The farmer and mechanic. [volume], September 14, 1915, Page 7, Image 7

About The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??

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1 ;
THE FARMER AND MECHANIC.
HOW A MASTER ADVERTISING
MAN LED GERMANY INTO
WAR
Kever Lost Sight of His Purpose; Profound Student of
His People; Unseen Hand Playing a Tremendous
Game With Unheard of Daring
.irl'-s Harris Whitaker
York Times.)
in
the New
Somewhere, carefully hidfen among
the 70,000.000 inhabitants of C.or
nuny. there is a great man. As I
Jiall make no positive assertions as
t, his identity. I shall not concern
t:ili with either names or pedigrees.
Hat whatever you think, do not im
,411m' th.it this man is great by rea
s,.m of his inventions of war ma
, h-fi'Tv. his mastery of statecraft, or
n- g
greater than
chamjti.ns of h, r ar
iT th.it the mo-.vr
sc.ous. f.,r th'v p
vry pr-s.-ce th.
ty of th.- c..3.r lis;,'
"J!" that a It
Hi expression
anting !) ilit-f.
.-t ! 1 will :n-
?st out that the
' t r ' ir s- -j,. di
iv !!! t . . m ii-
whirh
acaint
mi can :
any -.f
at d til.
say it
nie
will
'us in tactics.
lb- is something far
,,ir. !' all f these, for lie is a pro
found student of (Jormaus he knows
th'iii hy heart. JJe knows other na
tions, too. some of them very inti
niitely; he knows of their comment,
ih'-:r politics, their diplomatic courses
iiri'l entanglements; he knows a good
il-. l f their inherent human strength
:.m I weakness, hut it is to the study
of the German people that he has de
v - I Ins life.
'I . verity years ago, when I lived in
i: ilin. as a student, 1 was of course
impressed with two things. The vul
g.i insolence of the Prussian military
I i.vif I am neither attacking nor
.l-ten-ling Germany, and here 1 mere
ly chronicle a fact which even the
Germans of those days did not dispute
;ihd the acute and eager manner in
which (lermany was seizing upon
ct one of life's activities, studying
th-tn. analyzing them, organizing
ji.-ffccting, applying. (Germany was
11 busiest place under the sun. She
v i-; moving forward at the pace which
w quickly to attract the world's at
t ; i T i . 1 1 and give her that prestige in
ih' application of science which STie
so -.veil deserved.
i'.ut there were moments in those
!is. there were incident: when one
l" itne dimly conscious of an unseen
master hand which was playing that
iMine for the sake of a larger game.
Th" insolence of ttie Prussian took on
,i new ami sinister significance. The
Nast army of young Hermans who
sp-d to the uttermost parts of the
earth, who might have been found
working for little or nothing in the
oilices of Knglish, French, Belgian,
American, or Japanese merchants,
seemed bent on something more than
the search for new methods and mar
kets. I'.ut it is only now, afte.- the lapse
of twenty years, during which I have
been a frequent admirer and specta-
tardmess in arriving on the scene.
Slowly and surely he built up this solid
wall of unreason. Artfully and mer
cilessly he added to it brick by brick.
uuiii some lime last year he was al
TO survey his 'Vdrl- an.l
stand.
For when you go to war. as a mon
arch, you must b sure not only that
you are at the moment of perfect pre
paredness; that your enemy is least
suspecting: that your new sixteen-inch
gun will batter down anything in the
shape of a fort; that the supj.lv of
petrol will last; that you have enough
copper stored away, and thousand
other intricate de-tails, which enter in
to this most complex of calculations.
Not only of these must you I- sure,
but you must be doubly certain that
your people are with you; that you
can keep them there; that they are
piooi against agitation from within;
sealed against the unanimous censure
of civilization, impregnable to the
facts which will find their way into
a press which you cannot stifle.
Over your own pre.- you still hold
absolute control. This powerful weap-
"i") jojiueo a no nreu at your
.tuviiiwu. i on may command er your
ptiniic and pnoessional men to write
and protest that the fault is Eng
land s. and when you find that
have not hit the American mark,
may lay it to Russia.
