July 1 8, 19 1 8 
Land & Water 
a dream of the militarist pan-Germans. In making tliis 
acknowledgment, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 
uttef'ed then the first real warning given to rierman\- by one 
of her^responsible ofhcials. 
It was all the more significant that a few days earlier the 
Kaiser had thought tit to pose before his official photographers 
as the protector of two wounded English soldiers, discovered 
by him at an opportune moment near the Chemin des Dames. 
The representative on earth of the German god of battles 
was suddenly touched by the wing of the Christian dove 
which bears to men the message of peace and goodwill ! 
And the Kaiser, after entrusting to his own medical attend- 
ants the care of these wounded Englishmen, who. being 
prisoners, were entitled to the Christian mercy of their 
victorious enemy, seized the occasion to express his feelings 
of brotherhood for all the defeated human race ! 
How is this comedv to be interpreted, except as a con- 
fession that the Central Powers have abandoned all hope of 
victory ? Does it not show that with their usual cunning 
they are preparing a reconciliation with the nations they 
have so barbarously treated in order to be able after peace 
is signed to reopen amicable intercourse with their ex- 
■ customers ? 
Kiihlmann or Kaiser ? . 
When Herr von Kiihlmann candidly owned the impossi- 
bility of ending the war by the clash of armies, and appealed 
to the parties concerned to trust each other, to have faith 
in each other's chivalrous spirit, to let, in one word, bygones 
be bygones, it was quite evident that-be too, like the Kaiser, 
knew of the real state of things at the German front. But 
was he acting "off his own bat," or was he simply expressing 
a policy carefully considered by the Emperor ? Again, was 
this move made with the full consent of the General Staff ? 
For a time it was impossible to sec clearly what had hap- 
pened. German public opinion and Press comment were 
violent in their expressions of surprise and dismay. It was 
even found necessary to calm pubhc indignation by obtain- 
ing from Herr von Kiihlmann himself an explanation of 
what he meant, which, of course, explained nothing. Sub- 
sequently, it became evident that, after having submitted 
to the Kaiser the main lines of his speech, he had added, on 
his own authority, the objectionable sentence which caused 
all that commotion, or that the Kaiser had made use of 
his Foreign Affairs Secretary to feel the pulse of public 
opinion. To us the only thing of importance is that 
the astute business man at the head of the Foreign Office 
had decided to take up a position which placed him in direct 
antagonism to the Prussian Junkers, whatever the result of 
the first innings. 
Personally, I am of the opinion that after carefully weigh- 
ing all the elements of the situation, which he was able to 
gauge through_his usual cohort of press agents and informers, 
Kiihlmann decided to cast in his lot with the opposition to 
tiie war-to-the-bitter-end faction. He goes out of office 
now after having taken up an attitude which makes him the 
natural leader of those politicians who will have one day to 
discuss the terms of peace with the victorious Allies. We 
know from what was done at Brest-Litovsk and at Bucharest 
e.xactly the sort of peace Germany aspires to impose on the 
rest of the world. Herr von Kiihlmann is at heart too con- 
vinced a pan-German not to make full use of the military 
power of his country, once it has been set in motion. But 
he will use it to secure, before everything, all facilities for 
Germany's future industrial expansion. 
I give this reading of Herr von Kiihlmann's character for 
what it is worth. It is, at any rate, in accordance with his 
past and with his present attitude. If he comes back to 
power as the representative of the German people in order 
to lead the peace negotiations with the Allies, he will certainly 
prove the most dangerous of all our opponents. He knows 
better than any politician in the allied countries, what is 
vital for the reconstruction of the economic power of (n^rmany. 
He is an expert in all the problems of industrial and commer- 
cial life and he has no false pride. As he has been the first 
statesman in Germany to confess publicly that the military 
machine had failed to attain its object, he will be the first 
to accept defeat on the battlefield, to let the past bury its 
dead, and to concentrate all his energies on raising his beloved 
fatherland from the dust of defeat. If it is our misfortune 
to meet him at the peace conference we shall need every 
arm in our diplomatic arsenal, and above all n definite and 
co-ordinated economic policy. There is still a disposition 
in some quarters to underrate the ability of Herr von 
Kiihlmann. We shall do so at our peril. At forty-five 
years of age a man of his calibre is not at the end, but 
at the beginning, of a great political career. 
