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diff --git a/old/68238-0.txt b/old/68238-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ee435e2..0000000 --- a/old/68238-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10654 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A political pilgrim in Europe, by -Ethel (Mrs. Philip) Snowden - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A political pilgrim in Europe - -Author: Ethel (Mrs. Philip) Snowden - -Release Date: June 4, 2022 [eBook #68238] - -Language: English - -Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POLITICAL PILGRIM IN -EUROPE *** - - - - - -A POLITICAL PILGRIM IN EUROPE - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by S. A. Chandler & Co._] - - - - - A POLITICAL PILGRIM - IN EUROPE - - - BY - Mrs. PHILIP SNOWDEN - Author of “Through Bolshevik Russia” - - - [Illustration] - - - CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD - London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne - 1921 - - - - - To - MY NOBLE AND HEROIC MOTHER - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - INTRODUCTION ix - - 1. THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL 1 - - 2. THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL (_continued_) 17 - - 3. THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL (_concluded_) 38 - - 4. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CONFERENCE 54 - - 5. THE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN AT ZURICH 75 - - 6. THE INTERNATIONAL AT LUCERNE 95 - - 7. DYING AUSTRIA 103 - - 8. AFTER ONE YEAR 128 - - 9. MORE ABOUT RUSSIA 139 - - 10. FROM RUSSIA BY SWEDEN AND GERMANY 155 - - 11. CONCERNING THE JEWS 175 - - 12. GEORGIA OF THE CAUCASUS 189 - - 13. MORE ABOUT GEORGIA 215 - - 14. HOME THROUGH THE BALKANS 228 - - 15. THE DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY 237 - - 16. MORE ABOUT IRELAND 254 - - CONCLUSION 271 - - INDEX 275 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -In these days everybody is writing his memories. Disappointed -politicians decline to be forgotten. Successful and unsuccessful -generals refuse to be neglected. People of all sorts and conditions -insist on being heard. The most intimate affairs of a life are laid -bare in order to arrest public attention. Intolerable to most is the -fear that the world will go past him. Nobody will willingly let himself -die. This is the conclusion to which one is driven by the publication -during the last two years of a vast mass of autobiography. - -I am writing my own memoirs--two years of them. It never would have -occurred to me unaided that they could be of the slightest interest to -anybody. Friends have listened to my stories with interest, and public -meetings on several occasions have, by their silence and attention -during the telling, shown a certain pleasure in their recital; but only -the insistence of a valued few has induced me to put some of them into -a book. - -These are not the most interesting experiences of my life. The four -years of the war could reveal much more, and better, if it were -possible to write about those times. I doubt if I could--fully. The big -experiences of life are seldom even spoken about, much less put down in -black and white. Things happened during the war which are as sacred as -the birth of a child or the death of a lover. - -The twelve years of agitation for woman suffrage, during which time -I addressed more than two hundred public meetings a year in as many -different towns, were packed full of incident, grave and gay, which a -little quiet thought might dig out of the recesses of the mind. They -were gallant days, full of fine friendships. - -But these stories of my wanderings in Europe since the Armistice, with -no other purpose in view than to do what one person might do, or at -least attempt, to restore good feeling between the nations and the -normal course of life as quickly as possible, will interest chiefly -those who understood, and those honest folk who wondered at, the -position which a few of us adopted during the war. - -Those who have been brought up to believe, as I was, that war is alien -to the spirit and teaching of Christianity, will scarcely blame me -for taking that teaching literally. I believed with all the intensity -of conviction that evil could not be wholly destroyed by evil. The -application of this belief to war was clear: Militarism could not be -destroyed by militarism even though the princes of this world declared -that it could. - -I had read enough history to prove to myself the mad folly of wars. -All of which never clouded my apprehension of the fact that war may -be an evil and yet, by reason of vicious policies and pledges over a -number of years, become the lesser evil of two wrongs in the eyes of -many wise and good men and women. To choose between the evil and the -good is simple. To decide which of two evil things is the lesser evil -is anything but simple. I believed myself to be intensely right. This -never meant that the other person was necessarily wrong. I never tried -to influence by so much as a hair’s breadth the judgment of the young -man called upon to fight. What he did was his business, not mine. If -pure-motived, he was entirely honourable whether he chose prison or the -front. - -I believed from the first hour that the overwhelming majority of those -who enlisted for the war and of those who supported the war did so -from the best of motives, and from the same idealism which made it -impossible for me to believe in its good issue. It was all a matter -of method. The young men went to fight for the thing which I believed -could not come by fighting. But as a woman, who could not be called -upon to go into the trenches, it was peculiarly my business to seek to -end the war as soon as possible for the sake of the gallant lads who -had no choice consistent with their sense of duty. - -During the last year of the war, after Trotsky had proclaimed -the terms of a just peace at Brest-Litovsk, after the German -Reichstag had embodied the same terms in a resolution passed by an -overwhelming majority of its members, after President Wilson in his -wonderful speeches and Mr. Lloyd George in his masterly phrases -had given the world to understand that these objects were theirs -also--self-determination and the rights of small nations, universal -disarmament, and the League of Nations for the preservation of peace--I -toured the country from Land’s End to John o’ Groats making speeches in -favour of a just and lasting peace by negotiation. A moderate estimate -places the number of people I spoke to on this topic at not less than -150,000. - -I have re-read those speeches, widely reported in the local Press. -I can find no word that I would alter, no principle which I would -retract, no position stated from which I would withdraw. - -In them I gave my reasons for fearing the effect upon Europe and -the world of the policy of the knock-out blow. Every one of those -prophecies has come true. They are becoming more dismally true every -day. - -I made it clear that a negotiated peace might not be successful. It -might be proved that the peace honourable to all concerned, which was -to justify to the immortal spirits of our dead the sacrifice they had -made, and make their dreams come true, was not possible by conference. -Very well. The loss of young life was so appalling that it ought to be -attempted. - -I gave the utmost credit for sincerity and honesty to those who -differed from me in their views. I paid my full debt of sincere praise -to those who fought and died for the right. - -No; there is nothing in those speeches to be regretted. And I do not -regret them. - -I am still profoundly convinced that the war went on two years too -long, and two years more than were necessary. Time will prove me right -or wrong. I am content to wait. - -But I cannot wait, and no patriot in this country can afford to wait, -for the _Peace_ to come right. He must begin to make it come right. -The imperialists of Europe are poisoning the world. Into the pit which -they are digging for one another they are destined to fall themselves, -dragging the innocent with them. Russia, Germany, France, England, -America--all will go the same way to ruin unless the great awakening -comes soon, and men learn that the bonds which unite nations are -indissoluble, or are cut by them at their own peril. - -It is needful that all should become, if not pilgrims, priests and -prophets of peace and good will. It is vital to do so. Communism cannot -save mankind if it be imbued, as so far it has been, with the old bad -spirit of hate. Capitalism is failing before our eyes. Militarism has -failed. - -A new conception must be born, or an old vision reborn in the minds and -hearts of men. The everlastingness of Love! The indestructibility of -Faith! The eternity of Hope! - - “Many waters cannot quench Love, - Neither can the floods drown it; - Who shall slay or snare the white dove - Faith, whose very dreams crown it? - Gird it round with Grace and Peace - Deep, warm and pure and soft as sweet sleep. - Many waters cannot quench Love, - Neither can the floods drown it.” - - - - -A POLITICAL PILGRIM IN EUROPE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL, JANUARY, 1919 - - -“How infinitely little is the best that we can do, and how infinitely -important it is that we should do it!” - -To begin a new book with an old quotation is bad; but it must be -forgiven because it expresses in a phrase the sentiment upon which -the whole of my public life has been built, and it explains in a -sentence the object and purpose of those wanderings in many lands of my -colleagues and myself about which I have engaged to write. - -Nothing less than a clear understanding on the part of the critical -observer that they held very strongly the belief, old-fashioned it -may be, that “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings” is strength -ordained, can save from the charge of madness or of folly the plunge of -twelve members of the British Labour Movement, with a bright hope in -their hearts, into the maelstrom of Europe and of European politics in -January of 1919. - -Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., Secretary of the National Labour Party, had -made strenuous efforts during the later days of the war, and after his -return from Russia, to open a door to international understanding and -possible reconciliation by trying to obtain from the British Government -permission for representatives of British Labour to attend an -international Socialist conference at Stockholm, but without success. -Time alone will prove the folly of the Government’s refusal. It is -sufficient here to remind the reader that a deep and widespread desire -for some attempt at an honourable peace by understanding had existed -in Great Britain for nearly two years before the end of the war came. -A working women’s organization, the Women’s Peace Crusade, collected -in a few weeks nearly 60,000 signatures to a petition for a negotiated -peace; and at 133 public meetings addressed in less than a year by -myself, with an average attendance of 1,000 persons, was carried a -resolution on similar lines, with fewer than thirty dissentients in -all. These were small things in themselves, but symptomatic. - -So great was the anguish and concern at the time of the Stockholm -proposal that a great Conservative London newspaper headed one of its -daily leaders with the words: “Hands off the Socialists!” - -Whatever may have been the reason for the Government’s refusal to -allow British workmen to meet the workmen of other lands at Stockholm, -whether on account of French pressure, which was said, or through fear -of impairing the _moral_ of the soldiers, which was inferred, they -withdrew their opposition after the Armistice, and in January of 1919 -we left for Berne and the Second International. - -I have the most vivid recollection of that first journey to Europe -after the war, probably because it _was_ the first. I think that every -delegate felt the same, a revival of faith, a renewal of hope, a -quickening of life. For months before the sudden end of the war, acute -sadness and cruel pessimism had possessed us all. Ten, twenty, thirty -years, the best that life held, had been devoted by one or the other to -the building of a better humanity, and this destruction of everything -we had worked for, this swift rattling back to the beginning of things, -and to worse than the beginning in some ways, was at times too tragic -to be borne. But before the opening of new opportunities pessimism -promised to fly and hope to return and stay. - -“Isn’t it glorious!” shouted Margaret Bondfield to her colleagues as we -shot swiftly into Folkestone station. - -“Isn’t what glorious?” I asked, thinking she meant our first view of -the sea, stretching black and restless beyond the veil of fine rain -which dimmed the windows of the railway carriage. - -“Why, that we can travel once more, and that we are flying as fast as -we can to see the comrades from whom we have been separated so long.” -And she waved her passport gaily. “I wonder if Clara Zetkin will be at -the conference; and Balabanova? It is ages since I saw Angelica.” - -Margaret’s bright face beamed with happiness, and her brown eyes shone -like stars as she gathered up her wraps and bags for transport to the -boat. She was like a bird set free from the cruel cage that had held -her for four tormenting years. She suggested a warm little bird in her -looks and manners. Small and brown, with a rich russet colouring of the -cheeks, and quick in her movements, there is nothing in the world she -resembles so much as the robin with the red breast. - -She was one of the delegates representing the Parliamentary Committee -of the Trade Union Congress. I was a representative of the political -side of the Movement. Miss Sophie Sanger was invited to accompany us -as interpreter, and was possibly the most practically useful woman of -the party. She speaks four languages with equal fluency. What Miss -Sanger does not know about the world’s laws regulating labour and -labour conditions, especially those affecting women, is said not to be -worth knowing; which probably accounts for the fact that she now enjoys -an appointment of considerable value and importance in the League of -Nations Labour Department. - -Mr. Henderson did not travel with us. He had gone ahead several days -previously to help M. Huysmans with the final arrangements for the -Conference. There had been some slight hitch with the Swiss Government, -which at that time was tormented with the fear that we were a body -of Bolsheviks out to subvert the loyalty of Swiss citizens. It was -necessary to reassure President Ador and his associates on this point. -Mr. Henderson was the man to do it. Nobody could look at him, the -simple strength and solid respectability of him, and think _him_ a -Bolshevik! In spite of assurances given by him, every delegate was -obliged to sign a statement repudiating the Bolsheviks and all their -works before he was permitted to enter Switzerland! - -Mr. J. H. Thomas was also one of the delegates; but whether he -was attending a special conference with Mr. Barnes at the Hôtel -Majestic in Paris, or whether he was busy settling a strike I cannot -remember--strikes were epidemic at this time. He came to Berne later in -the week. - -The short passage across the Channel was quiet and uneventful. We sat -in our deck-chairs well covered with warm wraps. A grey mist soon hid -the land from our view. A slight rain moistened our hair and faces. -We could not read for excitement and the blowing of the wind. We sat -watching our fellow-passengers’ efforts to control their nerves and the -busy sailors engaged upon their various tasks. - -I do not know why the sentimental confession should be made here, but -ever since I was a child chatting to the fishermen on the beach at -Redcar I have felt a peculiar liking for the men of the sea. Perhaps -it is an inheritance from a seafaring ancestry. It should be in the -blood of every Briton. There is something in the brave, blue eyes of -the sailor, his jolly frankness, his courage, his simplicity which goes -straight to the heart of one. His unending contact with Nature in all -her moods has stamped itself upon his being as plainly and unmistakably -as the heated atmosphere of the weaving-shed or the smutty environment -of the mine have set their mark upon the workers in these places; but -in a pleasanter, more wholesome fashion. - -In an hour or so we sighted Boulogne. It was raining hard, and the -little French town looked very dreary and very dirty. French, British, -and Belgian troops in considerable numbers mingled confusingly, the -bearded _poilu_ laughingly replying in cockney slang to Tommy’s amusing -French. Incredible quantities of war material of all sorts met the eye. -The railway track which we crossed from boat to train was a swamp. -We had waited till our backs were almost broken with fatigue for the -examination of our passports in the smoke-room of the steamer. At that -time the element of common sense had not entered in the faintest degree -into the organization of this business. Several hundreds of people, -packed like sardines in a tin, waited their turn in the crowded ship’s -corridor, and as the war had spoilt everybody’s temper and ruined -most people’s manners, elbows were freely used to jostle out of their -rightful places in the queue the timid and the polite. - -A similar rushing, pushing, squeezing, tearing of clothes, wounding of -ankles with the sharp edges of boxes, which the owners were too mean to -give to the porter or too faithless to trust to him, occurred in the -_douane_. At this time every box was opened and its contents carefully -examined. The fatigue was immense. Women fainted and children screamed. -Men swore loudly, unashamed. Unperturbed, the blue-uniformed officials -pursued their avocation. - -Once again an examination of passports, this time by French officials, -and again a swaying mass of people in front of the narrow, wooden door, -and a hideous scrimmage to enter every time the little French soldier -opened it to admit the two or three persons who were permitted to go -through at once! - -The delegates lost one another in the general confusion. We made -a bee-line for the refreshment room as soon as we got through our -business, hats awry, hair blown, cheeks flushed with hot air and -suppressed fury. Some had lost their umbrellas in the scramble. -One missed a good overcoat which he afterwards found. A moderate -recovery of spirits and temper followed the appearance on the scene -of hot coffee and flaky rolls, the good-natured waitresses smiling a -coquettish welcome as we took our seats at the little square tables. -Another wave of feeling threatened to overwhelm us when the bill was -presented, but this we conquered, and paid up like lords! After all, -there were a _few_ food profiteers in England, and it was a little -early to complain! - -Our indefatigable secretary and comrade, Jim Middleton, had engaged -seats for us in the Paris train which left Boulogne two hours after our -landing. “Jim,” as he is affectionately and familiarly called by his -many friends in the Movement, is one of the rarest souls in the British -Labour Party. When the history of the Party comes to be written his -name will figure in it very importantly if there is any sense of right -and proportion in the historian. What the Labour Party owes already to -his selfless and unremitting devotion to the work of its organization -can never adequately be estimated or expressed. His is the sort of -work which is done quietly, out of the public gaze, with no newspaper -advertisement and no clamour of praiseful tongues. But it is there. It -is done well and without stint. And it is of the very stuff and fabric -of the great machine which Labour is slowly but steadily building for -its uses in the struggle for its economic and political emancipation. - -Jim is slim and fair as a Norseman. His kind eyes are forget-me-not -blue. His blond hair has turned to grey, but he is young. His patience -and good nature are inexhaustible. He is never too tired to oblige a -friend, and he can always find an excuse for an enemy. He is as good as -gold and as true as steel. - -So are the other young men on the headquarters staff. There is “little -Gillies” as he is everywhere called, whose clear brain and Scottish -capacity for hard work have contributed big things to the international -side of Labour’s work; and I know no department of future Labour -activity more important than the ideas and schemes the Party may -develop for the conduct of international relations. By these, even -more than by its domestic policy, will Labour government be judged and -justified by public opinion. - -There is Will Henderson, already a Parliamentary candidate, who will -surely follow in his father’s footsteps; Herbert Tracey, excellent -writer, full of a fine idealism as well as a practical common sense, -who gave rich gifts to the cause until a larger opportunity called him -temporarily abroad; Captain Hall, as straight as a die, the Party’s -financial secretary; Fred Bramley, the brilliant young under-secretary -of the Parliamentary Committee (Trades Congress); E. P. Wake, the very -able chief organizer of the Party--but it is impossible to mention them -all and the conscientious women who assist them. They are young men of -whom any Party is entitled to be proud. - -The great strength of the Labour Party lies in the amount of devoted, -unpaid work which it is able to command from its members. “But the men -you have mentioned are paid good salaries. Why so much praise of men -who only do what they are paid to do?” says the carping critic. The -query is a common one, and pitifully mean. And it embodies a stupid -lie. A few hundred pounds a year is no payment for the work done for -the Labour Movement by these admirable servants of the Party from Mr. -Arthur Henderson downwards. There are things which cannot be paid for -in cash. - -We arrived in Paris at seven in the evening. There we stayed several -days. We wanted, if possible, a preliminary conversation with certain -of the French delegates. We hoped to meet the Belgians. Some of us had -designs on the Hôtel Crillon and a possible interview with Colonel -House. The Crillon was the headquarters of the American section of the -Peace Delegation. Paris, alas! was the ill-chosen seat of the Allies -for the Peace Conference. The fate of mankind might have been vastly -different had some other centre of discussion been selected. - -Paris was likewise a very crowded and uncomfortable city at the -time of our visit. Every hotel was full. The enormous staffs of -the various national Peace Delegations were a large element in the -overcrowding--they, their friends and their visitors. Suppliants to -the Conference or to individual members of the Supreme Council were -so numerous that hotel accommodation for the ordinary traveller about -his simple business scarcely existed; but then the ordinary traveller -was not encouraged to travel. A deliberate policy of embarrassment and -inconvenience was adopted to persuade him to stay at home; and if he -suffered for his wilfulness he had nobody but himself to blame. With a -new world in the making, what business abroad had any ordinary person -which mattered a tinker’s curse? Thus the official view of affairs. - -So that when Miss Bondfield, Miss Sanger, and myself found ourselves -without beds, and with no quarters suitable for women to go to, nobody -in Paris was surprised. A generous fellow-countryman, hearing of our -plight, placed at our disposal his own large and elegant bedroom. There -were two beds and a comfortable sofa in it. One of us occupied the sofa -for two nights, when we were able to take up our quarters in the Hôtel -Moderne overlooking the Place de la Revolution. - -Paris immediately after the Armistice was a woeful spectacle of neglect -and dirt. It was not much better six months ago. In those early days -it was like a handsome slut in need of a bath; which in view of its -sufferings was not surprising. The paint on the woodwork of houses and -shops was almost all peeled away. Shutters hung awry on their broken -hinges. Roads were unspeakably filthy, and full of dangerous holes and -swampy gutters. The parks and gardens looked ragged and tattered. The -Bois de Boulogne and the Champs Elysées were marred with the shreds and -patches of war equipment. Dismal weather made everything look a hundred -times worse than it really was. We were wise enough not to come to a -hasty judgment about Paris. After all, we had a vast gay literature to -contradict the sad story written _on_ Paris when first we saw it! - -The living in the hotels and restaurants was riotous and expensive. -In the homes of Paris it was another story, we were told. Foods were -strictly rationed, but of some kinds it was difficult to get even the -meagre portion allowed. The strain was heavy upon the city housewife of -the humbler classes. Prices were ruinously high. Wages scarcely kept -pace with them. Strikes were frequent and menacing, apt to hold up one -or another of the public services at any time, as in England. - -But in the public cafés, the dance-halls, and the hotels, nothing -dimmed the joyousness of the Parisians, set free at last from the -haunting fear of the German invasion. Day and night, and night after -night, a lively, exuberant, passionate crowd in each of these public -places abandoned itself to an ecstasy of song and dance and play, in -utter and unrestrained intoxication. - -M. Jean Longuet, the grandson of Karl Marx, and at that time a Deputy -in the French Chamber, invited Mr. Macdonald and myself to lunch with -him at a little Italian café near his business quarters. We called -for him at the office of his newspaper, _Le Populaire_. On our way -all together he took us past the restaurant where Jaurès was shot. He -pointed to the window at which Jaurès was sitting at the time of his -murder. If I understood him rightly Longuet was present when the awful -thing occurred; particularly awful in view of the certainty that the -issue of affairs for France might have been infinitely happier, and for -Europe infinitely less sorrowful, if this great man had lived during -the war. - -One of the great scandals of history will be the acquittal of the -murderer of Jaurès. He was one of the giant political characters of -France. The squalid politicians who govern the affairs of Europe at the -present time could never have been where they are if there had not been -removed either by force or fraud, or by the ordinary process of nature, -death, so many of the great men entitled by intellect or character, -sometimes both, to occupy the seats of power. Jaurès was murdered by -a common assassin, and official France has seemed to rejoice. But I -recall the impressive fact that the most arresting picture in the -Chamber of Deputies is the immense canvas of Jaurès addressing the -chamber from the tribune. They may have hated him, but they insist on -his being remembered! - -Jean Longuet was born in London, and speaks excellent English. He is -tall and dark, with curly hair and brown eyes. He has a rich voice, -and is a very eloquent speaker, full of passion when moved. Friends of -his assure me that I may trust his sense of humour, and, in order to -present a quick picture of the physical man to an English reader, I may -say that when Longuet makes a public oration and warms to his subject -he assumes an attitude and appearance which irresistibly remind one -of a genius of another sort, Charlie Chaplin. Given Charlie’s creased -trousers and big feet, the picture would be complete! - -But Longuet is no comic figure in international politics. He is a -sincere idealist and a most engaging personality. There are those who -would regard this statement as less of a compliment than a comparison -with the artist whose amazing gift makes honest fun for millions. -This, they say, is much better, and much safer for mankind, than to be -the advocate of ideals too lofty for statesmen and people to achieve -because too great for them to comprehend; ideals so high that they mean -crucifixion for the few who live up to them, and greater degradation -for the many who deliberately elect to live below the best they have -heard and seen. - -The tiny Italian café I sought again on the return trip, but never -found it. One delicious dish of macaroni, prepared as only the Italians -know how to prepare it, was more pleasing to the taste than all the -accumulated delicacies of the best Parisian _table d’hôte_; for those -rich hotel meals were impossible to eat without a thought of the -millions who were reputed dead or dying, in fields and ditches, and -on roadsides, in their houses, in hospitals, in prison camps, for the -lack of a crust of bread or a glass of pure water. Our friend and host -of the café we learnt afterwards was a Socialist, and a member of the -Party; a fact we had rather inferred from the whispered asides with -Longuet during the smoking of cigarettes and the drinking of the wine -and coffee. - -Our chief business in Paris was to try to persuade the Belgian -Socialists to come with us to Berne. They were sitting in conference at -Brussels at the time. They had there decided not to attend the Berne -Conference, and had sent delegates to Paris to explain the reason why. -We met them at the headquarters of the French Socialist Party. All our -pleading with them was of no avail. Their conference had so decided, -and though they would personally have liked to go, if only for the -fellowship of the thing, Party discipline must be maintained. Camille -Huysmans would be there as secretary of the International, but they -could not go. - -Their great difficulty was their unwillingness to meet the German -Majority Socialists, who had supported the war and who had not -protested against the invasion of Belgium. How could they take part -with such men in the building anew of the International? What sort of -internationalists had these men proved themselves to be? The German -Majority must first express its contrition. Then would be the time to -forgive. They could never forget. - -“Why do you not come to Berne and say all this to the Germans -themselves?” I asked in my speech. “Come and say all you feel about -this, where not only the German Majority but the whole world can hear -you say it.” I reminded them of the brave and splendid gesture of the -Belgian women who came to the International Conference of Women at the -Hague while the war was still raging, and who, seated on the right of -Miss Jane Addams, with the German women on the left, resolved with them -and with the women of all nations represented there to do all in their -power to make wars impossible in the future. - -“Surely,” I said, “so far as the plain citizens of every country -are concerned, we are all in the same boat. We are all far more the -victims of circumstance than its architects. We have all been deceived, -cheated, lied to. In the clash of various loyalties mistakes are made -and cruel things are done and acquiesced in. But is there one of you -who, in his heart of hearts, blames any man for taking the part of -his country in an international quarrel? Is anyone amongst us quite -sure that in the same circumstances we would act otherwise? I refuse -to believe that any German Socialist rejoiced over the invasion -of Belgium. In any case, is it not better to get face to face and -talk it all out, where no false newspaper can come between, and no -misunderstanding blind and paralyse, instead of brooding alone over -wrongs for which the wrongdoers may be only too ready to atone? Come!” - -We left without them. The first meeting of the Second International -included no official Belgians. But I left the meeting in Paris with -the feeling that the time of complete reunion would come very soon. -Eighteen months later in Geneva the Belgians were present, and no more -international note was struck in that gathering than the speech of -Emile Vandervelde, the Belgian Minister of Justice. - - * * * * * - -We were obliged to travel from Paris to Berne in two parties, and even -then were unable to enjoy sleeping compartments. The trains were packed -in every available corner, and many of the passengers were obliged -to spend the night in the corridor. There had been an immensity of -passport business in Paris, but the burden of all this had been borne -by the secretary. He could not save us from the individual examination -at the Gare de Lyon, nor the ever-recurring nuisance at intervals along -the whole route. - -Belgarde is the French frontier town, and here we were hauled out of -the train for further torture by passport and Customs officers. It was -the outrageous imperturbability of these fellows that made me sick. -They seemed devoid of all human feeling. At Belgarde we were roughly -questioned about our money. Had we any gold? Had we more than £40 in -any kind of currency? More than this sum was not allowed to be taken -across the frontier. Later no silver was permitted to be transported. -My bags were diligently searched by a woman official, but not one -cigarette did she find for her pains, nor wine, nor spirits, nor -jewels, nor perfumes, nor any one of the half a hundred things they -appeared to be on the prowl to discover. - -These performances were repeated at Geneva in the Swiss interests; and -half a dozen times between Belgarde and Geneva Swiss police examined -our unfortunate passports, which were rapidly assuming a limp and -dog’s-eared appearance with so much handling. I never inquired, but I -imagine these people were the officials of the various cantons through -which the train passed. Any other theory would establish the Swiss -Government as insane with fear and suspicion. But finally, through -sheer weariness of flesh and spirit, I ceased to question the doings -of these minions of the law, but quietly submitted to any number of -exasperating formalities. - -The Paris train arrived in Geneva at 9 in the morning. The connexion -for Berne left at 4.10 in the afternoon. We had ample time to see this -famous old city, beautifully placed at one end of the great crescent -lake of the same name. Mr. Macdonald, like a true and faithful Scot, -left us to visit John Knox’s church. Some lingered over the ample -breakfast in the comfortable café. The fascinating lake drew the -attention of the rest. It was along the side of this lake that my -friend--well, I will not disclose his name--was walking, gaily swinging -his stout English walking-stick. He knew two words of French, _oui_ and -_merci_. Humming a gay tune and twirling that stick, he struck a man in -the face. “Ah, merci!” he cried, meaning “I beg your pardon.” The man -stared in blank astonishment, and then said in good, plain English: “I -think it is I who ought to cry ‘Mercy,’ young man.” - -Snow lay hard and frozen upon the ground, and capped and covered the -mountains in the distance. The vast masses of Mont Blanc were visible -in the clear, crisp air. Delivered from the cramped and poisonous -conditions of a filthy railway carriage, super-heated, we enjoyed -blissfully the bright beauty and clean orderliness of this Puritan -capital of French Switzerland. And in the evening, when the last rays -of the sun had changed into a glowing pink the white of the Alpine -snows, we entered upon the last stage of our long and tiresome journey, -to begin our labour of reconciliation. - - * * * * * - -We were met at the Berne railway station by an odd assortment of -European Socialists. - -“Willkommen, kameraden,” said a little man with a profusion of -long sandy hair and an abundant beard. “Es macht uns Vergnügen die -Englischen kameraden wieder zu sehen.” (Welcome, comrades. It is a -great pleasure to us to see the English comrades once more.) - -I gazed fearfully at this amazing group of people, who looked for all -the world like a committee of anarchists ripe for an expedition! They -were, in fact, the gentlest of human beings and as pacific as Quakers! -The man who welcomed us was Kurt Eisner, President of the Bavarian -Republic, who was afterwards murdered in the streets of Munich, in -part for the attitude he adopted in this Conference. But in his -large-brimmed hat and conspirator’s cloak nothing could have saved him -from the suspicion of a raw Englishwoman, unused to the manner of dress -and style of speech of so many Socialists in European lands. And those -who met us were all alike. - -“Comment allez vous, camarades,” exclaimed a French-speaking delegate, -and I found myself shaking hands with an even more terrifying apostle -of the gospel of Karl Marx, whose brilliant red tie would have served -for a railway signal! - -I recall a conversation I had with M. Renaudel, at that time the editor -of _L’Humanité_, when we travelled together in Georgia eighteen months -later. - -“Why do you English Socialists never use the word ‘comrade’ in speaking -to each other? In France it is always ‘comrade,’ never ‘monsieur,’ -except to the bourgeoisie.” - -“The word comrade is often used in England also,” I replied. “I rarely -use the word myself, and if you want to know why, my reason is very -simple. It is a very beautiful word, but it has been frightfully -misused and has lost a good deal of its value. I have heard it so -often in the mouths of people who have no more comradely feeling for -me than a nest of mosquitoes, that it is now no guarantee to me of -real friendship. On the contrary, I am suspicious of those who use -it most. It is like that even more beautiful word ‘love,’ which has -been cheapened and vulgarized by its misuse until now it means exactly -nothing on the lips of most. What value would you attach to the love of -somebody who in the same breath expressed the same fervent devotion to -a jam tart? ‘Comrade’ means nothing. It is a mere form of expression, a -hackneyed formulary. I keep this word for those I know to be truly my -friends.” - -I told Renaudel of an acquaintance of mine, a Trade Union leader who -received a post card from an angry fellow unionist, with a skull and -cross-bones at the head. “Dear _Comrade_,” it began, “What do you -mean by selling out like you did? You are getting something good for -yourself out of this. You are a liar and a scoundrel! You ought to be -shot! Just you wait till I catch you out by yourself! Look out for your -dirty hide! You filthy dog! Yours _fraternally_, B. S.” - - * * * * * - -It was nearly midnight, and we were worn out with the long journey and -sleepless night. Soon we were fast asleep between the spotless white -sheets of those exquisite beds, happy in the thought of the morrow’s -meeting and its possibilities. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL (_continued_) - - -The secretariat of the Conference had its headquarters at the Belle -Vue Hotel. The Conference itself was held in the Volkshaus, the -headquarters of the Socialists. This fine building in the heavy German -style comprised within itself an hotel, a theatre, a restaurant, a -lecture-hall, and any number of Trade Union committee rooms. The funds -for its building were supplied by the members of the Party and the -Municipality jointly. If this were the only building of its kind in -Switzerland it would be remarkable; but I very much doubt if there -are a dozen cities of any size in the whole of Central Europe which -have not a similar Labour Temple. Some of these buildings are very -fine indeed, and can lay claim to a certain architectural distinction. -Their numbers put to shame the British Labour Movement, which has not a -single building set apart for the social uses of all its members. - -Similarly with their newspapers: The _Daily Herald_ is the only daily -newspaper in Great Britain which can claim to represent organized -Labour in the slightest degree, and the _Daily Herald_ is not the -property of the Labour Party, which has no right to dictate its policy -nor control in any way its activities. In Germany alone, before the -war, there were more than sixty Socialist dailies. - -The necessity of frequent meeting obliged all the British delegates to -remove from the charming _pension_, to which some of their number had -gone, to the Belle Vue Hotel. This public palace could tell strange -tales if its walls could speak. Some day a writer will appear who will -tell the true story of this modern Babel; but he will have to wait -until this generation is dead and gone before he publishes it, or else -commit suicide when it appears! It housed the most extraordinary medley -of princes and peasants, dukes and dockers, ex-kings and Socialist -presidents ever collected in one building since the Great War turned -the world upside down! In the wake of these illustrious or dangerous -personalities crept that indigenous growth of the centre of diplomatic -life and political activity, the political agent or spy. - -Unaccustomed to the society of this individual I never sought him. -Unaware of his existence before the war I never recognized him. He -may have spoken to me. It is possible he extracted enough information -from me to fill several sheets of a report and earn his squalid wages; -but the fear of him never obsessed me. It was painful to observe how -suspicious everybody was of everybody else. Nobody dared to speak -freely. You realized that your companion, whoever he might be, was -making reservations and preparing an escape when he was talking to you. -Nervousness showed itself in every gesture, fear in every glance. - -To be an object of suspicion oneself is not pleasant. To have to be -frightened of everybody else is disgusting. I refused to do it. I would -avoid nobody. I would speak to everybody who wanted to speak to me -on serious business. I wouldn’t pay any attention to his nationality -beyond the inquiry necessary for an intelligent appreciation of his -conversation. So far as I was concerned there was nothing to hide. What -I felt and thought about the political situation I was prepared to say -from a public platform, and did so, not only in this Conference, but -later in Zurich, at the Women’s Conference held there in June. I had -come to Switzerland on a mission of reconciliation, and it was obvious -from the first hour that the personal touch and warm human sympathy -were more needed and would be more warmly appreciated than any number -of Conference resolutions. - -A friend--one of those well-known friends possessed by everybody, who -always hasten to tell one the unpleasant things--told me that I was in -the reports of the spies of every Legation in the city. “Splendid!” I -said. “It will give them something to think about, and will keep them -all guessing.” - -I made four separate journeys from London to Berne between January and -July of 1919. On various occasions during that period I heard a great -deal about myself that I had never known before! I was a dangerous -Bolshevik! I was a spy of Clemenceau’s! I was a British agent! I was -an active pro-German! I was an anti-German pretending to sympathize -with Germany! I was aiding and abetting the royalists of the ex-enemy -states! I was an anarchist in disguise! I was in the American Secret -Service! I was a pro-Turk! I was a friend of Karolyi’s! I was a secret -Communist posing as a moderate! I was a pacifist! - -Of all these stories only the last was true. And in these days, when -I hear pacifists defend the methods of Bolshevism, I want to have a -definition of _that_ word before I desire to be classed under it. - -Poor little spies! They have to earn their salaries, so this is the -sort of thing they say. A chance phrase in their hearing, and you are -promptly labelled. You take tea with a charming princess who speaks -a little English, and wants to practise on you, and you are in some -Royalist plot! You talk to a polished French diplomat with a Scottish -ancestry, as I talked with Lieutenant Gilles of the French Embassy, and -you must be in the pay of the French! You entertain a sweet English -lady who is the very lonely wife of a German attaché and you are a -pro-German! You seek knowledge from some authoritative person on one of -the thousand questions in which you are interested, not knowing that -he is the agent of one Government, and the spy of another Government -reports you his confederate! - -During our Conference the Swiss police picked up in the streets -of Berne a packet of papers in a language which they did not -understand--English. Seeing the name of Mr. Arthur Henderson in the -context they sent the papers to him. They purported to be a detailed -report of one of our private meetings, a tissue of lies from beginning -to end, with a pathetic note at the end asking for more money! Mr. -Henderson was at first annoyed, as anyone would be who took such -things seriously; but he preserved enough of the ironic sense to send -the papers with his compliments to the address for which they were -intended, the British Legation! - -It took my breath away to learn that the staff of every Legation and -Embassy in Berne contained scores, even hundreds, of men and women -agents, at any rate, before the war when money was not so scarce. In -any sphere of life other than those of politics and diplomacy such -activities would wear an ugly name. By a general consensus of opinion -in diplomatic circles such a system is necessary. So much the worse for -a society which requires lying and trickery for its preservation. It -is admitted that ninety-nine out of every hundred reports are entirely -worthless, often misleading. It is for the hundredth valuable discovery -that all this costly machinery is maintained. With the system goes an -enormous amount of corruption. Bribes are freely given and taken by -surprising people in the most unexpected places. - -A young girl from Bohemia came to see me in the Belle Vue Hotel. I -invited her to my room where we could talk quietly. Ostensibly she -had come about child relief, in which she knew me to be actively -interested. But her talk was all of the ex-Emperor Charles, whom she -had seen; whose secretary, with the assistance of a British officer -whose letter she showed me, had helped her to get into Switzerland. -I was distinctly puzzled. What was her game? Was she soliciting -British interest in unfortunate ex-royalty? Incredible! Was she trying -to make me say something which would result in my being sent out of -Switzerland? To this hour I have not the faintest idea. I never saw her -again. She was young and very pretty, with brown eyes and fair hair, an -English type. If she really were a spy she was an artist in her work, -for when I spoke in the clear English which fifteen years of public -speaking have developed into a habit, she held up a deprecating hand, -answered in a whisper, and looked fearfully round. - -“We are quite alone. What is troubling you?” I inquired. “Say anything -you wish to say. Nobody will hear you. Nobody knows you are here.” - -“It is not so sure,” she said anxiously. “In some of ze bedrooms is -ze machine and ze speak is heard. Zey listen to us. _Il faut que nous -parlons doucement._” - - * * * * * - -The general conduct of Conferences in Europe differs very greatly from -the method in England. Delegates from the four corners of the earth -come to an International Conference, and owing to the exigencies of -travel, it is quite impossible to assemble them all at exactly one -time. They arrive in batches during the two or three days preceding the -Conference. But it is equally impossible to waste these days waiting -for the late-comers, so the method pursued is to have a preliminary -discussion of the questions set down in the agenda. The general feeling -of the delegates on a particular topic, the broad divisions of opinion -among them are known beforehand in this way, and the form of the final -resolutions