terests, so they are naturally angry
against the people who, they believe, have brought the war about.
As Germany has not had an opportunity to make herself heard as amply as
her adversaries, they think that it was Germany which set the world
afire, and that is what they resent, and in which they were justified,
if it were true. But the question of the hour is not the question of the
past, but of the present and of the future, and the people on this side
who will give Germany fair play because it is just in them will examine
the situation in the light of their interests. Then they will find that
Belgium had been in league with the Allies long before the conflagration
broke out, only to be left to its own resources when the critical hour
arose. They will further find that it is not Germany but England and her
allies that are throttling commerce, maiming cables, stopping mails,
and breaking neutrality and other treaties to further their aims; that,
finally, today England has established a world rule on the sea to which
even America must submit. They will then soon come to the conclusion
that, no matter what happened in the past, the peace of the world can
only be assured by a good understanding between Germany and the United
States as a sort of counterbalance against the unmeasured aggrandizement
of English sea power. Then the feeling toward Germany will be
considerably better, and I may add that even now it is not so very bad
after all.
I make these remarks with due respect to Prof. Eliot and his views, and
with great reluctance for being compelled to enter the field against a
personality whose undoubted superiority I wish to be the first to
acknowledge.
BERNHARD DERNBURG.
New York, Oct. 4, 1914.
Dr. Jordan's Reply to Dr. Dernburg
Daniel Jordan is Assistant Professor of Roman Languages and
Literature at Columbia University.
_To the Editor of The New York Times:_
President Eliot is as fair a judge of the present European situation as
can be found anywhere, and is well qualified to explain the almost
unanimous attitude of thoughtful Americans in regard to Germany. Dr.
Dernburg, on the other hand, has been officially sent from Germany to
expound the German official version; both his point of view and his
treatment of facts are essentially un-American.
He says: "Americans object to the extension of territory by force.
Germany has never done that." Apparently he believes that the Poles
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