Venice 
\"^'ENICE ! What dreams of beauty and romance, 
f what wizardry of passion and art does the name 
conjure up, what fantastic touches of colour 
' embowered in a dark background. Can, the 
traveller ever forget hisfeeling of ,awed expecta- 
tion as he crossed from the mainland for the first time ? 
As he caught that first glimpse of the Queen of the Adriatic, 
poised on her island, his feelings were in conflict between the 
choice of so many gems dazzling at once and the eager recog- 
nizing of the old friends long told of, but ne'er met before. 
But in this new age, when the heart is stabbed by thoughts 
and memories of war, with the destruction of so much that 
is beautiful, the traveller is animated by one anxietj' 
alone — will he be in time to see Venice still intact ? or will 
he find her bruised and torn with war ? 
To one entering two days after the first big raid of Gothas 
this year, the city wore the same superficial aspect as ever, 
though changes soon struck the eye after a careful survey. 
Wending a dilettante way in a gondola — or it would be more 
correct to say in the gondola— he saw the well-remembered 
vista of minarets and cupolas, crowned with the supreme 
campanile of St. Mark. As the craft threaded its way 
through the maze of small canals, it was easy to see where 
some of the bombs had fallen. By some gracious dispensa- 
tion of heaven over half had fallen into the water, and most 
of the others had hit insignificant cottages in the poorer 
quarters, well removed for the more historical relics of the 
magnificent past. Then a sharp turn and suddenly the 
Grand Canal ! One's thoughts fly instantly to Turner's 
picture. The same wonderful procession of palace after 
palace, unchanged ever in their quiet dignity and' mellow 
beauty, and then to Shakespeare with the distant view of the 
Rialto. 
As the Piazza di S. Marco approaches the pulse of Venice 
is reached. This seems as crowded as ever, but there is a 
marked difference in the character of the crowd ; none of 
the fashionable tourist, of peace time, or busy painters. None 
of the pushing Germans. Now only soldiers, sailors, and 
beggars. Of the last-named there are more than ever, if 
that seems possible. In war time, of course, they have 
the excuse of bad times. 
It is sad to see many of the old friends veiled in their war 
sorrow, the facade of St. Mark and the Ducal Palace in par- 
ticular are covered with sandbags. Some of the famous art 
shops, too, have succumbed to the war and the best known 
hotels. Many of the churches which Ruskin described in 
detail with their pictures, are scarcely opened from day to 
day beyond a bare hour of prayer. 
As one wanders over the old tracks there is a feeling of 
widowhood about the Great Queen, bereft of her children. 
The old tales seem far distant, the Doges and their wedding 
of the sea, the great expeditions which set out with many 
goodly sail — -so that one feels tempted to misquote Marlow : 
Is tills the state that launched a bhousand ships ? 
Gone are those fair throngs and the ducal festivities, the 
nobles of the city leading in Domenico Selvo to make him 
Doge ... he withdrawing reverently his sandals, and hasten- 
ing to the foot of St. Mark amid the hushed plaudits of the 
Republic . . . This dream is, perchance, exchanged for 
the modern adventure by the distant sounds of cannonade 
on the Piave or in the mountains to the north. 
It is not until the night slightly advances that the desertion 
of the bereaved city becomes most patent. AH her beauty 
is now wrapped in haunting shadows : and the blackness 
which of old was pierced by that bewildering reflection of 
fairy lights along the waters, is now but rarely relieved by 
an occasional small lamp on the prow of some passing craft. 
As the moon rises the spectral form of the scene grows ; 
first appears St. Mark and its tapering campanile, then that 
of St. Giorgio Maggiore, followed by others in rivalry. 
Just as some dead queen lying in statuesque repose with 
the sheen of pale marble, even so is Venice enhancefl in the 
charm of beauty by her martyrdom. 
But a very glorious resurrection awaits thee, O. Queen, 
when the throngs of old will again tread thy mellow streets 
and gondolas with festive garlands sport once more in those 
waterways, so that man can say of thee : 
Knowst thou the land where flowers o( citron blooin 
And golden orange glows thro' leafy gloom ; 
From the blue heavens the breezes float so bland. 
The myrtles still and tall the laurels stand. 
, Knowst thou the land ? 
and wed of all men for thy yearning beauty, thou sluilt never 
again have need thyself to wed the sea. 