on the subject made easier of design. The fresh arrivals -who join the group take up the discussion where they find it. - -When the Conference proper assembles the first thing done after the -speech of the chairman and the announcements of the secretary is the -division of the delegates into Commissions. Each important subject is -delivered over to a Commission, whose duty it is to report in the -form of a resolution when a unanimous decision has been reached. Each -country represented in the Conference is entitled to be represented -on each Commission. The Commissions adjourn each to a separate room, -elect a chairman (at this time a neutral), and begin business. The full -Conference begins its deliberations with the presentation of the first -Commission report. - -These Commissions are not committees, as might very well be supposed. -They are the Conference in miniature. The speeches are as long and as -fervid as if delivered to the full Conference. I was a member of the -League of Nations Commission of the Second International, and well -remember a speech of great eloquence upon the subject delivered by -a Frenchman which lasted for an hour and a half! Then followed two -translations, English and German. I never expected to reach the report -stage during that week or the next! And there were only twelve members -of this Commission. - -Delegates may not rise and speak when they wish. It is not the man -with the loudest voice or the most aggressive manner, nor the one who -is lucky enough to catch the chairman’s eye, who speaks. The would-be -orators are taken strictly in their turn. Names are sent up to the -chairman, who calls upon each in order, and all are expected to speak -from the platform. - -Disorderly interruptions are frequent, and sometimes quite terrifying. -On this occasion the French and German Majoritaires raged at each -other across the heads of the delegates. But then so did the French -Majoritaires and their Minoritaires. These last were just as bitter -and violent as the first two sections. Similarly with the German and -Austrian Majorities and Minorities. When feeling ran high the hall -became a veritable bear garden. The one astonishing thing to those of -us who expected every minute an ink-bottle or a book to come hurtling -across our heads at one or another of the combatants, was that these -furious men never came to blows. Infuriate rage and cheerful good -humour followed each other with the suddenness and regularity of -sunshine and rain in an English April. - -But it was all very tiresome to those of us who were more concerned -with the future than the past. Just when we were about to settle down, -as we thought, to something really constructive, up would jump Albert -Thomas, bursting with rage and quivering like a jelly, shaking his -long hair and roaring like a mad bull; or Renaudel shrieking in a -high-pitched voice like the enraged tenor at Covent Garden when he sees -his lady-love in the arms of the villain; provoking the plethoric Wels -to an apoplectic fit of frenzy, and the angry Müller to an ironic reply -shouted above the heads of the lesser partisans on either side, whose -fearful and monotonous yells: “You are guilty! They are guilty! We are -not guilty! We are right! You are wrong!” almost made the tops of our -heads come off! - -Then the English delegate Stuart Bunning stepped quietly up to -the platform. He made no brilliant speech. There was no attempt -at eloquence. He was just as tired of that as the rest of us. He -spoke in an even, level voice, making a few quiet, common-sense -observations about the object of our Conference and the need for -getting to work. The effect was magical! The storms ceased raging. The -Conference quietened down. From that moment the idiotic charges and -counter-charges ceased to be made. It was one of the two noteworthy and -outstanding events of the Conference. - -But the British delegation was the most harmonious in the room. It was -not that we had no differences of opinion. We had many differences; -and some of them were so deep that several of the delegates preferred -not to travel with the rest. But when we got to Berne we kept these -differences for the privacy of our own committee room, and endeavoured -to present a united front in the conference hall. Only once did -something bellicose threaten to develop amongst the Britons. It was -when two gallant miners, who had borne with marvellous patience the -interminable speeches they couldn’t understand, saw a jolly fight about -to begin between two sections of the French. It was too much for them. -They would be in at that; and, anyhow, they were sick and tired. Why -not have some fun and set the whole Conference going again. “Come on, -fellows!” said one of them, leaping to his feet, his ruddy face glowing -with pleasure. “Come on, chaps! Let’s have a b----y row!” - -A foreign conference is certainly no picnic. It means very hard work -for a conscientious delegate. Both commissions and conference sit -irregular and interminable hours. There is no stopping at 5 to resume -at 10 the next morning as in England. The delegates go on until they -finish or as long as they can keep their eyes open. At Berne we were -sometimes debating at 2 in the morning. On the other hand unpunctuality -is the besetting sin of the Continental. With him 10 o’clock means 11, -1 o’clock, 2 or even 3. To the British this is a maddening vice; but I -fear familiarity with it resulted in our embracing it ourselves. - - * * * * * - -Our first meeting with the Germans took place in the Belle Vue Hotel -three days before the Conference proper began. I had anticipated this -meeting with curious and painful interest. I knew that some at least of -the men we were to meet had opposed the war from the beginning, even -voting against the war credits; but it is curious how the separation -of two nations by war can affect the consciousness of the individual -national. All such feeling of hesitation and reluctance on both sides -vanished at the sight of one another, men and women bound by a common -aim in indissoluble bonds. - -The little group which we approached in the vestibule of the hotel -included Herr Kautsky and his wife, and several Austrians I met here -for the first time. The physical appearance of all was very touching. -Kautsky who was at all times frail and delicate, is now an old man -with a fringe of white hair round his smooth and well-developed head. -His wife is a clever, dashing woman, full of energy, the antithesis -of her less dominating spouse. Both showed in a marked manner the -effects of terrible underfeeding. The eyes were red rimmed, and the -skin dry and of a yellowish cast. Their faces lit up with pleasure as -we greeted them. We asked about their journey, and found that for two -days they had travelled in an ice-cold train, with broken windows and -tattered upholstery, and with no opportunity of eating warm food. Such -was the general condition of transport in the countries of Central -Europe at this time. Naturally the strain of the journey had added to -their appearance of suffering; but I never heard them complain about -themselves. Their instant concern was for the sufferings of their -children, the German children, innocent of the war, and dying like -flies from diseases which were the result of under-nourishment. And -we were only too painfully aware that the blockade of Germany and the -embargoes against Austria were our share, the British share, in the -responsibility for this unnecessary torture of little children. We felt -shamed in the presence of men who had never wavered in their opposition -to their Government’s policy, that our Government should be using the -very weapon most conspicuous in the defeat of Germany three months -after it was decided to lay down arms! - -Kautsky is the greatest living exponent of the philosophy of Karl -Marx. He is at the moment the great philosophic antagonist of the -Bolsheviks and supporter of Social Democracy in Europe. He is hated -with a deadly hatred in every part of the world by the Communists, and -is denounced as a “social traitor” by the slavish adherents of Zinoviev -and Radek, the two most extreme Bolsheviks in Russia. A lifetime of -self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of Socialism has not saved this -distinguished writer and his able wife and collaborator from the -unmerited scorn of the extremists. But the extremists in every land -have always had more hatred for the colleagues from whom they differed -in method than for the capitalist enemy, separated from themselves -by oceans of difference in principle. On this the capitalist and his -allies count to defer the day of their doom. - -Herr Seitz, who was one of the group in the hotel, was then President -of the new Austrian Republic. I am quite sure from his sad expression -of face and the tone of his conversation that he had found more pain -and anxiety than honour and glory in his new position. He is a tall -and strikingly handsome man of perhaps fifty years of age. He spoke no -English, but Mr. Charles Roden Buxton, our gifted English interpreter, -translated his talk for us. Again it was of the children, this time of -the Austrian children who, if one half of what he told us was true, -were enduring things which were a disgrace not only to the conquering -nations but to civilization itself. - -I determined then and there to go to Austria to satisfy myself by the -sight of my own eyes if such things could be true. Here was a matter -engaging the honour of every Briton, for the reasons I have already -given; and things must be bad, I felt at a later stage, when even the -neutral Swiss took occasion to point out to some of us very earnestly -the real loss of prestige the Allied cause was suffering from what -appeared to be the wanton destruction by famine of the helpless and -innocent children of the ex-enemy states. “Eight hundred thousand -children in Germany have died of starvation during the war” was a -statement made by one of the German delegates during the Conference, a -statement which made for a moment even the most belligerent delegate -speechless with pity. The man who made it became afterwards the -Chancellor of Germany, and one of the unhappy men compelled by superior -force to sign a treaty at Versailles which no sane man either in -Germany or in England, having thought about it, believed for one moment -that Germany could carry out. - - * * * * * - -The Socialist Governments of Europe--Austria, Bavaria, Germany, -Russia--entered upon their responsibilities at a time very unfortunate -for themselves. The terrible war had left everything in ruins. The -difficulties of restoration were so appalling that the old governing -classes had everywhere fled, not only from the anger of their peoples, -but from the wellnigh insuperable difficulties of government. The -people were everywhere hungry. They lacked clothing. They were -without fuel. They were full of disease and had neither medicines -nor disinfectants with which to deal with it. Transport had wholly -or partially broken down. Money had woefully depreciated. Trade had -entirely stopped as in Russia, or seriously diminished by reason of -blockades and embargoes. Prices were incredibly high. There were -the hard conditions of the Armistice to be fulfilled. In addition -to all this, revolution and counter-revolution, Red rioters and -White Guards, brewed special troubles for their unhappy rulers, and -kept their countries in a constant state of terror and unrest. Into -this indescribable mess and muddle were tossed the Socialists by a -newly-born will of the entire people. Who else was there to take the -responsibility, the old rulers having fled? And was it not possible -that the Socialists, whose programme was magnificent, and who had -not been tried, might restore them to the prosperity that had been -destroyed by the rulers who _had_ been tried and found wanting? - -But it was precisely because they had not been tried that it was -unfortunate for the Socialists. They had to make the biggest of -experiments in the circumstances least favourable for them. They had -to please their parties, which expected certain things of them, and -satisfy their constituents who demanded certain others. They made -mistakes. They were bound to make mistakes. No Government of any -kind could have avoided making mistakes. I doubt if any alternative -Government in any of these countries would have made fewer; but the -mistakes made by the Socialists were those most likely to provoke the -reaction which has already so disastrously set in, the mistake of -putting the party programme before the general interest in the face of -the conquerors ready to smite; and that of adopting the militarism of -the Governments they had overthrown. - -Less than any of the Socialist Governments of Europe had the Austrian -Government offended, largely on account of the firmness and moderation -of its leaders, of whom I shall have something to say later, and of -the discipline of the party, which is perhaps the best organized and -best-disciplined Socialist Party in Europe. - -But a growing knowledge of all the circumstances of Europe made it -increasingly clear why no Socialist Minister I have met in Europe looks -happy; unless it is Lenin. And I am inclined to think that even Lenin’s -merry, red eyes must be frequently shadowed in these days, as he sees -his great experiment gradually withering away in the atmosphere of -realism created by hungry workmen and angry peasants. - -The great test of a system, any system, the Communist system amongst -others, is its power to produce healthy, happy men and women and keep -them so. If it fails in that it is condemned in all. - - * * * * * - -The German Majority Socialists did not arrive in Berne until some -time after their comrades of the Minority. They had supported their -Government after a fashion, but not by any means in the uncritical -manner of the British Labour Movement during the first two years of the -war. And this in spite of the fact that the Labour Party held a meeting -in Trafalgar Square on the Saturday preceding the declaration of war -in which it had called for non-intervention! The quarrel between the -nationals of Germany and France was, as I have said, of the greatest -bitterness. The German Majoritaires kept strictly to themselves during -the whole of the Conference, probably shrinking from the harsh judgment -which they knew would surely be passed upon them by their comrades from -the enemy countries. To my mind they showed great courage in coming -to Berne; and the restraint and moderation of their ultimate actions -made for a greater measure of unity than had been expected by the most -sanguine. - -This small group of men were the most pathetic in the Conference. The -last time I saw Müller he was a big, broad-shouldered, stalwart man, -six feet or more in height, and straight as a ramrod, with a fat, jolly -face. Here he appeared stooping and shrunken, a shadow of his former -self, his skin grey, and his lips bloodless. Wels looked a little -better, for he is a dark man, and his complexion is naturally ruddy; -but his manner was nervous and apprehensive, and his eyes were restless -and unhappy. Mölkenbuhr, who, the year before the war, had attended -a Labour Conference in England, a happy, jovial fellow, was old and -feeble beyond recovery. - -Edouard Bernstein, the best-known figure in England of the pre-war -Socialist Movement in Germany, an opponent of his Government’s war -policy, was another ghost of himself. He shuffled about the Conference -room in soft slippers, his hands shaking nervously, his short-sighted -eyes peering out of his strongly Jewish face as if looking for -something he had lost. But he was looking for the faces of old friends, -and exhibited an almost childish delight whenever he discovered one, -wringing the hand of his friend vigorously and beginning to chat -volubly, unmindful of the speeches which were being delivered or the -votes which were being taken. - -“I have a son and daughter in England. They have been there during -the war. I hope to see them in a few days,” said the old man to me -whisperingly, as he passed to where Mr. Macdonald was sitting. His -amiable wife followed him about, making good his defects of memory. The -step was very feeble, and the crisp black hair had grown grey. I knew -when I heard the rumour that his colleagues would send Bernstein as -Ambassador to England that it was but a rumour. He would never recover -enough of vigour and health for that. - - * * * * * - -The able lawyer Haase, attached to the pacifist minority, made an -excellent impression upon the British delegates. His manner was less -deprecating than that of the others, and he had a merry twinkle in his -blue eye that went straight to the heart. He is dead now. He was shot -on his way from the Reichstag by an assassin and died after a few days’ -illness. - -When the full Conference assembled on January 26 it was found that -twenty-seven countries had sent delegates, including the principal -antagonists in the Great War--Germany, France, Russia and Great -Britain. The neutrals included Holland, Sweden, and Spain. The -secretary was Camille Huysmans of Belgium, who, with M. Branting and -Mr. Arthur Henderson, made an Executive Committee of three persons. -A Council and a Committee of Action were formed from the Conference, -which were to meet when important decisions had to be made for which -it was impossible to call the full Conference. And so was created the -simple machinery for the work of rebuilding the Workers’ International. - - * * * * * - -Of the two dramatic figures who appeared at the International one I -have already mentioned, the weird, arresting personality who met us -at the railway station, who paid with his life for his simple and -courageous speech, the Bavarian Prime Minister, Kurt Eisner. Of him I -shall write at length on another occasion. Here I would paint at some -length another picture on an even larger canvas. - -We were somewhat listlessly pursuing our debates when suddenly there -appeared on the platform a short square figure of a man with broad -humped-up shoulders and a shock of fair wavy hair. He still wore his -travelling coat. His short-sighted eyes peered through a pair of large -spectacles. His nervous hands fidgeted with his coat. He began to -speak, quietly and distinctly, with a slight pleasant drawl. - -It was Friedrich Adler, “the man who killed Count Sturgh,” who made -this dramatic appearance towards the end of the Conference. We were -told he was on his way some days before. Then we heard he had been -detained on the Austrian frontier by the Swiss police, who refused to -permit him to enter Switzerland on account of his political crime. -Curious, that the men who applaud William Tell and teach their children -with pride the story of the tyrant Gessler and the apple, objected to -the Austrian version of their national story. Moreover, the Emperor -Charles had pardoned Adler. Knowing the dilatoriness of officials -all hope of seeing him at the Conference in time to take part in the -debates had fled. - -At the sight and sound of him the delegates sprang to their feet -electrified. “Adler! Adler!” they shouted. For several minutes they -cheered without intermission. Wave after wave of genuinely passionate -pleasure was expressed in shouted greetings and thunderous applause. -It was remarkable; the most astonishing thing that happened at -the Conference! To see the French and German antagonists, and the -Majoritaires and Minoritaires of the various countries allied in a -moment to render tribute to this one man was as delightful as it was -puzzling to the simple soul whose quarrels are not so easily set aside. - -But the explanation was really very simple. It was not what it looked -like, a company of pacifists illogically applauding a murderer. It -was the spontaneous tribute of his comrades of all lands to a man -whose consistency to his ideals called for their devotion. Very few -men in that gathering had remained true during the war to the central -idea of the International. Henderson had been a member of the British -War Cabinet; Branting had taken the side of the Allies; Müller had -supported Germany; Thomas had been a French “patriot”--all, or almost -all, had taken sides and had forgotten their International obligations -and their peace ideals in the overwhelming disaster of the war. -Adler had stood firm. From the first to the last hour he had never -faltered in his allegiance. From the first he had denounced the war as -a crime against the peoples. And he had carried his party with him. -The Austrian Party was the only Socialist Party in Europe which had -denounced the war and defied the war-makers from the beginning to the -end. This was one of the reasons why the Austrian Government did not -dare to assemble Parliament upon the declaration of war. For more than -two years of the war the Constitution of Austria was in abeyance. The -Socialists and Nationalists clamoured in vain for the rights of the -people. Force ruled. Adler decided that only force could upset that -rule. If the man who represented the autocratic system were killed, -it would be a symbolic act that would be understood by the people. -The head of the tyrannical Government dead, the system would follow. -So this gentle dreamer and man of letters, who had never before had a -revolver in his hand in his life, went into a restaurant and shot the -Austrian Prime Minister dead in his chair! - -His trial became famous. His speech of defence lasted for more than -seven hours. It was full of devastating accusations against the -Government of Count Sturgh. The speech has become one of the greatest -political documents in existence, and is, as I am informed, one of -the masterpieces of German prose. Reading it and knowing Adler, one -comes to understand why this kind and gentle man came to kill; and -one understands how it was that in spite of that every man in the -International rose to applaud him. - -He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to one of -twenty years’ imprisonment; and just before the Austrian Revolution -he was pardoned by the young Emperor Charles. This treatment by the -Austrian Government of Adler is in painful contrast to the British -Government’s treatment of Roger Casement. - -There is a certain quality of poetic justice in the last chapter of -this interesting story. A few months ago the ex-Emperor Charles made an -attempt to recover the throne of Hungary. He left his place of asylum -in Switzerland and appeared unexpectedly in Hungary. The inevitable -happened. The armies of Czecho-Slovakia and Rumania were about to -be set in motion. Hungary was menaced from all sides. The Entente -expressed its official disapproval. The Hungarians threatened to revolt -against the Government. Charles was obliged to leave the country. At -a little railway station in Styria the royal train was held up. Eight -hundred enraged workers threatened to capture the ex-emperor and his -suite. Bloodshed was imminent. The man sent to appease the workers and -save the unfortunate prince from the effects of his folly was Friedrich -Adler. So, he paid the price of his pardon of three years before. -So, the ex-monarch learnt by practical demonstration the value of -generosity in government. - -Let no thoughtless reader imagine that Dr. Adler, eminent scholar -and scientist, the gentlest of men in private life, liked doing the -thing he did. He hated it; but this man, Count Sturgh, stood for every -tyranny. Adler removed him, and the long-delayed Austrian Parliament -was called together immediately after. - -Adler’s work since he was set free has been to save his country from -the Bolshevism menacing it from Hungary. The wild men of his party -would probably have preferred the Adler of the smoking revolver. Once -an extremist always an extremist is their creed. A noble inconsistency -is not for them. Hate is the fundamental of their gospel. He was -falsely charged with running away from his principles. But, in spite of -everything, he maintained a moderate attitude, had the courage to be a -coward in the estimation of the vulgar, and saved his suffering country -from the tyranny of the Red, which is invariably followed by the -tyranny of the White, both disastrous in the appalling circumstances of -Austria’s menaced existence. - -Adler is the foremost figure in the enterprise which aims at -bringing together the two Internationals on the basis of honourable -compromise. A Conference of what is universally spoken of as “the 2¹⁄₂ -International” was recently held in Vienna. I admire the optimism of -these people, but have little faith in the issue of their work. So far -the compromise has the appearance of being that of the lion and the -lamb. They will lie down together--the lamb inside the lion! - -Many of the spectators at the Conference, and even more newspaper men -expressed to me deep and bitter disappointment that the Conference -had done so little; but what did they expect? Did they hope that a -few Socialists from several countries could accomplish what President -Wilson, backed by the idealism of the world, had failed to achieve? -Before the echo of the cannon had died away, did they expect this small -group of people could have cleared the debris from the field and buried -all the corpses? It was a mad thought. The utmost that ought to have -been expected was a _beginning_ with the reconstruction of the great -world-organization of workers, which is destined some day to make -itself a terror to evil-doing Governments all the world over. And that -we did. - -The main achievement of the Second International was the bringing face -to face after years of agonizing strife men and women severed from one -another, not only by the compulsion of circumstances, but by wounded -and outraged national feelings. It was a delicate and difficult task. -But it was done. The ice was broken. Men breathed more freely who -before had felt a tightening of the heart. For the future common action -would be easier, unless the Russian Bolsheviks pursued the disruptive -tactics of the militarists and capitalists of the European bourgeoisie; -and if they did so it could be only for a time. - -The Conference devoted itself to two outstanding pronouncements, -although very much more was discussed. It recognized as imperative that -the German Majority should make clear its position, both in relation -to its past attitude and future conduct, if the French were to be -appeased; and on this subject a resolution satisfying to both sections -was eventually carried. - -In view of the amazing events taking place in Russia at this time, and -of the reported Red Terror, the great body of the Conference felt it -highly important to put the International unequivocally on the side of -democracy as opposed to the dictatorship of Lenin and Trotsky, which it -did in an ample resolution that did not neglect to congratulate Russia -on the overthrow of the hated regime of the Czars. - -Friedrich Adler and Jean Longuet ventured to submit a second -resolution, in which they sought a middle way, one they believed would -be less offensive to the Bolsheviks. They did not want us to shut the -door of the International in the faces of the Russian extremists who, -they hoped, would one day return to the fold. They declared that too -little was known about the Government of Lenin and Trotsky to warrant -an out-and-out condemnation of it. Their resolution is recorded in the -minutes. But I venture to think they must now be feeling that they -wasted their efforts. The Russians have never done denouncing Longuet -and those who think with him. And they have established their own -International in Moscow, commonly called the Third International, an -International governed from Russia, where all individuality, whether -of person or nation, must be ruthlessly suppressed at the dictates of -the governing brain in Moscow. All attempts at an honourable compromise -with the arbitrary Russians is doomed to failure. It is impossible to -reconcile the irreconcilable. The haughty and bigoted doctrinaires of -revolutionary Russia will continue their violent and destructive work -of poisoning and dividing the working-class movement of the world, -unless the age of miracles revives. - -A marked feature of the International was the immense number of -newspaper men who attended. I am convinced there were more reporters -than delegates in the hall. They were there from every land, -representing every sort of newspaper. There were as interesting -personalities at the Press table as on the floor of the conference -hall. Oswald Garrison Villard, Editor of the American _Nation_, -Simeon Strunsky, of the New York _Evening Post_, and Norman Angell, -representing _The Times_ newspaper, were amongst the ornaments of their -profession present. Dr. Guttmann, who was the representative of the -_Frankfurter Zeitung_ in England before the war, was amongst the ablest -and most sympathetic of the journalists who attended; and Herr Rudolf -Kommer, of the _Neue Freie Presse_. - -I may be quite wrong, but I formed the opinion as the result of careful -observation and subsequent inquiry, and of a close acquaintance -which has ripened into friendship with very many conspicuously able -journalists abroad, that a higher standard of culture is required of -journalists on the Continent than is expected of those of a similar -status in this country. Perhaps I ought to put it a little differently. -The leading lights of British and American journalism are of the -first degree both in general culture and in literary attainments. -But there appear to be two very separate and distinct classes of -journalist in England and America: the one thoroughly educated, the -other entirely uneducated. I saw no such wide difference in the -various ranks of journalism abroad. I doubt very much if there were -one European reporter at the Conference whose standard of education -was below that of a good university. Would this be so in England? It -certainly would not in America. In America a “good story” is wanted. -In Europe a good argument or a witty satire is more in favour. I know -very few journalists in Europe, though doubtless they exist, who would -consider it serviceable to their journals deliberately to misinterpret -a speech or misreport a conference. They may make a little fun, employ -a little irony, caricature a speaker; but very few would deliberately -mislead their readers on matters of fact. Courage in facing realities -is commoner in some countries than in England. Our prowess is in the -field, whether with the hunt or in the battle. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL (_concluded_) - - -The International had an audience, a very large and interested one. It -sat at the back of the room, glad of an experience which relieved for -a while the tedium of life in Berne. Amongst the listeners of every -nationality I observed Indians with turbans and Turks wearing the fez. -There was a beautiful dark-eyed Jewess sporting three vast links of -matchless pearls. A handsome American woman, full of vivacity, wearing -a large picture hat, sat next to her husband, a tall, good-looking -Hungarian with a clean-shaven face and an American accent to his -excellent English. There was the faded but vivacious mistress of a -notorious ex-king; two red-haired Greek ladies of extreme beauty; -several ambassadors; a whole medley of chief secretaries; a gang of -spies of both sexes, and a group of well-known pacifists engaged on -preparations for their own conference, which was timed to follow the -International. There was Mr. William Bullitt of the American Peace -Delegation in Paris; Mr. George Lansbury, and Mr. John de Kay, famous -for mystical millions! Last but not least there was a sharp little -woman unknown to any of us who sprang upon Mr. Macdonald like a -tiger-cat. “How dare you come to this conference to talk to the enemies -of your country!” she demanded. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, you -and Mrs. Snowden and all the others?” Mr. Macdonald was white with -anger, but he behaved like a gentleman. If the lady had said it to me I -should have told her that it took far less courage to come and talk to -an ex-enemy than to marry one and produce four or five little enemies. -The spiteful lady was an Englishwoman, and is the wife of an Austrian -and the sister of a notorious English suffragette. She has several fine -Austrian children! - -There was something very interesting about those rabid anti-enemy -people. Examine them closely and you found that those who hated most -often did it because they were implicated either by birth or marriage -in enemy associations, and felt it necessary to protest their loyalty -as loudly and as frequently as possible. I believe that language also -had a great deal to do with war affinities. People took the French -or German side according to the language they had mastered! The -knowledge of a foreign language is a distinguished accomplishment in -a Briton! Protesting too much is always a mistake. I do not believe -it has ever done the protestant one ounce of good. Often it has done -positive harm by raising suspicion. I have a distinguished friend in -England, German by birth, English by sympathies. From the beginning of -the war he has taken the side of the Allies. His writings prove that -unmistakably. The English authorities have treated him outrageously. It -is a long and painful story. They refuse to allow him to stay in the -country, although before the war he lived here for more than twenty -years, owns property here, and his daughter was born here. He has -abundant credentials from important people. He wants to adopt English -citizenship. Nothing that is done to him can alter his devotion to -this country; and yet the Home Office is inexorable. There are violent -pan-Germans in this country who are suffering less than he--gentlemen -on whom the Peace Treaty has bestowed a new nationality! - -One particularly tiresome day, when the air of the Conference hall was -thick and close with human breath and stale tobacco smoke, and when -the lions raged more loudly than usual, pounding the table with their -fists as they consigned to perdition their various antagonists, there -walked into the room an interesting figure of a man whom nobody could -forget who had seen him once. He was dressed in a grey suit, which -matched his silvery hair, and showed in a marked way the exceptional -breadth of his powerful shoulders set upon a short and sinewy frame. He -walked the whole length of the room with all the dignity and solemnity -of a reigning prince come to review his loyal troops; his head thrown -back and his slightly swaying body vibrant with a self-importance -and a quality of proprietorship more arresting than displeasing. A -closer acquaintance with him as the Conference proceeded confirmed in -everybody the judgment formed at the first casual glance, that the -lines round his mouth and at the corners of his bright grey-blue eyes -betokened a keen sense of humour. - -His immense blue necktie fluttered shoulder-wards and marked him, in -conjunction with a clean-shaven face, the American citizen, although it -was alleged he was born in the East End of London. But where else in -the world, unless in the Quartier Latin, would you find so much good -cloth wasted on neckties as in America? Like big butterflies these -enormous bows repose upon the breasts of their wearers, as serviceable -as the Stars and Stripes in designating the home and habitation of -their owners. - -Mr. John de Kay was the mystery man of the Second International. Nobody -knew whence he came nor whither he was going. His business in life -was a secret never revealed. He was a mystery to a great many more -than the delegates at the Socialist Conference. He had a castle in -Switzerland and another in France. He had an estate in Mexico, and was -_persona grata_ with several revolutionary governments. His bust had -been sculptured by Rodin. Sarah Bernhardt had appeared in one of his -plays. He had written books on social science. He composed poems. He -was a multi-millionaire, sprinkling his millions on the altar of good -causes like talcum powder after a bath. He kept a marvellous suite of -rooms at the Bernerhof, and ordered his dinner with the pompousness -of a Napoleon commanding the advance of an army. All these things and -a thousand others were said of this extraordinary man; but the mystery -remained a mystery to the end. - -He was anxious to finance the publicity work of the Second -International, and actually contributed large sums to this side of -the work both in Berne and in Lucerne. But his larger scheme never -materialized. It was discovered later that he had a habit of offering -millions for this cause or that, to the International, to the German -Socialist Government, to the famine children of Austria, to Turkey, to -Hungary; but never have I been able to discover that those millions -were forthcoming. There was always some hitch in the business -somewhere, some fantastic condition attached to the gift, or some -impossible preliminary to carry through satisfactorily. - -He was dreadfully impatient of what he called the “blue-sky politics” -of some Socialists. He hated equally the politics of the White Guard -reactionaries. Strange, queer, haunting character, with the lion head -and the despot manner; time alone will tell us who you are and what -your place in the scheme of things; but that you meant to help and not -to hinder the work of the International I am profoundly convinced. - -Mr. de Kay lost his favourite daughter a few months ago. She was -drowned in Lake Michigan while on a visit to America. The mystery of -her death, like the mystery of her father’s life, is still unsolved. -She lies still and cold in her grave. But her father flits fitfully -in and out of the game of international politics, too arresting a -personality to be ignored, too mysterious a being to be acclaimed. - - * * * * * - -Seated in that part of the hall reserved for visitors was a -dark-skinned Jewish lady wearing an enormous picture hat. It was not -she of the ropes of pearls, but another and an older woman. She was -dressed in a smart black dress and wore over it a valuable sealskin -coat. She followed the debate with a certain amount of interest, but -her black eyes roved restlessly around the room in search of somebody -in particular. I did not flatter myself that I was the person she was -seeking, but presently a little pasteboard card was passed along the -line to me, and looking first at the card and then at the visitor, -I caught the smile of the picture hat lady and recognized an old -acquaintance. She was Frau Rosika Schwimmer, the first woman Minister. - -The then Premier of Hungary, Count Karolyi, had signalized his term of -office by several acts of a radical character, notably amongst them the -appointment of a woman Minister to Switzerland. It was a bold thing -to do, at such a time and in such a country, and of such a woman. I -wish now that I had accepted the invitation to be the guest of Count -Karolyi, extended to me in his name by his secretary and friend Herr -Paul von Auer. Courage of this sort, which associates a man with -feminism, is extremely rare. It would have been interesting to meet -the man possessed of it. The conservatism of the Swiss is well known. -They share with the Latin countries the dishonour of an unenfranchised -womankind. To send to such a country the first woman Minister, and that -woman a Jewess, was to challenge too violently the prejudices of the -Swiss. The experiment was bound to fail. - -Frau Schwimmer’s business with me was to ask my help with the -organization of a women’s conference. Of course, the proposal -interested me; but my mind travelled back to my previous association -with Rosika and the occasion of my first meeting with her. - -It was at the Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance -of which Mrs. C. Chapman Catt is the President, held in London about -ten years ago. Rosika (as everybody called her) was one of the most -eloquent speakers in the Conference. Her style was ironic. She provoked -shouts of laughter amongst the women by her pungent attacks on male -mankind, and her wit and humour made of her a general favourite as a -speaker. She and I were thought to be as great contrasts in our style -of speaking as in our physical appearance, and a favourite design of -organizers was to send the two of us to address the same meeting. This -happened two years later at the Opera House in Stockholm, when the -grave and the gay of the woman’s question were divided between the -black and the blonde. - -But I never really knew Frau Schwimmer till after our several -meetings in America. The first occasion was a meeting in the theatre -in Lexington, Kentucky, where we discoursed on women and peace to a -fashionable audience. It says a great deal for Rosika’s power as a -public speaker, that she was able by her eloquence to overcome amongst -those critical American women a plainly expressed distaste for her -peculiar style of dress. She affected at that time the loose, flowing -robe more suggestive of the boudoir than the public platform. Black -harmonized with our mood as well as hers, for the war was at its -height; but the ill-fitting black gloves she persisted in wearing -during her speech robbed her otherwise expressive hands of all their -eloquence. - -It was to the unauthorized activity of Rosika that I owed my meeting -with President Wilson. A propaganda in favour of the calling by America -of a conference of neutral nations for continuous mediation amongst -the belligerents was being conducted all over the United States, with -which I found myself in full sympathy. America was not then in the -war, and the greater part of her citizens appeared to be hostile to -the idea of entering. Their distaste for the war did not go the length -of an all-round strict neutrality, economic as well as political; but -there was a very genuine desire in 1915 on the part of vast numbers -of American citizens to avoid active participation in the war, for -reasons, for the most part, entirely honourable to themselves and the -country. - -One afternoon in November of that year I had already risen to address -a great theatre full of business men in Milwaukee on the importance of -their giving the vote to Wisconsin women when a telegram was handed to -me: “President Wilson will receive us at the White House on November -23rd. Please return at once.