WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THEM? 33 corporal punishment, since they have shown themselves loyal. The same applies to those who have been honourably discharged. The Commander-in-Chief orders the same abolition of corporal punishment in regard to soldiers of the Protectorate. You must plainly understand this: he who serves the Germans loyally will be treated as a German, and will share the privileged position enjoyed by Germans. People of the Cameroons, I hear from Bululand that thousands of Bulus are off to fight the French and Belgians. You will show yourselves equally loyal in this hour of danger, side by side with the Germans. And you will get to see that your choice has been a wise one. The Imperial Governor, Ebermaier's communiqué of August 8th is a pretty fair specimen of German respect for the truth. It tells of the utter rout of the Russian Fleet, though the only exploits of the German Fleet in the Baltic had been to fire a few rounds at Libau from the cruisers Augsburg and Magdeburg, which immediately afterwards prudently withdrew; and of the occupation of Belgium as an accomplished fact, though Liége had fallen only the day before. A notable feature of this proclamation is the sudden abolition by the German authorities of corporal punishment. It is a confession of a bad conscience, of the fear of rebellion and desertion. The wolf becomes a lamb. The fact that they were so indulgent towards the native troops shows that the leaders did not feel that they had their men any too well in hand, though these men, who had been carefully picked, already enjoyed special privileges. Well paid, well equipped, armed with an excellent rifle, well fed, and well housed, the German African soldier benefited by the favour always extended by the House of Prussia to the armed man, the instrument of its greatness and formidable power. The professional training of these soldiers' was exceedingly thorough. They were constantly reviewed and made to listen to speeches intended to impress their imaginations. They belonged, they were told, to the greatest army in the world. There was only one flag—the German! All others were mere rags. They were invincible, and must make no mistake about that. The soldier's word was never doubted. Evidence given by him in a court of law must not be gainsaid, as it would not do to lessen his authority and prestige by proving him guilty of perjury. Imbued with such ideas, and sure of impunity, the native soldiers had no scruples about committing all kinds of misdeeds. Those stationed at small posts on the frontiers of neighbouring colonies won a name as highway robbers. Any complaints addressed to the German authorities were taken no notice of, in accordance with the Prussian dogma of the supreme authority of the soldier. When the frontier between Nigeria and the Cameroons was being adjusted, the villagers on both sides asked permission to move their homes a good distance from it, to be out of reach of the German frontier guards. Previous to 1914, Germany would not use black troops for anything but local purposes, police work and terrorism. The wars conducted in her African colonies, as well as her experiences on the Western Front, have shown her that the warlike negroes possess a high standard of courage and endurance. It cannot be doubted that if, after the war, the colonies were given back to Germany, this knowledge would be turned to account. We should witness the gradual creation of a German African Army, fed by the fourteen million natives under the German domination. All material that might thenceforward not be required in Europe, would find its way to Dar-es-Salaam, Duala, and Lomé, and we should see the Pan-German plan of expansion begin all over again in Africa, to the injury of neighbouring colonies. WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THEM? 35 As, on the other hand, Parliament and public opinion in France, England, Belgium, and Portugal were formally opposed to the development of militarism in the colonies, we were gradually sinking into a position of inferiority. Yet Germany alleged that the Three Years law-a purely defensive measure-was aimed at her, and condemned as a violation of the pax Africana any steps which we might desire to take to prevent this perilous situation and the piling up of armaments—at once ruinous and dangerous—arising afresh on the soil of the Dark Continent. What, we may ask, would be the ultimate fate of the white minorities were German militarism once established in Africa? V. We now approach the end of this cursory account. We have indicated, by convincing examples, the administrative methods employed in its colonies by the German Government; the contempt for the native, who is regarded as mere human cattle; the rule of the good pleasure (and especially of the evil pleasures) of the German official; the glorification of cruel and criminal despots, and forgiveness for all their misdoings because they have worked hard to spread the terror of the German name; the German interpretation of what power means; the despoiling of natives, who have no chance whatever of getting justice done them; inhuman treatment seen in wrongful and often fatal floggings; forced labour; degradation brought about by the importation of alcohol in large quantities. The outcome of these methods has been continual rebellions, all ending in bloodshed. The natives have perished by hundreds of thousands in these colonial wars, while others have died from exhaustion, bad treatment, or the ravages of alcohol, in the plantations or on the roads which they have had to construct for the Government with strokes of the whip as their only payment. Others, again, have fled into neighbouring colonies ruled by other Powers. From 1914 to 1917, the troops of the Entente have been hailed as liberators wherever they have gone. When the day of making peace comes, will it be allowable to merely hand her colonies back to Germany? The peace-loving Powers of the Entente were attacked by Germany and Austro-Hungary, and have derived the energy which during all these long months has taken the place of organised preparedness, from the longing to abolish, once and for all, the danger, fatal to all expansion, of a German hegemony being riveted on the neck of the whole world. We have so many allies, because it was plain that the entire world was taking a definite side in a struggle that has raged for centuries between two principlesPower and Freedom. We are fighting for the setting up of a statute which at last will allow all human beings to breathe freely and to know the sure protection of laws and justice that favour none. Germany remains faithful to the Hohenzollerns and their ways, and offers no guarantee of fair treatment to the natives of her old colonies. The parliamentary power of the Socialists and some generous minds in the Reichstag has not been able to bring about any change for the better in the course of the last twenty years, nor will it be able to do so in the future, since the war has proved the absolute subservience of those boasted Liberals to the autocratic system by which Germany is governed. It is a question not of policy, but of mentality. Deutschland über alles is not a marching song, but a dogma. Were we to restore her colonies to Germany to WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THEM? 37 morrow, we should be guilty of a crime against humanity, for we should expose the natives not only to falling again under the hateful yoke, but to the terrible revenge of their old masters, whose cause they deserted to welcome their liberators. A letter found in the Cameroons on a German officer, and addressed to one of his comrades, another local official, contained the following reference to the Dualas and Iabassis, two tribes which had long been victimised by the Germans, and quite naturally had gone over to the enemy as soon as the war began :"Liebe Dualas, liebliche Iabassis, Rache ist süss (Dear Dualas, beloved Iabassis, revenge is sweet!). You may guess what is in store for tribes like these, to whom Ebermaier promised to teach the meaning of German severity! Can the civilised world possibly hand over 14,000,0000 defenceless beings to the machine-guns and lash of German "Kultur" without incurring a terrible responsibility? Official Germany put it on record in 1917 that she would not evacuate Belgium unless her colonies were restored. On August 4th, 1914, Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg admitted in the Reichstag that the violation of Belgian neutrality was a breach of international law. "Das Unrecht-ich spreche offen-das Unrecht das wir damit tun, werden wir wieder gut zumachen suchen, sobald unser militarisches Ziel erreicht ist " (The injustice-I speak openly the injustice which we have committed we will endeavour to atone for as soon as our military aims are attained.) For three years Belgium has been dying under the yoke of German tyranny. Nowadays there is no question at all of restoration: the setting free of Belgium is only a lever to employ against the Allies to make them give back the colonies. |