i4 
LAND & WATER 
December 21, 191G 
he was a boy oi ten or eleven. It may be added that 
1 am not cxjjrcssing my own opinions about the lift or 
education, but statin^,' those of ;t representative Turk. 
It is somewhat remarkable, and not in accordance with 
connnon ideas about tiie laziness and stagnation of 
Turkisli life, that a Pasha should feel repelled by w hat 
seemed to him the idleness of English ways of life. It is 
not my purpose to enquire whether he was right, 
but only to establish the fact that this impression is 
made on the Turks. They see the result in the energy 
with which German enterprises, railways, great irrigation 
works, etc., are pushed on ; and they contrast thi> with 
I4ie slow progress of English enterprises in the period that 
has elapsed since the Crimean war, when railways ad- 
\anced at a snail's pace as mercantile ventures, frowned 
on and even actively discouraged by the English otticial 
world. The general manager (whom 1 knew well) of an 
English railway in Turkey said in i8St) to the Ambassador, 
" All I ask oi you is that you let me alone and do not 
side against rae." Everyone that knows anything of the 
life of Turkey could tell a hundred stories like this ; but 
my point is that the Turks see the facts, and despair of 
any good coming out of England, and turn to the (jer- 
mans as acti\e and doing more for Turkey in h\e years 
than England dues in a century. The .story of England 
in Cyprus is a monument of acti\e and persistent dis- 
couragement of enterprise and improvement - advised 
from the island. 
Prussian Excellences 
It is not the vices of the I'russians which make them 
diuigcrous, but their excellences ; and those who think 
that they have exhausted the case when they have 
produced a list of serious faults and expressed their 
hatred for the nation which is characterised by these 
habits, have not begun to understand the ditiiculties 
of the situation in Europe. I am no indiscriminate 
admirer of German ways : On the contrary, I ha\e been 
iin- many years rebuked by the disciples of Kultur in this 
country fur want of resptjct shown in my books for the 
j)r()nndgated opinions of distinguished German scholars, 
and Prussian political method has always seemed to me 
earthly, sensual and devilish ; but still I respect and learn 
from the leading Germans as men, and appreciate the in- 
dustry and knowledge of the official class. 
It was always interesting to meet any of the (lermans 
who were engaged in official or other cluties in lurkey, 
and especially in Constantinople, because the\- were not 
merely well informed, but also de\-oted to the study 
of the country and the habits of the people, in so far 
as these bore upon their special line of work, and they 
were always eager to talk about things Turkish with any 
jK>rson who hacl seen nmch of Turkev, and who shared 
the same interests that they felt. This intense devotion 
U) work relating to Turkey gave them immense advan- 
tages in organising many different enterprises in the 
country, ancl secured great influence for them in practical 
business, in spite of the dislike and distrust which they 
inspired. They had all taken to heart the Imperial 
])rinciple, as it is expressed epigramatically by Tacitus — 
l.et them hate me so long as they fear me." 
Some deservedly respected authorities have taken too 
light a \iew ai the Turkish question, which might have 
been far more easily dealt with if the facts had been 
more correctly estimated. No men are withdrawn from 
the army for industries, because there were in peace so 
few industries (in which the work was done mainly by 
( hristians), and in wartime there are still fewer, ntme 
except munition factories run by (icrmans. None need 
be withdrawn for agriculture, because even in peace time 
agriculture was entirely done by the women in Anatolia. 
Little deduction is needed on the ground of physical 
incapacity, because the weakly children die and only the 
robust grow up. Ailing men are rare ; th(\v die. Ihosc 
who know Turkey best will appreciate the statem(;nt 
(which I take from excellent authority), that a Turk in 
.\natolia never rises if once he hcs down from illness. 
Hospitals established by Europeans make some change 
in this ; but they arc very few. Hence an extraordinarily 
large proportion of the .Moslem j)oj)ulation is available 
for military service : European statistics do not apply. 
No one who has watched the development of (ierman 
inllucuco in Turkey, since the time when British diplomacy 
under the guidance of that very able; man Sir \V. \\'hitG 
set about tlie work of throwing Germany across the path 
of Russian advance from Armenia towards Con- 
stantinople, can doubt that the aim which insj)ired 
Prussian jjolicy in plunging into the great war, was 
developmeiit to the south-east of Europe and Asiatic 
Turkey as far as the Persian gulf. A westward ad- 
\'enture and a promenade to the Bay of Biscay have 
always been regarded by all Germans from highest to 
lowest as an incident that might be thrown at jmy time, 
but not as a main object to guide j)olicy. 