--SCHWIMMER.” - -I had not the faintest conception of what it was about. I looked at the -message and read it twice. I was unable to believe my eyes. I had never -sought an interview with the President. I had no business of sufficient -importance to warrant my seeking his presence. I have always had too -much respect for the time of busy men in high office to seek to use it -on matters of other than the gravest consequence. I was filled with -annoyance at having been placed, without my knowledge or consent, in -the position of an intrusive and self-important busybody. But there was -the invitation. The arrangement had been made. And my one consolation -lay in the thought that the approachableness and well-known courtesy of -the “First Gentleman of America” had made the thing possible and would -make it delightful. But my indignation against the “meddlesome Matties” -who had so outrageously interfered did not cool and is alive at this -hour. - -I had several important public engagements in Wisconsin and Illinois -to fulfil, which I could not cancel without causing a vast amount of -inconvenience and expense to organizers, so I wired that it would be a -pleasure to attend at the White House if the meeting could be arranged -for November 27. - -I travelled a day and a night from Chicago to New York, tried there to -find out what it was all about, heard a few vague stories sufficient -to let me know that it had to do with the peace propaganda, and left -the next morning for Washington. I arrived in Washington at 3 p.m. -and was taken in a large automobile to one of the theatres where a -big meeting was in full swing. Rosika rose to speak after I had taken -my place on the platform. Her speech froze me to my chair with its -passionate exaggerations: “Millions and millions of people are dying -on the battlefields and in the homes of Europe,” she said, which since -that time has become only too true. “Millions and millions of men -are praying for peace,” which was totally untrue. If “millions and -millions” of men in Europe had wanted peace they could have had it. -“The soldiers of Europe are looking to you to deliver them----” and so -on. - -I had had no part in calling the meeting. I could only guess its -purpose. I had no idea under whose auspices it was being held nor who -was finding the money for it. My peace sympathies were unquestionable, -but when I rose to speak I felt myself under a real obligation in the -interests of truth to neutralize the impression made upon the minds of -the audience by Rosika’s burning words. - -“Alas!” I said, although these may not have been the exact words, “I am -not able to say out of my own experience that the men of Great Britain -are praying for peace. On the contrary they are voluntarily enlisting -in millions for what they believe to be the most righteous cause they -have ever served. The appeal I make to you is not to act in the belief -that you are thereby saving millions of unwilling men forced by cruel -tyrants to enter a war which they hate, but by conferring with other -neutral nations to discover some terms, honourable to all concerned, -which shall save from _what they believe to be the absolute necessity -of killing and being killed_, the gallant young manhood of every nation -which is in this fight.” - -The meeting over, we drove to the White House through a great concourse -of people. Frau Schwimmer and myself were received by the President -with the dignity of a _grand seigneur_ joined to the simplicity of a -plain American citizen. I liked him. I believed in him. When years -later men in Europe laughed at his idealism, I recalled my impression -of him and felt he was sincere. When he failed, after the first -awful shock of the failure, I believed he had failed where no man -could succeed. During our conversation with him his hatred of the war -was clear. His desire to maintain the peace in America and restore -it, if possible, to Europe was unequivocal. He expressed very warmly -his sympathy with the idea of a neutral conference. But the thought -of practical difficulties oppressed him. Would China and the South -American Republics be invited to such a conference? What should be -the basis of representation? Would such an effort be looked upon with -favour by the fighting Powers? Could anything be done except through -the ordinary diplomatic channels? He welcomed Lord Courtney’s brave -speech in the House of Lords and hoped it might be symptomatic. He -looked for signs of a growing peace sentiment amongst the belligerents -but found few. I agreed with him on this last point and remained -silent. Rosika grew voluble, bitter, insulting. She hinted at America’s -munition profiteering. The President flushed a little and looked -annoyed. - -“Surely,” he said warmly, “there are such profiteers in other -countries?” - -We talked for half an hour or more. The great crowd of men and women -outside stood in silent prayer for the success of our effort. They were -mostly members of religious organizations; and it was so arranged. -Numbers of reporters with pencils and notebooks in hand surrounded us -and pursued us in automobiles to the hotel where we had taken up our -quarters. Here the secret spring of it all was revealed! - -In a sumptuous suite of apartments at the Great Washington Hotel sat -the great man. And in another equally sumptuous sat Rosika, with -her army of secretaries. Her rooms were filled with costly flowers. -Her meals were served privately by waiters specially chosen for the -work. Messengers whose sole business appeared to be to attend to Frau -Schwimmer’s every wish ran in and out in a constant stream. Newspaper -men waited in the ante-room for such crumbs of news as she was -disposed to scatter. Well-dressed and important-looking men and women -left their cards. Busy, intense, energetic life thrilled through the -whole of the hotel. Something more than the usual was afoot. What could -it be? - -It sprang from a source which kept itself hidden, except when at one -dramatic moment in the theatre a thin, clean-shaven man with a keen, -sensitive face leapt to his feet and declared in a loud, drawling -voice: “I never made a speech before in my life. All I want to say is -this: We’ll have those boys out of the trenches by Christmas.” - -It was Henry Ford, the great manufacturer of automobiles. He meant -every word he said and really believed it possible to do what he wished. - -It was this generous, warm-hearted man who was finding the money for -Rosika’s lavish expenditure. It was he who secured us the talk with -President Wilson. It was he who had even then been involved by the -dominating Rosika in the idea of the peace ship--the wonderful ship -full of peacemakers which should sail to every neutral land in Europe -and invite their Governments to persuade the warriors to make the peace. - -As an advertisement for the peace idea the scheme had some value; but -knowing something of the temperamental Rosika and her lack of staying -power as well as of her extravagance, as anything more serious than -that the plan was bound to fail. I felt an enormous pity for Mr. Ford, -whom I failed to see after the meeting; but I doubt if at that time -anyone could have convinced him that an ambitious woman was using him -and his dollars in the most foolish and reckless enterprise that was -instigated through the Great War. - -I refused to have anything to do with it. I feared what actually -happened, that the peace movement would be smothered in ridicule from -one end of the world to the other, and that the reputation of sincere -and able pacifists would be cheapened and vulgarized by this mad -expedition to the ends of the earth of a company of individuals whose -motives were mixed and whose abilities were in most cases mediocre. - -What was my annoyance and astonishment when I boarded the ship for -Liverpool the next morning to hear from a reporter of the _New York -Times_ who came to see me before sailing, that I had telephoned from -Washington a full column of eulogy of the Ford peace ship in the form -of an interview! I had done nothing of the sort. I had never had the -telephone to my lips all the time I was in Washington. I had, moreover, -travelled all night from Washington to be in time for my steamer the -next morning. Someone had telephoned in my name! - -Like the dove from the ark the gallant ship set sail with flying -pennant; but in a little while crept back to port with drooping wing, -dragging in her wake broken spirits and bedraggled reputations. Mr. -Ford left before the end of the tour. The domineering Rosika became too -much for him. The greatest discontent amongst the passengers throughout -the tour was felt owing to the inaccessibility of Mr. Ford, who could -never be reached without a permit from Frau Schwimmer. “Whenever we -tried to reach him,” said one woeful and malicious pressman, “we found -him entirely surrounded by Rosika!” - -With the memory of this experience surging up I grew thoughtful as I -looked at the little card in my hand. I made a cautious response to the -smiles of the Hungarian woman Minister. Of course, I talked to her. -Her new position interested us all. I asked her how she liked being -a diplomat. She told us a sorry tale of treachery and espionage. The -drawers of her bureau had been rifled, her telegrams opened before they -reached her or altered when she sent them out. Everything had been done -to make her position impossible. We were sorry and indignant till we -heard that she had appointed these scoundrels herself and had made the -mistake of having recalled many of the old Hungarian officials who had -possessed a genuine desire to help her. - -Some of these men had declined to go, and _their_ side of the story was -of shameless expenditure, unbridled personal extravagance at the cost -of a poverty-stricken little state, mangled by the war and the peace, -and suffering incredible penury. They spoke, it may be with malice, -of an expensive automobile, costly furs, cut flowers and extravagant -rooms, all paid for by her unhappy Government, bankrupt and despairing. -The Bolshevik Revolution occurred a few days later. - -She was recalled after a few weeks of office, having committed a number -of political indiscretions involving the reputation with the Allies of -at least one innocent and unsuspecting tool. This unfortunate lady was -ignominiously returned to her native country. - -Frau Schwimmer is of middle age and middle height, with masses of crisp -wavy black hair slightly tinged with grey. She wears large gold-rimmed -spectacles, and has a hard, aggressive manner and a loud, dominating -voice. In speaking she uses her hands a great deal, the forefinger -of the right hand playing a conspicuous part in the enforcing of -her points. She has a quick intelligence with a brilliant surface -cleverness, is sarcastic and voluble, good natured and easy going. -She has temperament, but is without stability. She is cruel in her -thoughtlessness, but, like her race, has a deep sense of loyalty to her -family. She is genuinely devoted to the cause of feminism. - - * * * * * - -Another visitor to the International I feel constrained to do more -than mention was Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard, editor of the New York -_Nation_ and a lifelong friend of President Wilson. Mr. Villard has a -rich inheritance from each side of his family. He is the descendant -on the father’s side of one of the famous German revolutionaries who -fled to America in 1848. His mother is the daughter of William Lloyd -Garrison of anti-slavery fame. - -During the visit to America, to which I have already referred, I met -Mr. Villard and Mr. George Foster Peabody in the lobby of the House -of Representatives in Albany. They apologized for not being able to -attend the meeting of the State Legislators I was to address, as they -were engaged on business connected importantly with the propaganda for -keeping America out of the war. “Mr. Villard has just seen President -Wilson--they are lifelong and intimate friends, you know--and he has -the impression that enormous pressure is being put upon the President -by a section interested in dragging this country into the war. We are -very unhappy about it,” said Mr. Peabody. - -This does not mean that when the war broke out Mr. Villard took -neither side. His sympathies were pro-Ally and anti-German; but he -hated the whole bad business of the war and desired to end it quickly. -The severe terms of the Armistice and the startling conduct of the -Paris Conference caused him to react favourably towards the Bolshevik -Government. But from various reactions, he has come to the settled -conviction of the need for the revision of the Peace Treaties, and for -the establishment of some kind of international political organization -like the League of Nations for the securing of permanent peace on the -earth. - -Mr. Villard is not unlike Mr. A. G. Gardiner, the popular one-time -editor of the _Daily News_. Both men are tall and fair, both fresh -complexioned and blue eyed. Both have the same political ideals; -though I imagine a distinction inoffensive to both men might be made -in expressing the view that Mr. Villard’s passionate hatred of the -wrong causes him to swing more violently to the right or to the left -and back again whenever he delivers himself up to the dominion of his -warm-hearted and generous emotions. - - * * * * * - -I met Mr. Villard in the Hôtel Continental in Paris first, and -persuaded him to come to Berne. There we dined together at the Vienna -Café. - -Berne is the famous capital of Switzerland. It is a lovely old city -with quaint fountains and coloured houses. It is beautifully situated -on a ridge of hills, with snow-covered Alpine ranges in the distance, -the Jungfrau, handsome and conspicuous, in the middle. The swift river -girdles the town, gleaming blue and green in the valley below. - -There are stately new buildings in Berne, and a fine market square. -There is the monument of the International Postal Union, a globe -encircled by female figures clasping hands, representing the various -races; and there is the bear pit with its fascinating shaggy -inhabitants; but place all the attractions of Berne in one scale and -the Wiener Café in the other, and the balance will sink in favour of -the café, at least for those unhappy human beings compelled by the -misfortunes of their country or the tragic circumstances of the Great -War to spend their enforced exile in the restricting circumstances of a -small Swiss city. - -To the Wiener Café daily went these men and women to eat the food so -renowned for its cooking. Where was such delicious coffee to be found -in Berne? Where was there a greater variety of well-cooked and properly -seasoned dishes? The wine was a glory. The Hungarian gipsy band played -bewitching music, and brought home near enough for tears to those who -came from the lands of the East. - -But the Wiener Café drew men and women from the four corners of -the earth for something more than its good food and glowing wines. -They came for talk, to meet fellow exiles and entertain interesting -strangers; to discuss the terrible march of events; to debate political -theories; to escape loneliness; to hear gay music, and forget their -sorrows in congenial fellowship. - -Mr. Rinner of the Wiener Café radiated a welcome from his whole portly -person. The waiters, always smiling and efficient, served you as if -it were their great privilege to do so and not, as in so many English -cafés, as though they were conferring a favour upon you. You never felt -constrained to eat so fast that you choked in an effort to get out of -the place as quickly as possible. You stayed hours if you desired to -read or to play cards or chess. A second portion of every dish could -be had if wanted without any further charge. All sorts of delightful -odd corners, softly cushioned and conveniently partitioned, furthered -conversation, and supplied a certain amount of privacy, contrasting -favourably with the square horse-box appearance of so many eating -houses in other places. And this is a typical good-class European -restaurant. - -I made my first acquaintance with the Wiener Café as the guest of Mr. -Rudolf Kommer. Mr. Norman Angell and Mr. J. R. Macdonald were of the -party. We talked for hours of the day’s happenings at the Conference, -and reviewed the prospects of an early peace now rapidly vanishing -into thin air. All the time there came through the glass partition -the tantalizing strains of the ’cello and violin playing Hungarian -dances. I had hoped to see as well as hear these gipsy musicians. And -so it happened. The door opened and in they came to give us a private -performance. - -Smiling, bowing, they drew near to the table, almost bending over -it, playing softly, sweetly, merrily, the expression of their faces -interpreting the song. They had never studied a note of music. They -played solely by ear. Yet they had caught the magic spirit of music, -the soul and the rhythm of it. Their bodies swayed in time with the -song. Their intimate black eyes invited to the dance. Our feet tapped -time to their swaying forms. It was utterly joyous, abandoned, divine! -I hear it now: - -“_Nimm Zigeuner deine Geige, lass sehn was du kannst._” - - * * * * * - -Our host crowned the evening’s enjoyment with stories of the old café’s -famous habitués. At the very table where we were seated Lenin in exile -had discussed his political philosophy with admirers and doubters -through a summer’s night. In the chair I occupied the volatile and -relentless Trotsky had lounged and gossiped. The charming, exuberant -Prince Windischgraetz and his beautiful wife had frequently supped -there. Crownless kings and exiled grand dukes had played their -less dangerous game at the bridge-table in the corner. Poets and -philosophers, journalists of all nations, destroyers of old states and -architects of new, propagandists of the old order and spies of the new, -lovely women of scandalous reputation, virtuous and sober citizens of -Berne, delegates to international conferences, travellers to Paris held -up on the way, connoisseurs of good beer--all found their way to this -famous house of good cheer and joyous fellowship, and have helped Herr -Rinner and the Gipsy Primas to make of it to thousands a memory of rich -delight or of the haunting sorrow which is akin to joy. - -When shall I see the Wiener Café again? I ask myself. And I know that -I shall never see it as it was in those days of the war and the peace. -All the old friends are gone. Even the gipsy band has fled. Perhaps -there remain a few political exiles in Berne who find their way to the -café occasionally. It may be that Dr. Ludwig Bauer, that amiable giant -who eats at a sitting enough for four ordinary men and washes it down -with incredible quantities of beer, calls occasionally to play a game -of cards with a fellow-journalist, or to write his daily article in the -little back room reserved for honoured and familiar guests. I do not -know. All I know is that I have but to close my eyes and listen, and -through the windows are wafted softly the strains from the gipsy band: - - “_Nimm Zigeuner deine Geige, lass sehn was du kannst, - Schwarzer Teufel spiel und zeige wie dein Bogen tanzt._” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CONFERENCE (MARCH 1919) - - -I have written a great deal about the annoyance and discomfort to -which the traveller abroad was put in the days immediately following -the Armistice; I have said nothing about the performance which had to -be gone through before the journey could actually be begun. Some day -sanity will be restored to the government of these affairs; but as a -matter of purely historic interest a record of this business will be -very amusing. - -The Executive Committee of the Union of Democratic Control (of Foreign -Politics) was holding its weekly meeting, when a letter arrived -from Dr. de Jong van Beek en Donk, the secretary of the Dutch Peace -Society, inviting the Union to send delegates to the League of Nations -Conference which it was proposed to hold in Berne early in March, 1919. -It was strongly felt that no opportunity of forming international -connexions should be missed. One member after another was pressed to -go. Nobody but myself appeared to be free to do so. I had only just -returned from Switzerland and the International. The journey home had -been full of discouragement and fatigue. I was asked if I would very -much mind the trouble and weariness of a second long journey soon. I -said I had not the slightest objection to the journey, but that the -thought of the passport business was rather daunting. It was agreed -that someone in the office should do all that for me, and on that -understanding I agreed to go. - -But the condition was not fulfilled. It could not be. Passport -formalities are personal matters and only in the rarest circumstances -can they be gone through by proxy. I had immediately to set about the -task myself, and a terrific task it was. The date was already February -27. The Conference was timed to begin on March 3. Two days of that time -I knew would be consumed in the journey itself. That left two for the -business of preparation. I knew no human being at that time who had -accomplished this in less than a week. Generally three weeks was looked -upon as a fairly satisfactory minimum of time for this work. - -The following was the routine for a would-be traveller to Switzerland -in the early days of 1919. - -To get a passport you filled in a long form requiring answers to all -sorts of impertinent questions about yourself and your immediate -ancestors, including offensive queries about your personal appearance! -You had to attach to the form a photograph of a particular sort and -size. This had to be endorsed, and your passport signed by a magistrate -or some other worthy person who knew you, and who would guarantee your -character and the truthfulness of your replies. Two other persons of -recognized social position and personal rectitude had to permit the use -of their names as guarantors. You handed the completed passport form to -the clerk at the passport office, and were generally told to call again -in three or four days. The urgency of my case inspired me to enclose a -letter to the chief passport officer in the fond hope of considerate -treatment; which to my surprise was granted to me. I remember that my -appeal fell into the hands of an extremely considerate and courteous -official. - -If you were prepared to wait on the chance that your business would -come soon, you were given a number which was called out in its turn. By -sitting incredible hours without food, unless you were wise enough to -bring sandwiches, it was just possible that your number might be called -unexpectedly and your business gone through quickly. Most people grew -impatient, or could spare only an hour or two and left. They had to -take a new number and a similar chance next day; with probably similar -ill-luck. It was of the first importance to “stick it out.” Then -when the magic number you held was called, you paid your fee of five -shillings and went your way. - -After you received your passport you proceeded to the Swiss Legation -for a visum. You had to fill in two forms here and attach a photograph -to each of them. You were required to sign a paper stating you were not -a Bolshevik, and had no dealings with them. You were obliged to provide -a letter from the organization on whose business you were travelling. -On the occasion of my third application I had to bring a certificate of -health and a banker’s letter stating that I was a person of substance -not likely to become a charge on the Swiss Exchequer! Another five -shillings and the visum became yours. - -The next business was a British Military permit. This, I think, you -had for nothing. But you filled in two more forms, attached two more -photographs and waited long, weary hours for the calling of your number -before you got it. I waited five hours on this occasion, and stood the -whole of the time! - -Lastly there was the Military Permit from the French to be obtained by -suffering the same ghastly torments. For this eight shillings was the -market price! - -I regard it as one of the exploits of my life that I got through all -this disgusting business in two days. I could not have done it but for -the good fortune that threw me into the hands of considerate officials -and for my own British pertinacity. As it was I came out of the French -office in Bedford Square only five minutes before the office closed! - -So I started by the usual early morning train to Folkestone, tired but -triumphant, and feeling that the nuisances ahead of me, calculated -to ruin more tempers and create more racial antagonisms than half a -century of war, were light by comparison with that whirling rush -from photographer to guarantor, from guarantor to passport office, -from passport office to doctor, from doctor to banker, from banker to -Legation, from Legation to Permit offices, with the endless filling of -forms and the interminable aching hours of waiting which I had endured -before the journey could begin. - -It was a madwoman’s rush across sea and land. The Paris train was -nearly two hours late. The Gare du Nord and the Gare de Lyon are on -opposite sides of Paris. The wildest scrimmage for taxis took place. My -lucky star being still in the ascendant, I secured one, hurled myself -across Paris like a lunatic and, like a maniac, tossed myself and my -bag into the Belgarde portion of the Geneva express as the train was -actually signalled to leave! - -There was no empty seat in the whole of the train. I had a first-class -ticket, but I passed the night in the corridor sitting on the end of -my suit-case. French trains are always super-heated. There had been -no time for food in Paris. Hunger, thirst and sleeplessness made that -night memorable to me. And as I have already shown, Geneva was not the -end. There was the long wait in the city and the seven hours’ journey -to Berne to follow the sleepless night from Paris to Belgarde. But it -is marvellous what can be done and endured if one is only determined -enough. I drove up to the Belle Vue Hotel at 11 o’clock on the evening -of March 2; and the Conference was due to begin the following morning. -My two fellow delegates of the Peace Council were still in London, -although they began the passport business days before I knew that I was -to be a delegate; but they yielded to the fatal temptation to leave -after waiting for a short time, returning at intervals to the office, -instead of seeing the thing through. - - * * * * * - -I had been in my room just long enough to turn the key in the lock when -the telephone bell rang vigorously: “Hallo, Mrs. Snowden!” came the -cheerful voice of a friend. “I have just seen your name in the hotel -register. But this is wonderful! Come and have coffee at the Vienna -Café.” - -“Thank you, no,” I replied. “I’m almost dead with fatigue. If anybody -tries to keep me out of bed for five minutes, I’ll denounce him to the -police as a Bolshevik spy! I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.” -Swiss beds are soft and white and very comfortable. In ten minutes I -was snugly curled up in one of the best of them, for the first and only -time in my life grateful for the Continental habit of unpunctuality. -“That Conference is timed to begin at ten, but I am quite sure it will -be eleven,” was the last muttered thought as I fell soundly asleep. - -The sun was streaming in at the window when I awoke the next morning. -I sprang out of bed and pulled back the curtain. Thick snow lay on the -ground and reflected dazzlingly the light from the sun. The sky was a -bright blue and without a cloud. Again the telephone bell rang. “There -are two young ladies to see you, madam. Shall I ask them to wait?” -asked the hotel clerk. “No, send them up--and the coffee,” I said, -scrambling back into bed and wondering who on earth it could be. Two -minutes later there followed the waiter into the room two pale girls -about twenty years of age with soft, shy manners. - -“We have come to give you a welcome to the Conference and to ask you -if you will be good enough to speak at the opening session. Dear Mrs. -Snowden, we know how tired you must be, but it is so wonderful that you -are here. Do please come and say a few words of greeting to us. It will -make us so happy and we are very miserable.” They were starved girls -from Munich. - -“Of course,” I said. “If you will leave me now, I will be with you in -half an hour.” And they left looking very pleased. - -This Conference was not so large as the International. There were -several of the Socialists present; but, generally speaking, the -Congress was different in its personnel and in the character of those -present. It was more bourgeois in appearance. I do not say that with -the intention of reflecting upon its quality in any offensive way. -I have not the hatred of the bourgeois _because he is a bourgeois_, -which animates some Socialists. I am not sure, indeed, what the word -means precisely in the mouths of some people I know. As used by many -it appears to mean a man who wears a clean collar and cuts his hair -short; or a woman who speaks in a soft voice and wears a pretty dress. -With such persons, educated manners, courtesy in debate, destroy a -Socialist’s _bona fides_; whilst well-cut finger nails and a pair of -white cuffs positively mark him down as a “social traitor.” I am not -joking. I am stating a literal fact. With these solemn idiots the -bourgeois is a man who keeps his family respectable and goes to church -on Sunday. He is a man who retains some affection for the old-fashioned -virtues of industry and thrift. There is, for them, a bourgeois -morality, a bourgeois mentality, a bourgeois faith. Radek writes of -the necessity of destroying the bourgeois institutions of religion, -the family and private property. Lenin jeers at the bourgeois idea -of liberty. To be middle-class is to be bourgeois, even if you have -to work hard for a living. To take a pride in clean table-linen is -bourgeois. To delight in a daily bath is bourgeois. And to be bourgeois -is to be condemned by this class of “superior” person in Socialist -circles. It is all so very silly--and so very young! - -The delegates to the League of Nations Conference were in the -main professional people, lawyers, professors, doctors, teachers, -journalists. One or two were aristocratically connected--Count Max -Montgelas, for instance--and there were two or three generals. But the -same features marked this Conference as the other. The German and the -Austrian delegates looked hungry and ill-nourished. All that I have -said of the German Socialists--the dry grey skin stretched tightly -over the bones, the bloodshot eyes, the pale lips, the thin nervous -hands--was true of the men and women who confronted me as I spoke on -that glorious March morning. It was a very pitiful sight and told -eloquently of what the German people had had to endure up to the time -their rulers fled before the indignant revolutionaries. - -I was very happy to have arrived in time to give the greetings from -the two organizations I represented, the National Peace Council and -the Union of Democratic Control, and to be able to promise them the -presence in a few days of my two colleagues, Miss Joan Fry and Mrs. -Charles Roden Buxton. - -Miss Joan Fry is one of the daughters of the late Sir Edward Fry. -She is an active member of the Society of Friends. She came to the -Conference to testify to her foreign friends of the same religious -persuasion as herself the solidarity with themselves of the like-minded -women and men of Great Britain. She made several speeches of deep -spiritual power which were well received by the delegates. - -Mrs. Charles Roden Buxton, the daughter of the late Professor Jebb, -is also a Quaker. She has two very lovely children whom she adores, -and the knowledge of Europe’s suffering children moved her to come to -Berne, not only to attend the Conference, but to see what might be done -immediately to send aid to the little sufferers in Vienna. During the -weeks we were in Switzerland, she and I (but chiefly she) did what we -could to start an international organization for child relief. It was -a difficult piece of work. The Swiss were apt to be afraid of doing -anything which would seem to violate the principle of neutrality, -although I am sure they never faltered in their desire to help. -The Austrians were incapable, through suffering, of very energetic -co-operation. The French were _intransigeant_ at the time. Also, it -was very difficult to avoid falling into the hands of the selfish and -unscrupulous, never deterred from their habit of exploitation by the -thought of the poor people they were robbing. We were warned of this -man and that woman. This man was buying in a certain expensive market -for reasons of his own; that woman was taking a fat commission for -securing contracts for goods to be bought with our funds! - -The Vienna children were dying for lack of fats. Mrs. Buxton determined -to send them a truck load of cod-liver oil at once, preserved milk and -milk chocolate to follow. She pledged the greater part of her private -fortune in order that its going might be expedited. It is almost -inconceivable how many difficulties were placed in the way of its going -by the authorities, in spite of the generous act of Mrs. Buxton which -satisfied the business interests. Endless delays for no obvious reason; -endless calls on dilatory officials; endless pleadings with suspicious -legations; endless regulations to be subscribed to, and finally the -probability that it would never arrive at its destination. A military -guard had to be provided to go with the train. Incredible though it -may seem, at that time, and even now, not only goods travelling by -train but whole trucks, down to the wheels and the buffers, have -entirely vanished during transit, and not a rivet or a plank has been -traced. How it is done is a matter of wild conjecture. But no valuable -stores were ever sent by train in that part of Europe without a strong -military guard. - -Out of Mrs. Buxton’s noble efforts in Switzerland and those of her -devoted sister in England, Miss Eglantyne Jebb, has evolved the -Save the Children Fund, the British branch of which alone under the -chairmanship of Lord Weardale has, since its inception, raised nearly -one million pounds of English money for the relief of child-life in -the famine areas of Europe. The fund does not itself administer, but -allots to Relief Organizations already in existence if satisfied with -their work and their workers. Its great hope and desire is to continue -in existence after the pressing needs created by the war have been -met; to unite, not only in this country but all over the world, so as -to prevent waste and overlapping and to get the maximum of efficiency -out of the workers, the organizations of all kinds connected with -the nurture and protection of children in all lands. I am neither a -prophet nor the child of a prophet, but I venture to think that when -the history of these times comes to be written, the work of the Save -the Children Fund will be regarded as one of the redeeming features of -a situation otherwise black and wellnigh hopeless. - -The other bright gleam on the dark sky-line of European politics in -these years will be the Society of Friends. The Quakers have done -infinite things for the relief of distress in Europe. A gallant young -soldier told me of the strength he received whenever he saw set up on -a hut somewhere in France, “Société des Amis.” In every big city and -in countless little villages of Europe their work has been quietly and -persistently carried on, without noise and self-advertisement, with no -looking for praise, and no expectation of reward. It began with the -war. It has been carried on during the peace. Many workers have died of -their labours, poisoned with typhus germs or collapsed from overwork. -Hundreds of thousands of sufferers will live to bless them, who would -have died but for their work. Countless little children have been saved -alive or preserved from stunted manhood or womanhood through them. -Their selfless devotion has softened the cruel impressions made by the -war. Their presence amongst the defeated has saved from utter hate and -despair many of those who pictured the foe to themselves as wholly -given up to revenge. To the Friends must be given the credit for the -preservation of such little faith and idealism as may still be left in -Europe. - - * * * * * - -The purpose of this Conference as of the other was the creation of -machinery which should aid in the preservation of international -peace. It was met to give support in particular to the League of -Nations idea. It sought to suggest such points for the Charter -issued from Paris as would make of the League of Nations a real and -vital thing. Without going into the discussions at great length it -may be briefly stated that the Conference recommended the inclusion -of all nations within the League, all-round disarmament consistent -with the preservation of internal order, and a thoroughly democratic -organization. The Peace had not yet been concluded, so that the -delegates were not influenced in their conclusions by the astounding -deviations from the Fourteen Points which that peace was so soon to -reveal. They were in the mood of wishing to join all nations in an -effort to put together the pieces of a broken and suffering Europe. And -they believed in President Wilson. - -One of the most interesting personalities at this Conference was -Professor Brentano of Munich, the famous political economist. I was -coming down the stairs leading from the conference hall to the street -when a handsome old man with white hair and a keen face stopped and -addressed me. He had a nervous and slightly deprecating manner, stooped -a little, and showed pitiful signs of under-nourishment in his pale -face and rather tearful red eyes. He found it difficult to speak -without emotion of the condition of things in Bavaria, and his voice -trembled as he told of the nerve-strain under which the population -lived, partly through anxiety about food and partly through fear of -revolutionary disorders. His very obviously democratic sympathies did -not reach quite so far as the Communist regime and the amiable but -incompetent President Eisner. He told me that nobody who had food in -the house, however small in amount or poor in quality, went to bed -without feeling that his throat might be cut in the night by men mad -with hunger, who knew about the little store. He showed me a scientific -chart exhibiting in figures and curved lines the appalling tragedy of -starving and dying children in his city, the city of soft church bells -and beautiful pictures, of glorious music and fine dramatic art. It -was a Munich girl of eighteen who told me her painful story of an -elderly and unscrupulous admirer, who endeavoured to buy her with food, -a common experience in the stricken lands. - -“I will give you two fresh eggs every day if you will be my ‘friend’,” -he said (it was the first time I had heard the word “friend” used in -such a sense). “I did not know that it was possible to be tempted to -so dreadful a thing by anything in the world,” said this poor thing, -her pale cheeks flushing as she spoke, “but we are all so hungry and my -mother is a sick woman. The eggs would have been very good for her. And -an egg costs many, many marks with us.” Her lip quivered and she played -nervously with the edge of her shawl. “But my Socialist faith kept me -pure. I could never have borne all the misery and hunger; I should have -drowned myself but for my belief that Socialism would do away with war -and bring a better day for us all.” - -The young Socialist Toller, who spoke out bravely for the young people -in the Movement at the International, talked to me with the same bright -hope in his shining eyes. Two or three months later he was sentenced -to four years’ detention in a fortress for leading the Red Guards in -a revolt against the Whites. I had talked with him long about the -need for peacemakers in our Movement, and then he was a sincere and -unqualified pacifist. His Red Guard exploit puzzled me; but it was -explained to me that he had hoped to restrain the Red troops from -committing excesses if he went with them, and that he did not actively -provoke a violent attack. His release should be imminent--if he is not -already free. - - * * * * * - -One of the most distinguished of German pacifists who attended this -Conference was Professor A. W. Förster. Dr. Förster published a letter -or manifesto during the war which made some of us wonder if he were the -only Christian left in Europe, so brave and strong and unequivocal -was it! He was for some years professor at the University of Munich; -but during the war his pacifist attitude enraged the nationalist -students and members of the Faculty. His lectures were continually -interrupted by the demonstrations of these students, and the atmosphere -of study made utterly impossible. He was therefore induced to take a -year’s holiday on full pay, and retired to Switzerland to continue his -pacifist activities there. One cannot help contrasting this treatment -of its distinguished pacifist citizen by Bavaria with the treatment -accorded to the Hon. Bertrand Russell by the British Government. Six -months in prison for one of the greatest intellects that ever a country -possessed for a sentence in a magazine article which offended them! It -was an act which invited and excited the derision of the whole world of -letters. - -After the Bavarian Revolution, Professor Förster was made Minister to -Switzerland under Kurt Eisner. His relations with his chief were very -peculiar. These two men were equally firm and uncompromising in their -pacifism, but in their political policy they differed. Eisner, like -most Germans, favoured the union of Austria with Germany provided the -Austrians themselves desired it. Förster was opposed to such a union. -In articles, interviews and speeches he fought against the idea, and -the people of Switzerland enjoyed the peculiar spectacle of the Prime -Minister of a German State and his Minister taking opposite sides on -one of the most important issues of foreign policy then exciting the -interest of nations! Any other Prime Minister would have recalled -Professor Förster. Any other Minister would have resigned. In spite of -many remonstrances received, Eisner declined to dismiss his Minister. -His worship of free speech was so great that he forgot all about the -common sense of politics, which requires that the representative in a -foreign country of any state should either support the policy of his -Government or be deposed. Malicious critics saw nothing but duplicity -in the extraordinary situation. They loudly and cynically averred that -the two men were marching along two different roads to the same end; -that there was a good deal of pretence about the business intended to -deceive the general public and conceal their real design; that they -were secretly hand in glove with one another. But it was not so. It -was sincere comedy sincerely played by players who did not mean to be -funny. It was one more demonstration of the effect of the supersession -of government by the debating society, and of action by talk. I have -the evidence of my own eyes and ears of the enthralling power of Dr. -Förster’s eloquence upon the young men of Berne and of the captivating -charm of Kurt Eisner’s theorizing oratory upon the delegates of a great -Conference; but theories do not quell mutinies and dogmas do not deter -the oppressor; and if ever there were a time when Bavaria (and Europe) -stood in need of practical common-sense politics it was during the -years succeeding the war and the revolutions. - - * * * * * - -I made one other friend from the city of Munich. There stepped into the -lift in the Belle Vue Hotel one day, a tall, slender woman dressed in -deep black who thanked me for something, I don’t know what, and began -then and there a friendship I very deeply prize. Annette Kolb is said -to have in her veins the blood of Bavarian kings. I know nothing about -that. I only know there are few women of my acquaintance who have so -much charm of personality as Miss Kolb. She is kind and tactful and of -an extraordinary wit. In a dreary wilderness of men and women without -humour she shot sparks of the divine fire and kept us from the deadly -peril of unutterable boredom on many a weary occasion. - -Annette is the child of a French mother and a German father. She is the -perfect type of “one between the races.” To say that her soul is torn -is no flippant use of serious language. It is written in her face. Her -emotions ebb and flow. When France was down she was pro-French; now -that Germany is out, she is probably pro-German. She wants a union in -friendship of the two. She speaks continually of this. It is the great -theme of her writings. She had rough treatment in Dresden when making -a protest in public against the malignant lying of a certain section -of the Press. Her book, “Briefe einer Deutsch-Französin” (Letters of -a German-French), created a great stir in France and for a time was -prohibited in Germany. She is a woman of most brilliant gifts. The -intimate friend of Busoni, she is a first-rate musician herself. The -friend also of the German poet Schickele she has a just appreciation -of good verse, and writes well. She speaks several languages with the -fluency of her native tongue, and her English is a model for many an -Englishman. - -There was one name on the list of delegates which attracted my special -interest, Andreas Latzko, the author of the book which caused such a -world-wide sensation, “Men in Battle.” - -“What is Latzko like?” I asked a friend. - -“Latzko is a pacifist monkey of Hungarian birth,” replied this -complimentary individual. Latzko is small and dark and vain. He makes -fiery speeches with nothing much in them except emotion. I should -say his experiences in the trenches have seriously impaired his -constitution and his nerve. He gives the impression of being neurotic -and erratic. He is very self-absorbed. I must tell of a curious -experience which befel, illustrative of Latzko’s temperament and -character. A friend and I were supping at the hotel where he lodged. -Presently came a message from Latzko’s son begging that we would call -and see his father. He was seriously ill in bed. “Will you go?” asked -my friend. “By all means when he is so ill. He must have something -very serious to say,” was my reply. My companion smiled sardonically, -but sent the boy with a message to say we would come up in half an -hour. When we arrived we found the poor little man sitting up in bed, -propped with pillows and making a great moan in a weak, strained voice. -He thanked us effusively for coming, gasping as he spoke. I thought he -must be dying. He spoke of his wife as of one who would soon be left -to struggle with the wicked world alone. He showed us her photograph. -She was away in Hungary. He was longing to see her. Then he came to -the real business of the occasion. Would I call and see his publisher -in England and find out why the royalties were not forthcoming. My -companion grinned again. - -“Why are you laughing?” I asked, rather puzzled, as we descended the -stairs. “I am laughing at an amusing farce just played,” he said. “At -supper you sat with your back to the hotel entry. I saw Latzko enter -during our meal, look in at the glass door furtively, recognize us, and -rush upstairs to prepare for his part. The rest you know.” - -“Then he is not ill,” I said disgustedly, thinking of the pillow I had -smoothed, and the tenderness I had wasted. - -“Oh yes, he is ill, very ill; but not in the way you think,” was the -slow reply. “He is sick of self-love.” - -One more interesting delegate at this Conference comes to my -remembrance, Professor Nicolai, a slight, fair man with hair pushed -back over a large forehead, and a thin, small chin. He presented rather -a limp appearance, doubtless due in part to under-feeding, but a little -also to the radical idealist’s too-frequent inattention to matters of -the toilet. His collar had a greyish look and his cuffs were not there! - -Dr. Nicolai enjoys the distinction of being the first person to -establish the war against war on a scientific basis. His “Biology of -War” is an arresting and most valuable contribution to the literature -of the movement. During the war he was constantly coming into collision -with the German authorities for his pacifist utterances. He was several -times tried for his offences, sentenced to prison, retried and tried -again. The Government never actually imprisoned him. Such cases as his -and Dr. Förster’s are worthy of note for two reasons. There are many -people in England who believe that no voice was raised against the -war and the war policy of the German Government by Germans in Germany -during the war. This is demonstrated untrue. Then the comparatively -mild treatment by the German authorities of their pacifist professors -is interesting in view of the reputed intolerance of the German -war-lords for those not of their own political breed. In 1918 Dr. -Nicolai escaped to Denmark in an aeroplane, but is now back in his -chair at the University of Berlin. There he is the centre of vicious -attacks by reactionary professors, who pit against his new, their old, -hoping the turn of the wheel will bring back the old order to the -Fatherland. - - * * * * * - -The Conference and its several Commissions sat for three weeks. -There were many occasions for social intercourse between the various -sessions. The hotel was packed with interesting personalities. In view -of his elevated position as Prime Minister of Hungary, I recall with -interest my meeting with Count Teleki. He was presented to me as a -moderate Socialist. It all depends upon definition. At that time the -Bolsheviks were in power in Hungary. By comparison with Bela Kun I -imagine Count Teleki sincerely believed himself a moderate Socialist. -Or perhaps I took seriously what was intended for a joke. Perhaps it -was one of those insincerities of speech, uttered to please and without -the slightest regard to the truth, I found so common in the nationals -of Latin and Balkan countries. Count Teleki’s present behaviour -suggests the aristocratic reactionary rather than the Socialist. He is -said to have aided Kaiser Karl in his ill-timed escapade. But in the -Hôtel Belle Vue at the brilliant dinner table he was the charming, -cynical, cultivated friend of political saint and sinner alike; a -scientist in exile; a professor without a chair; a patriot without a -country; a good fellow and a jolly companion. He is a man of moderate -height, with thin features and a clean-shaven face. He is not unlike -Mr. Bertrand Russell in appearance, and is probably not more than -forty years of age. From my conversation with him I cannot imagine -for a moment that he is in sympathy with the action of the Hungarian -extremists, who have instituted a “White Terror” worse than the Red -since the fall of Bela Kun and his associates. And I think it only -fair in this connexion to say that every Hungarian with whom I spoke -in Berne agreed that Bela Kun himself was no sympathizer with the -behaviour of his own extremists. He suffered the common fate of rulers -tossed up by violent revolutions--the poisonous association of worse -and stronger men than himself. - - * * * * * - -There was presented to me one day in the lobby of the hotel a tall -thin man with laughing eyes and an engaging boyish manner, who had -just challenged Fate by dashing at break-neck speed from Geneva to -Berne in a powerful motor-car. His English was halting but perfectly -intelligible, and he had a way of insinuating himself into the regard -of a stranger which reminded one of the wiles of the “White-headed -Boy.” It was Prince Ludwig Windischgraetz, the Winston Churchill of -Hungary; the gay, irresponsible hero of a thousand romances, military, -political and human. He is only thirty-eight years of age, but he has -had a very full life, and has held positions of great responsibility in -his country’s public life. At the time of the Conference in Budapest -of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies he was one of the -distinguished champions of votes for women. He was very much concerned -that I should understand that he was a sincere democrat. I remember -with some amusement at a lunch, where he and his wife, Mr. Rudolf -Kommer and myself formed the party, taking his side most heartily in a -hot discussion on the relative value of autocracy and democracy. He, -the kinsman of kings, was all for democracy. Who was against it must be -inferred. But the Prince was very much in earnest. - -His memoirs, which are to be published in English very soon, will -be interesting reading if they are anything like complete, for the -adventures of this temperamental romanticist, this gallant and not too -discreet patriot, this reckless and warm-hearted young aristocrat have -been many and varied. Recklessness in politics is a dangerous thing; -but Prince Windischgraetz has the personality which reminds one how -mean a thing discretion can be. I have not the slightest doubt in my -own mind that Prince Ludwig Windischgraetz was the prime instigator and -organizer of the Kaiser Karl exploit. - -But the Prince’s greatest romance is surely his wife. Princess Maria -Windischgraetz is one of the loveliest women I have ever seen. Her -beauty is of the English type: fair skin, golden hair and blue eyes. -She is one of the few women outside feminist and Socialist circles I -met on the Continent whose gaze is frank, and who leaves the impression -of a decent attitude towards men. I wearied of it almost before I -understood the sex-game as it is played in the cosmopolitan cities of -Europe (doubtless of this country also). The insolent, sidelong look, -the provocative dress, the tasteless conversation and gross manners of -the women habituées of fashionable cafés and big continental hotels -are a weariness of the flesh to the self-respecting. A relief it was -after the hectic atmosphere of the hotel reception-rooms to meet this -sweet Hungarian mother of five beautiful children who looks like a -girl, and hear her unaffected talk about her home and her country. She -very modestly claimed no understanding of politics; but had she had -the power she knew enough and felt rightly enough to have saved her -country from the pit into which politicians with more experience but -less common sense had let it fall. - -We met several times, each occasion happier than the last. From -entirely different worlds, I think she would agree that we understood -each other and held many ideas in common. I remember one meeting -with peculiar tenderness. We were the guests of Mr. Rudolf Kommer on -the Gurten-külm. After dinner we walked through the trees to see the -moonlight on the Bernese Alps. I tried to comfort her with prophecies -that all would be well with Hungary one day if Hungary did not lose -faith in herself. “And when that day comes, do not, I beg of you, -copy the methods you deplore in the Bolsheviks, establishing a White -Terror instead of a Red. Someone has got to take a stand against the -iniquities and cruelties of terrorism. Let those to whom more has been -given do that, the educated, the rich, the aristocratic.” - -I do not know what part, if any, Princess Maria has played in the -recent politics of Hungary. Her estates have been restored to her; her -country is hers once more. Whether or not she approved of the insane -policy which has treated simple Trade Unionists and Co-operators as -Bolsheviks, and still strikes discriminating blows at the poor Jews, I -am not able to say. Probably not. But she said to me when I begged her -to take up the cause of women in Hungary: “I have five children to care -for and a husband to look after. I have little time for politics.” - -Princess Maritza von Liechtenstein is another beautiful blonde who -was living in Berne at the time of the Conference. She is stronger -looking than Princess Windischgraetz, and more vigorous and active. -Her English is amazingly perfect. She is the daughter of Count Geza -Andrassy, the Hungarian patriot, and the mother of five or six handsome -boys. She bitterly blamed Count Karolyi for having let loose the flood -of Bolshevism upon Hungary, especially criticizing his land policy and -the break up of the big estates. She evinced considerable interest -in English politics. So did her distinguished uncle. Both confessed -to a real liking for England which I believe was quite genuine. -Count Andrassy appeared much broken by his country’s afflictions. In -appearance he struck me as a refined edition of Thomas Carlyle in his -later years. He has grey hair with touches of white, a square forehead, -shaggy eyebrows, clear-cut features, a slightly stooping figure. A -striking resemblance to my own father attracted me. He walked about the -hotel full, as one could see, of grave preoccupation: not too occupied -to save a woman from a mistake! I was taking tea with him and one other -when the concierge brought to me a note from a man who claimed a mutual -friendship with a highly respected friend of my own. This man in his -wife’s name invited me to his home. I had never heard of the man. I -read the name aloud. Count Andrassy suggested that I would be wise to -decline the invitation, which I did. I afterwards discovered how right -he was! - -Prince Johann von Liechtenstein, the father of the six splendid boys, -is a tall, grave, elegant man with blue eyes, black-fringed, and a -reserved and earnest manner. Soft and slow of speech, without a trace -of self-assertiveness, he made a friend of all with whom he came into -contact. - - * * * * * - -Before leaving Berne I paid a visit of investigation to a camp for -hungry Austrian children at Frutigen, on the invitation of Baroness -von Einam, who ran the camp. This extraordinary woman collected -incredible sums of money and organized this camp whilst other people -were busy thinking about it. There in the Swiss mountains for seven -weeks each, five or six hundred starving little Austrians lived. They -were housed in the smaller hotels. Their teachers came with them. The -villagers told us in answer to our questions that when the children -first came nobody knew they were there, they crept about so languidly -and quietly. The second week they began to sing and run about. The -third week they tore the air with their happy yells. When we saw them -they were about to go home. They looked rosy and brown and jolly. -They had played in the fields all the morning. For us they were going -to sing and dance. Their costumes were of paper, but very prettily -made. And they went through their exercises with great grace and -beauty. One incident only marred the day’s proceedings. A little girl -had written to Vienna complaining that her teacher ate all her food. -She was brought before Baroness Einam. The teacher, a red-faced girl -of over-fed appearance, feeling herself wronged, rushed at the pale -child as if to strangle her. The girl was stubborn and refused to make -amends. What was done to the little Bolshevik I don’t know. But it -was gratifying to the organizers of the scheme, and very interesting -to us to discover that the kindly Swiss peasants grew so attached to -the little Austrians that when the time came for them to go home they -offered to keep them all until the next Austrian harvest. - -We drove home through the lovely Swiss scenery in the cool evening -air. But what obtrudes on the mind to spoil the memory of that drive? -The six luckless idiots, with vacant faces and staring eyes, the -disfiguring goitre thickening their poor throats, we counted on the -roadside before we were out of sight of the little mountain town. