onsciously committed acts
considered indiscreet by the German Government, and so ended their
usefulness in Germany.

* * * * *

It is a mistake to suppose that there are dissensions or differences
of opinion in the German nation, or that the Kaiser or the military
party has imposed war on the people. In modern times it would not be
possible for even an absolute monarch to force an unwilling people
into such a momentous step. The German Government is the product and
expression of the German people. They have made it and, having created
it, they are proud of their work. The Emperor is in popular estimation
not much lower than God Almighty, and the two seem inextricably
mingled in the public mind. The world-wide amusement created by "Me
und Gott," or by the Emperor's firm conviction that he and he alone is
worthy of divine aid and approval, is an amusement not shared by any
Germans. If you say to them, "the Emperor seems to think the German
people are the one race chosen of God and that He works only for them
and their advancement," the Germans will promptly and emphatically
reply: "why, of course; all our past history proves that." The God
they appeal to, however, is the God of Battles of the Old Testament
and of the ancient Hebrews, who slew His enemies, destroyed nations,
and annihilated races, who was cruel and vindictive.

* * * * *

The German nation is, up to this date, but little cramped by the war.
The people and the army lack for nothing. All the shops, hotels,
restaurants, theaters, and dance halls in Berlin are open and well
patronized. Several million men fit for military service have not yet
been called out, because they are not needed. At the front they have
such a great body of infantry that a certain proportion of them are by
turns given a vacation and allowed to return to their homes. The
German officers say that Germany did not count on a speedy termination
of the war; they even believe that it may last four years and face
this possibility with courage and with confidence of final victory. As
for the famine conditions, I did not accept German opinion about the
abundance or price of food supplies, but myself asked prices in shops
and public markets and in various restaurants and hotels--all sure
thermometers of any rise in the price of food.

If Germany ever pleads famine it will be for some purpose of
diplomacy. In times of peace she rai