Hut can you hold your 70,000.000
people to the faith which vou have so
carefully built for them? You are
ore that you can. if vou can win!
And if you can't win. what is the use
anyway: If vou can't win now von
never can. The fienernl MmnVor
inows that to be a certainty. Dis
trust of your bin ns is becoming nnnn-
rent. There are obvious signs of ac
tivity which indicate that vour neigh
bors are doubtful. There are visible
signs that even your magnificent in
dustry and commerce are beginning to
feel the burden of that increasing
budget. There ;,re ominous tinv
cracks here and there. The hour has
Come. It is now or nm'f nil er
- ...... w . , , v, lIL VI
nothing.
Ah! the feverish calculations. The
quick parleyings behind closed doors.
The rapidly succeeding consultations.
The laconic renorts of militMrv hr-
vity. And the order goes forth!
ll'U- ' ,
iL now appears to nave been a
wonaeriuiiy brilliant feature of the
great German publicity carrmaign
was the great color exhibition t
Cologne. Here in the Soring and
Summer of 1914. on the edee of the
i vr --.-iire j
prt-domi- j
militarism
a;. I'v-ii :
f h'-r r-a! j
:t!v! t i ri - t
Admit it
dn :;rvin
the
,:d
Ail ip
you
you
i-eTV K1-S ; TM
th.- v:li and vm-,5 ,
irii.-Iiigen(N. - i.s harbnro.is.
bly in vid'-rie-, after a!i.
crii-d o-.-e-ssiIy, it -? hm
ion hi -i Viiirat ion ,.s :i failnr-.
the barbarie riot : still th-r-
.iui i nus ,ir.- arj;us that n
ri"s -nt movement wef a p.ir-dy
seions oii-. thin woal l i, ,jfj,.r
D'l thei. woull b' ht. om.tT t..
trie m'-at blot on ihp ..m!J w..,t,
)f whieh is li.isI upon th- p-rh
mpo.-sioi- toeor that militarism is
parliaily r;)onsi!.- for the -olor dis
play in the Colo-n.- lOxhibit i.-n
You did not this cb-arlv at
the moment. ylU nt)T r.-ali..' the
significance of the tiost-r whieh ;iA-,
vert?sed th 'ohgr:e i -'.x hi bit ion far'
and widt the Hun on horsebaeK
with at'laming tore.h' What has h
to df with the Werkbund?
Was tlie diabolical cleverness of
that barbaric cjlor show with that
barlv;iric poster oik- of the great pre
cautions? Was it a perfectly con
ceived master stroke, calculated to
prolu-e its impression at the crucial
moment? All The world Knows the
psychological effect ,f a violent riot
of flaming color- All soldiers would
respond to that flaming torch and
how pre.vcint it was with the latt
of Helgium.
And yet these things were onlv a
pari of that ceaseless iJb-rman pub
licity which has taken pry known
form an exchange jirofessoiship to
a picture nostcard. You can trace
it, by decrees, in other countries, but
you will never discover anything
which even approaches this stu
pendous organization, with its thou
sands of sensitive nerves reaching
out to gather in; its thousands of
equally sensitive nerves radiating
the same message, in 1 liferent forms,
over and over again, their purport
unguesscd. until a nation is willing
to forsake the ideal toward which its
unconscious march has been leading
it for the other ideal whieh the (b n
eral Manager lias always kept before
it.
It has been no easy victory fol
ium, lie h is had the constant ten
dency of man's increasing democrati--ation
to contend with. Socialism has
risen to great powers. The illusion of
the divine right seems bound to a
fast -approaching erio. Kvery known
force, every human aspiration, every
triumph of science seems to be ar
rayed against him, and yet he never
wavers, never falters. this tireless,
sleepless, relentless General Manager.