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN AT ZURICH (JUNE, 1919) - - -The Women’s International League for Permanent Peace came into -existence during the war. It was founded by that section of the -National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies which withdrew from the -parent organization because it felt that the attitude of the Union to -the war was compromising too seriously the reputation of its members -for clear and calm thinking and constructive enterprise. Neutrality for -an individual on questions related to the war was very difficult; for -an organization it proved impossible. The educated women of the great -women’s Union were quite unable to agree to differ on such matters as -the causes and conduct and remedy for this and all wars. Some had to -resign. The pacifists did so and formed their own organization. They -included many of the best and most devoted workers for women’s causes -in the country, such as Councillor Margaret Ashton and Miss Maude -Royden. The broad line of division between these two sets of equally -able women, now happily friends again, was nationalistic. “My country, -right or wrong,” and “Let us get down to root causes,” are probably the -phrases that represented fairly the different lines of action. Although -in the Women’s International League there were many who believed with -the others that right in this conflict lay wholly with this country, -they differed in believing that the war should not be pursued to the -knock-out blow, but should be ended as speedily as possible by the -peaceful method of negotiation, if that were possible. But it is only -fair to say that in their ultimate hopes and desires for permanent -peace the two organizations do not differ by so much as a hair’s -breadth. - -The Women’s International League held its first Conference at the -Hague in April of 1915. Immense difficulties blocked the way to the -holding of this Conference. The British Government obstinately withheld -passports till the last moment. These were finally granted with extreme -reluctance, and more than a hundred women from Great Britain prepared -to attend. Many of them actually reached Tilbury, bag in hand, ready -to step on board, when the news came that the Channel had been closed -and the ship would not sail. Many women to this hour are convinced -that the closing of the Channel was a deliberate act on the part of -the Government to prevent those women attending the Conference. I am -inclined to think that the reason given was the correct one, that there -were naval engagements actually begun or feared, which absolutely -necessitated the stoppage of ordinary traffic. It would be altogether -too encouraging to believe that the activities of a few women had such -power to determine the conduct of the Government at such a time; and -too flattering to imagine that our influence was of such consequence -that this indirect method of achieving its will must in wisdom be -adopted by the Government. - -Only two British women were present at the Conference, the two who had -gone to the Hague some weeks before to help with the organization. -Forty American women, including the chairman, Miss Jane Addams, crossed -the Atlantic to attend. Both German and Belgian women were present, -and women from several other European countries contrived to attend in -spite of the difficulties of travel which beset them. The Conference -accomplished nothing of a material character, but it gave moral courage -to those who were there, and directed the thought and activity of -thousands of women throughout the world at a time when most people were -feeling too intensely to be able to think clearly. - -Miss Jane Addams, the President of the Women’s International League, -is a very remarkable international figure. She is a tiny woman of -sweet Quaker aspect, with her hair parted in the middle and brushed -smoothly back from her ears. She has large sad eyes which look as -though the pain of living were too great to be borne, so acutely does -her sensitive spirit react to the suffering and injustice in the world. -Her dress is simple. Her manner is calm and dignified, but tender to -the young and needy, inviting confidence but not frivolity. She is, -notwithstanding the general seriousness of her manner, full of humour, -and can laugh with the best at a piece of genuine fun. The first time -I visited America I sought her at Hull House, Chicago, the chief -monument to her life’s labours. “You must go and see the greatest man -in America,” said John Burns to me just before I sailed. “You mean -President Roosevelt?” I queried. “I mean Jane Addams,” he replied. “The -greatest man in America is a woman.” There are those who think they pay -the highest compliment to a woman who speak of her greatness as of that -of a man. My friend Dr. Anna Shaw told me that she was once introduced -to an audience as a “very great woman--a woman with the brain of a -man.” The Rev. Anna rose with a mischievous smile twitching the corners -of her mouth, and in a drawling voice began: “Before I can take that as -a compliment, Mr. Chairman, I want to _see_ the man whose brain I’ve -got!” - -Jane Addams is indeed great with her own woman’s greatness, great with -the greatness of pure goodness and intense and loving sympathies joined -to more than ordinary powers of organization. Hull House was the first -great Settlement House in Chicago. It was meant primarily to minister -to the social and intellectual needs of the crowds of immigrant -citizens flowing continually into the city. It comprises club houses -for both sexes and all ages, a restaurant, a hospital, a gymnasium, -baths, workrooms, library--everything, in short, which is necessary -to make life tolerable in a dreary neighbourhood devoid of any of the -amenities and most of the decencies of ordinary civilization. - -The district round Hull House is filled with Greeks, Italians, -Bulgarians, Czechs, Poles, Russians, Lithuanians--a little Europe. -Most of these people speak no English when they arrive. The young ones -learn it quickly; the old ones slowly, or not at all. The young ones -adopt American clothes, American manners, American slang; the old folk, -particularly the women, keep as long as they can to their picturesque -native dress. The young people turn up their noses at the old folk; the -old people are lonely and miserable. Family life becomes threatened -in many a home. Miss Addams noticed this. She established a workroom -with primitive spinning wheels and weaving frames. She gathered the -old people into this room to work at their native craft. She praised -their work. She sold it for good prices. She brought rich citizens of -Chicago to look at the work and admire it. The old people recovered -their self-respect. The young people became subdued. Good feeling was -restored and many a family made happy again. By such simple devices did -Jane Addams make herself beloved of the poor and her international work -of real account. - -Miss Addams is, I am told, of Quaker ancestry, highly educated, and the -friend of the élite of America. During the war she shared with others -the pain of misunderstanding and abuse. I caught a glimpse of her -suffering at the Kingsway Hall when she told of her work in Chicago in -the early days of the war--five hundred bright Italian boys marching -past Hull House to entrain for the war, followed by an equal number -of young Bulgarians on the same errand, friends and brothers of the -Settlement, soon to fall before one another’s fire in a war for which -they were in no way responsible, and for reasons which they could not -understand. Jane Addams’s mission of peace to many of the Courts of -Europe was the outcome of a deep compassion for the young victims of -war based upon experiences like this. - -Her association with the peace ship was unfortunate, and her general -attitude to the war caused her to suffer the unpopularity which all -nonconformists must endure. But history will right her and them. - - * * * * * - -It was felt desirable after the Armistice to hold a second conference -of the League in order to gather up the broken strands of international -friendship and activity. During the League of Nations Conference in -Berne a joint meeting of the women delegates and the officers of the -Swiss branch of the Women’s International League was held to discuss -the possibility of holding the Conference in Switzerland. The Swiss -women were willing if the Swiss authorities would permit it and if help -could be given them with the organization. I wired to Mrs. Swanwick, -the British President, and satisfactory promises of help having been -received, it was agreed that the Conference should be held in Zurich -in June of 1919. All Europe was despairing of the Peace Treaty not yet -published, and the delays were felt increasingly to be full of bad -omen. Our Conference opened in brilliant sunshine amidst the gloomiest -of fears. - -Zurich is, like all Swiss cities, a model of bright cleanliness, its -streets filled with flowers in the summer, its surroundings of wood -and mountains a physical glory and a spiritual delight. And to add to -it all there is the wonderful lake--truly a city for inspiration, if -inspiration is anywhere to be felt in times like these. - -I travelled in advance of my fellow-delegates, having preliminary -business in Berne. During the previous Conference many lonely people, -unable to reach their friends, had given me commissions in Paris -and London, and I felt obliged to return to report the results. For -example: I was writing a letter in the lounge of the Belle Vue Hotel -when a beautiful little girl of twelve, with long fair hair and pink -cheeks, came and spoke to me in perfect English. I was informed that -she was a German child and that she enjoyed a distinguished name--von -Kleist. I discovered later that she had a beautiful American mother, -which accounted for her English, and that her father, Major von Kleist, -was a prisoner of war in England. In reply to a wistful question I -offered to see the father and convey greetings from the mother and -child. The British authorities at home were as reasonable and generous -as I have usually found them in all personal relationships, and I -received permission to visit Major von Kleist in Skipton internment -camp. He was glad to see someone who had so recently seen his wife -and daughter, and who could testify from sight to their health and -well-being. - -On another occasion came two cultivated Jews from Czernowitz who had -a mission to the Jewish Commissioners to the Paris Peace Conference. -They could not get their visa and were in great trouble. The Zionist -case would suffer if its supporters could not be heard. Would I help -them by conveying their written statement to Paris? I knew Rabbi Wise, -the Chief Commissioner, and engaged to take these papers to him. On -reaching Paris I discovered that Rabbi Wise had returned to America, -but delivered the document to his able substitute. - -Then there were those who were working for the Siberian prisoners. -Terrible stories were told of the sufferings of these wretched -men--become nobody’s concern with the withdrawal of Russia from the -war and the anarchy consequent upon the Revolution there. No fewer -than a quarter of a million, chiefly Austrians and Hungarians, were -left to starve and die in internment camps in conditions which beggar -description. Some joined the Bolsheviks. Some escaped and died on the -way home. Some were told to go, and fought, begged, stole their way to -the Polish frontier, only to be told they could go no farther. A few, -of a stronger breed, reached home in rags, to tell harrowing stories -of incredible suffering. The Allies were petitioned to help with money -and ships. They were begged to intercede with the Poles to allow the -wretched men under proper control to cross the frontier. It was sought -to get ships at Vladivostock to take them round the other way. The -Hungarian Red Cross had a petition for President Wilson. Would I take -it? I agreed to do so, and placed it in the hands of Colonel House. The -men left alive have since been repatriated by the League of Nations, -through the efforts of Dr. Nansen. - -There were other and less important matters to report: The delivery -of letters from Baron Szilassy and his sister to their friends in -Huddersfield. Baron Szilassy was the newly appointed Hungarian Minister -in Berne, and his sister is a fresh, good-natured girl, English in -type. Both spoke excellent English. - -So I travelled by Berne _en route_ for Zurich, happy to be the bearer -of many kind messages to lonely and miserable people. When I arrived in -Zurich most of the British delegates had not arrived owing to passport -troubles; but they appeared before the Conference began. - - * * * * * - -Mrs. Swanwick, the President of the British branch of the Women’s -International League, is one of the most commanding personalities -of the women’s movement. She is slender and fair, with a delightful -boyish mop of pale gold hair which curls up at the ends, and sky blue -eyes. She is a person of quite extraordinary intellectual power, a -little lacking in tenderness to those of lesser calibre. She finds it -extremely difficult to obey the scriptural injunction to “suffer fools -gladly.” She is apt to take strong prejudices against people, which is -annoying to herself, since it is inconsistent with her own standard -of intellect and the conduct she demands of other people; but she has -very good judgment in most affairs, and I should not be surprised to -discover that in her prejudices she is generally right. Her courage, -both physical and moral, is of the very first order and beyond all -praise. She is very delicate and yet contrives to do the work of -three people. And like many another, she staked everything except her -self-respect when she took a public stand against the ignorant hatreds -of the war. She is full of artistic appreciation, hates cant and -humbug, and is devoted to practical things and persons. She is a very -consistent and intrepid feminist, but happily devoid of the anti-man -bias which is the mark of the feminist fool! - -At the first session of the Conference, tender-hearted Isabella Ford -flitted from one woman to another, busying herself in particular with -the frail and underfed women from the ex-enemy lands, saying here -and there the comforting helpful word to lonely souls inclined to a -half-bitterness. There was one pathetic little creature from Vienna, -since dead from privation, whose poor hands and face were a mass of -festering sores left by the cold and under-nourishment of the previous -winter. She was so happy to be there, and, like a little bird, hopped -cheerily about the room, revelling in her reunion with old friends; but -I heard privately that even in Switzerland, where food abounded, she -was not getting enough to eat. The exchange told so heavily against -her that practically all her money went to pay for her room and the -morning coffee, and she was sitting all day without food. I engaged the -interest of some of the more prosperous women, and believe that they -were able by the exercise of tact to improve the circumstances of this -brave little woman. - -Isabella came to me the second morning with her eyes full of tears. -“Dear Isabella, what is the matter?” I inquired. She showed me a -telegram just received by her German neighbour announcing the death -of her only daughter. “She is heart-broken,” said my friend. “She was -an only child. And it was through hunger that the decline set in. She -cannot speak to us this morning. And I do not wonder.” - -Two ladies from Munich were the most vigorous speakers on the German -side, and were immensely popular. One was Dr. Anita Augspurg, the -other Fräulein L. G. Hyman. They live together in Munich, and were -as inseparable at the Conference as the Siamese twins. Dr. Augspurg -suggests a Franciscan monk in appearance. She wears her grey hair -short. Her strong pleasant face has the expression of the religious -fanatic whose conviction is founded upon reason, a rare phenomenon -in any country, but a type frequently met in the Russian Socialist -Movement. In addition, to help the illusion, she wears a severe and -loose style of dress suggestive of the robe of a priest. She is kind -austerity embodied, simple and dignified. Her intimate friend is -more emotional, full of quick passion and, I should imagine, quicker -prejudices. Like Dr. Augspurg she is a pacifist and an excellent -advocate. Her voice is of masculine timbre, and she has a vigorous and -compelling gesture. Both these ladies are extravagant anti-Prussians -eager to secure for Bavaria its independence of Berlin. Their account -of the revolution in Bavaria was intensely interesting and amusing, and -perhaps a few words may be told here quite appropriately. - - * * * * * - -I have already mentioned Kurt Eisner, the long-haired delegate who -met us at Berne railway station on our way to the International. -Kurt Eisner was the leader of the Bavarian Revolution, and until his -assassination was President-Prime Minister of the Bavarian Republic. -For many years this very able Prussian Jew had been the dramatic -critic of the German Socialist newspaper _Vorwärts_. He was a witty -and brilliant writer, and was considered by æsthetic Berlin one of her -greatest living authorities. Up to the time of the outbreak of war he -had barely touched practical politics. His Socialism was the idealistic -theorizing of the café habitué, or at best the philosophic conclusion -of the amiable and able dreamer of dreams which ought to come true, -but do not in a lifetime. When the war broke out he violently opposed -the war policy of the German Government. His articles were censored; -he was thrown into prison. He was living in Munich at this time. The -downfall of the military power in Germany set him free. Having suffered -for his faith, he was acclaimed by the leaderless Socialist Movement of -Munich one of the martyrs of militarism and the predestined chief of -the pacifist Socialist Movement of Bavaria. - -The young intellectuals of Munich were yelling all the time “Down with -militarism,” but nobody quite knew how it was to be “downed.” The idea -occurred to Eisner to march to the palace with a dozen men and demand -the abdication of the king. They carried with them a strongly worded -manifesto expressing in beautiful language their fine ideals, and -marched up to the door of the palace in truculent mood prepared for the -worst, hoping for the best. The best was realized. The royal forces -offered no resistance. All they asked was that the king might retire -unmolested. This was granted. Eisner was set up in the king’s place, -head of the new Republic. In a quarter of an hour, without the firing -of a shot, the dynasty which had ruled for centuries was suspended, -and a member of the despised race, a Jew, and a hated Prussian, was -elevated in its stead. - -It was a revolution made inevitable by the defeat of the militarists -of Germany; but it might have been lasting if the militarists of -the Allies had gone the same way. As it is, the peace has made that -impossible. The present reaction in Bavaria, the general restoration -in Central Europe of a belief in the power of the sword, is due to the -revelation of the fact contained in the various Peace Treaties that -the power of the sword is the power in which the Allies also trust. It -would have been better for the revolution in Bavaria if Kurt Eisner had -declined to be the symbol of the new order, for a Prime Minister of -the race of the Jews was intolerable to aristocrat and peasant alike. - -Kurt Eisner was not a politician, as I have already said. He was an -artist in words. He was a Bohemian in habits. He loved to frequent -the cafés. He could not in his new office drop at once the habits and -interests of a lifetime. Infinitely illuminating of the man’s tastes -and political judgment is his first act after taking office. It was -the reorganization of the theatre of Munich! He was not able to keep -separate the two sides of his life, the social and the political, as -wiser men would have done. He mixed the beer and tobacco and gossip -of the café with the work, organization and government of the council -chamber. Many of his followers and helpers copied his ways. The young -men who served him ought to have been allowed to continue playing -billiards in the Café Stéfanie. Most of them were unfit for the -great responsibilities so suddenly thrust upon them. Similar to the -experience of Lenin and of most of the other Socialist leaders who had -power suddenly thrust upon them was that of Kurt Eisner, who became the -prey of revolution-profiteers, place-hunters, adventurers, insincere -men and women who professed the new political creed as eagerly as they -held the old. “This sort of thing,” said the great Lincoln solemnly, -“will ultimately test the strength of our democratic institutions.” It -has tainted their reputation already. - -At the International Kurt Eisner was prime favourite with the French -delegates because he was so bitter and unsparing in his attacks on -Imperial Germany. He was not a great orator, but he impressed his -audience with the passionate sincerity of every word he spoke. It was -one of his speeches in Berne which was said to have determined his -murderer, the young Count Arco, to kill him. It concerned the German -prisoners of war who were then, four months after the war, still held -back in France. Eisner tried to explain the French point of view in -the matter. He was represented in Germany as having approved of it. -It was felt to be intolerable. He was shot dead. And the shot made a -martyr of a man, amiable, kind, gifted, slovenly in dress and habit, -who had already outlived his usefulness to the Revolution and was about -to resign, and who might have retired to some café and talked and -smoked his life away to its happy and unimportant end. For me he is an -interesting memory; but I have to confess to the faint lingering of a -feeling of resentment, the feeling I have always been unable to conquer -for that type of pacifist, to be found in every country, who tries to -absorb for his own government the entire responsibility for the war. - - * * * * * - -It is impossible to name all the brilliant and capable women who -attended this Conference. Amongst them was Miss Crystal Macmillan, -tall and “bonny” and Scottish, the lawyer of the Conference, born to -confound the illogical male; Mrs. Pethick Lawrence, vivacious, eloquent -and warm; Frau Herzka of the mischievous smile and the everlasting -cigarette; Mademoiselle Gobat, the gifted daughter of the renowned -Swiss pacifist; Mademoiselle Melan from France, whose wonderful speech -electrified the assembly and melted to tears the hardest pro-Ally -and to softness the bitterest pro-German; and a host of others from -the four corners of the earth, women whose names are household words -in their respective countries. It was a good Conference, and gave -direction to the thoughts and impulses of many who would otherwise have -struggled in vain against the national psychology, and beaten their -idealism to death against the almost indestructible barbed wires of -national hates and prejudices. - -During the sitting of the women’s Conference the Treaty of Versailles -was published. The outrage upon the conscience of mankind which it -revealed, and the stain upon the reputation of the Allies which it -was, pledged to build upon fourteen fundamentals, every one of which -was violated or ignored, stunned and stung the Conference into misery -first and indignant protest afterwards. On the morning after the -publication of the Treaty a unanimous declaration was made, proposed by -myself, against the Treaty of Versailles. Lest the cynic should smile -at the speed with which the Conference arrived at its conclusion on a -matter which had occupied the Conference in Paris for seven months, -I should like to point out two things. First, we had a clear idea in -our minds of the essentials which the peace should contain. President -Wilson and the British Prime Minister had helped us there. As for the -elaborate clauses and fine details of the Treaty: more than one of the -delegates had spent the best part of a day and the whole of a summer -night digesting these for the morrow’s debate. As a matter of historic -interest I insert the first public declaration against the Treaty by -any body of people in the world. - -“This International Congress of Women expresses its deep regret that -the terms of peace proposed at Versailles should so seriously violate -the principles upon which alone a just and lasting peace can be secured -and which the democracies of the world had come to accept. - -“By guaranteeing the fruits of the secret treaties to the conquerors, -the terms of peace tacitly sanction secret diplomacy, deny the -principle of self-determination, recognize the right of the victors to -the spoils of war, and create all over Europe discords and animosities -which can only lead to future wars. - -“By the demand for the disarmament of one set of belligerents only the -principle of justice is violated, and the rule of force is continued. -By the financial and economic proposals a hundred million people of -this generation in the heart of Europe are condemned to poverty, -disease and despair which must result in the spread of hatred and -anarchy within each nation. - -“With a deep sense of responsibility this Congress strongly urges the -Allied and Associated Governments to accept such amendments of the -terms as shall bring the Peace into harmony with the principles first -enumerated by President Wilson, upon the faithful carrying out of which -the honour of the Allied peoples depends.” - - * * * * * - -I left the Conference that day in the company of one of the most -brilliant of living Germans. He had never been optimistic about the -Peace. He was more than half in sympathy with the militarist point -of view although a sincere internationalist. It was not any fighting -proclivity which had shaped his opinion. He hated violence for the -vulgar, futile thing it is. But an inherited capacity for facing -realities, and a cultivated habit of looking squarely at facts, led him -to severe criticism of those he contemptuously spoke of as idealists. -He was an idealist himself after a fashion; but his ideal was not of -the complexion of that exemplified in the conference of women. He -had no use for democracy. He spoke openly of the stupid, ignorant -thing which, he alleged, most people really believe it to be if they -were honest with themselves and the rest of the world. He differed -from those who acknowledge frankly the weaknesses of democracy, but -who, recognizing its inevitability, hope that with education and -organization it need not to all eternity be the victim of the cunning -and the corrupt. He believed democracy to be the predestined victim of -power till the end of time. His ideal was the domination of mankind by -a few great empires, commonwealths, call them what you will, British, -German, Russian and American. The small nationalities he regarded as -a nuisance. He was bitterly hostile to those British delegates who -contemplated complacently the break-up of the British Empire. He would -have applauded the dissertations of Dean Inge on “the squalid anarchy -of democracy,” laughed to scorn the idea of an entirely independent -India, Egypt, Ireland, and through all his pain at the destruction -of the German Empire, pleaded for the preservation of that of Great -Britain. - -For the “strong men” of England he had the warmest admiration. To my -astonishment, before I knew him properly, he expressed an equal regard -for M. Clemenceau. “What!” I exclaimed, “the man who is doing his best -to ruin Germany? Or, at least, to benefit France in such a way that -only the ruin of Germany can result? You astonish me!” - -“But why not?” he replied. “In Clemenceau there is a man who knows -what he wants and means to get it; who looks for the attainable and -means to attain it. When did you read from Clemenceau a speech full -of delightful and impossible pledges and promises? Has Clemenceau -disguised the real objects of this war under a cover of fine and -deceptive phrases? All he cares about is France. He would stop at -nothing to advance the interests of France. One can understand a point -of view like that. It is cruel. It hurts Germany. Very well. That is -sad for Germany; but, at least, with such a man we know where we are -and what to expect. If that is nothing, it is better to expect nothing -and get it than to expect much and be disappointed. Clemenceau knows -that in strangling Germany he will satisfy the immediate demands of -France. That is all he cares about. This is the present. The future is -far away, indefinite. New events will shape and govern that. For the -present it is France, only France, all the time France; and for the -rest? _N’importe!_ It is an intelligible point of view.” - -There was a long pause during which I marvelled for the hundredth time -at the amazing facility for languages of the cultivated European. - -“It is not the Clemenceaus and the Ludendorffs of the world, but your -Wilsons, your Lloyd Georges, your idiotic idealists who are bringing it -to ruin.” He glanced at me to see if I were offended. “Please go on,” I -murmured. “You interest me deeply.” - -“Your idealists have promised the people impossible things, Wilson’s -Fourteen Points, for instance, Lloyd George’s wonderful phrases, -Asquith’s war-time speeches, the Russian manifestoes, numberless -ministers of religion with no more knowledge of international politics -than the Bibles they thump. They have told the stupid masses that this -is a holy war; that the peace will be based upon justice: that nothing -but good is intended the German people, if they will only get rid of -their blood-stained Kaiser. The same sort of amiable idiots in Germany -believe this sort of thing. All Germans, with the exception of a few -so-called pan-Germans, are intoxicating themselves with the thought -that liberty is born anew; that militarism is dead for ever; that with -the new German democracy the Allied democracies will make a fair and -democratic peace. Pathetically relying on the Fourteen Points, they are -pre-figuring a glorious future for free Germany, its place in the sun -assured according to plan, a member of the great Society of Nations -which shall maintain the peace of the world. Poor deluded wretches! -What an awakening there will be!” - -All this was in Berne during the International. - -We left the Zurich conference hall together and discovered a little -café famous for its good tea and delicious pastries. Not a word did -we speak for many minutes. I was filled with awe at the spectacle of -his misery. The ordinarily smiling brown eyes were black with pain, -the pain of a suffering dumb animal. He lit a cigarette. The silence -continued. I felt like an intruder gazing in at the windows of a man’s -stricken soul; but to retire would have been unsympathetic. So I stayed -and poured out the tea and waited in silence for the speech that I -hoped might come. - -“How can you sit there looking so fresh and beautiful? How can the sun -go on shining and the birds continue to sing when the world is really -dark and black and sunk in rottenness?” was the beginning. - -“You feel it more than you expected?” I asked, reminding him of the -Berne conversation. - -“It is so much worse than I expected. I did not expect much, God knows. -But this thing--it means famine, anarchy, war in Europe for twenty, -thirty, forty years!” I waited patiently. - -“Germany is to pay the uttermost farthing for the damage she did to -civilians, which is not unreasonable; an enormous amount of the war -damage, of which I do not complain; but also incalculable sums for the -mischief for which she is not responsible, or only in part, which is -wrong. At the same time practically all the means by which she is to -make the money are to be taken from her--ships, minerals, colonies. -She is to be disarmed and her deadly enemy is to remain fully armed. -Any fool can see where that will lead. And the worst is not told. The -slow starvation of Germany, the lynch-pin of European civilization, -will mean incredible moral decline and spiritual degradation. Millions -of people will think food, talk food, dream food, steal food, lie for -food, bribe, corrupt and even murder for food. What man would see his -wife and children die of hunger whilst food was to be had? Masses of -disbanded soldiers, for whom there will be no work, will enlist for -adventures, will quarrel, fight and kill, either for subsistence or in -the service of the enemies of their country, having no choice, if they -are to live. The new states will be insolent, ambitious, tyrannical, -unscrupulous. Instead of one big war there will be twenty little -ones--war never ceasing, war for crude material things. Art, music, -literature, the drama--these will decay. First class artists will go -to America where they can be paid. Grass will grow in decayed cities -and ignorant peasants will instal themselves in the seats of power. -We shall have restored the age of bigotry and superstition. Central -Europe will not merely be Balkanized; it will be atomized. Our horizon -will decline to the level of each man’s immediate family, if he has a -conscience. He will have no horizon but himself if he has none. And as -for your ideals”--here he paused--“the failure of Wilson has made faith -in them impossible to revive for decades, if ever again. Faith in the -pledged word of public men, faith in idealism, faith in religion--this -is dying or dead. And our idealists have killed it, not the men who -never professed more than the crudest material objectives in this war. -Wilson and Lloyd George between them have damaged the world’s moral -currency infinitely more than the Treaty of Peace has damaged the -financial currency of Germany; and the world is poorer by the loss of -the one than of the other, grave though that is.” - -As the passionate words fell from his lips I felt humiliated to the -very dust for the failure that I felt myself to embody. Weeping in a -public place is not a habit of mine or I might have wept. But if my -friend saw no tears, he must have felt the sympathy, for as we rose to -go to the University he said: - -“But justice and sanity owe much to you. I am grateful for your speech -of this morning. It will have no effect. It will accomplish nothing. -But it is good to know there are some with the courage to speak what -they believe even when it is on behalf of a beaten foe. And the German -women will be grateful for your protest against the blockade.” - - * * * * * - -One of the most interesting of the public meetings in connexion with -this Conference was held in an immense church, like a great cathedral -for size and proportions. One of the speakers on this occasion was a -mulatto woman who addressed the gathering in excellent German. Very -suitably she pleaded the cause of her race and the importance of a -world at peace for the development along right lines of the black man -and woman. - -At the foot of the pulpit from which we spoke was an invalid chair -in which was seated a pale, scholarly looking man with a refined and -earnest face. He listened with the keenest attention to the speeches -and obviously understood all the languages employed on this occasion. -Nobody could fail to be arrested by the personality of this intense -listener. The question as to who he was flew from one to another. He -was Prince Alexander Hohenlohe, often spoken of as the “Red Prince” on -account of his radical views on many subjects. The next day I received -a complimentary letter from him and an invitation to tea, which I -accepted. I found him seated under the trees in his chair in the -garden of the Hôtel Baur au Lac, and we had an interesting talk on the -condition of European politics at the time. He spoke in the friendliest -way of England. Amongst his dreams for the future is that of a real -friendship between France and Germany. His father was for some years -German Ambassador to France. His uncle was the German Chancellor. He -himself lived in Paris for years. And this close acquaintance with -the French people had evidently had a happy result. His invalidism -restricts his physical activities; but he is a prolific and able -writer, whose writings invariably aim at the establishment of pacific -relations amongst the nations of the world. - -A speaker who proved most acceptable at the public meetings was Mrs. -Despard. Not only was her speaking liked, but she made an extraordinary -impression upon the Swiss people by the immense dignity, I might almost -say majesty, of her appearance. A walk with Mrs. Despard along the main -street of Zurich stands out in my memory. She was entirely unaware of -the sensation she made; but it is a simple fact that this beautiful -old lady with her aristocratic bearing and fine features, her snowy -hair tucked under a black Spanish lace mantilla, her old-fashioned long -dress and sandalled feet caused everybody who passed her to stop and -stare and stop and stare again, wonder all over his face. There was -respect in every look; no vulgar curiosity. Some men, entirely unknown -to either of us, raised their hats as they passed us, saluting her as -if she were a queen. - -Mrs. Despard is more than seventy years of age, yet she shames us all -by the strenuousness of her life. She is Irish, with an Irishwoman’s -quick imagination and warm heart. When visiting an English town to make -a speech, she is usually advertised as the sister of Viscount (now -Earl) French. Whether this is done to attract an audience by taking -the edge off her Socialism through her connexion with titled folk, or -whether it is thought that otherwise she would interest nobody because -unknown to most, I cannot say; but Mrs. Despard can stand entirely on -her own feet for the richness of her personality and the quality and -variety of her work, always on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. -The only value to be attached to the advertised connexion with Lord -French lies in its demonstration of the possibility of there being -varied opinions without alienated affections in one family. Lord French -and his sister differ as far as the poles in political opinions. She -is a democrat, a Socialist, a pacifist. Nobody knows his politics. She -is in favour of self-determination for Ireland. He has been Ireland’s -Governor-General under the Terror. Yet I understand there exists a -very tender affection the one for the other; and nothing could shake -Mrs. Despard’s belief that, in all his actions, whether as a soldier -or a statesman, her beloved brother has been actuated by the finest -motives that can govern any man in a position of grave responsibility -for the lives and welfare of the people in his charge. In England we -have christened her the “grandmother of the revolution,” because when -many of us were babes in arms, Mrs. Despard was carrying the flag of -freedom in the cause which we hope will ultimately secure the material -happiness of mankind. But in spirit she is the youngest of us all. