equal to, that of the equivalent
classes with us makes the task easier. They have not been taught to
want the things we want, and are still satisfied with less. And back
of and behind it all is the feeling among the leaders, that the army
furnishes no small amount of the patriotic cement necessary to hold
Germany together. Ulysses lashed himself to the mast as he passed the
sirens of luxury and leisure, and for the German Ulysses the army
supplies the cords. It is not the foreign student of German life alone
who notices that the Germans, even now, seem to be tribal rather than
national. The best friends of Germany in Germany also recognize this
weakness, comment upon it, and favor every possible expedient to
overcome it.

I admit frankly my admiration for this Spartan three quarters of a
million of soldiers and sailors, and their officers. It offers a
splendid example of patriotism, of disregard for the weakening
comforts, luxuries, and fussy pleasures that absorb too much of our
vitality; and of disdain for the material successes, which in their
selfish rivalry, breed the very industrial distresses which are now
our problems. At least here is a large professional body whose aims,
whose way of living, and whose earnings prove that there can be a
social hierarchy not dependent upon money. It is one of the finest
lessons Germany has to teach, and long may she teach it.

That is distinctly the side of the army that I know and approve
without reserve. Of its value as a fighting force it would be
ridiculous, in my case, to write. I have read and heard scores of
criticisms and comments from many sources, and they range from those
who claim that the German army is unbeatable, even if attacked from
all sides, to those who maintain that it is already stale and
mechanical.

The war of 1866, when Prussia represented Germany, lasted thirty-five
days; the war against Denmark lasted six months and twelve days; the
war against France lasted six months and nine days. Thirty-six German
cavalry regiments did not lose a man during the whole campaign of
1870-1871; and the Sixth Army Corps was hardly under fire. There has
been no long, practical, and therefore decisive test of the army. Of
the transport and commissary services during the French war, when
Germany toward the end of it had 630,000 men in the field, certainly
we, with the deplorable mismanagement and scandal of our Spanish war,
and the British with the investigations after