Day after day, month a"ter month,
year after year, he labors to obscure
the vision of -democracv. the relief
from militarism, the freedom from
oppressive taxation, the right to dis-
. . i v. .i..o;,,...,. . . . . . , . ., ) i- v,
lor of the physical transformation of DU"'"CT f- on xn edge ot the n- ow.r-o o..o,
(lermany. that certain experiences r .r. . C "1..,"va!,un' nere 7" v,: " Vu . ' t
-r. Ko-t, m 4 with thP tanPihlR 1 1,1 miasi oi one or tne most ponu-
.1 ,v,;v I lar sections of German v. where the the fog of a dream of physical em
nTwS l v d W n- to be almost a huge, pire. the glamour of soldiers. the
is now ieink piayeo oeiorw uui v.cly. Lmntin e 7- I Mcdiu riinirtm:it p tnhmc ik which
a l .3 : .1 n.itk full I .,Aivtow luiii(M;r. WUf IK vv esill niJ 1 1 M I -
eyes ana wmca t , m .fri; TTT " nntv evHterl and tantalized, making
A. . . 1 . -a nA tJ Lf 111 rL.1. kill 111 rr 111 I I II I .7
me inicuiKt-jitc ui . , . x ' " r: A v.,. .v,;v. ;f o,- r,r-i
uuiki:., iJiiiiosL wiimn sictit nr H:swn mv." i. - .j v,
and the works of Kruno here, is it imperialism; to provide the weapons
. 1 m 19 J 1 J. A A . A
possible that the General Manager y wnicn to levy, wunoui 100 great
played one of his most ingenious
cards?
Along the Rhine, whose mighty
rushing: symbolized that irresistible
march upon which he was bent, he
LEIPZIG FIGHTS
BLIGHT OF 1R
and
'j
Destfuctive
Conflk
Rejc!:jnary
Effects of
li ;;'.. g
Cftl'-s in
bra
d-
and
t ban
for
t enitJI " S--pf
It-rin i ri Jul v
be ! t r, .
d-M r'icTl v - e'f.f ,,f
N'.ld.- 'he I'lllpr ,xf
irl- ar-oi b,U .'isiir.
hit bv til.
1
ro-re
l tlollMf
'be XV I ;
tr.e for
thou-h htr 1
feinpurig a ie.nhii, li: pr.in. that
would easil;. b- o.nM.lcir-l .nnt,m.,l,.-i
in Jte.ace Tl!n
Th- '.urge-it railway .t t!i..i. n K i
rop. i stra dually n-a nrrg cmplen.m.
;lt 1 nio.-t of mot.. th-.? i. ) ou.i
-onst i Viction tivis onlv l-i: 1
sliortae of workmen
it:
dn m by the
1 a lid so hit- t illlt
i tirely finished.
A htle luibliTi4
ttie German eij!j;a
can "ongn-isio.nl
in which at
llh I
11 il will be
en -
tutiiyn
which vail house
ent of tb.- Am-i-labrary.
an uisii-
b-at on- op y of
every b-rmt publics .,n wejj n
'housands .if books print. -d in Austria
itrn't S-vvif.-rland. will !,. p.'ld is
under way.
Th" Ti'-vt !rfntt li!i 1-1 : n pi opojr
t'on that !: i,a. s no- j! htan.im:
t o war is a wonderf.il public lata
whi.-h was bee.n ty :i priv.i;,. (1,n,-..rn
but has si!;, - ! ej taken vt t-y tie
city. When If is Complete.!. l..Mp.'lg
-Maims teat ;t will liiak v.iti,
sio.iii.ir institution in t he w.o
air
( !1
t a t ion,
n 'js'i'i I
annrng i,r is railro.-.,!
l.eipv.i!- was c-nf rocted wttti u
problems, m ove mruiii; whe h n tin-sp-nt
many million of marks Th.
city has always be.. a a biu transpor
euter. wilh line;; runnm.
a 1 1.