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE INTERNATIONAL AT LUCERNE (JULY, 1919) - - -It was not the full International, but the special Council appointed by -it which met at Lucerne in July of 1919. This time my position was that -of a representative of the Press, and not a delegate. I had an honorary -commission from a London daily newspaper to report the proceedings -of the Conference. I am afraid my report was not too sympathetic. -Everybody felt the same thing in some degree. Far too much time was -wasted on petty national squabbles. The old fight on responsibility -for the war was taken up with renewed lustiness. French and Germans -yelled at one another, like children in a street squabble, with the -old vituperativeness. Meantime the crime of Paris had been committed, -and the world was shrieking from its gaping and undoctored wounds. A -problem presented itself to me: How to make a genuine International out -of men so filled with national hates and envies that they were at one -another’s throats for the slightest word! Of course, I am sure they -said a great deal more than they meant. They always do at Socialist -conferences. Nobody could stay for five minutes in any Socialist Party -I know, if he believed that all the abuse and violence of language used -by members against one another were intended to be taken at their face -value. But it seemed pitiful that the old vice of talking and saying -nothing should have possessed the International at such a tragic time -in the world’s history. Apart from the awfulness of the Peace, the -persecution of the Jews and the Hungarian counter-revolution should -have absorbed the attention of any body of enlightened Socialists -sitting in conference. - -Lucerne is not a good place for a congress. It is too beautiful. The -delegates wanted to be out amongst the mountains or to be dipping their -hands into the lake as they rowed lazily on its still surface. The most -inveterate lover of eloquence could not get up any enthusiasm for such -indoor sport when he saw the bright sun on the dancing waves and mopped -his moist brow on his cool handkerchief. - -I arrived at the Conference late on account of special difficulties -about my passport. On the way I had a curious experience. It happened -at Berne. I had broken my journey there and taken the evening train. -Into the carriage stepped a dark-haired girl who evidently knew me, -as she called me by my name, and asked if I would mind her smoking -“one little cigarette,” a very mild one. When she had lit it she -settled herself in a corner; and then began a conversation which I -speedily discovered was designed to elicit information. She appeared -particularly interested in Mr. J. R. Macdonald. I evaded all her -questions about Mr. Macdonald, but to silence her on the subject said -she should have an introduction to Mr. Macdonald the next day at the -Conference. Her story of herself was interesting. She had married an -Englishman and divorced him. She had one delicate little son. She had -married again, a Hungarian, a Socialist who had accepted a position -in the Hungarian Social-Democratic Government. She was going to join -him soon. She had been in England, the guest of Miss Hobhouse. She was -extradited from England as a pacifist. I recalled some story about -Miss Hobhouse having entertained unawares a foreign Government agent. -Was this the woman? I introduced her next day to Mr. Macdonald, having -previously cautioned him. He was quite convinced she was pursuing her -avocation. But what was that? _Was_ she a spy? - -Some of our delegates were rather apt to imagine everybody was a spy. -One of them was taken to see a certain Austrian diplomat, and all the -time the taxi was rattling there he was looking out of the little -window at the back, quite, _quite_ certain that the cab was being -followed by he didn’t know whom--but somebody! - -The personnel of the International gathering in Lucerne was very -largely the same as at Berne. Bernstein was there looking very much -better in health than in Berne. He is generally regarded as the -patriarch of German Socialism. He was one of the victims of Bismarck’s -anti-Socialist legislation, and lived in exile in Switzerland and -England for some years. He is known for his personal kindness and -toleration. His revisionist proclivities would place him beyond the -pale with Lenin and Trotsky. Although a man of immovable faith he -was not fond of blinding himself with illusions. He expected less -of mankind than Eisner or Keir Hardie. His adversaries described -him variously, some as an Anglomaniac, others a Frankophile, the -pan-Germans as a “damned Jew.” His friends knew him to be a true -Internationalist, a good European. He published a book of reminiscences -in 1917, in which he expressed all his really tender love for England. -This contains fascinating pictures of famous English men and women he -had known. The years in England were the happiest years of his life. -This book, published in Germany in 1917, had a considerable success -there. (Remember, the war was still raging.) An English edition of it -has only just (1921) been produced! - -After Versailles, many of his friends thought that he, and only he, -would be the right person to represent the new Germany at the Court of -St. James. How little they knew the mentality of Downing Street! The -reactionary Foreign Office officials of Berlin knew a great deal better -than that. They sent a patrician from the Hansa. German Socialists -were good enough to help break Imperial Germany, but British junkerdom -would scarcely find them tolerable as ambassadors. Even a Socialist -Government would be well advised to send a reactionary to London. The -wheels would go round more smoothly. When, a few months later, Edouard -Bernstein wanted to come to London to attend a conference, in spite of -his pro-English record he was refused a visum. Public opinion abroad -is steadfastly of the opinion that England does not know her enemies. -It is manifest she does not know her friends. I have watched carefully -and have come to the conclusion that those aliens who never failed in -their friendship for England during the war are having a worse fate at -the hands of our Foreign Office than those who hate her most. I know of -at least three cases of almost outrageous German pro-Britons who have -received treatment from the British Government which ought to make them -contemptuous of this country till the end of their days. But it will -not. I know them too well to believe that it will make the slightest -difference. - -I was interested to see Dr. Smeral and Dr. Nemec at Lucerne. They had -impressed me at Berne. They were the two Czecho-Slovak delegates. -They used to be called “the Inseparables.” Now they are the bitterest -enemies. Smeral is the leader of the Czech Communists; Nemec the leader -of the Majority Socialists. Smeral is an enormously fat man with clear -eyes, and is usually as silent as a statue of Buddha. He did not -speak at either of the conferences. Nemec on the other hand startled -the Conference at Berne with a fighting speech of the first order, -though nobody knew what it was all about! Czecho-Slovakia was one of -the very few winners in the war, and yet he spoke full of hatred, -passion, aggressiveness. He is a sprightly little man, with a red nose -and a perpetual twinkle in his eye. Part of the Conference laughed -good-humouredly at the tirade; others, not understanding, were bored to -tears. Finally Dr. Nemec was stopped by the chairman, and he receded -from the platform firing shots as he went, at the chairman, at the -Conference, at the Allies, protesting, protesting, protesting! - -It was explained afterwards that the whole performance was due to mere -force of habit. Having been for ten or twenty years one of the most -virulent leaders of the Czech Opposition in the Austrian Parliament, -Dr. Nemec mistook the Berne Conference for the Vienna Parliament! - -Dr. Smeral is supposed to be one of the strongest and clearest -intellects in continental Socialism. Without being reticent he is not -exactly talkative. He was in Moscow shortly before I went there, and -came back with the exactly opposite opinion. I do not know what he -saw there, what he was told, or what was the point of view from which -he examined things. I am sure his opinion was honestly formed. I hope -he believes that mine was the same. Lenin has thought fit to change! -Smeral may do so also. - -After his return to Prague the split in the Socialist Movement, which -has happened in almost every country, took place. Smeral’s followers -took violent possession of the Socialist headquarters, printing-press, -etc., and ejected Nemec and his group. For weeks no attempt was made by -the Czech Government to restore law and order. Finally the Communist -minority had to give way. Smeral’s part in all these petty adventures -is not clear; but he is certainly the silent and menacing figure on the -horizon of Czecho-Slovakia’s political future. - -His demonstration of how it was possible to grow rich by spending money -amused me. He came to Switzerland from Prague, stayed several weeks in -a good hotel, returned to Prague, and had more crowns in his pocket -on his return than when he left! What is the answer to the riddle? A -fallen exchange. - - * * * * * - -I was having tea in the hotel one day when an extraordinary figure of -a man appeared at the door. He had a curly black beard and long wavy -hair! He wore a big red tie and a dirty flannel shirt. In his hand was -a black slouch hat, and on his feet a pair of sandals. He was carrying -a packet of pamphlets written by himself and asked me to accept one. -He also invited me to come to a meeting at the Volkshaus to be held -that evening. I promised I would do my best, and he appeared satisfied -and shambled out of the room a little abashed by something. Nobody -knew who he was, but later in the evening the rumour was afloat that -an eccentric American millionaire Socialist was trying to get up a -Bolshevik agitation, and was canvassing the delegates for support. I -heard afterwards that his meeting was a failure. - - * * * * * - -A character I met of a different sort, and anything but a Socialist, -was a Russian diplomat of the _ancien régime_. He was at one time -Russia’s Chargé d’Affaires at Berne. The sight of him swinging his cane -along the Lucerne boulevard reminded me of his interesting career. -He had the reputation of being the most intelligent diplomat in -Switzerland; of his private character the most merciless stories were -openly told. It was taken for granted that even before the Revolution -he had been in the pay of the Austrians, but as an excellent Russian -patriot he took the Austrian money and gave them Tartar news! He -was elegant, amiable, and amazingly frank. Contrary to many of his -colleagues, he did not pretend in the least to have any liking for -democracy. He was a thorough reactionary, not only in feeling but in -ideas. He did not merely abuse the Bolsheviks. He studied and analysed -them. He was extremely cynical but clear thinking. He had marvellous -powers of conversation, and could describe things with a fullness of -language that made them stand out in the imagination of the listener. -Under the spell of his voice the old Russia stood clear as the new. - -During the Peace Conference he pretended to be Clemenceau’s chosen -instrument against Bolshevism. Many people in Berne who were waiting to -be admitted to the holy precincts of the city of Peace paid him large -sums of money to procure them a French visum. Some of them are said to -have succeeded in getting one. Others gave up their money, their hopes -and their Peace Conference! - -In those days his funds ran low. With the assistance of his beautiful -wife he established a gambling _salon_ at his flat, where a number of -young diplomats, and very many of the aristocratic refugees from the -Central Empires, were thoroughly plucked. Berne being rather a dull -place, and the waiting for visa rather tedious, this establishment -became an invaluable social convenience. - -Continuing to live at the very height of extravagant luxury he could -not avoid his financial collapse. His costly furniture was sold, and -one day his orders--Russian, Austrian, Italian, German, English--some -of which were of solid gold, were passed on a beautiful plate round the -cafés of Berne for sale. - -Whatever the truth about his character, it was a fact that most of the -diplomats of Berne on both sides would have nothing to do with him. -During his last few months in Switzerland he divorced his wife, on -which occasion it was revealed that his wedding a dozen years before -was attended by the cream of the Russian aristocracy and that he owned -vast estates in Russia. He is rumoured to have left Berne for South -America in the company of the beautiful blonde manicurist of the Belle -Vue Hotel! _Sic transit gloria mundi._ - - * * * * * - -Miss Catherine Marshall appeared at the Lucerne Conference. She is one -of the ablest of the feminists of Great Britain. For some years she had -been very ill, the victim of overwork and overstrain. It was feared -she might not return to public life. Her appearance in Lucerne gave -everybody pleasure. She was lately returned from Germany, whither she -had gone in defiance of prohibitions, and had a strange, sad story to -tell. Reckless of her own delicate health she had lived as the people -live, and showed marks in herself of the poverty of that living. -The restlessness of her mind and body were evidence of continued -ill-health, and I strongly pressed her to go home and take a quiet -time in the country somewhere. The most pitiful thing in creation is -the nervous woman unable to rest. The deliberate waste of great powers -by their ill-regulated use robs the gift of them of half its worth. -Together we walked in the woods and on the hill slopes of Lucerne, and -I talked to her, with the cruel candour of a friend, of the need for -“going slow” if she wished to do more good work for the cause of women. - -At the end of four days I returned to Berne to prepare for a longer -journey than I had hitherto taken. I would make an effort to go to -Vienna. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -DYING AUSTRIA (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1919) - - -After spending two weeks at the mountain hotel in Berne I succeeded in -getting a passport for Vienna in August, 1919; but it was an Austrian -passport. A certain relaxation of the rules of the British Foreign -Office in favour of the representatives of the Press wishing to travel -in Austria was made in July of that year. For the future such people -were not required to have a British visum for a journey to Vienna. So I -was informed by several returned newspaper men who had taken no trouble -of this sort. Twice previously my earnest plea for the necessary visum -had been rejected, though Mr. Savery of the British Legation had met me -with the greatest civility and had made, I am sure, sincere efforts on -my behalf. I heartily rejoiced in the withdrawal of the regulation and -made my plans. I had a commission from a London newspaper to report the -Lucerne International, and secured a letter from the editor authorizing -me to proceed to Vienna on his behalf. Armed with this I proceeded to -the Austrian Legation to see what could be done. - -Baron Haupt, the Austrian Minister, was exceedingly helpful. The -passport was at once prepared by his secretary. A permit from the Swiss -police to leave the country by a different frontier from the one by -which I entered was all I needed in addition, and this was granted -with the cordiality which the Swiss have invariably shown me whenever -I have made a request. I was very happy to be equipped at last for the -journey I had tried so often to take. I wanted intensely to discover -for myself if the painful stories of Vienna’s misery were really true. -I hoped I might find them grossly exaggerated. - -It became rumoured in Berne that I was going to Vienna. Within half -an hour half a dozen people unknown to me came and begged me to take -parcels of food to their starving relations. The Swiss allowed a -maximum of only 8 kilos (about 20 lb.) of food to be taken out of -Switzerland by each traveller. It was necessary to protect their own -people from the famine which would have ensued if unlimited quantities -of food could have been carried away in this fashion. It was manifestly -impossible to oblige all those poor people. I took 8 kilos of food for -one family of whom I had heard and whose necessity was great. Several -times _en route_ attempts were made to relieve me of that box of food, -but I would allow nobody to touch it. I almost literally sat on it by -day and slept on it by night, and so contrived to bring it safely to -its destination. I picture now the grateful look of the man who took -the box from me with the air of receiving its weight in pure gold. It -was my first glimpse at the reality of life in Vienna. - -But there were troubles in Berne before I got away. I wanted to travel -by the Entente express which touched at Basle on a particular date. -To my astonishment I learnt that it was necessary to get permission -from the French to board that train. Baron Haupt had received from -Dr. Renner in Paris a telegram to say that the Foreign Minister was -touching Basle on his way to Vienna with the Treaty of St. Germains in -his pocket on a particular date, and that there would be five empty -available places in his coach. The Austrian Minister offered me one -of these places. But I must first ask leave of the French! It seemed -utterly preposterous. The Austrians paid for the carriage. I was -prepared to pay for my ticket. The seats were unoccupied. What had the -French to do with it, if the Austrian Foreign Minister did not object -to me as a fellow-traveller? - -However, this was the rule, and must be obeyed. I hied me to the -French Embassy feeling anything but pleased. I asked to see the First -Secretary. I saw three men in succession, not one of whom knew a word -of English, and told my story separately to each. I wanted to go to -Vienna to investigate the condition of the people, and in particular -the needs of the children, with a view to organizing relief. Where was -the harm in that? - -Three grave men solemnly debated the matter with shrugs of the shoulder -and nods of the head, and finally decided to refuse permission. They -excused the discourtesy by saying that only soldiers and diplomats -travelled by that train, a statement which I knew to be untrue. -Incredible numbers of French traders seeking to sell soaps and scents -to the starving Viennese travelled regularly by the Entente trains. The -stories I heard in Vienna of the abuse of this quick service would fill -a book with scandalous tales. The result of this refusal was unpleasant -for me. I was obliged to take the slow train. Instead of the twenty -hours which the journey with the fast train would have occupied, I was -four days and three nights travelling from Berne to Vienna. The horror -of that journey is a recurring nightmare to this day! - -It was not so much the physical discomfort I minded. I was prepared for -that in a measure. I had brought with me cheese and chocolate for the -journey. I dressed with the idea of having to curl up uncomfortably for -two nights in the train. I plaited my hair in two severe bands, which -I pinned tightly across my head, to present as neat an appearance as -might be in the complete absence of toilet facilities. I took with me -only a light suit-case, which I could carry with one hand, and the box -of food with the other. The masses of flowers which were the farewell -gift of the Hungarians had wilted in the heat before I reached Buchs. -I left them in the train. I anticipated, as I thought, every trouble. -But it was worse, far worse than my imagination had conceived. - -The beginning was not so bad, although the inn at Buchs was far below -the standard of Swiss inns. My room was small and dirty, and at the -top of the building. The food was poor and badly served. Not till -noon of the day following did the laggard train move out of Buchs for -Feldkirch, the Austrian frontier town. There began the screaming and -quarrelling and pushing and swearing I was familiar with on other -frontiers, the stupid passport and Customs business which had delayed -us at Buchs. - -There were about three hundred passengers for the journey. I observed -two women at the passport office, but I saw only one of them again. She -was a beautiful Viennese prostitute. She succeeded in getting herself -attached to a Spaniard who was travelling, a handsome, boisterous boy, -with a very fine tenor voice. The other was an elderly Englishwoman -married to an Austrian. - -“Pardon me, madam,” I heard a thin voice say, as we struggled to get -into the passport office. “I see you have an English passport, and I -heard you say your name was Snowden. Do you by any chance know a Mr. -Philip Snowden, who lives in England?” - -“I know him very well,” I said, smiling at her eager old face. “He is -my husband.” - -Then followed warm handshaking and praiseful words about Mr. Philip -Snowden from this lonely old lady, whom the prick of poisoned war pens -had caused deeply to suffer. She loved her good Austrian husband; had -been very happy in Vienna; liked the merry, kind-hearted people, and -was very indignant over the extravagant falsehoods of the sensational -Press. She left as soon as she recovered her passport, and I never saw -her again. My name had not yet been called. A shrill scream from a -railway engine, a clatter of moving wheels, and the last half-dozen of -us saw the train move out without us, patiently waiting, still empty -handed. - -I was the very last to be served, and, as a matter of fact, was never -called. Was there some mistake, I wondered? I grew cold as I thought of -the possible loss of my English passport. Only later did I realize that -only the Austrian one need have been handed in. I pushed past the young -Austrian soldier resting upon his rifle, and walked through the Customs -House into a tiny office. Nobody was there, but my open passport lay -upon the table. I folded it and walked out with it. Nobody hindered me. -I inquired for the next train. There was nothing till 8 o’clock. It was -then 3 in the afternoon--five hours to wait! I made my way to the hotel -garden and took a late lunch under the trees, sharing my Swiss cheese -with a Polish musician, who divided his tinned chicken with me. We -discussed the various operas in a droll mixture of French and English. -He had played often in Paris, and conducted at Covent Garden, and was -even then planning a return to London in the following spring. He -wished greatly to improve his English, which was really very bad. “Your -Engleesh it is très difficile. It have many meanings, one word. I speek -never”; and he flung out both arms with a despairing gesture which -nearly upset the slender garden chair on which he was sitting. He was -intensely poetical, emotional, sentimental. “Ah, madame,” he exclaimed -effusively, “a scene like this, the blue skies of Italy, soft music, -and you--Mignon--pairfect!” And he hummed a strain from the old opera -of Thomas, alternately singing and sighing until the going down of the -sun, and the slow incoming of our shabby little train. - -Picture a long length of incredibly dingy railway carriages with most -of the windows broken, the leather straps cut away, the stuffing -protruding from the torn cushions, the plumbing out of order, no -lighting and no heating. Contemplate massed numbers of people of all -nationalities, dirty, tired, quarrelsome, packing the carriages -and crowding the corridors, filling the air with oaths and odours -of unimaginable filthiness. Think of our being turned out of these -carriages twice in one night, and groping our way along the railway -lines in the pitch black darkness to find other carriages equally -repulsive in other trains equally disreputable; a screaming babel of -tongues with not a word of English deafening the ears; dragging heavy -suit-cases and thrusting and elbowing with the rest of the unruly -throng in the mad rush for a seat! - -Eight of us found our way into one first-class carriage. It was dark, -and we could not discover our companions. One man produced a piece -of candle which he stuck on the table with a little melted wax. This -supplied us with a dim light for several hours. After that we sat in -the dark, the men roaring out comic songs to help keep up their spirits -and while away the long tedious hours. The company this time included -the Spaniard and his newly attached lady, two Poles, one Czech, one -Hungarian, and a Frenchman, besides myself. French was the language -used by all. - -During two full days and nights we suffered every conceivable torture -from dirt and discomfort. Offensive small creatures bit our arms and -legs. We could not wash except by running out of the train when it -stopped and dipping our hands in the water from the station fountain. -Three hundred persons moved with the same desire would have reduced -almost to zero the chances of any one. We were afraid to miss the -train or lose our places, and stayed where we were. In addition to -all this, the women found it wiser to stay awake during the night to -save themselves from the unwelcome attentions of amorous men, unable -to conceive that any business other than one could take a woman alone -to Vienna in such circumstances and at such a time. This particularly -disagreeable experience I do not forget I owe to the wanton discourtesy -of French officials. - - * * * * * - -A curious incident took place when we were within a few miles of -Vienna. The train stopped and a number of soldiers fully armed -entered the train and insisted on examining the baggage of all those -passengers who had not come from beyond the frontier. I observed a -similar opening of bags whenever afterwards I was in the Vienna railway -station. These were the soldiers of the Volkswehr attempting in this -extra-constitutional way to stop profiteering in food. Thousands of -people, unable to live on the ration when they _could_ get it and -generally unable to get it, were obliged to go into the country in -search of food. To pay the reluctant peasants who produced it they took -their jewels, their clothes, their household furnishings. The more they -had the more food they could buy in this way. The supply was thereby -reduced for the ordinary market. The poor suffered frightfully. The -peasants preferred to sell in this fashion because the Government’s -fixed price for food was very considerably below the world market-price -for their products. Some of these purchasers of their stocks were -gamblers in food who sold to the big hotels for fabulous prices. The -people’s army determined to stop this. I learnt their method. It was -certainly irregular. Was it effective? There were various opinions. It -was frequently told me that the corruption had simply been transferred -from one set of people to another, and that the wives and families of -the soldiers of the people’s army profited at the expense of the poor -of every other class. Upon one thing those in authority were agreed, -that to prohibit the Volkswehr from acting in this way would mean -rioting and civil war, and possibly a Bolshevik revolution! - -Crime, corruption, and dishonesty are the awful first-fruits of famine -in all the countries of Central Europe. It is the calamity that the -best people everywhere most lament. German students must fasten their -caps and coats to their pegs with chains. Boots and shoes must not -be left outside hotel doors in Poland. Sheets and blankets have -been stolen off the hotel beds in Vienna. Railway trucks disappear -regularly in Rumania and Russia. Bribery is the order of the day. -Railway officials, hotel porters, policemen, soldiers, school teachers, -University professors, legislators, generals, cabinet ministers, -ambassadors--there is nobody in that part of the world who cannot be -tempted, and very few, I am told, who do not fall. Complacent English -readers need not sniff superiorly. What would they do, if they saw -their wives and children starving, and the wages for a month’s hard -work not enough to buy them shoes? - -An Austrian friend of mine told me of his brother’s experience on the -frontiers of two Balkan states. This brother sent sixty truck-loads of -goods from one country to the other. When he arrived in a passenger -train at the frontier station he saw his sixty trucks, some of them -broken open, standing in a siding. There were many trucks besides -his own. As far as the eye could reach there was nothing but railway -trucks, a wilderness of trucks, thousands upon thousands, halted for no -reason that was apparent. - -He made his way to the station official, and anxiously inquired about -it. “When will my trucks be sent on?” he asked, with much concern. “It -is most important that they should go without delay.” The stationmaster -grinned unsympathetically, and pointed to the forest of railway wagons -stretching before them. “You want _your_ trucks sent at once! Look you -there. All those trucks came before yours. They must go before yours.” -And he prepared to walk away. “But I cannot stay here for months,” -replied the man in dismay. “I have very important work waiting for me. -And the people in my city are badly in need of those things. If they -stay here the peasants will steal everything. I beg you to send them -out at once.” But he argued in vain. The official was obdurate. Seeing -that what he suspected was inevitable, the baffled trader drew out his -pocket-book and asked the official to name his price. And he actually -handed over to this corrupt servant of the public a sum which in the -money of the country at pre-war values would work out at the rate of -£100 for each of his sixty trucks! For this payment the goods were -dispatched within a week. - -Here is one little picture of Central and Eastern Europe which tells -its story plainly. These bribes are not really paid by the trader. -They are added to the price of the goods. The wretched consumers pay. -The workless proletarian and poor peasant are the exploited; but the -breaking point always comes. It will come in all the countries if -international action to restore life to its normal basis be not taken -in time. And that way revolution and Bolshevism lie. - - * * * * * - -At 6 o’clock on the fourth morning after leaving Berne I came to -Vienna. The cabman who drove me to the Hotel Bristol, a mile away, -charged 100 crowns. In pre-war values that would have been about £4. In -present day values it is about 1s. 3d.! My room at the best hotel in -Vienna cost 28 crowns a day. Before the war that was a guinea. To-day -it is about 2d.! The meals at the Bristol were very ordinary, but the -minimum decent meal cost about 150 crowns. Once that sum counted as -£6. Now it is less than 2s.! The value of Austrian money has declined -almost to vanishing point through the war and the peace. - -I arrived at the Hotel Bristol before anybody except the night-porter -was astir. He sleepily informed me that he could not give me a room -until the secretary arrived. I had wired a week before and engaged the -influence of President Seitz in addition; but the porter knew nothing -about this. I sat in the hotel vestibule more than half asleep and -feeling as though driven from home, when the secretary arrived, and -from that moment all was well. The President had made secure for me a -room in that crowded and popular guest-house, once the rendezvous of -princes, now the abode of Entente Commissioners and the profiteers of -all nations. - -The traveller in the broken countries of Europe, enemy or allied, will -see little of the real life and condition of the people if he live at -the big hotels. This is true at any time, but more unfortunately true -now; for the lazy and the prejudiced come home from their trips to -write letters to the newspapers which give totally wrong impressions, -and are meant to discourage every proposal to alleviate suffering. The -same is true of every country in Europe which has been engaged in the -war, the allied only less than the others. Perhaps Austria has suffered -most; unless it be Russia. The country round is scoured to buy food for -the big hotels. Even so the evidences of real poverty in the hotels -were abundant in the patched and darned bed linen, the scanty blankets, -the paper table-covers, and the entire absence of hot water, which was -a luxury undreamt of at the time of my visit. Then, a cake of soap was -a present of most conspicuous value to a friend in Vienna! - -Fat cunning rogues ate (and still eat) plentifully of the food which in -_their_ real money they could buy more cheaply in Vienna than at home. -No thought of the starving poor whose supplies they were lessening -afflicted these gorging and guzzling adventurers, as busy with the -pickings of profit as unclean birds tearing the last shreds of flesh -off the bones of a corpse. Allied Commissioners by the hundred if not -the thousand, with little or nothing to do, paid for by this starving -little nation, were eating their heads off when I was in Vienna, whilst -half-famished leaders of the proletariat struggled to keep down the -spectre of revolution which the sight of so much abundance in the -midst of starvation continuously tempted and provoked. I soon found -it impossible to eat in the comparative luxury of the Bristol Hotel, -and discovered a cheap quiet restaurant where well-conducted Austrians -passed away the hours of their enforced idleness. Even there it was -painful to eat. To be watched by dozens of pairs of envious eyes with -every mouthful of the simple food one ate filled one with cold horror -at the thought of what it implied, a slowly dying city of 2¹⁄₄ millions -of people. For the rest of my time in Vienna I contrived to share my -meals with strangers whenever it was possible to do so without hurting -their pride. And I found that pride is a plant which rarely survives -where hunger and cold have starved the soil for several years. - -What sad sights were there for the observant in the streets and cafés -of the once gay city of Vienna! The postman who delivered the letters -at the hotel was dressed in rags. The porters at the railway stations -were in worn cotton uniforms, and were glad of tips in the form of -hard-boiled eggs and cigarettes. Uniformed officers sold roses in the -cafés. Delicate women in faded finery begged with their children at -street corners. Grass was growing in the principal streets. The shops -were empty of customers. There was no roar and rush of traffic. The -one-time beautiful horses of the Ringstrasse looked thin and limp. -Frequently they dropped dead in the streets, of hunger. - -I climbed a hill outside the city, and from the many hundreds of -chimneys of mill and factory no smoke was rising. At the Labour -Exchanges many thousands of men and women stood in long lines to -receive their out-of-work pay. I moved amongst them, speaking English, -and heard no bitter word, saw no hard look from these gentle people who -have been so grievously wronged by their own and other exploiters. In -every one of the hundred one-roomed dwellings I visited were pitiful -babes, small, misshapen or idiotic through the lack of proper food. -Consumptive mothers dragged themselves about the rooms tearful about -the lack of milk, which their plentiful paper money could not buy -because there was none to sell. Gallant doctors struggled in clinic -and hospital with puny children covered with running sores, with -practically no medicines, no soap, no disinfectants. But for the -magnificent help given by the American Relief Commission, the Society -of Friends, and the Save the Children Fund, the coming generation -would have dwindled out of existence and the problem of Vienna solved -itself without the aid of the dilatory politicians of Paris by the -simple process of the extermination of its population. As it is tens -of thousands of child lives and old lives have been ended by famine -and the diseases of famine; whilst over a long period the number of -suicides from hunger and despair amounted to scores in every week. - - * * * * * - -The first call I made in Vienna was upon Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas -Cunninghame, at the headquarters of the British Military Mission in the -Metternichstrasse. Sir Thomas is a tall Scotsman, buoyant, kindly and -of progressive sympathies. He is slightly deaf, but spares no effort -to try to understand his visitor’s needs. He gave me generously of his -time, to put me in the way of understanding Austria’s problems. His -sympathy for the unhappy people he had been appointed to watch over was -very real, and the universal regard in which I discovered him to be -held appeared to be thoroughly deserved. - -I believe I have not erred in judgment in having formed the opinion -that, so far as the higher officials are concerned, the British -Missions in Europe, with one or two exceptions, have behaved with a -consideration and a courtesy towards the people in whose territories -they were planted which did them great personal credit and advanced -the real interests of their country in a remarkable degree. Wherever I -went, in Berlin, Vienna, Riga, Reval, I heard the men of our Missions -spoken of in terms of the highest praise. Unlike the French and Italian -officers of rank, the British officers frequently attended the opera -and other public places in plain clothes, or at least without their -orders. There was no swanking about the streets by the younger British -officers. Rarely was there an ugly and tasteless demonstration of their -position as the representatives of the conquering Powers, irritating -and humiliating to the conquered, as in Wiesbaden, where, at a certain -time, all business must cease and people stop and hats come off to pay -tribute to the French flag, under pain of heavy penalties if it is not -done. I have seen for myself the strutting about the streets and cafés -of Allied officers, provocative of scenes like the one in the Hôtel -Adlon where Prince Joachim got himself into trouble; but seldom did I -hear of British officers of the higher grade behaving with the swagger -and bluster of the man who tries to maintain his dignity by standing -on it; and who never succeeds! The comparative liking for the English -in spite of the Peace Treaties and the growing hatred of France all -over Europe is due in no small measure to the better manners of British -officials and the greater sense of responsibility of the men brought -up in the British tradition for those placed in their care. _Noblesse -oblige._ - -The one criticism of Sir Thomas Cunninghame which I heard very mildly -expressed by a man who had a genuine liking for him was, that he -showed too great a fondness for the Hungarian aristocracy. This it was -suggested weakened his usefulness to the new-born Austrian democracy. - -The Hungarian aristocrats are charming people to meet in a -drawing-room. They are handsome and clever and full of friendliness; -but cruel as the grave when their passions are aroused and credulous -as babies where their material interests are affected. The vilest -murderer in the service of the Revolution, the pervert and madman -Szamuely, was more than equalled in ferocity and blood-thirstiness by -certain delicate Hungarian ladies I know with the best blood of Hungary -in their veins. It needed a hard grip upon principle to turn from -denouncing the Red Terror and hear the White Terrorists declare what -they would do when they got back into power, and not determine to be -silent in a contest where both sides justify the cruellest reprisals. - -Looking on the poverty and misery of the masses of Austria and Hungary, -a flood of deep anger came over me as I thought of the Hungarian in -Berne who could think of nothing but the loss of her clothes and jewels -and in particular of a pair of beautiful white boots. - -“I would kill every Bolshevik if I could have my way; and they -shouldn’t die an easy death either. I would roast them in front of a -slow fire. Think of what those dirty Jews have done to some of our best -men. And all my clothes and jewels gone! I don’t know what on earth we -shall do. We have scarcely a penny in the world. Summer is coming and -I haven’t a decent thing to stand up in. My beautiful white boots are -in Budapest. They are perfect dreams! And to think that those awful -Bolsheviks have got them. Some horrid little Jewess is pulling them on -to her ugly feet this very minute, I am positive. I could weep my eyes -out. You have no idea how nice they are. The leather is perfect; and -they come half-way to my knees. They are the smartest things ever seen. -Oh, my poor boots!” - -After the counter-revolution I saw her and asked if she had recovered -her belongings. “Every stick, my dear. It is wonderful. See my boots?” -And she stuck out two beautifully shod feet for me to see, her eyes -sparkling with pleasure. “They hadn’t touched a thing. I shall sell the -jewels in America. They will bring in a handsome sum.” - -“Well, you at any rate will be able to speak well of the Hungarian -Bolsheviks?” I asked. - -“No, indeed. They are all filthy Jews, and they have behaved like -savages. Do you know they hanged tiny little babies for the fun of the -thing and old----” - -“Stop, for Heaven’s sake,” I cried. “Don’t talk like that if you -want to be taken seriously. It is too silly. You cannot prove what -you say, and I, who am not a Bolshevik, know that what you say is not -true. If you talk like that the only effect will be that you will make -Bolsheviks by the dozen.” - - * * * * * - -Concerning Entente officials and the counter-revolution, all I can say -is this: That it is widely believed by responsible persons that there -is some mysterious relationship which does not blend with the general -tone of the Hungarian Peace Treaty. Hungary has all this time been -permitted to keep troops far in excess of the numbers laid down in -the Treaty. The anti-democratic policy of the present Hungarian White -Government has received no rebuke from the Allied Governments. The -guarantees made to the Social-Democratic Government which succeeded -Bela Kun were openly flouted. Only the strong agitation by democrats -in England saved the lives of Professor Agoston and his colleagues, -guaranteed by the British representative in Vienna; and these men -are still in shameful imprisonment. And whether it is the fear of -France that the union of Austria with Germany has become menacing -through the attempt to make it impossible by denying to Austria the -right of self-determination in the Peace Treaty, and the hope that -the restoration of a Magyar ruler under French protection would -counterbalance such an evil, or whether personal matters and the -obligations of friendship enter into the calculation at all, it is -quite certain that the tendencies towards a restoration of the old -order are receiving encouragement from some amazing quarters. In all -this the public suspicion rests rather upon France than upon Great -Britain. The utmost of which Great Britain is accused is weakness -in following, and indecision in the failure to grapple with, the -Imperialists of France. - - * * * * * - -The union of Austria with Germany was the declared policy of the -Social Democratic Party which took the reins of government after the -abdication of the Emperor Charles. Dr. Otto Bauer, the Socialist -Foreign Minister, proclaimed this policy from the housetops, thereby -alienating the Allies, who demanded and secured his resignation in -favour of the more tactful and diplomatic Renner. When I questioned -Frau Freundlich, one of the women members of the Austrian Parliament, -on the unwisdom of so outspoken a declaration of policy at such a time, -with the nerves of France still atwitter with fright, she replied -that open diplomacy was more honest and straightforward than secret -diplomacy, and that the Socialists meant to carry out this principle of -theirs regardless of consequences. I could only agree with the first -part of her remark, adding to my words of approval that, even so, -there was a time to speak and a time to be silent, and that this noble -recklessness of consequences might be justified in a Party or a person -but was doubtful wisdom on the part of a Government whose people needed -food from the foe to keep them alive! Like Kurt Eisner and his passion -for free speech, the Social Democrats of Austria would permit of no -compromise in the matter of the Party programme. - -I met Dr. Otto Bauer at the house of my friend Madame Zuckerkandl. We -were quaintly assorted guests. There was the grave and dignified City -Councillor Dr. Schwartz-Hiller, whose care of little Jewish refugees -from Galicia deserves the highest praise. There was the wife of an -impoverished ex-diplomat, who had spent many years in China and who -was starving on a pension of almost nothing a month; there was Baron -Hennet, the charming and able young diplomat whom I had met in Berne, -known in England for his informed interest in agricultural matters and -his advocacy of Free Trade; and finally there was Dr. Bauer. - -He is a man of medium height, with a handsome young face, inclined to -roundness, and the dark hair and brilliant eyes of the Jewish race. -He is justly reputed one of the ablest men in the European Socialist -Movement. Common report had it at one time that he is a Bolshevik; -but his enemies did that for him! I inquired about him at the British -Mission and they denied this story. I asked Dr. Bauer directly if he -believed in Bolshevism and received a smiling but unequivocal reply in -the negative. At the time of our talk he was helping to edit the great -Socialist newspaper, the _Arbeiter Zeitung_, in the absence of the -regular editor, Dr. Austerlitz, who was lying ill. His influence was -much feared by the French. And his policy appears to-day to be likely -to succeed in spite of the prohibition of the Peace Treaty, which -forbids for all time the union with Germany unless with the unanimous -approval of the League of Nations. If the Allies had determined on -an act which would help the Austrians to achieve their desires they -could not have done better than make it a point in the Treaty. The -manifest injustice of refusing to Austria what is granted in theory -to every other country in the world, the right to determine its own -form of government, has united with the Social Democrats thousands of -Austrians who had previously opposed this political proposal. Now it -is clear from the Tyrol plebiscite of 97 per cent. in favour of the -union that the policy has become national and must sooner or later be -successful. The language of the Austrians is German. There appears to -be little hope of substantial co-operation with the succession states -for a very long time to come. The Austrians are ill-disposed to the -eternal spoon-feeding of the Allies, which must mean expensive and -irregular meals, with a constant threat of the withdrawal of supplies -if something does not please the nurses. To the overwhelming majority -of the six millions of Austria’s population the only means of living -appears to be union with Germany, with a people speaking the same -language and a country lying on their border. - -But at the time of my visit to Austria there was a considerable -difference of opinion in Vienna on the subject of the best future -political arrangement for Austria. A number of people formerly of -power and influence expressed hostility to the idea of union with -Germany. They dreaded the merging of Austrian individuality in that of -the stronger partner. They contemplated with real distress the future -of their beautiful Vienna as a second-class city on the frontier of -civilization instead of the sun and centre of culture which it had -been. Some positively disliked the Prussian association because of its -disciplined militarism. A few with the spirit of the flunkey desired to -please the Allies. Others recognized the danger of flouting the Allies. - -Of the various alternatives to the proposed union there were two which -received noteworthy support, that which suggested union with the mild -regime of a Bavaria independent of Prussia, and that which advocated -what was called a Danubian Federation which should comprise the old -states, and possibly Bavaria. The economic dependence of the states -comprising the former Austro-Hungarian Empire was becoming clearer -with every day that passed. The natural advantages as a clearing-house -for trade and commerce of Vienna, in the centre of the system, as -well as its amazing cultural facilities, provided every reason in -common sense for a proposal of this sort. But hostile to the idea -were those in Austria who would have welcomed an economic union apart -from a political union, but who were unable to see how the one could -be achieved without the other eventually following. The new states, -particularly Czecho-Slovakia, jealous of any proposal which might -restore to Vienna the importance they were determined to attach to -Prague, pursued a policy of self-interest which menaced the very -existence of Austria as an independent state, and looked askance at -any idea of economic union between themselves and their ancient enemy. -Anti-German feeling there was too pronounced for any other than the -most individualistic action. Pro-German feeling in German-Austria -favoured the union with Germany. The propaganda for the federation -was conducted chiefly by agents abroad, and as I have already shown, -a succession of events has made the proposal for