THE GROWING INTOLERANCE OF THE WAR SPIRIT.
By S.
Two years ago Germany was pointing to the punishment of the French captain, Alfred Dreyfus, as an indication of the moral deterioration of the French army. Now Germany is aroused over a case that has come up in her own army very much similar to that of Dreyfus in France. The victim, Sergeant Marten, has not been banished, as was Dreyfus. His life is the sacrifice to be offered to the god of war, the spirit of discipline. Marten and two other non-commissioned officers were accused of shooting their captain. All were acquitted by the civil court. This did not satisfy the spirit of discipline-worship which is the natural accompaniment of a military aristocracy, and so the general appointed a court-martial. In this trial by court-martial the same evidence was offered that had failed to convict in the civil court, and no new evidence was submitted. The case of the prosecution was so weak that the public prosecutor did not feel warranted in asking for the death sentence upon Marten. The two civilian members of the court-martial voted for the acquittal of all three; but, notwithstanding all this, the military members of the court pronounced upon Marten the sentence of death, and dismissed the others from the service with the forfeiture of the 1,000 marks bounty to which they had become entitled for long and faithful service. It is openly declared by the press of Germany that this is but another sacrifice to the offended dignity of the god of war. Some one shot a captain. It is presumed he was shot by a subordinate officer. This was a fearful shock to the worshipers of discipline; and therefore some one must suffer. If the murderer can not be found, then a substitute must be; for there must be a sacrifice, or discipline would suffer. The Kölnische Volkszeitung has explained the necessity of such a proceeding by saying that, even if innocent, it is advisable that Marten should die, lest discipline in the army should suffer by a failure to find any criminal. This sounds cruel enough; but it reads still worse when one remembers that the life of the victim had once before been placed in jeopardy for this same offense—a thing which ought to be impossible in Germany, as in some other civilized countries. The whole second trial—and especially this fact in connection with the second trial—shows how lightly are regarded human rights and civil laws when the war-god is aroused by an offense to its dignity. And right in this connection let it be remembered that militarism is growing as never before. In these countries where its reign is most pronounced, the peasantry are groaning under its crushing weight. It is not alone the burden of supporting the pompous, sword-bearing soldier; but wherever civilian and soldier meet in public, the civilian must give way. In these countries it is dangerous for a civilian to jostle a soldier however unintentionally; he may have to pay for it with his life, as some have done. With the growth of militarism, the danger of international conflict increases. Offended dignity must be wiped out in blood; and, tho a much more pretentious plant than formerly, dignity is also much more tender of itself—much more ready to avenge a slight than to condone or forgive a mistake. In this deadly atmosphere are we living to-day. The world is a powder magazine, and military dignity stands over it with a lighted torch, ready at any moment to ignite the fuse. God has declared that the world would come to its end in war, and the nations are preparing for their part in the catastrophe with all possible speed. The growing dignity and importance of the military is but one of the infallible evidences of the approach of that event. It is time to awake out of sleep. S.