!1
I l.l V,U1 I,
i:inu"
force against
American people.
lnringr all these years the great
German of whom I write has never
ceased his task. There has always
Inien this one brain above all. Such
a plan as his cannot be carried out by
any more system, no matter how bill
Ibint r how well thought out. There
must be a man one man who never built an exposition. It was called the
loses sight of his purpose; who seizes 1 werkbund," to exemplify the bond
UDon every means, every event, every of work, the joy of creating beautiful
nower iu order to ero continuously things by labor. How clever was the
murmur, rresn taxes ior iresn armies,
fresh guns, fresh warships, which in
their turn only added fresh appetite
to the all-devouring maw into which
all Germany was pouring its earnings,
into which millions were soon to pour
their lives.
I hold no brief for a democracy. 1
do not insist that Germans would be
as well governed by an absolutely rep
forward. A brilliant psychologist, a selection of name, how thoroughly it rf,sentative form of government. I do
keen student, resourceful, astute, dar
inc. To him everything is but grist
for his mill
What was he doing? Advertising
Germany to the Germans! Advertis
ing the kind of a Germany that he
wonted to build, and in the scheme
there was no room for a democracy
is said to have concealed the real pur
pose. For, once you were inside the
ground, you were quiekly made
aware that this was an exhibition of
color. The principal building was
the "Farbensciiau," a color show. It
was one riotous crash of every
known color in the animal, the vege-
say tnat it is wonaeriuiiy oaring in
organize, educate, and develop a virile
nation without keeping it from desir-
infir to De a oemocracy. kui as a.
j -
democracy the development of Ger
manv had no interest for the man of
whom I write.
Who is this marvelous man? and
Ah. no! Whatever became of Ger- table, and the mineral kingdom. It again t say that I am not mentioning
many she must not become a democ-
Tnry,
What were his mediums? All the
avenues to the mind. He was given
almost autocratic control of the press
He held the key to every. form of edu
cation. He was able to command the
most fluent pens In German literature
And. trniM of all. by conscription, he
was able to bring every youth in Ger
loany under his influence all save
those who had the courage to flee
and it does take courage to flee a
fatherland, even though you do de
fire to escape her tyranny.
And when the army was an ac
ceptd idea and all Germany was en
slaved in it. he was able to form the
Navy league, one of the most bril
liant pieces of advertising ever con
ceived and executed, and before Ger
many knew what had really hap
pened, the navy had begun to take
hape and she was hopelessly com
muted to the incubus which has hun.;
o heavy on her neck these last few
years.
And all this time the Germans were
lM along his road. He played upon
their vanity, their pride, their love of
title, their tiiininitiK fnnvpntiiin their
.simple domesticity, even their relig
ion. Through the press, the school,
the theatre, through art, literature,
music, by every way known to the
psychologist, he imbued them with
jhe idea of their greatness as a na
tion, but as a nation misunderstood
Ldly usl. horn of its rights, kept
jroui th muMtery of the sea hy Kng
Itnd, deprived of rich colonies through
was the key to what you were to see
thereafter a bewildering panorama,
of the barbaric application of color
to dress, to furniture, to carpets, to
churches, to kitchens, bedrooms, din
ing rooms, drawing rooms, railway
carriages, automobiles, to everything
which goes into the life of today.
And you cannot explain it all. Per
haps, as I did, you may have tried to
names, ah i ao Know, iroui long e.
perience, is that such games cannot
be played by any organization. No
mere svstem will ever run such a
complicated mechanism. Behind it
immersed in it, saturated with it ana
the idea, it strives to advertise, there
must be a man. Such a man as the
world rarely sees a Shakespeare and
a favour rolled into one. witn a
analyze and describe it. Perhaps nh of Machiavelli. Martin luther
m -m a A 1
you may nave iouna yourseit tnere an(j Philip II.
during the week of the delivery of
the Austrian note to Serbia. Perhaps
vou then wrote, as I did. for an
r
American magazine:
'ls it possible that the whole tre
mendous color effect of the exhibition
is due to the too rapid rise or a
great nation, full of confidence and
assurance, justly proud of its ac
complishments, exuterant in us
strength? Or, is it possible that the
barbaric panoply of war is a factor
in this bewildering array of color? Is
it the irresistible impulse which de
mands a new means of expressing the
rise of a great nation what more
natural phenomenon than that?
