sea again ; fate made of him a pro- 
fessional footballer at the age of nineteen, at which point the 
development of his character really began — all that went 
before was no more then preparation for understanding of 
the deeper things of life. The grip of the story is undeniable, 
once the book is taken up, it is hard to lay it down, and from 
first page to last The Sailor holds us unwearied. It is a re- 
markable story of growth in the art of self-expression, with 
the impress of reality on all its varied episodes. 
