ve
all, the State's motto has been thoroughness and efficiency in every
department of its manifold life; knowledge and power its aims.

Britain's development has been along other lines; the widest possible
room has been left to the individual, and the ties binding him to the
whole have been loose in the extreme. German discipline is replaced by
British liberty, with its advantages to the individual and corresponding
disadvantages for the State. Liberty implies the right to rise by honest
endeavour, but does not exclude the possibility of a wilful surrender to
slothful inactivity, _e.g._, the human flotsam and jetsam of British
cities, the casual ward and similar institutions. These and other
phenomena of life in our islands have aroused bitter contempt among
Germans. Contempt has been succeeded by envy and hatred. Rightly or
wrongly the German has argued that the people who prefer sport to
knowledge, self-will to a sense of duty to the community, selfishness to
sacrifice,[215] wire-pulling and patronage to efficiency--this people is
no longer worthy of the first place among the nations. By right of
merit, morality and efficient fitness--that place belongs to Germany.

[Footnote 215: An article by the present writer on "Some German Schools"
in the _Times_ Educational Supplement, October 5th, 1915, gives some
faint idea of the unprecedented sacrifices made by German schools.
During the war all classes of the population have voluntarily renounced
a part of their earnings for war charities. In the _Fraenkischer Kurier_
for October 13th, 1915, the Burgomaster of Nuremberg announced that the
voluntary reduction of salaries agreed to by the municipal officials of
that city had resulted in 264,000 marks (L13,000) going to charitable
funds. The author could cite dozens of similar instances, but it would
interest him most of all to know whether any town in the British Isles
can show a better record than Nuremberg, with a population of 350,000.]

Unfortunately the present war has brought many proofs that there is no
small amount of truth in this indictment, and most unfortunate of all,
neutral countries too accept Germany's version that Britain is
unorganized, self-interested, inefficient and effete. And to just the
same degree they are convinced that Germany is thorough. They love
Britain's humanitarian idea, but admire German efficiency--although they
fear the latter's militarism.

Still when they are driven to choose to whom