What nation has more to express
than has Germany, even tnougn sne
may. when these lines appear. be
plunged in a war. the causes, extent,
and consequences of which are ap
palling to contemplate; even though
she hs turned her engines of science
tu the barbarism of militarism, and
sent the sword and the bullet stalk
ing beside her induirtry and com
merce? "liut that is precisely why le
I do not know how well his wal
has stood in Germany. There are
virtnr.efi. here and there, that the
hour of his greatest trial is at hand
But it is only such evidences as fil
ters out through the highways ana
livwaw fi-nd I am bv no means sure
that the wall has begun to waver.
Rut there is certain evidence that
colossal blunder was made in plan
ning the over-seas campaign. Not in
organizing it. for all the world knows
how quickly it was at work in the
United States. You have only to look
at the date of the outbreak of the
war and the date of its first appear
ance in the American press to gain
an idea of whether the prelim inane
had been carefully worked out or not.
And .they were. You need not take
the trouble to look.
But the campaign was wrong and
the fundamental basis of attack was
a colossal blunder. Whose the fault?
1 do not know. Iid the General Man
ager fait, for nce. or was he misled
by the reports of his aids? The hu
man equation will enter into the most
carefully laid plans, and you do have
borthward into Sa..ny and
and sout hu est wa rd ! tb
district.
With its ever ur-.wing b..,ik ti id
d other busine it ha, b -en an in
creasingly ditTi-nut problem t- provide
the iii,i'"ssiry fr"ig!it space. Hid in
the past, with a circular railroad sys
t m that belted the city, ureal tracts
valuable lajei have ben utilized in
an uneconomical manner.
When the city did decide to cen
tralize its transportation system, it ar
ranged for a station with cormte.I
freight terminals that it pretty sure
to fit all needs for a great many years
to come. From i'ry direction xoept
Bavaria the railroad tracks curve in
and around th-1 northern part of Leip
zig and then swing in to a point al
most in the center of the citv. The
me building accommodates the linos
oi me 1'russian ami or tne .Saxon
state railways with all their subsidiaries.
The building was already under
way when Leipzig lan to appreciate
that eventually it was going to nee-T
subway system, and that this future
need might as well be attended to in
connection with the station. Af fast
as the need comes, therefore, this tun
nel line will be connected to star-
shaped inesl radiating to all part.
of the city and its suburbs.
The new library of Deutsche Uu-
cheri is not to be, from present n-
pea ranees, such an imposing building
as the ongres.sional Library in
Washington, but it is infinitely prac
tical and very large. In it are to be
kept the works of ail authors printed
in Germany, the works of German
authors printed in foreign countries.
the pamphlets and works of literary,
scientific and other societies every
thing in fact except musical and po
litical publications. All publications
from 1913 on ane to be kept.
The government has donated 3.
000,000 marks, and guaranteed JtS.
000 marks a year. The city of Leip
zig gives the ground and furnishes
11. a. 000 marks a year toward the
maintenance of the institution; and
the German, the Austrian and the
Swiss book trade agrees to furnish
free of cost the books that are to be
kept. The present building is so lo
cated and arranged that additions ran
be constructed as fast as me1ed.
Kvery' known up-to-date method of
library administration has been pro
vided. One of the features of the new
library is to be a complete collection
of the ever-growing war literature
that already has run into the thou
sands fif volumes and that probably
will increase even more rapidly whfi
peace comes. Thus literature will be
separately installed in quarters of its
own-
to trust somebody. You cannot be
everywhere at the same time.
Apparently the employ who wr"
charged "with the American campaign
made the stupid mistake of trying to
run things just as they would m
Germany.
The smallest school in Lnlnd. If
not in the world, is that in AugtoTi.
when1, although there are only five
pupils on the reerinter. only two are
attending the jrhol. A teacher is
employed for their benefit and spend
as mwdi tim on tti-m n a larger
gathering.
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