Neither Britain nor Russia were to be tackled at the 
moment, except in so far as they interfered with the move- 
ment eastward. This was postponed for a time ; and 
this amount of justification exists for the Kaiser's 
reiterated protest that he did not want this war ; he 
wanted the results without the war ; he wanted to eat 
up the one little hostile country .Serbia, and to form a 
new Balkan Alliance including Roumania, Bulgaria, 
Turkey, and Constantine as despot of the Greeks. The 
adhesion of Bulgaria to this programme and to Turkish 
agreement has been talked about, to my knowledge, 
amemg a few at Constantinoj)le since Ai)ril igij, many 
weeks before Bulgaria broke the first .Mliance. The Eastern 
policy of Prussia had reached such a stage that it became 
necessary to occupy a position for exercising effective 
militarj- pressure on Turkey. Already in July, iqo8. Von 
der Goltz, during fourti'cn days' visit to Constantinople, 
spoke of the difficulty of controlling the Turkish situation 
without a lleet ; he did not then anticipate (so far as his 
words went) the attempt to extend (ierman influence by 
land to Turkey but this became more and more imperative 
as the British fleet became stronger. And the due time 
arrived in iqi4. 
The promenade to the .Atlantic across France was 
initiated, but has not yet been completed; and then 
Germany entered on the south-eastern purpose in which 
Austria had failed. This was the real aim, and if it is 
gained at the cost of even five or si.v millions of (ierman 
lives, Prussia will count that it has won the great 
war, and history will endorse the claim. The juilitary 
decision must be on the west ; but the fruits of victory 
arc growing for the (iermans on the south-east and 
have been ripening through causes deeper and more 
permanent than war. 
A Modern Nativity Play 
TH(3SE who read in this number of L.vxd & Water 
M. EiTiile Cammaerts' Christmas story will be well 
persuaded to obtain The Adoration of the Soldiers 
(Longman Green and Co. 21s. net) illustrated 
by Kaemaekers. This is a short Mystery Play suggested 
to M. Cammaerts during a visit which' he paid to the 
Belgian trenches last Cliristmas week. It is written in 
the maiuier of tiie mediaval Prencii and Ivnglish Nativity 
Plays- with a naive simplicitv. The linglisli translation is 
by Mme. Tita Brand Cammaerts, and the' French and Eng- 
lish versions arc printed on opposite pages. 
There is a singular and haunting beauty about this Nativity 
Play where Joseph and the Mother visit the trenches. The 
soldiers, four in number, are thus designated : The Grumbler, 
The Jovial One, The Sceptic and The Believer. The scene is 
a treneli on the Yser at night. Josepii api)ears leading the 
ass on vviiieh the Madonna is seated. The soldiers pity her, 
not knowing who she may be and give up to her their dug- 
out. Here the Child is born. And an angel ap})enrs to the 
sleei)ing men, bearing the old good tidings and telling them : 
" For two thousand years every Christmas the Lord has been 
born among His people. This year it was his will that it 
should be among his martyrs and defenders. At this very 
hour the mystery is accomplished." And the soldiers, awaken- 
ing, behold in the vision a token of victory. They cry, " Oh ! 
boys, boys, we shall see them again, we shall see' them soon ! 
We shall see them all again, our wives, our little ones and the 
old folk. .And if the roof is in ruins v\e shall build it anew." 
The little i)lay is written with ex(iuisitc charm : it brings 
tears to the eyes, and Kaemaekers' ])ictures eilipliasise the 
pathos of these Belgian soldiers. We are learning to look at 
the war thniugh eyes other than our own, to rejoice with tiiem 
that do rejoice with a joy different from f)urs and to weep with 
them lliat weep for causes which have been spared to us. 
We are thankful to those two great artists- the jwet and tlie 
cartoonist— for this sad yet happy volume. It bears a 
Christmas Message that will hearten and insjiirc every guo.l 
lighter, at the front an 1 at home, in the great cause. 