union with Germany, -originally the proposal of a party, a matter of united national policy. - - * * * * * - -Apart from its foreign policy the political problem of Austria appeared -to be presenting itself along the line of peasant versus town worker. -This is more or less true of every country in Europe. The peasants -hated the city of Vienna. They had to maintain the two and a quarter -millions of its population and got no adequate return for this in -manufactured goods. The city could not manufacture for lack of raw -materials and coal. The peasants disliked the “Red” Government because -it fixed the price of foodstuffs in the interests of the poor of the -towns careless of the reduced profits of the peasants. They disliked -the towns because they were irreligious and full of the hated Jews. All -these causes worked (and are working all over Central Europe and in -Russia) at the time I was in Vienna. - -“I very much fear,” said Otto Bauer to me, “that the social problem of -Europe for a generation or more will be the town against the country. -And which will win?” The victory of the country seems imminent. It has -conquered in Bavaria and, in a measure, in Austria. It will conquer -in Russia. And the victory of the country in European politics does -not mean maypoles and flowers and flowing beer and fat living for -everybody. It means, at present, the reign of ignorance and bigotry and -superstition and individualism, and the decline of all the things which -make for a cultivated civilization. - - * * * * * - -The second party in the state then, the first at the present moment, -was the Christian Socialist. How they got the name I have not yet -learnt. There is no means of proving that they are not Christian; but -they are certainly not Socialists! I imagine they came by the name for -a certain historic interest in schemes of municipalization, but their -chief leaders are big capitalists, and their chief supporters the small -shopkeepers of the cities and the peasant farmers of the country. They -approximate to the old Liberals of the Manchester school in England. -Free trade is an important plank in their programme. Their efforts in -1919 were being directed against the decontrol of food, and Mr. Julius -Meinl’s theses on the subject have appeared in English in certain -journals devoted to a similar policy. Dr. Redlich, the eminent writer, -whose book on the British Constitution is regarded as the authoritative -work upon the subject in much the same way as Lord Bryce’s volume on -the American Constitution is said to be the last word on that subject, -is another gifted leader of this now dominant party. So far the -moderation of its course has saved the country from the reaction that a -too-swift swing of the pendulum almost invariably produces. - - * * * * * - -Amongst the women friends I made in Vienna one stands out with -peculiar interest. She is the lady to whom I have already referred, -Frau Zuckerkandl, the widow of a very eminent Austrian physician, and -one of the most delightful women it is possible to meet anywhere. -I saw her first in her dainty flat, dressed in a fluttering loose -robe of diaphanous silky material, a fairy figure with heaped-up -masses of bright hair and rather tired blue eyes. Less than fifteen -minutes sufficed to teach each of us that there were intellectual and -spiritual bonds between us that made friendship ripe at the first -contact. Both of us are devotees of good music. Both passionately -admire the drama. Both recognize in art the living spirit of a true -and lasting internationalism. Both feel the service of the oppressed -to be a glorious privilege. Only twice or thrice in one’s life comes a -friendship so rare and precious as I felt and feel this to be. - -Frau Zuckerkandl’s father was the editor and proprietor of a great -newspaper. She is a writer of merit, and was the musical critic for a -Viennese journal. We visited the Opera together several times. This -marvellous people, half-famished and almost wholly despairing, crowded -the Opera House night by night, to revel at the feast of song which -was the only rich banquet left them, and the last table they would -willingly leave. “We can live without bread, but not without roses.” - -My friend is related by marriage to the great Clemenceau. Her sister is -the wife of “The Tiger’s” brother. I think it was she who told me the -story that was afloat in Europe at that time of how, when Clemenceau -was charged by some of his insatiable fellow-countrymen with having -made a peace bad for France, he replied: “But how could I do better, -with a fool on one side who thought he was Napoleon, and a damned fool -on the other who thought he was Jesus Christ?” - - * * * * * - -Another good story which was going the round of the Vienna cafés -deserves to be repeated. In one of the cafés, years before the war, a -young Jew sat sipping his coffee day by day. Nobody was in the least -interested in him, and he was distinguished for nothing except a shabby -dress and a wild mop of tangled hair. His name was Trotsky. - -In those days everybody was talking about the Russian Revolution. Many -were fearful of it. The Vienna Foreign Office was constantly being -warned about its coming, and worried to death about the consequences -upon Vienna of its coming. - -Exasperated beyond endurance by the endless fears of his colleagues, -and full of contempt for them, one of the higher officials exclaimed: -“But what nonsense is this talk of a Russian Revolution; who is to make -the revolution? There is nobody. Perhaps”--and here came a gesture of -superb contempt--“Mr. Trotsky of the Café Centrale!” - - * * * * * - -A trip to Semmering was one of the excursions which consoled one a -little for the desolate spectacle of empty markets and idle factories, -of a disintegrating civic life. Semmering is a four hours’ motor -drive from Vienna, beautifully placed near the Styrian frontier. It -is a health resort full at that time of rich refugees. At a simple -guest-house on the slope of one of the hills President Seitz and -his wife, with a few members of his Cabinet, recuperated during the -week-ends for the arduous duties of the week. His secretary took me -out there for the day. We were again a curiously mixed group. The -overworked and courteous secretary was a baron of the old regime. -Professor Leon Kellner, hearty in manner and ruddy of complexion, the -famous Shakespearean scholar, was there; Otto Grockney, Minister for -Education, gravely peering through spectacles at the new-comer; and Dr. -Seitz. - -Of this first President of the Socialist Republic of Austria, Karl -Seitz, I have written before. He is a kind, amiable, benevolent, -distinguished-looking man with a keen sense of humour. Someone -hearing him thus praised exclaimed: “But what else do you expect -from a President of Austria?” Looking at this polite and suave man -of the world, every inch a president, it is with difficulty that -one realizes that he was once on a time the fiercest leader of the -Socialist Opposition in the turbulent Austrian Parliament. He started -his career as an elementary school-teacher, became the fire-brand of -the Lower Austrian Diet and ended as the President! He is a speaker -of very great eloquence and power. He was always well liked, even by -his opponents, and is extremely popular. Very few of the new type of -potentate have the heart, the mind, the manners so ready to fit the new -position. - - * * * * * - -Dr. Max Winter, the kind-hearted Vice-Burgermeister of Vienna, is the -man to whom I owe most of my acquaintance with the civic life of the -city. Day after day he or his secretary or his son, who had been a -prisoner of war in England, took me out to see in particular what was -being done for the children. Dr. Winter is always spoken of as “the -children’s Mayor,” for the children are his very serious concern. -In his company I saw the public feeding centres of the Americans, -the clinics supervised by the Friends, the children’s hospitals so -sadly lacking funds, the open-air play-centres in the public parks, -and the country schools. The houses of rich nobles who have fled and -the palaces of the ex-Kaiser were used for this purpose. There was a -particularly attractive little hospital and feeding centre in a corner -of the Schönbrunn Palace for those children whose parents could afford -to contribute a little towards their keep, I think two crowns a day, -worth at that time about one penny. At the holiday camps in the parks -the children ran about all day in bathing suits, and very brown and -jolly they looked with the exposure to the sun and the regular, if -scarcely sufficient, food. “Freundschaft! Freundschaft!” they cried, -running to kiss my hand after the custom of the country. Sometimes -they sang their little songs and danced their pretty dances. Beautiful -brown-eyed Viennese children dancing in paper dresses, and crowned with -wood flowers in the Wiener Wald! I see them now in the mind’s eye, -waving their thin arms and smiling sweetly, with not a thought of the -bitter, cruel thing which is robbing them of health and life in their -innocent young hearts. - -After a sad excursion one day to the market, where little girls of -twelve lay all night with their baskets waiting for the opening of the -butcher’s shop, and the scramble for the ration of meat for the family -dinner, I found waiting for me in the hotel about twenty women and one -child all robed in deep black. They had come with a petition. It was to -ask me to help them to get their husbands out of Russia, prisoners of -war there. Some had not been heard of for four years. Terrible stories -of their sufferings had come through. The women were frantic with -grief. They had been to the Mayor; he could do nothing. They had been -to the Government; the Government had made promises but done nothing. -They had been to the Allied Missions and had been sent away empty. They -were beginning to believe that the Government and the Allies were in -concert to keep the men in Russia because of their fear of Bolshevist -infection--afraid that the men had become converts. Someone had -suggested that perhaps I could help. They begged with quivering lips -that I would do something. Suddenly the child, a little fair-haired -thing, sprang from her mother’s side, and falling on her knees at my -feet, clasped her tiny hands and said in lisped English: “Dear kind -English lady, do bring my daddy back to me.” The women burst into -tears, such a sobbing and a wailing as would have melted a stone. It -was deeply painful. What could I do? I promised to interest the women’s -organizations of England and the Labour Party, and immediately wrote -to both. Alas! when the relief came, thousands, tens of thousands, had -died in exile, destroyed by hunger and disease. - - * * * * * - -The journey back to Berne was much quicker and more comfortable. -By special permission I returned by the children’s train. Six -hundred small victims of the famine came every six or seven weeks to -hospitable Switzerland; I travelled with one train load. I can add -nothing to the description of the sufferers I have already given; -but I can add a word of praise of the Swiss. They have raised for -themselves a lasting monument in the affections of the Austrian people, -and have set an example of practical internationalism which should -shame all those whose faith in blockades and tariffs and embargoes -and prohibitions is not yet dead. But for the Swiss and the Americans -Austria’s plight would have been beyond hope, and the world would be -the poorer by the loss of one of the most cultivated, artistic and -lovable races which have contributed to the happiness and elevation of -mankind. Very late in the day the men of Paris have moved towards the -relief of Vienna. Perhaps it is not quite too late to save the remnant. -But the martyrs have been many, and the agony long. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -AFTER ONE YEAR - - -At the first meeting of the International in Berne in 1919 I was very -much interested in a lively little man from Alsace-Lorraine. His name -was Grumbach, and he had a house in Berne, and a handsome wife with -bright hair and a plump figure. In appearance he reminded me a little -of an English coachman. He was smooth-shaven, with a bit of hair left -on either cheek in the old-fashioned way. His face was round, and he -had a sweet and rather childlike mouth. His eyes were very merry, and -his manner kind. But the roar of him when he spoke was like that of a -mad bull. He was very angry with the Germans, and could not contain -himself on the platform, foaming at the mouth almost, as he lashed out -at those unfortunate men on the front row. He made an excellent double -bass to Renaudel’s tenor and Thomas’s baritone, whenever the wild music -got going. And just as suddenly he melted into the utmost amiability. -He disliked their past, and suspected the future policy of the Germans -in relation to his own country. I have not seen him since the early -days in Berne; but I have heard that his present discontent is with -French administration and French behaviour in the restored provinces -and that he favours an independent Alsace-Lorraine within the French -orbit. I wonder what is true? - -Another Alsatian of a different type was René Schickele, one of the -leaders of the younger German poets. I met him also in Berne, but -not at the Conference. This young and distinguished dramatist was -introduced to me by Annette Kolb. He impressed me as shy and diffident; -but that may have been the embarrassment of not knowing English. There -is no barrier like that of not knowing the language of an acquaintance. -He promised to learn English for our next meeting, and I promised -myself to learn enough German to be intelligible. But how can one learn -foreign languages when everybody abroad wants to practise his English? - -During the war Schickele placed himself in opposition to the German -Government. He was a German citizen then. Now he is in opposition to -France. He is a French citizen now. The cynic would smile and talk of -the passion for self-advertising; but I think there is a reasonable -case for this position in a pacifist, who is out to smite the ugly -spirit of militarism whenever and wherever it raises its offending head. - -His play _Hans in Schnakenloch_ was an attempt to give a just -exposition of the psychology of French and Germans in Alsace-Lorraine. -The Germans called it Francophile, the French considered it pro-German. -It had an immense success in Germany in 1917, until it was suppressed -by the military censor. Schickele belongs to the Clarté group. Fried, -who died a short time ago, the kindly sentimentalist, but courageous -Austrian pacifist, so long exiled in Switzerland, who won the Nobel -prize, was another member of the band. René Claparéde of Geneva, -Barbusse and Anatole France belong to the same group. Their policy -is very much the same as that of the Union of Democratic Control in -England. The poet’s ultimate aim in politics is the friendship and -conciliation of Germany and France. - - * * * * * - -When I was invited to attend the French Socialist Congress in Strasburg -in January of 1920, exactly one year after the first meeting of the -Second International, I thought of these two personalities, the only -human connexion I had with Alsace, and hoped to meet again in their -capital city of ancient fame and modern interest these two able men. -Neither, however, was present. - -But Renaudel was there, and Longuet and Marquet, and all the hosts of -fighting French Socialism. - -The battle of the two Internationals was by this time waxing fast -and furious. The Italians had split in two, the French were about -to follow, the British were threatened. My commission to the French -congress was to convey greetings from the British Labour Party to the -delegates; but also to make it clear that the Labour Party intended to -cleave to the Second International in spite of the efforts of a few -voluble _intransigéants_ to draw it into the Third. - -These various Internationals must be confusing to the average reader. -The First was founded by Karl Marx and Professor Beesly in 1866, and -dissolved in the wars of 1871. The Second was re-established in 1889, -and discontinued its activities during the world-war. Its meeting in -Berne I have already fully described. The success of the Revolution -in Russia filled with arrogance the souls of the dominant Bolsheviks -who determined to unite the entire world-Socialist Movement under -their flag. They would dominate, command, discipline from Moscow -every country in the world. They drew up twenty-one theses which they -insisted should be accepted by all who would join them--the Third -International. These included dictatorship instead of democracy, -revolution by violence, and the abolition by force of the whole -institution of private property, as against other methods of securing a -just social and industrial order. - -Round these two sets of proposals and methods the conflict has raged. -Every Socialist Movement in Europe was split from top to bottom. -America copied. New and ever new Internationals threatened to be born -of the dissident sections. Capitalist Europe rocked with laughter. To -keep the working-classes divided amongst themselves has always been -the wisdom and the joy of the intelligent in the possessing classes. -The Socialist Movement began to look ridiculous. It has not yet got -back to common sense and sweet reasonableness. In the various national -movements, arrogant and conceited young men are continually making -fresh “caves.” Offshoots of bumptious young people and venerable -idiots, who think that wisdom will die with them, keep the general -movement in a turmoil of quarrelsomeness whilst the enemy consolidates -his ranks. The pity and the folly of it! - -So far as I could discover there were at least five sections in the -French Conference apparently hating one another far more keenly than -the outsider. There was the Extreme Right, which had supported the -war without question. There was the Extreme Left which had opposed -it without tact. There was the following of Renaudel who opposed the -Moscow International. There were the adherents of Vaillant-Couturier -who supported it. There were the friends of Longuet, who did both. I do -not mean that these last belonged to the cult of the jumping cat! They -were not mean and “discreet.” They simply wanted to leave the door open -for a future reunion of the two bodies of disputants. - -I spent the first day listening to the eloquent wranglings of the -sections, and then went to view the city of Strasburg. The old parts -are French, but the solid new parts of the city are German. It is a -quiet old city of cafés and quaint streets and houses. It is dominated -by its wonderful cathedral with the historic clock. The small hotel -where I stayed, with its German proprietor, was a model of cleanliness. -In front ran the canalized river. Bands of troops, black and white, -marched through the streets, but the citizens paid little attention to -them. Only once did I see a touching thing. A few bold boys marched -singing a tune with a familiar sound about it. I stopped to look and -listen. Near me was a student, a boy of twenty-three or four, with a -broad round face and rather long fair hair. He had tears in his eyes, -and held his cap in his hand. What had moved him? Not that simple, -boyish singing? _Was_ it the song? I caught the word “Heimland” as the -lads marched past, and--yes--there was just one phrase in the song -which brought to mind the English melody, “Home, sweet home!” - - * * * * * - -On the second day I made my speech. The gallant Frenchmen received it -well, and I left the platform in a storm of cheers. But that was for -the woman and not the speech; for they did not understand a word, and -they voted heavily for the Third International at a subsequent meeting! -The split was inevitable. - -The next day I left for Berne _en route_ for Geneva and the conference -of the Save the Children Fund. I had to spend several hours at Basle -and arrived in Berne at six in the evening. But what was the matter -with the place? The station was as quiet as a church on weekdays. And -the Hôtel Belle Vue was like a huge crypt, cold and clammy and empty. -In that great lounge and immense drawing-room capable of holding -comfortably a thousand persons, there were not three people! The -drawing-room was dark; and the lounge lit by only a few dim lights. -Were all the people in their rooms, or what was wrong? - -“You are very quiet, aren’t you?” I asked the hotel clerk as I signed -the register. - -“Yes, madam,” he replied. “Most people are leaving Berne. Here are -several letters for you which are probably from some of your friends.” - -I tore open the letters one after the other. Mr. Rudolf Kommer had -gone to Berlin. Mrs. Lord was in Lugano. Prince Windischgraetz was in -Paris. His wife had left for Prague. The group of German pacifists -had returned to Berlin. Dr. de Jong was in Basle. M. Zalewski, the -Polish Minister in Berne, whom I had met in England, and with whom I -had renewed my acquaintance in Switzerland, was rumoured to have gone -as Minister to Athens. Madame de Rusiecka, another Polish friend, -was living in Geneva. Baron Szilassy and his sister were in Bex. -Mr. de Kay was in Lucerne. Mr. Savery had been sent to the Legation -in Warsaw--all, all had gone, the old familiar faces! And what a -desolation they had left! - -I gathered up my letters and prepared to take a walk to discover if -there were anybody left. Was the Assyrian giant with the Gargantuan -appetite still sitting in the Wiener Café? I have referred before to -Dr. Ludwig Bauer, but he deserves another word. For he was a truly -remarkable journalist. From the early days of the war he wrote every -day, without exception, the leading article on politics for the Basle -_National Zeitung_. His articles were always marked #--so he became -known as the “Kreuzlbauer.” They were read all over the country, a -thing which happened for the first time in the journalistic history -of Switzerland, it was said. The little Basle paper became suddenly -an organ of national importance. The international representatives, -diplomats, foreign correspondents, propagandists read the articles with -great care. It is a curious fact that this Austrian was spoken of as -“the only neutral in Switzerland.” The French Swiss were more French -than the French. The German Swiss were more German than the Germans. -The Swiss Government tried to steer an equal course between the two -sets of belligerents. There the Austrian journalist was useful. He -expressed neutrality day by day. His articles were quoted in Paris and -in Berlin. Occasionally his paper was excluded from one or the other, -he himself being bitterly attacked by both sides. Most of all was he -attacked by his Swiss colleagues who resented the great success of the -foreign intruder, with a mentality more Swiss than their own. Another -and a greater alien, Friedrich Schiller, whose “Wilhelm Tell” is the -classic reading of Swiss youth, never saw Switzerland, but had caught -the Swiss spirit better than some of the sons of the soil! - - * * * * * - -Dr. Bauer was not at the café. Neither were the jewelled and fragrant -women who used to sip its sparkling wines, whilst they waited in the -ante-chamber to Paris for their visa for the Heaven of their dreams. -The war produced large numbers of this feminine type. I knew several -of them. Sometimes beautiful, often wealthy, in spite of fallen money -values, they played their game of coquetry in Berne to while away -the time till better things came in sight. The ghastly tragedy of -famine passed them by. The sufferings of the war left them cold. The -colossal spectacle of Europe’s downfall was nothing to them. Clothes, -jewels, fine furniture, a good social position were the only things -which counted with them. Their lovers from the broken countries they -flouted. They had just enough practical sense to see that the things -they wanted were not to be found in the land of their birth. Their -men had become ineligible. They would take husbands from the lands of -the conquerors. The “Entente husband” became an institution and the -fair husband-hunters a joke. Beauty, wealth maintained by gambling in -exchanges, in return for an “Entente husband” and a visum for Paris and -the glory of silks and scents and a place with the conquerors! I know -one such woman, a beautiful Pole--but let me be merciful! - - * * * * * - -On my return to the hotel I found a note from an American friend -asking me to dine and saying she would call for me at eight. This was -cheering. How it is known so quickly that one is in a place passes my -comprehension! Punctually at eight she burst into my room, looking as -radiant as the May, although she is nearly forty. - -“Tell me,” I asked. “How do you keep yourself so young, you amazing -woman?” - -“Simple enough,” she retorted. “Massage and a blameless life, my dear.” - -We dined with several members of the Hungarian Red Cross, gone crazy -with hate of Bolshevism, who talked themselves hoarse about the -iniquities of the Jews and ate so many oysters that I began to be -nervous for their constitutions. And so ended the last of my days in -Berne. - - * * * * * - -I was too late for the Geneva Conference. The delegates had had their -last sitting, and only a social function to say farewell remained. -There I met a number of dear friends full of good works. I have written -of Mrs. Buxton and her sister. These and their like compensate the -world for the idle and mischievous butterflies waiting for their Paris -visa and frocks and jewels. - -At the theatre that evening a curious little international group talked -of their many adventures of travel, with the difficulties of getting -passports as a conspicuous item of conversation. One spoke of the -amount he had had to pay in bribes in Rumania, another of having lost -his passport. “But I had a receipted tailor’s bill in my pocket. The -Austrian Royal Arms were at the head. It was an old bill. And they -accepted it as my passport without a question. It looked important -and the fellow who looked at it couldn’t read a word, so there was no -trouble!” A little picture of Balkan Europe which tells a story one can -read only too well. - -Baron Ofenheim is reputed to be one of the wealthiest men in Austria. -I only know him as the kindest of friends and the most tender-hearted -of men. He has a connexion of many years’ standing with England and is -a man of great business capacity, which he has devoted to helping his -unfortunate country out of her terribly trying situation. He was one -of the most helpful delegates to the Fight the Famine Conference in -London. He attended the Geneva Conference urging a better organization -than he believed the Save the Children Fund had then achieved. He -favoured activity on a larger scale by a more representative body of -people than he considered the organizers of the Fund to be at that -time. Doubtless the much superior organization that the Fund has -achieved under the able secretaryship of Mr. Golden would satisfy the -most severe critic, including the Herr Baron. With him was Sir Cyril -Butler, at one time a British official in Vienna. With the opinion of -these two distinguished men that Vienna would be a far more useful -centre for the League of Nations than Geneva, I heartily agree. - - * * * * * - -Seven months later, in July, 1920, was held in this same city of -conferences the second full gathering of the Second International. A -further description of its proceedings is not necessary. Controversy -followed the same lines as before. But there was a new tone, a better -spirit. Germans, French and Belgians grew amicable once more, friendly -without being effusive. The British Delegation numbered this time a few -delegates of the “extreme left.” They were attending an international -conference for the first time. They found the quiet unity too tame. -They spoke of the Conference, in private, as dead if not damned. They -turned their eyes, if not towards Moscow, away from the work in hand. -With the mistaken judgment of the new-comer they made fiery propaganda -speeches, forgetting that they were not talking at the street corners, -but to a body of Socialists, many of whom were of the best and most -intelligent minds in Europe, some of whom had suffered long years -of imprisonment and exile for their political faith. They wanted a -demonstration and welcomed the interruptions from the gallery which -made Huysmans threaten to close it. The interrupters were a band of -very young men with wild hair and red ties. A foolish business.... - - * * * * * - -I had a call one day from Baron Bornemiza, the able Hungarian Minister -to Berne, whose practical common sense is a great asset to his country, -falling from a frenzy of Red fever into a fury of White. He speaks -wonderful English and is not un-English in appearance, tall and -straight and broad-shouldered. He was concerned about the cartoons of -Admiral Horthy which the International was said to be exhibiting on -its stall at the Conference. I imagine the local Socialists would be -responsible for the literature stall. I never saw the alleged cartoons. -They were probably as tasteless and vulgar as most such things. But -it is a pity to pay any attention to them. In England one laughs -when one is the subject of these exaggerated and generally offensive -pictures. I told His Excellency so. Admiral Horthy must be like the -King of England. The King is above the law of libel. Or at least he -must not condescend to notice his traducers. To do that is to give -them an importance they would not otherwise possess. The atrocities -of the Hungarian White Terror, for which Horthy was believed to be -responsible, would be the cartoonist’s justification of his pictures. - -One other person must be mentioned here and then this narrative closes. -Dr. Marie de Rusiecka is a Polish lady doctor who served during the -Serbian retreat. The stories she is able to tell of that appalling -disaster to the Serbian Army make one sick with a shuddering horror. -She became an enthusiastic propagandist for peace and all the things -which make for peace. She exiled herself from her native land and -took up her abode in Geneva. Like all holding her views she was -persecuted and slandered. The terribly pro-French Genevese declared -her to be pro-German and made life in Geneva impossible for her. She -went to Berne. She did more than any other woman, and probably as -much, or more, than any one person, to organize the League of Nations -Conference. I met her there. Afterwards she took part in the women’s -conference at Zurich, and organized for Mrs. Despard and myself a -highly successful meeting in Berne on the subject of the Treaty of -Versailles. - -She is a slight little woman, of fair complexion and energetic manner. -She has a soft voice, but is quietly convinced and determined. No -effort is too much which will advance the cause of peace. She is almost -too grateful for any assistance. She is, I believe, deeply religious. -She took rooms at the Hôtel de France, a small and humble hotel in -Berne, and there she worked like a Trojan. I do not think she is a rich -woman, but she must be spending the whole of her means on this work for -peace. - -Dr. Rusiecka has produced a French edition of _Foreign Affairs_. She -is helping to edit a newspaper in Geneva along with the distinguished -pacifist M. René Claparéde. - -Nothing can discourage this gallant little woman. I have known things -happen to her which would have driven most women into the haven of -private life. But she goes on--brave, strong, defiant of wrong, and -defendant of right. Wherever in Europe the word peace is spoken and -meant the name of Dr. Rusiecka will be found to be associated with it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -MORE ABOUT RUSSIA - - -I have told the story of my visit to Russia in a separate volume. A -reference to the last chapter of “Through Bolshevik Russia” would help -towards a clearer understanding of the few additional pages upon Russia -which are all that can be spared to it in this book. That chapter -speculates upon the future of Soviet Russia. - -I have seen no reason since writing that book to revise in the -slightest degree the judgment of Bolshevism there expressed. One of -the points of criticism levelled against it by those who questioned -the wisdom of its publication, but not the sincerity of its writer, -was that I had not been sufficiently careful to distinguish between -Bolshevism for the Russians and Bolshevism for this country. The one, -it was argued, was necessary for the break-up of capitalism in Russia. -It is unnecessary for the break-up of capitalism in a country where -every adult person is equipped either with the vote or with the right -of industrial organization. - -With the argument I am not for the moment concerned; but I have indeed -written foggily if it is not clear from my writing that _I am hostile -to Bolshevism as a political creed and system_, and to its application -to Russia only less than to its imposition upon England. The attempt -to destroy an idea with guns is stupid at any time. To try to destroy -it by force of arms in Russia was an unwarrantable cruelty on the -part of the Allies, an impertinent interference in another country’s -internal affairs, and the crowning act of folly of an Entente which -has distinguished itself for acts of madness since the days of the -Armistice. - -Perhaps it would be as well to state once again some of the reasons -which moved me to criticism of the Bolshevik leaders, their programme -and their policy. - -First, let it be admitted once more, and emphasized in a manner -which can leave no doubt in the reader’s mind, that for the nameless -sufferings of the Russian people from hunger, cold and disease, and -for the state of war which has kept Europe restless, unsettled and -distressed for the two and a half years since the Armistice, the Allied -Governments must bear the chief burden of responsibility. During -the whole of that time Russia was engaged gallantly beating off one -military adventurer after another, equipped by the Allies with arms -and stores. She did not want war. She desired above all things peace. -With her wireless she filled the air with cries for peace even whilst -she dealt triumphant blows to the right and left of her, as one foe -succeeded another. These wireless waves struck upon the ears of the -whole world and turned pitying hearts towards Russia who had no love -for Russia’s Bolshevism. Still peace was denied. France, crazy with -fear of a possible Russo-German alliance, supplied one adventurer after -another with the necessary equipment, in pursuit of a policy which -made for the very thing she dreaded. England with her ships blockaded -Russia’s ports, sowing a deadly hatred for this country in the hearts -of mothers and fathers of little children dead of hunger, and making -inevitable a Russian policy in the East unfavourable to British -interests. - -But this fully granted, the Russian Bolsheviks must accept a very -considerable part of the blame. These men and women are not fools. The -chiefs are highly educated and widely read. They have an incomparable -knowledge of world affairs. I very much doubt if there is a man living -with a larger acquaintance with the foreign politics of the world than -the brilliant Radek, or a woman who knows more of Socialist history -and organization than Madame Balabanova. What outsider can judge with -perfect fairness the act of a great man in the critical epochs of his -country’s history? It may have seemed to the Bolshevik leaders, in -order to stop the fatal disintegration of Russia’s economic life which -was the first fruit of peace and the Revolution, of the first necessity -to seize power and destroy the beginnings of democratic growth -exemplified in the Zemstvo and the National Assembly. Their contempt -for any democracy other than a Communist democracy may have sincerely -justified itself in their eyes in the miserable circumstances of the -time of the Second Revolution. I indict them much less for their swift -deeds in the early days of the Revolution than for their settled policy -after the Revolution was accomplished, although they must have known -that both the one and the other would give the enemies of Russia in -Western Europe the excuse for invading her for which they were looking. - -No consideration was shown of the effect upon the Russian town -populations of the attempt to carry out their complete party programme, -with its consequent provocation of blockades, embargoes and wars, -at a time when three years of war with Germany had used up even the -vast Russian resources and worn her weary soldiers to the very bone -and marrow of them. One noted Bolshevik met my remonstrances against -the policy, which meant the wilful sacrifice of the entire population -of Petrograd, with the words: “But the population of one city, what -is that? Three-quarters of a million? Well, but there are plenty of -millions left in Russia.” - -This is the true militarist psychology. I almost imagined I heard Mr. -Winston Churchill speak; or General Ludendorff; or Marshal Foch. - -The inevitable consequence of forcing a programme upon a people unripe -for it, or unwilling, is tyranny and terror. In Ireland it is the -tyranny of the minority. In Russia it is the tyranny of the minority. -In Russia it is called the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” a mere -phrase, apt as most clever phrases to enslave and corrupt. The -dictatorship of the proletariat means, in Russia, the dictatorship -of a handful of clever political economists, very few of whom are -proletarians, over an immense mass of peasants and workmen. Their -intelligent support they drew from the workmen of the towns, their -tacit support from the peasants, whom they bribed with the promise -of land. Indeed, they established a system of virtual peasant -proprietorship, creating a thousand vested interests where one had -existed before, and yielding up the first plank in their programme in -the very first hour of their power! - -I do not charge the Bolshevik leaders with wilfully contriving terror -and torture. I do not suggest they wallowed delightedly in the blood of -fellow creatures. Ignorant and lustful brutes, self-elevated to power -in remote towns and villages, did deeds in the name of the Soviet which -make distressing reading. The official Terror of the Government was -aimed at their own firm establishment and not carried on for the mere -pleasure of killing. But the Communist philosophy predicates terror, -and advocates its ruthless use against the adversary in the supposed -interests of a glorious eventuality. To such lengths does the policy -that the end justifies the means bring men and women otherwise humane! -To such dangers is a population brought which permits its minority to -ride rough-shod over the majority as in Russia! - -That Lenin and the others sincerely desired peace in the beginning I -am convinced. At Brest-Litovsk they issued a manifesto to the world -which, for the idealism of its language and the beauty of its appeal, -has not been surpassed in the political and diplomatic history of -mankind. It was a plea to all the nations and their governments to stop -fighting and to make peace upon the basis of self-determination for the -nations and without penal indemnities for the conquered, the programme -afterwards professed by Allied statesmen in order to undermine the -resistance of the German people. The crime of rejecting this proposal -rests with Germans and Allies alike. Mutual fears, hates, mistrusts -were too strong, too deeply ingrained, and the Russian idealists were -despised and rejected of men! - -The Trotsky who raised the banner of universal peace at Brest-Litovsk, -the prince of pacifists, became the prince of militarists, the great -war lord of a hundred and fifty millions of people stung to arms again. -The marvellously revived and sternly disciplined armies of Trotsky have -performed miracles of soldier-craft which have filled an astonished -world with reluctant admiration, tossing aside their enemies, -Judenitch, Petlura, Koltchak, Denikin, and Wrangel, like terriers -in a barn full of rats. Such exploits and the sympathetic agitation -they aroused in the Allied countries compelled the Allies to face -facts, always a difficult thing for them to do; and the outstanding -fact of the situation is that, whether Bolshevism be approved or not, -Soviet Russia must be taken into account in the shaping of the foreign -policies of the Western Powers by a statesman who does not wish to go -down to posterity as the worst kind of detrimental. - -I am not a Communist in the Russian sense of the term. And the -Communism of primitive Christianity, voluntary and unselfish, appears -not to be practical politics at the moment. I believe that the system -called Capitalism will have to give place some day to a collectivist -internationalism which shall secure life and the fruits of the earth -to its populations in proportion to their needs. I believe this -change will come about slowly as the intelligence of the peoples -develops, as they become acquainted with facts and see demonstrated -before their eyes the insufficiency, insecurity and injustice of a -system based upon production for profit rather than for use. Such -things as are fundamental to life itself--land, minerals and means of -communication--should not be at the disposal and under the control of a -small number of private persons any more than the army, the navy and -the arsenals. It is too unsafe. For the rest: Those things of which -there is an abundant supply might not unreasonably be held privately; -provided that nobody who desires them goes without, and nobody’s -private ownership inflicts injury on the community at large. - -But the Russian Communists favour the complete abolition of private -property down to the books one reads and the clothes one wears. This -programme they have carried out by methods of wholesale and swift -confiscation without the slightest consideration for the unfortunate -owners, creating new injustices in order to remove the old, and -provoking thereby the inevitable reaction. This is of the essence of -the revolutionary method. It is not happy for Russia. It would be just -as unhappy for England or America. - -The Bolshevik Government is now in the fourth year of its existence. -This fact is adduced by its admirers in this country as a mark of -super-excellence. Truly at a time when European Governments are changed -with the regularity and rapidity of moving pictures at a theatre some -credit is due to a Government which can survive the shocks of war and -revolution through nearly four years of Europe’s stormiest history. - -But the long life of the present Russian Government is due to -three or four primary causes. It is due to Allied support of -counter-revolutionary movements, which drew every section of the -Russian population together for common defence against the foreign -intruder. It is due to the fact that no alternative government has -presented itself with a programme which would give more food and -furniture, clothes and medicines to the people of Russia. It is due to -the fear of the Extraordinary Commission with its agents and spies and -prisons and executioners. But above all it is due--and particularly in -these latter days since the fear of foreign invasion has departed--to -the acceptance by Lenin and his friends of moderate counsels, and the -gradually achieved ascendancy in the government of the nation of the -more moderate men amongst the Bolsheviks. - -It is, and always has been, a mistake to assume that all the Bolshevik -leaders are equally extreme. It was not true when we visited Russia -in May, 1920. It is much less true to-day. During the period of civil -wars and Allied invasions the extreme element was dominant. Now -the moderates rule. Lenin has never wavered from his fixed idea of -world-communism and world-revolution; but he has proved his greatness -to his friends and has confounded his enemies by yielding to the -necessity for compromise, making deals with the alien capitalist -governments and with the native individualist peasants alike. - -Turning to my other pages on Russia for the estimate I there recorded -of the keen-brained, merry-eyed fanatic of the Kremlin (for the wisdom -and statesmanship of twelve months later have astonished me as much as -they have surprised most people), I discovered the following sentences: - - “He (Lenin) impressed me with his fanaticism. This is surely the - source of his driving power. And yet I am told that compared with - the really fanatical Communist Lenin is mildness itself, and should - be classed with the ‘Right.’ It was rumoured that he is engaged on a - new book to be given the name ‘The Infant Diseases of Communism,’ or - some such title, which suggests an honest confession of mistakes made - in the early days of the commune. If this be true there is hope of - happiness for Russia yet. But I must confess his firm belief in the - necessity of violence for the establishment throughout the world of - his ideals makes one doubt miserably.” - -I no longer doubt Lenin’s capacity. More than that I am inclined to -believe that history will accord to him one of her foremost places -when the tale of these times comes to be told, in spite of the -terrible blunders and awful crimes for which he will, in part, be held -responsible. It takes either a true lover of his country or one who -having tasted power knows how to keep it, to confess his mistakes -in the ear of a listening world apt to say “I told you so.” If Lenin -loves power and means to keep it, I, who differ from him in aim and -loathe with a deadly loathing his past methods, declare my conviction -that it is for no selfish end that he seeks to preserve his hold upon -the Russian nation, but for the good of his cause and for the ultimate -realization of his dreams that he has risked unpopularity with his -extreme supporters, and has met half-way the capitalists at home and -abroad. The following sentences extracted from his speech to the Annual -Congress of the Russian Communist Party held on March 7, 1921, promise -a bright era for Russia yet: - - “As far back as April, 1918, it was thought that the civil war was - concluded. In March, 1920, the Soviet Government supposed that a - period of peace was beginning, but already in the following month the - Polish attack was launched. This experience teaches us that we should - not cherish undue optimism, although at the present time there is not - a single enemy soldier on Russian territory. Our internal affairs are - concerned mainly with problems of demobilization, food supplies and - fuel. We have made mistakes in the distribution of the food supplies, - although these supplies were much greater than in previous years. - Difficulties with fuel were due to the fact that we began to renew - our industries at too rapid a rate. We over-estimated our powers in - the transition from war-time to peace-time management. Agriculture - is passing through a period of crisis, not only in consequence of - the imperial and civil war, but also because the new State mechanism - is building up its methods of work only by a gradual process, and - for that reason it still makes mistakes from time to time. The most - important political problem of the present period is the relation - between the peasants and the industrial population which in Russia - preponderates to a considerable degree. The international situation - is marked by an unusually slow development of the revolutionary - movement throughout the world, and in no case do we look for its - speedy victory. The Soviet Government is therefore considering - the question of the necessity for an agreement with the bourgeois - Governments, which would result in the granting of concessions to - foreign capitalists in Russia. The agricultural population, which - supposes that the Czarist generals are no longer a menace to it and - that it is receiving too small a share of industrial products, - considers that the sacrifices demanded of it are too great. We must - show consideration for the efforts of the agricultural workers. We - are introducing a natural food tax which will be distributed in - proportion to the resources of the peasantry, and will give a free - scope of activity to their material interests. This tax will absorb - only a portion of the agricultural worker’s produce. What he has left - he will be able to sell by means of local markets and trade. And just - as the concessions are to provide us with the means of production - for our industries, so, too, by showing consideration for the wishes - of the agricultural worker, we are at the same time mitigating the - agricultural crisis and improving at the same time the relationship - between the working classes in the cities and the peasantry. The - question of the natural food tax is the most important problem of the - Soviet policy. The accomplishment of this task is beset with serious - obstacles, and demands the closest concentration of the Party, as well - as a clear understanding of the difficulties delaying the dictatorship - of the proletarist in a petty bourgeois state.” - -Thus passes at a stroke the communal ownership of the fruits of -the land as well as of the land itself! Thus return the bourgeois -institution of private trading and the ancient exploitation of the -concessionaire! It was inevitable, and the wise man bowed to the -necessity. Lenin’s line is the one upon which I hoped and believed that -Russia’s future _might_ develop, the line which, but for the fanaticism -of a comparative few, once including Lenin, might have been taken very -much earlier with advantage to Russia and the rest of Europe. - -But whether this line of slower and more peaceful development will be -permitted to Russia remains to be seen. I sincerely hope it may. There -are discontented democrats, however, rightly insisting on the speedy -restoration of democratic political methods. They want the Zemstvo -restored and the National Constituent Assembly. They want simple and -equal adult suffrage, as much for the peasants as for the townsfolk. -They want vote by ballot. They want freedom of thought, of speech and -of the press. They want restrictions on labour removed and freedom of -contract restored. They want free trade. Will these good things be -given back to the Russians at an early date? I am very hopeful. A good -beginning has just been made. - -If Lenin has restored to himself and his Government by his drastic -reform of the levy on the peasants, those vast millions of Russian -folk, he can, if he chooses, continue his regime for an indefinite -time. With such modifications in the system as I have just named this -would be the best way out of Russia’s present distressing state, for, -should counter-revolution arise and spread, a new chaos would almost -certainly follow, opening up dreadful possibilities for the population; -and for the watchful and greedy adventurers, out to carve a kingdom for -themselves from Russia’s enormous territories, or thirsty to exploit -her unimaginable resources of precious metals and rich forests in -their own selfish interests, would present the opportunities they are -palpitating to use. - -But there is yet another element threatening the future happiness of -Russia--her own Napoleons, and the flushed and triumphant militarism -which supports them. Trotsky has the reputation of an extremist. There -is said to be a coldness between Lenin and himself. It is commonly -believed that he will not readily disband the army that he has created -and employed with such signal success. Not only that, but he believes -with many others that Bolshevism can only survive if a strong, active -and triumphant army supports it. He believes that the conquest of the -East for Bolshevism will not only keep the soldiers busy and add to the -glory of Russian arms, but will menace the proud empires which have -caused so much unnecessary suffering to his people, and which are still -opposing the interests of Russia, though in less apparent fashion. It -is openly said in Moscow that Trotsky himself is the coming Napoleon. - -The Russo-Polish peace signed at Riga on March 18, 1921, and ratified -by Poland on April 16 points rather in the other direction; unless, as -is suggested, it was signed through fear of defeat or in order to clear -the way for a concentration of warlike operations in the Caucasus -and the Near East. The fear of defeat it is impossible to believe in. -Russia is too big to be defeated. - -The recent news from the Caucasus, however, supplies conclusive -evidence, as far as it goes, of a distinctively imperialist policy, -which recks as little of the right of self-determination as the -policies of capitalist governments. A treaty with Kemal Pasha and -joint action between the Turkish Nationalists and the Bolsheviks -against Armenia (that pitiful victim of Allied policy), and Georgia, -promised self-government and independence by Moscow only a few months -previously; the domination of Azerbaijan from Moscow for the security -to Russia of the oil supplies of Baku; the intrusion of Soviet politics -into Persia with its intended threat to British interests in India; -Bolshevik propaganda marching with the armies or bulging from the -portfolios of the political and diplomatic agents of Russia--these -things and others, have an alarming appearance of old-fashioned -militarist Imperialism very disturbing to those who wish well to -Russia, and who long desperately that she shall not copy too closely -the aims and methods of the discredited diplomacy of the Western -Powers, even though it be on behalf of the whole nation and not of a -single class that the methods of conquest and spoliation be employed. - -The alliance between Kemal Pasha and the Bolsheviks can have no other -meaning than a common design to embarrass the Entente’s plans in the -Near East, and to menace British and French capitalist interests in -India, Mesopotamia and Angora. Kemal Pasha is no more a Bolshevik than -the man in the moon. The cynical Radek is clearly aware of all this. -He wrote in the Moscow _Pravda_ of January 26, 1921, examining the -possibility of the revision of the Treaty of Sèvres and the consequent -desertion of themselves by Kemal and his army: - - “Which way Kemal Pasha will choose we certainly cannot say; but we - have never been so simple as to throw ourselves unreservedly in the - embraces of the Nationalists of the East. It is an absolute necessity - for us to be on guard, and not only to be awake but to act also. - The stronger we are on the Caucasus the more solid our position in - Turkestan, the more real our assistance, the more certain shall we - be to hasten the development of the East in the direction and in the - interests of world revolution.” - -He rejoices in the same article on the complete Bolshevization of -Georgia, the recalcitrant, whilst his colleague, Steklov, in _Isvestia_ -of January 30, 1921, wrote with equal cynicism of removing “the black -point” (Georgia) from the Caucasus, and so making easy joint action -between the Kemalists and themselves against the armies serving the -interests of the Entente. Thus, in spite of solemn pledges, promises -of protection, League of Nations covenants and the rest, the wretched -Armenians are tossed into the laps of new tyrants, the close associates -of the old, whose unspeakable cruelties towards their hapless -dependents have scandalized mankind for generations; whilst the unhappy -Georgians have had to stop their constructive work for social democracy -to defend themselves almost with bare fists against the faithless -Russian hordes whose leaders had guaranteed their independence. Of this -I shall write elsewhere. - - * * * * * - -Writing these words in the warmth of a bright April sun, within sight -of trees weighed down with vast masses of snowy blossom, the pink and -white of the cherry and the apple, a soft wind from the valley blowing -gently in at the tiny casement window, the mind turns to the quite -other scenes of exactly a year ago. In the imagination are pictured -the endless plains of Russia with the patient peasant walking at -midnight behind his span of oxen and his wooden plough; the brown, -muddy waters of the rolling Volga with its picturesque rafts carrying -whole villages; the red-robed Kalmuk priest in the cold moonlight; the -glittering domes of Moscow’s thousand churches; the dull, pale-faced -hungry crowds of Petrograd; the happy children, utterly fearless, -on the great estates of vanished proprietors; the lazy routine of -numberless offices; the careworn and incompetent high officials, with -their indolent staffs and littered desks and stuffy buildings; the -talkative Commissars; the strife, the passion, the idealism of it all. - -In Moscow sits Tchicherine, master of the foreign policy of a country -the size of Europe. Who would have expected Tchicherine to achieve -such an exalted position in so short a time who had seen this delicate -man fidgeting on the edge of his chair in the office of the National -Council for Civil Liberties, seeking the help for Russian prisoners -in England of the Council’s Executive Committee? His thin, artistic -fingers tapped the table nervously as he spoke in a high-pitched rather -strained voice. His manner was shrinking. He lacked the usual voluble -earnestness of the Socialist exile. He suggested the gentle and refined -artist, the man of taste and leisure. He was full of a timid courtesy. -His diffidence was a temptation to the coarse and undiscerning to be -rough and contemptuous of the suppliant. - -When we saw him in Moscow he looked as though all the woes of the -world had been laid by force upon his frail and inadequate shoulders. -His clothes appeared to be many sizes too big for him. He looked over -his collar like a frightened owl over a hedge fence. Soft and slow of -speech, but of quick intelligence and with the clearest outlook, his -true friend would none the less wish him a happier fate than to be -Minister of State in a country so full of tangled problems as Russia in -these dreadful days. Making beautiful music to a company of congenial -souls, the samovar steaming merrily and the song going gaily behind -warm, close curtains, in the light of a bright fire, till the dawn on -the horizon told of the coming day, is the proper life for this gentle -Minister, whom to know is to like. Perhaps such a dream-picture comes -to him in the small hours of many a weary morning to cheer him to -renewed efforts in the cause which alone, he believes, can make his -dreams come true. - -“You will never go to Russia again, of course,” said a friend. “They -would never let you come out alive.” But I shall go to Russia again -some day. I shall go because Russia is the kind of country which, -having once won you, claims your interest and affection for all time. -You cannot escape the love of her. She draws in a fatal way all who -have come under her magic spell. - -Russia is crammed full of mystery. Nobody can define her. Her people -are lovable, beautiful, idealistic, spiritual; but coarse and cruel -too. They are a race of artists with gifts of this sort for mankind -that have not yet been dreamt of. Russia is not Bolshevism. This hard, -cruel phase will pass, is already passing. What the next chapter in -Russian history will be who can tell? What Russia’s contribution will -be to the world’s political problems who will dare to prophesy? - -A generation is growing up in Russia which has seen fearful things -and done dreadful deeds. Its children have grown weary, toying with -corpses. But in spite of that I am sure that Russia will justify the -brightest hopes of her. That her gift to mankind will be a great -contribution both materially and spiritually I am convinced. At present -the land of mystery calls for our aid and co-operation. She will give -to us more than we can give to her. But for many years to come she will -be clothed in mystery for most, until the material blends with the -spiritual and the oneness of life becomes known to all the nations of -the earth. - -I must tell a true story of Moscow. Hauntingly, like a strange, sad -dream, comes the remembrance of that nightly experience in the big -city. Every morn, at the same hour, the hour when the last rays of -twilight give instant place to the first beams of morning light, the -hour of two, a woman’s clear voice rang out in a mournful strain, -sometimes piercingly shrill, sometimes pathetic; sometimes a tender -moan, sometimes a scream of agony; never joyous, ever tormented. The -singing seemed to come from the building opposite the hotel where we -were lodged, a building which looked like a factory. The song was -always the same. - -[Illustration: _Larghissimo e con angore._] - -The key was changed for every repetition of the wailing song. Sometimes -a line was omitted. Sometimes only three or four notes of a line were -sung. A pause of the proper length was made whenever notes were left -out of a line, or for the whole line when this was not sung, and the -tune resumed at the end of the pause, thus: - -[Illustration: _Larghissimo e con angore._] - -The effect was weird and torturing. Whom could it be? What could it -mean? Was some sick creature housed opposite? Was some poor woman kept -a prisoner by force? Was it a piece of religious ritual? Was somebody -mad? - -I spoke to one or two of my colleagues about it. They slept soundly and -heard nothing. I inquired of the Bolshevik servants. They knew nothing -about it. A Bolshevik secretary had the room next to mine. Often he -typed all night. Sometimes he paced the room till the day dawned. He -could scarcely fail to hear the voice. But he could not help me. - -Perhaps some Russian reading this book will write and tell me the -meaning of that torturing cry, of that singing ghost which is one of my -liveliest memories. She shall be, till then, the symbol of all Russia, -tragic, seductive, mysterious; the bride of the East calling to the -bridegroom of the West to come and set her free for the marriage which -is to be fruitful for the happiness of mankind. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -FROM RUSSIA BY SWEDEN AND GERMANY - - -On our way from Saratov on the Volga, to Reval, the interesting old -capital of Esthonia, my colleagues and I discussed the possibility of -returning to London via Berlin. Dr. Haden Guest and I were especially -interested in the condition of child-life in the German cities, he -from the point of view of a humane medical man, I as a member of the -Executive Committee of the Save the Children Fund, charged with the -administration of large sums of money for the relief of the suffering -children of Europe. A view of the problem at close quarters would -be valuable to our various committees, and useful to ourselves as -propagandists. - -Reval is a quaint old city, with odd winding streets and cobbled roads. -Its harbour is very fine; but at the time of our visit in June, 1920, -it showed very few signs of an awakening commerce. The position of the -Border Republics was very uncertain, both politically and militarily, -and the social condition of the people was lamentable. The fear and -hatred of Bolshevism was upon them. The minefields of the Baltic had -not been cleared up, which added difficulties to the trade with Sweden, -prolonging the voyages and reducing the number of sailings owing to -the necessity of careful and roundabout navigation. Finland was too -poor to attempt to sweep them; and perhaps a little reluctant through -fear of Russia, her powerful neighbour. The Allies were indifferent, -and still giving aid and comfort to counter-revolutionaries of all -sorts. Anything which added to the miseries of Russia they were slow to -destroy; but Russia’s near neighbours suffered also. - -Poverty and hunger abounded in Esthonia. The shops were almost empty of -goods. The value of money was incredibly low. Enough roubles to paper a -room could be bought for an English pound. The British Military Mission -was obliged to have a large part of its necessary stores sent from home -or from Denmark on account of the scarcity; which added to the cost of -the mess and made the hospitality so freely and graciously offered a -gift of more than ordinary value. - -What extraordinarily good fellows were those British officers in Reval! -It would be invidious to mention names; but it was perfectly clear why -they were so universally popular. A well known and genuine interest in -the people they had come to help was the foundation of it. - -Mr. Leslie, the able and courteous young British Consul, facilitated -our departure from Reval to the best of his ability, and we cast off -from all Russian or related contacts on the third day after our arrival -in the city. Our destination was Stockholm, where we hoped to get the -necessary visa for Germany. - -No words can adequately describe the voyage through those lovely -Finnish islands. The nearest approach to it is the trip through the -Canadian Lake of the Woods or the Greek Archipelago. The little islands -stood out like emeralds against the clear horizon line of glowing pink, -yellowing into the deep blue of the night sky, with its crescent moon -and evening star. The ice-blue waters were as placid as a lake, and -no sound but the swish of the ship’s propeller disturbed the heavenly -stillness that held us through the greater part of the night. Wealthy -Americans who rush to Europe to see beauties which abound in their own -country might do a service to mankind by popularizing this tour. - -We were compelled to submit to medical examination both in Reval and -Stockholm, but this being satisfactory, we proceeded to our hotel. The -trip to Russia obliged us to spend two weeks in Stockholm, one week -each way, because of the infrequency of boats to Russia; which gave us -the opportunity of making some interesting acquaintances, and seeing -with some degree of thoroughness the most beautiful city of Northern -Europe, well wooded and spotlessly clean, and threaded through and -through with canals and waterways--a veritable “Venice of the North.” - -Amongst these new acquaintances was a lady I first met in Geneva -at the conference of the Save the Children Fund. The Countess -Wilamowitz-Moellendorf is a lovely woman of about thirty-two years of -age, tall and graceful as a lily, with a lily’s whiteness in her skin, -and a lily’s pale gold in her hair. She has a soft voice and a gentle -blue eye, which occasionally sparkles with pure mischief. She possesses -the elegance and simplicity of manner of the _ancien régime_, to which -she belongs, and has the gift of humour, suggestive of the Irish strain -that is actually hers. Her distinguished husband died during the war at -Bagdad and lies buried there. She has an only child, a graceful girl of -sixteen growing up into the likeness of her beautiful mother. - -This charming woman and devoted mother, Swede by birth and German -by marriage, is giving herself without stint to the work of saving -the starving babies of Europe. She also has ideas on Labour and -International questions which would raise the ghosts of many of her -departed friends did they but know these. She attended with me a -meeting at the Volkshaus in Stockholm to hear an address by a Labour -speaker, and I saw with what regard she is held by the Radical forces -of the city. - -One day she came to the British Labour delegation to ask their -interest in a matter of relief. The Swedish Red Cross, hearing of -the epidemics in Russia, and particularly in Petrograd, organized a -relief expedition comprising sanitary engineers, plumbers, doctors and -nurses to the number of almost a hundred, with supplies of medicines, -soaps, disinfectants, and all the equipment of a sanitary and medical -expedition. Prince Charles, President of the Red Cross, was extremely -anxious that the Mission should set out. He had written twice to -the Russian Foreign Office offering his gift; but, although weeks -had passed, there was no reply. Would it be possible for us to see -Tchicherine and get something definite from him, either an acceptance -or a rejection, so that in the event of the latter the Mission might -proceed elsewhere? - -Some of us saw Prince Charles and heard the story from his own lips. -His sincerity was impressive. We promised to do what we could. This -grave Swedish prince is a man of distinguished appearance, with a -manner of great reserve. He is tall, grey haired and blue eyed, with -strong, fine hands. His royal reserve melted for a moment and his blue -eyes softened with appreciation when I ventured softly to commiserate -him on the death of Sweden’s popular Crown Princess, who had died the -preceding day. We left his presence reinforced in the belief that -humane feeling and practical social service are the disposition and -occupation of no particular class. They are the characteristics of the -generous and refined of all classes. We told the story to Tchicherine -when we saw him; but I very much doubt if the royal gift were accepted. -The Russians trust only the Society of Friends. All other relief -organizations do propaganda against the Soviet Government, they allege. - -One of the most interesting personalities I met in Stockholm was the -great traveller and scientist, the friend of kings and kaisers, the -distinguished supporter of Germany, Sven Hedin. I lunched at his house -in company with some of my fellow delegates. It is a lovely home, -especially his own room. This room is lined with exquisitely bound -books and filled with curios of priceless value collected during many -marvellous journeyings. Signed photographs of numerous monarchs stand -in the recesses and on tables. Rich Oriental carpets cover the floor, -and precious hangings of rarest quality add colour and character to the -room. - -He is a remarkably handsome man, with a mass of raven hair slightly -tinged with grey, brushed but rebellious; and brilliant eyes, flashing -thought. He has a happy manner, full of little gallantries. He -possesses the great and saving gift of humour, can be gaily ironical -and ironically severe. He is unmarried; but is tenderly devoted to his -adoring family of aged mother and gifted sisters. He has an astounding -capacity for work, sleeps a little in the afternoon and then works till -4 o’clock every morning. We had great argument with him, which changed -neither his opinion nor our own. But there was no crudity of speech or -manner on either side to spoil our reputation in a neutral city, or to -lessen the quality of his generous hospitality. - -The Countess succeeded in getting permission for us to go to Berlin. -She introduced us to the German Minister to Sweden, and Prince Wied -of the Legation, who were touched by our interest in the children of -Berlin. The tax upon aliens entering Germany--at this time about 60 -marks--was graciously remitted in our case as we were going on relief -work, and we booked our places on train and steamer and began to pack -our bags. - - * * * * * - -The last day in Stockholm was spent most happily with Mr. Branting -and his gifted wife at their country house two hours’ distance up -the straits. Mr. Branting was at this time Prime Minister of Sweden, -whose Government was preponderatingly Social Democratic. He and his -colleagues in the Cabinet had richly entertained the British delegates -to Russia on their way out. This meeting of the great man in his home -was of a more precious and intimate character. - -The good-natured statesman at home is all that his kindly personality -promised it would be. Considerate of the guest who took no wine he -had provided specially for her needs. We had lunch in the garden, our -table shaded by trees from the hot sun and placed in view of the -quiet waters of the channel. Neighbouring houses embedded in foliage -peeped at us from leafy bowers. There was no trace of a wind. Bright -sunshine filtering through the leaves made a pattern upon the short -smooth grass. It was an ideal place for a tired politician seeking to -escape for a while from the sordid squabbles and bitter feuds of his -profession. - -The first time I saw Mr. Branting was at an Allied Socialist Conference -in London. His burly form and erect grey hair, standing squarely off -a broad forehead, as if seeking to escape from the brush of a pair -of fierce, shaggy eyebrows, his large powerful hands and the broad -shoulders of a Viking gave him a command over the assembly which a -rather weak voice and a slow and deliberate speech might otherwise -have diminished. He speaks several languages well, although one who -speaks these better, an impish member of the fraternity of the press, -whispered to me in Berne that “Mr. Branting confuses the delegates -admirably in seven languages!” - -On this occasion his wife was dressed in forget-me-not blue, which -matched her eyes and set off her fair skin to perfection. Her light, -fluffy hair was softly tucked under a large garden hat designed for -the sun. She has the strong prejudices mingled with the charm of the -French-woman that I am told she is. Mr. Branting is her second husband, -and her son has adopted the name of his step-father. She is a writer of -books with some claim to serious attention, but I have the misfortune -not to have read any of them. She is a delightful hostess, a devoted -wife and a very charming woman. - -Branting was at this time gravely concerned about the effects of the -Peace of Versailles and the Allied policy towards Russia. His Allied -predilections during the war entitled his opinions to the gravest -consideration, and he expressed himself of the opinion that the conduct -of both France and England towards Germany and Russia was conceived -in a spirit hostile to true internationalism, and was calculated to -produce new wars by reviving old hates. The claim was being made that -Russia should pay for the damage due to her withdrawal from the war. -Russia retorted by demanding payment for damage done in Russia by -counter-revolutionaries paid by England and France. Branting agreed -there was logic in the retort. Anti-Bolshevik to the last ounce of him, -he none the less regretted a policy which he believed could only have -the effect of strengthening the Bolshevik power. - -We bade farewell to our good friends at the water’s edge and boarded -the steamer for Stockholm and the night journey towards Berlin. The -Countess accompanied us, and she and I shared a compartment. The swift -Swedish express brought us by morning to the Trellborg-Sassnitz steamer -which conveyed us across waters as smooth as a lake to the German side. - - * * * * * - -We could only spend four days in Berlin. We had therefore carefully -to map out a programme so as to accomplish as much as possible. There -were the courtesy calls at the British Embassy and the British Military -Mission to be made first. At both places the greatest interest was -manifested in our trip to Russia. We told the story to Lord Kilmarnock -over a pleasant cup of tea at the Embassy, and repeated it to General -Malcolm and his staff at the Military Mission during lunch. - -But I was extremely anxious, if it could be done in the time, to see -representative men and women of every shade of German politics. The -Countess was of the greatest possible help in bringing us into touch -with one section. The German Foreign Office was equally obliging. -British newspaper men gave a hand, with the result that we actually -accomplished our desire in this respect, and left Berlin having seen -the spokesmen of every party in the Reichstag. We found time to visit -the Reichstag in session, and had the experience of hearing the speech -of Herr Fehrenbach and seeing the dignified temper of the Assembly -under circumstances of extreme trial and provocation. - -The Allied representatives in Berlin were seriously concerned at the -time with Germany’s alleged defaulting in the matter of disarmament. -Our generous Britons, with not an ounce of ignorant hate in them, -were not quite sure that Germany was not playing a game of gigantic -bluff. It was impossible for me to believe that, after talking with -many cultivated and sincere Germans. Fear of Communists on the part of -the middle classes as strong as the fear in France of Germany; fear -of the Junkers and the middle classes on the part of the Communists -(of whom it was alleged there are 500,000 in Germany), was responsible -for the charges of concealed guns and hidden rifles freely made by -both sides. The Communists had thousands of rifles hidden in the -woods, it was wildly said. The Junkers had quantities of ammunition -and machine-guns secretly stored for future use against the common -people was the counter-charge. It was this fear that put the Englishman -Phillips Price on the side of the Allies in their demand for Germany’s -complete disarmament. This interesting character has given up his -wealth in England, embraced political Communism and married a German -workgirl. When I saw him he looked very happy, rejoicing in the birth -of a child to him. He, as guileless as many another, believed that -France would disarm when the Germans were made helpless. With a truer -estimate of the realities Germany refused to be convinced. Hence the -passionate plea from her political leaders for more consideration of -her difficulties, which had been interpreted by the Allies as a crafty -attempt to evade the terms of the Treaty. - - * * * * * - -Amongst the politicians I saw in Berlin was a little group of German -Nationalists. The most distinguished of them was the uncle of my -gentle Swedish friend, a scholar of international reputation whom the -great Universities of this country delighted to honour before the war, -Professor Wilamowitz-Moellendorf. He is a proud and gentle old man, -whose white hair only gives the impression of many years, with a grave -scholarly manner, and an air of great distinction. His reasonable and -proper regret was that scholarship and culture should have steeped -itself in the vulgar passions of the slum and the gutter during the -years of war, forgetting their dignity and worth in the disgusting -welter of political hates. All the time his speech about England was -courteous and kind, and though his Oxford friends had given him just -cause for resentment, he kept his happier memories of her green. His -was not the anger of that other scholar, Herr Edouard Meyer, half mad -with the sense of injustice and wrong. - -This little group of German Nationalists met me in the splendid lobby -of one of the big Berlin hotels, and in a quiet corner we discussed -the then political situation and the ominous signs of the times. -There was the usual keen interest in the Russian adventure. Professor -Wilamowitz-Moellendorf was not present on this occasion. - -The most remarkable personality of the group was a tall soldierly man -whose stern expression of face and grey hair were possible relics of -bitter war experiences. After a few idle phrases in complimentary vein, -he turned suddenly upon me and demanded fiercely: “Mrs. Snowden, why -have you come to Germany?” - -The sudden question startled me, but I concealed my surprise and -replied: “Ever since the publication of the Peace Treaty I have been -trying to come to Germany to tell the people here that there _are_ men -and women in England who do not break their pledged word and who want a -square deal even for their foes. I want to shake hands with everybody -here who is willing, along with us, to help to mend a broken world.” - -His reply was startling: “When I came into the room just now I shook -hands with you and I am still suffering from the surprise of it. I -had taken a vow that never again would I touch the hand of an English -person, man or woman. I had believed in your nation. I had thought -it would honour its pledged word. I was foolish enough to think that -British statesmen meant what they said, and that Wilson’s programme was -seriously intended. I was wrong. I made that vow. And I took your hand -just now. I was wrong again.” - -“I think I understand,” I murmured. “In the same circumstances I should -have felt as you feel.” - -“_Do_ you understand, I wonder? Do you understand that for us Germans -there is nothing left but black despair? Do you realize that our -children are dying of hunger? Do you understand that our young men have -no careers open to them? Do you understand the pain of being spat upon, -the torment of being thrust down every time you attempt to rise? Do you -know what it is to be robbed of your faith in idealism, your belief in -goodness, your hope for mankind? I find it difficult to believe that -you understand.” - -The pain in his voice, the look in his eyes hurt. He went on: “If -there is any gleam of hope for Germany to be found anywhere it lies in -religion. No, no,” he said hastily, noting my glance of inquiry, “I do -not mean the Churches, although there must be Churches to give form -and substance to the thing. The Churches must remain, but they must be -reformed and reformed from within. By religion I mean that looking and -striving upwards for better things without which the world perishes. -If my unhappy people can lay hold again of that and keep it, there may -be a little hope for them. For myself there is no hope. Everything is -gone. My country is utterly destroyed. There is nothing left to live -for, unless”--and here a new and fiercer light came into his tired -eyes--“unless after all the Communists are pointing the way. Russia’s -untold millions and our officers. It may be so.” - -He was quiet for a moment. “I do not like Communism. I do not want to -see Communism in Germany But when our position is so bad that nothing -we can do will make it worse and something we may do might make it -better, what would you?” - -Another and a longer pause, and then came his final word: “If our -enemies refuse to give us a gleam of hope for the future, and if the -Communists of Russia _have_ shown us the only way to throw off the -intolerable burden of insult and oppression, _I go with them_. And -there are many like me in Germany.” - -And I learnt before leaving Berlin that of the many like him, General -Ludendorff was one. - - * * * * * - -From this interesting gathering I betook me to the house of the -Socialist President of the German Republic, President Ebert. I -found him seated in a comfortable library chair, in a pleasant room -overlooking a garden, a plain-spoken simple old man, of a natural -and pleasing dignity. He could speak no English, but there was an -interpreter present. Also, the Ex-Chancellor Müller, looking much -better in health than when I saw him in Berne, stood behind the -President’s chair whilst we talked. Once more we related our adventures -in Russia and drew from the President that the Communists of Germany -were a troublesome and incalculable element, complicating the situation -woefully for those desirous of keeping order till Germany was out of -her difficult debate with the Allies. - -I could not help comparing President Ebert with the two other Socialist -Presidents of my acquaintance, Herr Seitz of Austria and Herr Eisner -of Bavaria. Herr Seitz was professional in style, well dressed and -bourgeois in appearance; Herr Eisner was Bohemian in appearance, not -very clean in his dress and style. President Ebert was suggestive of -the typical English Trade Union leader, good-tempered and comfortable -looking, as good as most and not so clever as many, less liable to -rouse antagonism than a more brilliant person; more apt to steer the -ship of a troubled country across a stormy sea than a steersman given -to taking risks with rocks and whirlpools in order to reach the haven -a little sooner. I must say I liked the homely President of the new -Germany. - -That same evening we assembled in one of the private rooms of the -Kaiserhof the leading lights of the Independent Socialists. To our -regret Herr Kautsky was in Vienna, but there came to drink coffee with -us the Herren Breitschied, Dittmann, Ochme, Kuenzer and Oscar Cohn, an -amiable and interested group. We wanted them to talk about Germany, -but they preferred to ask us questions about Russia. Most of them -were about to leave for Russia on a similar expedition to our own. We -answered their questions rather wearily, for the story had become very -stale by this time. These men left us with two distinct impressions. -The first was that the Socialists of Germany are for the most part -disinterested in the Peace Treaty, and their minds are not engrossed to -an appreciable extent with such questions as the distribution of coal, -the assessment of reparations, the disarmament of Germany, or the mad -designs of French Imperialists. They look upon all these things as so -many inevitable steps in the dissolution of the old order. They see -representatives and supporters of the old order, as if maddened with -lust and revenge, doing their very best to make sure the passing of -their authority, and they smile and pursue their various avocations, -calm amid the storms that stir the breasts of the petty bourgeoisie and -the impoverished aristocrats. Their only apparent political interest -lies in the future and how that is to be shaped. Shall they follow the -leadership of Russia? Or shall they make their own way in their own -fashion out of the chaos which the world’s capitalists and militarists -have created? As a matter of fact, the same debate is exercising the -Socialists of every country, and the Second International (Berne) and -the Third International (Moscow) are the symbols of the conflict. - -To my regret there were no Socialist women in this little party. The -rush into Berlin without letting anybody know I was coming, and the -rush out again at the end of a few days, made it difficult to see all -those it would have been pleasant and useful to see. In the Reichstag -building I had counted seven women members of Parliament seated at -their desks, and thought of our hard-working and courageous Lady Astor -still unsupported by a single woman colleague. I believe there are many -more than seven women in the German Parliament, though exactly how many -at the moment I cannot say. But they looked very normal and thoroughly -competent, and mingled with their fellows in an accepted comradeship of -political labour very pleasing to observe. - - * * * * * - -I met Herr Dernburg at the Club House of the Democratic Party. He -assembled a few like-minded people to meet us. Most of them spoke -excellent English, all appeared to understand it. I like Dernburg very -much; but for some he has an unfortunate manner which makes enemies. -His frankness is regarded as mere brutal bad manners. It is nothing -of the sort, and I like it. It makes for clearer understanding than -the polite pretences of the less courageous. I cannot reproduce in his -exact words what Herr Dernburg said, but the substance of part of his -long and able discourse was the cruelty of the starvation policy of the -Allies and in particular in its effect upon the children. “Your people -come to Germany and report that we are pretending to be poor. They see -our good clothes, neatly brushed, and our generally tidy appearance -and they say that Germany is better clothed than they are. They do not -realize that we are reaping now the reward of our habits of thrift. The -clothes that we are wearing are many years old, taken out of wardrobes -and altered as best might be to suit the fashion of the hour. Women’s -dresses are frequently made out of the dyed linen, bed and table, which -every German girl begins to accumulate for her marriage as soon as she -leaves school or earlier. Many of our children wear paper clothes or -garments woven of grasses. Always are our clothes kept well brushed and -used with care. It is a feature of the German character, this neatness, -cleanliness and industry. Look at Berlin. Would you think that a city -so full of woes could find time and heart to be so clean and trim? -And yet, compared with the Berlin of pre-war days, she is soiled and -stained almost beyond knowledge to those who knew and loved her well. -Our hotels are crowded with rich gourmands chiefly from foreign lands; -but go into our little homes, the homes of the miners in the Ruhr, the -homes of the workers in Leipzig, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Hamburg, and see -in the wan, pinched faces of the children and their mothers what the -peace is doing to those whom the war did not kill.” - -There were those in Berlin who had carefully preserved the speeches -of British statesmen during the war. One such drew out of his pocket -a whole note-book full of phrases from the speeches of Mr. Lloyd -George and Mr. Asquith. “Listen to me,” he said, “and I will read you -what your rulers said, and what the new-born Germany believed, to its -present sorrow.” He fingered the loose news-cuttings and selected one -from the rest. Clearing his throat he began: “Mr. Lloyd George on -January 5, 1918. ‘The destruction or disruption of the German people -has never been a war aim with us from the first day of this war to this -day.... Our point of view is that the adoption of a really democratic -Constitution by Germany would be the most convincing evidence that in -her the old spirit of military domination had indeed died in this war -and would make it much easier for us to conclude a broad democratic -peace with her!’ Mr. Lloyd George on November 12, 1918. ‘No settlement -which contravenes the spirit of justice will be a permanent one. We -must not allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping -desire to override the fundamental principles of righteousness.’ Mr. -Lloyd George on the same date: ‘We shall go to the Peace Conference -to guarantee that the League of Nations is a reality!’ Mr. Bonar Law, -September 24, 1914: ‘We have no desire to humiliate the German people.’ -Mr. Lloyd George, September, 12, 1918: ‘We must not arm Germany with a -real wrong. In other words, we shall neither accept nor impose on our -foe a Brest-Litovsk treaty.’” - -“Enough,” I said, “I know all these speeches by heart. It has hurt -me just as much as you that the Peacemakers have departed from their -promises!” - -“No, no,” he said sharply, “not so much, not nearly so much. It has -_hurt_ your _pride_, but it is _killing_ our _children_. Where is the -comparison?” And he turned away in disgust. - - * * * * * - -The Hôtel Adlon is like the Hôtel Belle Vue in Berne and the Bristol -in Vienna, full of the oddest assemblage of human curiosities that the -storms of war have tossed together. The Countess and I dined there -one evening after the opera to amuse ourselves with the spectacle. -Every table was crowded. It was with the greatest difficulty that -we secured places. Eventually, and with the aid of a little English -silver, we were invited to take seats in the corridor leading to the -main dining-room. Herr Stinnes, the great man of industrial Germany, -the coal king, iron master, high financier, newspaper proprietor, -political “boss,” millionaire--large-eyed, impressive--the most -powerful magnate in Central Europe at the present moment--sat at the -next table to our own. In the corner was a famous dancer, impudent and -vivacious, a dainty profligate. There were the German _nouveaux riches_ -in unaccustomed corsets and high-heeled shoes, hot and miserable under -the brilliant lights. A group of fresh-looking British officers gave -the wholesome touch to a hectic scene. Hysterical women, half-dressed, -sang snatches of accompaniment to the waltz strains of the orchestra. -A French officer made undisguised love to a fascinating brunette at a -near table. Two out of three had the brilliant eyes and swarthy skin -of the Jew. Every language under the sun could be heard. It was a -veritable Tower of Babel. It suggested nothing so much as a company of -condemned criminals spending a last riotous night before the hanging in -the morning. - -A pleasanter meal was eaten at the House of the American High -Commissioner. America still being at war with Germany had no -ambassador, but his equivalent, Mr. Drexel, was our courteous host on -this occasion, and at the same table I met my old acquaintance of the -American Legation in Berne, Mr. Hugh Wilson. Mr. Wilson is a delightful -young American diplomat of wide sympathies and progressive views. I -made his acquaintance through the kind offices of our friend in common, -Mr. William Bullitt, the courageous young American who resigned his -position as part of the American Delegation to Paris when he discovered -that the Peace Treaty violated every one of President Wilson’s Fourteen -Points. - -Mr. Wilson is small and slim, with a winning smile of extreme good -nature; but he is very impatient, and properly so, with the selfish -dogmatists who do not mind if the world be destroyed if only they may -attempt to force everything and everybody within the four corners of -their particular creed. America’s diplomacy is rich in talent if it -possesses many young men as able as Mr. Hugh Wilson and his friend, Mr. -Bullitt. - - * * * * * - -In one of the children’s clinics in Charlottenburg I saw the saddest -sight since my visit to Vienna, crowds of little girls and boys, -stripped for the doctor one by one, pitiful pale faces, ribs sticking -through their bodies, hollow chests, fleshless arms--doomed to die from -pulmonary disease, the helpless innocent victims of the war and of the -peace. The physician received us coldly, and we could see that he -felt bitter; but his manner was correct, and he warmed a little as he -gradually realized that no impertinent curiosity but a real desire to -understand and help had brought us to his clinic. “The next generation -of Germans will be three parts diseased,” he said in a dead level -voice more terrible than passion. “Is that what your people wish?” I -assured him that our people did not know what was happening, but that -it would be our business to tell them. Since that time the British -miners alone have subscribed more than £12,000 to the fund for relief. -And it may be the miners, whose standard of living is threatened at -this time, who will be the first great body of workmen to learn, and -the first to teach the connexion between foreign politics and the daily -circumstances of their lives. The ruin of the English export trade in -coal is the direct outcome of that part of the Treaty of Versailles -which provides that Germany shall supply to France coal so much in -excess of her needs that, not only need she not import coal from this -country, but she can export it to other countries which were formerly -our customers. - - * * * * * - -With the artistic life of Berlin I was not able in the short time I -was there to get into close contact. Some day it will be my object -to do so. The world of politics is not the only world, nor the best. -The world that interprets the world, the world that takes you out of -the world, the world of art is the best of all worlds. And when the -passions of living men, tearing and wounding the innocent, sicken the -soul, the exploits of the dead, read by the fireside, or rendered in -song and dance and drama, offer a refuge for weary body and mind, tired -with their fruitless protest against cruelty and wrong. - -One interesting artist of Germany I may call my friend, Karl -Vollmoeller, author of _The Miracle_ produced in London at Olympia -in 1911. He is sometimes spoken of as the “Voltaire of Würtemberg” -because of his physical likeness to Voltaire. He is small and pale, -with fair hair, and thin, rather pinched features. I imagine he is very -delicate in constitution. He is a scholar, a poet, a man of the world, -one of the leading German neo-romanticists. He spoke to me and another -of the time when Lord Northcliffe, whom the flighty young Radical -intellectuals of this country have dubbed, “Alfred and Omega,” ironical -of his pretended omniscience, boomed _The Miracle_, turning what -threatened to be a failure into an overwhelming success. Whimsically -he spoke also of Charles Cochran, who organized the Olympia “Miracle” -season of Max Reinhardt, and who is now supposed to be the leader of -the campaign against German plays. - -Vollmoeller told many amusing stories of the rehearsals at Olympia, -of Engelbert Humperdinck, the composer, Maria Carmi, the actress who -played the Virgin, Max Pallenberg, the greatest comic actor of the -German stage, Trouhanowa, the dancer, and so on. - -Some time later Vollmoeller’s _Turandot_ was produced at the -St. James’s Theatre and _The Venetian Night_ at the Palace. The -latter caused considerable friction with the Lord Chamberlain. The -performances were stopped for a day or two. Finally there was a -compromise, and the performances were resumed. These reminiscences of -the artist were full of a quaint interest. They revealed the utter -folly of war and materialism in the light of the universality and -beauty of art. - -At the end of our four days we left Berlin, travelling _via_ Cologne. -There was a compulsory break of twelve hours there. It gave us an -opportunity of seeing the city under Allied occupation, and of taking -a trip up the Rhine. There were no outward and visible signs of -unhappiness in the people; but I have long since learnt that the broad -highway is not the place where respectable misery flaunts itself. -That hides itself behind closed curtains and thrusts its children out -of sight of the pitying eye of the foreigner. Still, the general -appearance of the people was better here than in Berlin. They had more -colour. They were not so thin. The middle-class crowds which came on -to the steamer at Bonn and other towns as we sailed up the beautiful -river to the cherry country of the Drachenfels were glowing with health -by comparison with the anæmic Berliners, dragging tired feet along the -hard and unsympathetic pavements. The Rhine is a glory. And the view -from the top of the Drachenfels exhibited a panorama of soft wooded -beauty which made the hot air of the city cafes a nightmare memory. - - * * * * * - -From Cologne to Antwerp, a ten hours’ journey through land almost -literally flowing with milk and honey! Belgium is the richest war -country in Europe. Her fields were brown with waving corn. Her fruit -trees were laden with fruit. The restaurant on the train was packed -with food, ample supplies of rich butter and milk and cream; eggs -in abundance. Coming straight from the starving cities of Germany -and Russia, the abundance of Belgium was a relief to the mind. And -there are generous hearts in Belgium (as in France) which some of her -politicians belie. - - * * * * * - -There is nothing so disgusting about war psychology as the willingness -with which decent men and women will listen to any story which -discredits the enemy. Whether it be true or not is no concern of -theirs. They believe it _could_ be true. So it must be true! - -A rumour was set afloat in the Allied countries that Germany was -converting the money which was being raised in America for relief -purposes to political uses through the German Embassy in the United -States. What was the fact? It was simply that the money raised in -America was used by the German staff for its own expenses, and an equal -amount credited to relief accounts by the Government in Germany in -order to avoid the risks from torpedo activity of sending the money by -ship. The rumour was, of course, an attempt to prevent relief being -sent to little German children. But it failed; as it deserved to fail. - - * * * * * - -Thank God, there is one thing which unites the great masses of men -and women of all nations, whether in peace or in war; and that is a -tender concern for children. When Nature fails there, and children are -deliberately sacrificed to satisfy the ambitions of men, the end of the -world will come, even though all the guns be cast into the midst of -the sea, for the belief in immortality, which is implicit in the love -of men and women for children, will have given place to a calculating -materialism in which the be-all and end-all is self. And selfishness is -of the very essence of corruption. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -CONCERNING THE JEWS - - -“I hear you are going to Georgia,” said Mr. Macdonald to me as we -sipped our coffee in the hotel breakfast room one morning in Geneva. -I had heard nothing about an expedition to Georgia and expressed my -surprise. “Well, I happen to know that arrangements are on foot for -a delegation from the Second International to visit that country and -that we shall be amongst those invited to go. Will you accept?” he -continued, lighting his pipe and rising to go. - -My first impulse was to say no. I had been home from Russia barely four -months. Anything remotely connected with the Russia I had seen had not -the faintest attraction for me, and the Caucasus was only recently -a part of the great Russian Empire, and enjoyed an independence of -doubtful quality and stability. Apart from all that, the journey was -frightening, not because of its dangers, which were real but not known, -but because of its fatigues, which were numerous and foreseen. - -When Tseretelli, the handsome and distinguished Georgian who represents -his country in Paris so ably, and whose revolutionary career during the -old regime in Russia included several years of solitary confinement, -approached me with a cordial invitation to visit his country, instead -of refusing I took a day on the hills on the French side of Geneva to -think about it and promised a definite answer on the following day. - -A Polish fellow-delegate, K. Czapsritski, came with me, and I told him -of the scheme. He neither spoke nor understood English, and my German -was negligible; but we contrived to understand each other in a curious -mixture of French and German. When I spoke of the Georgian enterprise -he waxed suddenly warm and eloquent. - -“Why don’t you come to Poland, comrade? You go everywhere--to -Petrograd, Moscow, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Geneva, but never to Warsaw -or Cracow. Why not? We need you in Poland more than they need you in -Tiflis. Surely Poland has as good a claim as Georgia?” I had praised -the hills by which we were surrounded. “We have beautiful mountains in -Poland, far more beautiful than these,” he said, waving his arm in the -direction of the Alps, shimmering in the mists of a summer morning. -“Our mountains are wild and solemn. And very, very beautiful”--his -voice grew tender. “Come to Poland and read Heine in the Polish hills.” -I had brought a copy of Heine’s shorter poems with me, and we had read -them together at a wayside inn where we called for coffee. I shall -remember that little inn for another reason, not so happy. The last -time I saw my friend Mary MacArthur in the flesh was when she flashed -past that tiny inn in her automobile, on her way to Italy in a restless -search for health, never found. - -“But the Labour Party has already sent a delegation to Poland along -with other Socialist nationals, Mr. Tom Shaw, M.P.----” - -“Yes, yes,” he interrupted, “it is true. But we want more to come. We -want a woman to come. We should like you to come. Our condition is very -bad. We need help and we need understanding. We think the world does -not like us very much.” - -“But why do you say that? Some of us are inclined to think that Poland -is the spoilt darling of the Entente. Surely France, at least, likes -you very much!” I said, with a quizzical look at his dark, rather heavy -good-natured Jewish face. He appeared to be a well-educated specimen -of his race with the broad forehead and developed cranium of so many -intellectual Jews. He was certainly very widely read in Polish, French -and German literature. - -“But perhaps you fear the Bolsheviks?” I ventured, inquiringly. “I -gather from the newspapers that Trotsky’s generals are massing their -troops for a triumphal entry into Warsaw.” - -“Trotsky will never enter Warsaw,” said my colleague confidently. “I -do not believe we have anything to fear from the Bolsheviks. There are -very few of them in Poland, practically none amongst the peasants; and -the Socialists of the towns are very largely Social Democrats.” - -“But your fellow-countrymen in this city, to whom I spoke last night, -do not think with you on this matter”--and I mentioned the names of -a group of Polish exiles in Geneva whose chief preoccupation of mind -was the almost certainty that Poland was about to be overrun by the -armies of Russia. “They are very nervous and anxious. They imagine that -British Labour has more power than it really has, and are trying to -get permission from the French Government to travel by Paris to London -in order to interest the British working-class leaders in their side -of the story. And they are quite right,” I added, “for Labour will one -day be all-powerful in England, and at the present moment the British -Labour Movement is convinced, rightly or wrongly, that the heavier -share of the blame for this fighting belongs to the Poles. They believe -the Poles began it by attacking the Russians.” - -I made this statement to M. Gavronsky of the Polish Legation in -Switzerland, and he promptly retorted that it was not true. - -“But it is not enough that I go home and say to British Labour that it -is not true the Poles began it. I must have positive proof of this if I -am to do you any good.” - -“Well, I can give it to you,” said M. Gavronsky. “But I should like to -go to London myself and give it to the Labour leaders personally. It -is, of course, very difficult to apportion the blame in any conflict, -to say who began it and when it began. The raids upon the homes of -the Polish peasants by the ravenous Russian troops, who stole all the -food and clothing they could lay their hands on, burnt the farms where -there was any show of resistance, and ill treated the women were the -beginning of the trouble. Very properly the peasants hit back when -they could. If your people call this resistance to Bolshevik violence -beginning the war, there is nothing more to be said. But I don’t. I -admire them for it. What do you suppose Englishmen would have done in -the same place? The same thing, of course. I have lived in England. I -know them. But”--and here he sprang to his feet and began pacing up and -down the room, his handsome face distorted with rage--“the most awful -thing these damned Bolsheviks have done is the ill treatment of our -prisoners. The brutes have sent Polish officers back to their camps -mutilated in the most horrible fashion. That we shall never forget nor -forgive.” - -To what extent these charges and counter-charges of horrible atrocities -are true I am not able to say. They are made by every army in Europe -against its enemies. I can speak with definiteness only of those things -I have seen, and with confidence only of what I have heard from those -witnesses whose calm and dispassionate judgment and power to sift and -weigh evidence I know; whose cool blood gives their testimony a certain -value. But there was no doubt whatever in the mind of this ardent young -Polish patriot and supporter of Pilsudski that the most awful outrages -had been perpetrated upon Polish soldiers helpless in the hands of -their enemies. - -M. Gavronsky is related to the great Polish family, the Radziwills. -Despite his aristocratic birth and connexions he is, I am convinced, -a man of genuinely democratic sympathies. He is very English in -appearance, tall and fair and fresh-complexioned. He speaks English -better than most Englishmen. He joins to a delightful boyishness and -engaging frankness the elegant manners of a finished specimen of our -race. At his request and that of his friends, I introduced him to Mr. -Sidney Webb and Mr. J. R. Macdonald, and left him to make upon these -two such impression as he could. - -Soon after this the situation on the Russo-Polish front completely -changed, to the astonishment of the whole world. Warsaw forgot its -follies and rose like one man to resist the invaders. The failure of -supplies and the breakdown of discipline caused the Russian armies to -be driven back. Warsaw broke into a mad riot of joy. The restraining -influence of the Allies, whose experience of Russia had developed -a certain wisdom in them, saved the jubilant Poles from the stupid -blunder of a vindictive pursuit. Some sort of a peace treaty has been -patched up between them; but like every other peace treaty made during -the last two and a half years it is scarcely likely to prove worth the -paper it is written upon. - -I asked my companion of the hills to tell me more about Poland. -“The trouble with you Poles is that you will not stop fighting. You -are everywhere looked upon as the _enfant terrible_ of Europe. Your -ridiculously disproportionate army of 600,000 men not only keeps your -naturally rich country poor, but is a disturbing factor to the whole -of Europe. Of course,” I said hastily, not wishing to hurt, “I know -quite well that, as a Social Democrat, you are personally hostile to -all militarist enterprises. I say what I have said because I am really -sorry for the unpopularity which Poland will bring upon herself when -it is discovered whose restlessness it is which is preventing Europe -from settling down. You are helping the opinion to grow that the -small nation is a big nuisance whatever may be said of the theory of -self-determination.” He grinned understandingly, and continued his -interesting talk. - -Poland’s lot during these years of war has been a particularly sad one. -Her plight has at times been terrible. Her fields have been trampled -by three armies: the Russian Imperial, the Russian Bolshevik and the -German. Whole villages have been razed to the ground. People have -died by the roadside in tens of thousands, of hunger, cold and fever. -Flights of refugees and cruel evacuations have cost the country untold -lives. I was told by a British General, concerned himself with the -evacuation of one Polish city, a frightful story which he knew to be -true, and one of many equally horrible and equally true. - -The weather was intensely cold with the unimaginable cold of Poland -in winter. Food was difficult to get and clothing almost impossible. -The evacuation was conducted on foot, in open carts without springs -or in slow railway trains without any heat. A young mother and father -with three small children were amongst the travellers in one of these -trains. The cold snow and bitter wind blew in through the broken -windows. The children sobbed with cold and hunger. As the train crawled -miserably on the sobs became pitiful moans for water. Soon the moans -of two of them stopped altogether. They were frozen dead to the seats! -The train stopped at a tiny station. To save the last child the frantic -mother leapt out of the train for water and, returning, had the agony -of seeing husband and child and corpses carried away from her by the -rapidly vanishing train. She shrieked aloud. They arrested her for -being without a passport. She was conveyed to the police station, -raving. Some days later she died, quite mad. - -The soil of Poland is very rich. If her armies could be disbanded and -set to work upon the fields, Poland could very speedily feed not only -her own starving children but millions of other children also. When -one of the organizations for relief heard from the beautiful Princess -Sapieha the story of the appalling suffering of Poland’s children, the -wholly sympathetic committee, whilst promising help, felt bound to -point out that it was like pouring money into a sieve to send it to a -country for ever challenging the fortunes of war. It is, alas! French -policy which is responsible for the militarist spirit and the military -adventures of Poland. French officers train the regiments. French -soldiers fill the cafés and theatres. French promises keep the people -happy. It is the fashion now in Poland to worship the French and to -imitate them. But the day will come when Poland, along with the rest of -Europe, will discover to its infinite cost that the evil of militarism -is just as menacing and corroding to civilization when dressed in the -uniform of a French General as in that of a Prussian Guard. - - * * * * * - -Russia and Poland are popularly conceived to be the pivot and centre of -what is called the Jewish problem in Europe. The outrageous anti-Jewish -propaganda which is being conducted all over the world is a disgrace -to our modern civilization. There is a certain reasonable explanation -of it, so far as the people of Central Europe are concerned, in -the paralysing fear of Bolshevism which possesses them, invariably -associated with the Jews. It is astounding how many otherwise perfectly -intelligent human beings believe Bolshevism to be an emanation from -the Jewish brain. Trotsky is a Jew, Radek is a Jew, Zinoviev is a -Jew, Balabanova is a Jew, Bela Kun is a Jew, therefore all Jews are -Bolshevik and all Bolsheviks are Jews; which is absurd! As a matter -of fact, only two out of the seventeen or eighteen members of the -Bolshevik Cabinet at the time of the British Labour delegation’s visit -to Russia were Jews. The most commanding personality in Russia at this -hour is not a Jew. He is, if anything distinctive, a Tartar. - -“I like your book ‘Through Bolshevik Russia’ very much indeed,” has -been said to me over and over again, “but you are too kind to the -Bolsheviks. Surely you are aware that the whole Russian business is -part of a Jewish conspiracy hatched in New York with the idea of -getting possession of the whole world, in order that the Jews may -be revenged upon mankind for the things they have suffered in every -country since the beginning of the Christian era?” - -“Rubbish,” I have said with more force than politeness. “Surely you -know that nursery-maids since the beginning of time have frightened -little children with bogey stories of just this sort. Don’t be a -child”; this to a pale and agitated young man who accompanied me home -from one of my meetings, and scarcely knew how to contain himself for -horror of the thing he believed. - -“But,” he continued excitedly, “there’s Trotsky in Russia, Bela Kun in -Hungary, Adler in Austria, Shinwell on the Clyde; there was Liebknecht -in Germany, Holst----” - -“Stop, for Heaven’s sake!” I interrupted. “Before you go any farther -I want to tell you that I know personally both Shinwell and Adler. -Shinwell is no more a Bolshevik than you are. The biggest Bolshevik -in this country comes from South Wales, and he is made of lath and -plaster. A lion on the platform, he roars as gently as a sucking dove -when negotiating with the employers. You need have no fear of him. -I hear he has been found wanting by his fellow-Bolsheviks and his -resignation has been called for. As for Adler, he is one of the most -courageous of living men, and has saved Austria from the Bolshevism -that for a time captured Hungary. Liebknecht is not a Jew.” - -“Well, you can’t deny that there are a million and a quarter Jews in -New York and that the East End of London is full of them.” - -“But they are not necessarily Bolshevik,” I replied. “The rich Jew -is rarely, if ever, a Bolshevik. He is like the rich Gentile, he has -too much to lose. The rich Jew is not only an anti-Bolshevik; he is -sometimes anti-Jew! That is, he loses his sense of Jewish nationality -in his citizen’s pride in his adopted country.” - -“Henry Ford doesn’t take so easy a view of it as you do. He is putting -up a great fight against the Jews in Detroit. What about Italy? What -about Ireland?”--here his voice fell to a fearful whisper--“Sinn Fein, -you understand? De Valera is a Portuguese Jew.” - -“How do you know that?” I had heard this wild story before and had -made careful inquiries in Ireland. It was denied amidst shrieks of -hilarity. But if it were true it would have had no terrors for me. - -“Lord Alfred Douglas----” he began; but I stopped him, tired of it all -at last. - -“Then that is all?” I queried. “_Plain English_ and, it may be, the -_Morning Post_ is your authority for all this nonsense? Here is where -you forge your mighty weapons?” He nodded. “Well, I happen to like -the _Morning Post_. I like its brutalities. I admire its consistency. -It delivers frontal attacks upon its enemies. It makes no pretence of -friendship it does not feel. It is as full of vices as most newspapers, -but you know where you have it. There is no flirting with the thing -it hates. It is against every political principle I stand for; abuses -like a fishwife everything I cherish. It fills me with blind fury on -occasion. But it does not cook its news and--well, I like it. But -beware of its prejudices in estimating any cause it attacks.” - -I paused to ponder whether the _Morning Post_ would welcome an -unsolicited testimonial of this particular sort, and then continued. - -“Some newspapers and many men and women have certainly allowed their -judgment to be clouded by their prejudice over this question of -Bolshevism. To associate Communism with the Jews is also as serviceable -to their commercial jealousies as it is to their racial antagonisms. -And Bolshevism is only the inevitable throw-up of four years of the -most terrible war that ever was waged. I know people in Europe, men -of wide culture and of high social standing, who actually profess to -believe that it was not the German Kaiser, nor the Austrian Emperor, -nor the Junkers, nor the militarists, nor the capitalists, nor the -stupid, ignorant millions of deceived and tormented people who caused -the war. It was the Jews! The whole wicked business was conceived in -the Ghetto! Can raving anti-Semitism go farther?” - -“But surely there must be something in it when such people as you -describe, men of good brain and fine character, hate the Jews? Why, the -whole world is beginning to be up in arms against them. The whole world -cannot be wrong. There is something in it.” - -“There is exactly this much in it and no more,” I said, picking up a -notorious anti-Semitic journal and reading slowly, “‘De Valera’s mother -was an Irishwoman, and, _judging from the wonderful organizing ability -he possesses, his father must have been a Jew_!’ What do you think of -that for evidence? Judging from the wonderful organizing ability he -possesses Mr. Lloyd George’s father must have been a Jew; yet I am sure -he was a very much respected Welsh Nonconformist. Judging from the -wonderful organizing ability she possesses Miss Pankhurst’s father must -have been a Jew; yet I know he was a much esteemed Gentile lawyer of -Manchester. The thing is absurd.” - -Prejudice was too strong. He left me, unconvinced. But it is simply -incredible how many sane people build up a case against a person or a -race on evidence as worthless as that which I have just quoted. - -The Hungarian Communist Jew, Szamuely, has been proved to have been -guilty of frightful atrocities. It is alleged he killed for the joy -of killing. He hanged people with his own hand for the pleasure of -witnessing the better their dying agonies. He was a madman and a -pervert. He finally shot himself; but the Hungarian White Terror has -paid this pervert the compliment of imitating him. It has visited upon -thousands of miserable Jews of the poorer sort, innocent of crime, -the most hideous punishment for this madman’s deeds, and a campaign -against the whole Jewish race is employing certain Hungarians of my -acquaintance abroad in a manner highly destructive of their reputation -for sanity. - -The popular argument against the Jew is one of crafty exploitation. -It runs something like this. The Jew shopkeeper charges extortionate -prices for his goods. He cruelly sweats his workpeople. He watches and -waits for the misfortunes of his neighbours to trap them into his power -by the offer of loans at extortionate rates of interest. They toil and -slave to be rid of their debt. They cannot shake it off. He exploits -them for life. He robs the heir of his patrimony and the children of -their bread. And all because he hates the Christian. He has even been -known to steal Christian children and sacrifice them at the Feast of -the Passover. The story is good enough to excite a pogrom anyhow! - -I know of no more striking case than that of the Jews, and the things -which are said against them, illustrative of the fact that two and two -do not always make four. In other words, the fact is not always the -truth. It takes more than a statement of fact to make a statement of -truth. An unsympathetic statement of the strictest accuracy as to fact -may leave the same impression as the most calculated lie. - -The fundamental facts of the controversy about the Jew are at -least two: Firstly, the success of the Jew is due to good habits -and an inherited gift of intellect. Secondly, the objectionable -characteristics of the Jew are the direct consequence of persecution. - -Consider the circumstances of his life in those Central European -countries where Jews abound. The land system of Poland, for example, -is the fundamental cause of the misery, not only of the Jews, but of -the entire peasant population. A Galician village is ofttimes a very -nightmare of filth and poverty. The peasants have not the heart to -improve their lot. Improvements on their farms are not paid for. There -is no fixity of tenure. Rents are high, and are exacted with great -severity to supply the needs of gay landlords dancing in Paris or Rome. - - * * * * * - -Alcohol is a State monopoly in Poland. It used to be in Russia. It -is a valued source of revenue to many European Governments. Who is -to manage this highly important Government industry? The peasants -are slow, ignorant and unreliable. They drink heavily. The Jews do -not drink. A drunken Jew is a thing unknown. The very words are a -contradiction in terms. It is a temperate and sober race. The Jews must -manage the liquor shops. To the Jews are given a very large proportion -of these positions in the interests of the State, and not because of -any partiality to the Jew. The drink-shop in a village very naturally -becomes the village store. The Jew is the storekeeper. - -“We had to cease giving soap to the peasants in Czecho-Slovakia, -although they needed it so badly, because they would sell it to the Jew -for vodka,” said the lovely Countess Dŏbrenszky. - -“Why not prohibit the sale of vodka?” I suggested. She smiled and shook -her head. “It could never be done.” - -As the servant of the State the Jew is expected to encourage the sale -of drink in those countries where it is a State monopoly, and it is -easy to see how everything else follows. - -The second of the two bottom facts of the Jewish side of the -controversy is the undoubted hatred and envy by the Gentile of -the superior Jewish intelligence, particularly in commerce, but -as certainly in everything else. Nothing can keep the Jewish race -from excelling. Ages of ancient wrong could not do it. Present-day -oppression cannot do it. In some countries still the Jew is not allowed -to own land. In others, Rumania for example, he is not permitted to -enter the profession of lawyer, doctor, or teacher. In the old Russia -he might not go to the Universities. In Poland he can exempt himself -from army service and consequently is denied citizenship. Cruel as it -all seems, and is, there is an underlying instinct of self-preservation -at the foundation of it, for, given equal chances in the race of life, -the Jew will ofttimes leave the Gentile laggard far behind. - -In the early ’forties an enterprising statesman of Vienna began to -train young Jews in journalism, and now all the important papers of -Vienna are run by Jews. Since the opening of new doors to them in -Germany they have dominated the artistic professions in Berlin, and -have contributed overwhelmingly to the intellectual life of Germany. -The greatest continental authority on Shakespeare, Professor Leon -Kellner, is a Jew. Professor Einstein is a Jew, Professor Ehrlich -is a Jew. These two great scientists are distinguished in a host of -learned Jewish men of science. Maximilian Harden, eminent journalist, -is a Jew. Max Reinhardt, composer, is a Jew. The list of famous living -Jews is too long to be given in full. In England they distinguish -themselves chiefly in politics--Lord Reading, Viceroy of India, Sir -Herbert Samuel, High Commissioner in Palestine. And the Jews are -dominant in the Socialist politics of Europe, not because of any deep -and treacherous design against humanity they possess, but for precisely -the reason they are dominant in other spheres, because of their good -brains, logical minds, keen perceptions and rare artistic abilities. - -If the economic domination of the world by the Jews should come to -pass it will be in no small measure due to the historic fact of the -persecution and exclusion which have necessitated to a great extent the -expression of the rich mental life of the race along one narrow channel -for two thousand years; and it will be due in some degree to the -comparative self-indulgence and contempt for hard intellectual labour -of the Gentile section of the world community. - -This excursion into Poland, and the question of the Jews which the -discussion of Poland always invites, has postponed for several pages -the trip to Georgia. I had the intention to go to Warsaw this month, -but a charming young Pole, a lovely girl of twenty, has come to stay -with me for some months. Her cousin tells me she is Poland in epitome -and advises me to stay at home! Wanda is still too young to be other -than a fervid nationalist and patriot. She is full of the poetry and -romance of things, and the love of dainty dresses. She is filled with -the vague longings and sadness of youth, and likes the autumn better -than the spring, which is exactly as it should be in sentimental -twenty. My only trouble with my guest is one of race and upbringing. I -have an unconquerable and brutal British habit of saying “yes” when I -mean “yes.” She says “yes” when she means “no,” because to her it is -polite and proper to say the thing you imagine you are wanted to say. -The consequence is that I am in danger of killing her by dragging her -from her books over the hills and dales of an English countryside, to -put roses into the pale cheeks, and a bright light into the grey eyes -which have seen too much of sorrow and suffering for one so young and -fair. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -GEORGIA OF THE CAUCASUS - - -M. Camille Huysmans persuaded me to accept the Georgian invitation. -“The Georgians want you to come very particularly because you were in -Russia recently. They want someone who can make comparisons between the -Bolshevik Government of Russia and the Social Democratic Government -of their own country. It would be helpful to them, and would be -interesting and useful to you.” - -The delegation was selected from the Second International. Besides -myself, Mr. J. R. Macdonald and Mr. Tom Shaw were invited from Great -Britain; Messieurs Vandervelde, de Brouckere and Huysmans from Belgium; -Messieurs Renaudel, Marquet and Inghels from France; and Herr Kautsky -and his wife from Germany. Several Georgians and Russians with their -wives were also of the party, and we were joined in Paris by Madame -Vandervelde and Madame Huysmans and her daughter. The Kautskys joined -us in Rome, travelling thither from Vienna. - -Camille Huysmans would have to occupy a central position in any picture -of the personalities of the present-day European Socialist Movement. -His is a figure of more than ordinary interest. He is tall and slender, -with an attractive mop of fair, curly hair. He possesses a keenly -intellectual face, like that of Lasalle, delicate featured, but with a -slightly cruel mouth. His eyes are restless and his general movements, -except in speaking in public, are nervous. He has an extraordinary -capacity for organization, and speaks four or five languages with -equal fluency. His knowledge of the history and the present position of -the world movement for Socialism is unrivalled. - -His knowledge of the private histories as well as the public records -of his Socialist colleagues in all lands is also very complete; which -makes him a terror to evildoers. I have heard attributed to this -knowledge the fact that the Russian Bolsheviks have left him severely -alone. It certainly cannot be because he has spared them, for his -hatred of their undemocratic form of government he has cried from the -housetops. - -His is the artistic temperament, and he is passionately fond of -music and the drama. He loathes all the naked ugliness and stupid -self-repression that passes for Puritanism in the minds of the soured -and disappointed. He professes no personal religion, but temperamental -leanings towards the forms of Roman Catholic worship are discernible -in the expression of his general views of life. The pictures, the -colour, the incense, the music of the æsthetic temples of every great -Faith would probably be implicit in his scheme of things, for the sheer -beauty of them. - -I have a great liking and admiration for the secretary of the Second -International; but it requires a sense of humour and a certain gift -of scepticism to make him understood of the great mass of his more -sober Saxon comrades. “You can as easily make an Englishman musical -as a Belgian moral,” he said gaily into the shocked ears of at least -two English persons present, delighted to be taken seriously when he -only wanted to draw us into a debate. His eyes twinkled mischievously -as he spoke. He is the Puck of the International, the tormenting imp -who likes nothing better than to stab with little darts of irony the -self-important people who take life too seriously. - -On public occasions he appears the most self-possessed of men; but -he told me once that he suffers an agony of nervousness when called -upon to meet strangers. His public speech sparkles with wit. He can -laugh, sing, dance and shout with the abandon of a schoolboy; but -when some piece of stiff business arises and he has to calm a raging -storm of passion between two sets of nationals in a conference his -peculiar genius shows itself, and he restores order and amity with the -hand and voice of a master. Without Camille Huysmans the ship of the -International would sail very unsteadily upon the turbulent waters of -present-day politics. Huysmans is a member of the Belgian Parliament, -and if there be anything in present signs and portents he is marked out -by circumstance and his own commanding abilities to play a prominent -part in shaping the future fortunes of his gallant little country. - -“La petite Sara,” as his gifted young daughter was called by the -Georgians, helps her father, whom she adores. She has his charming -personality and marvellous facility for languages, with an added -seriousness and self-sufficiency, if not a slight stubbornness of -character, which will not detract but rather add to the quality of her -international work. She is a very pretty girl, with large, serious grey -eyes, dark fringed, and a complexion of cream and roses. All the young -men of the party fell in love with her and lived in hourly, jealous -fear lest some dancing Georgian rival should persuade her to marry him -and carry her off to his mountain home. - -M. Louis de Brouckere, tall, handsome and dignified, another of our -Belgian companions, is the perfect scholar and gentleman. Could more -and better be added to that? - - * * * * * - -M. Emile Vandervelde, the Belgian Minister for Justice, is a portly -figure with a ruddy complexion and wonderful blue eyes, clear and -limpid as a child’s. He is slightly deaf, which obliges him to lean -and strain to catch the words of a speaker. He professes not to speak -English, but that is all nonsense. He both speaks and understands it -very well. His wife is an Englishwoman. - -Of French he is a master. He is one of the greatest of living orators. -As chairman of the Delegation he spoke on almost every occasion. So -perfect is his art, so entirely matchless is his choice and use of word -and phrase, so magnificent the roll and crescendo of his argument that -his listeners stood fascinated as he spoke, or leaned forward in their -chairs, their faces aglow with enjoyment of gesture and speech, even -when they did not understand a word. To the understanding the speech -was ever a marvel of beauty and delight, holding them spellbound to the -last triumphant word and overpowering gesture. The theme in Georgia was -the same for us all, and for all occasions: sympathy for the Georgians -in their effort to build up peacefully and on Social-Democratic lines -the Socialist Republic; offers of help in our various home countries; -condemnation of Bolshevism; praise of Internationalism. - -M. Vandervelde is one of the most brilliant supporters of the -Temperance Movement. He is by preference a total abstainer, although -he is often placed by his public life and on foreign travel in -circumstances where it is very difficult to indulge his taste. In some -of those Eastern lands the water is tainted with germs and poisonous to -the last degree. When it comes to a choice between typhoid and alcohol, -the choice usually falls upon alcohol! Sometimes bitter offence is -given where it is highly important good feeling should be maintained if -a guest declines to drink wine with a host; incredible in these days, -but true; impossible in this country now, but in Eastern Europe of the -greatest frequency. - -It was in the company of this distinguished statesman that I visited -the wine-cellars on the estate in central Georgia of an exiled Russian -Grand Duke. We entered the vast chambers led by smocked peasants -carrying torches. They bowed till their beards almost swept the ground -as we thanked them for their pains. Vast, gloomy, mysterious in the -light of the flaming torches, the cellars were not so attractive, we -thought, as the enchanting garden under the moon, and the voices of -the villagers singing their folk songs on the lawn; so we left the rest -of the company and sought the road back to the palace ourselves. - -“What do you think will happen at the next election in Belgium?” I -asked my companion. - -He shrugged his shoulders and spread his small, white hands with an -expressive gesture. “I cannot tell. There will probably be little -change. I shall have to be home by then.” - -The sound of the music came through the trees, guiding our steps. “I -should like to understand Belgian politics better,” was more than a -polite observation on my part. It represented a genuine regret that I -was so ignorant. - -“The Belgian Socialist point of view was not understood during the -war by the English comrades,” said the Minister. “And even now we -are roundly abused for joining the Government, even by a section in -Belgium. It is always the dividing line. Shall we stand outside and be -simply a propaganda body? Or, having secured a certain position and -membership, shall we take the responsibility for carrying out as far -as we can our political doctrines, recognizing that in a composite -Government we can go neither so fast nor so far as we might wish? The -workers’ party in Belgium is now the largest party in the State. Can -the largest party in the State refuse to share the responsibility of -helping in the country’s government? Camille thinks not. I have thought -not. Now I sometimes doubt the line we should take. We shall see how -things develop; what the result of the election is. But you must come -to Belgium and tell us about Russia, and we will show you anything and -tell you anything you wish to know.” - -At this point we emerged from the thick wood into full view of the -palace. Servants were lighting paper lanterns. The clatter of plates -and cutlery spoke of the coming revel. The choristers burst into a new -song as we approached. The bright moon lit up the magnificent range -of mountains in the distance. It was fairyland come true, making the -things of this world, its dirty politics and mean diplomacy, look small -and poor. - -A tall English blonde of very great charm of manner when she chooses -is Madame Vandervelde. When she does not so choose she can be ruder -in three languages than any woman of my acquaintance knows how to be -in one! I do not in the least complain of her conduct to me. We got -on extremely well. We were sufficiently candid with each other to be -able to maintain to the end a good comradeship in spite of the very -trying circumstance of joint sleeping quarters. My one quarrel with my -fellow-countrywoman was on account of the number of trunks she carried. -It was almost impossible to turn round in that small state room because -of the array of bags, boxes, suit-cases, hat-trunks piled into the room -and occupying every available inch of space. One member of our party, -the little French bride of a Georgian physician, who was carrying -her trousseau to her new home in Tiflis, lost on the Italian railway -a trunk containing two thousand pounds’ worth of valuable hand-made -clothes, laces and household goods which she never recovered. An old -empty trunk with her original label attached was found in its place. -It may be the effect of the war. If four Prime Ministers in Paris can -steal several colonies in Africa, if fat profiteers can rob the dying -Austrian children in their thousands of their food, surely one little -Italian railway porter can annex one trunk without blame? Whatever the -reason, it is certainly true that, on more than one continental railway -at the present time, the only way you can assure the arrival of your -trunk at its destination is by sitting on it. - -Madame Vandervelde contrived to bring all her goods safe into port -without sitting on them. She pressed into her service the gallant men -of the party. There are some women--and my friend is one of them--who -by reason of their presence of mind and absence of conscience can -command the services at all times and in all circumstances of even -the men who dislike them. And apparently there are men who like being -kicked! - -But I do not want to imply that any man on this trip found his service -a trial. I am sure the beautiful Lalla commanded the whole-hearted -service of her numerous cavaliers. They liked her free manners and -fascinating personality. They delighted in her racy talk, daring jests -and semi-Bohemian tastes. The least that ought to be said about her is -that her impish delight in shocking people and in saying teasing things -kept the whole company titillating with expectant amusement or nervous -fear. Nobody could be dull in her society; and, after all, dullness, -which is always a nuisance, becomes a positive crime on an excursion of -this sort, which compels twenty persons to live very closely together -in ship or train for fifty days and nights. - - * * * * * - -Of the remaining women of the party, Madame Huysmans is a pretty dark -woman, full of gentle kindnesses and not without the gift of humour. -Madame Dvarzaladze is a magnificent beauty of the gipsy type. Madame -Skobeloff, one time a prima donna at the Petrograd Opera House, was the -very incarnation of her favourite heroine--Carmen--and by the skilful -glances of her glorious black eyes and her coquettish manner brought -the passionate lady off the stage to live amongst us for several days. - -M. Dvarzaladze conducted the expedition on behalf of his Government, -and was the kindest of hosts. M. Skobeloff assisted him. The latter is -as fair as his wife is dark, with the Russian breadth both of figure -and of face, and a mass of light silky hair brushed back from a square -forehead. He was Minister of Commerce in the Kerensky Government. -Something in his speech and manner gave the impression that he -regretted a little the Bolshevik Government, and would have liked to -participate in it; but I was confidently assured that I was mistaken. - -M. Nazarov, as a student in Petrograd, embraced Bolshevism with great -enthusiasm. When student days ended he came back to his original faith -of Social Democracy. He acted as secretary to the expedition and -was, without a single exception, the most consistently courteous and -considerate person I have known who has ever occupied so difficult and -thankless a position. Early and late he was engaged in looking after -the comfort of everybody. Pestered to the verge of insanity, as he must -have been with the requests of various members of the delegation, his -manners never for an instant forsook him, and the remembrance of him -alone would make the visit to Georgia unforgettable. - -Of the three delegates from France, M. Inghels is the typical bluff -and substantial Trade Union leader, a representative of the textile -workers; M. Marquet is tall and slim and elegant, faultless in dress, -of impeccable manners, leaving on the mind the impression of easy -victories with women; M. Renaudel has already appeared in these pages, -the man of robust proportions and prodigious appetite, of matchless -eloquence in speaking, with a voice of great beauty. - -There remain only the English delegates to describe, and one of these -was a Scotsman, Mr. J. R. Macdonald, of the dark eyes and wavy hair of -silvery grey, of the calm judgment and austere outlook upon life so -valuable to the leader of men, and so necessary for the safeguarding -of inexperienced Labour representatives in England come new and -defenceless against the seductions of wily enemies in the House of -Commons; and Mr. Tom Shaw of the Lancashire Textile Unions, stout and -ruddy complexioned, full of fun and good-natured banter, the best of -travelling companions and the kindest of men. - - * * * * * - -The delegates met in Paris at a dinner given to them by M. Tseretelli, -the Georgian Minister. Preliminary to this was the tiresome and -disgusting business of inoculation. The wily Georgians had said nothing -about this in Geneva. Had we known then of the ravages of the pest, and -had we been told we must be inoculated against bubonic plague, it might -have affected our decision about going. For some time we resisted; but -on the very earnest solicitations of our friends, and because it was -suggested that by not being vaccinated we might endanger the lives of -other people, we weakly yielded and consented to allow ourselves to -be ill-treated in this peculiarly objectionable manner! I have never -been able to reconcile myself to the deliberate poisoning of my blood -at intervals during my life, and have always felt triumphant when the -healthy blood I inherited from plain-living and high-thinking ancestors -refused to be poisoned by the filthy injections. - -The journey from Paris to Rome occupied two days, with a change of -train at Turin. The one memorable thing about this journey was the -descent through the Mont Cenis Tunnel into the Italian valley, with its -villas and vineyards and sun-steeped fields. - -We stayed a couple of days in Rome awaiting the date for sailing -and to complete the passport business. Into those two swift days we -crowded as much sight-seeing as possible--the Forum, the Coliseum, St. -Peter’s Church and the Appian Way. There are some travellers whose -sole happiness lies in being able to boast of having seen something -which nobody else has seen, or to have got ahead of the party by doing -something it never occurred to the others to do. You praise the sunset. -“Ah, but you should have seen it an hour ago,” is the remark which -cools your enthusiasm. You are pleased with the dinner. “But it is -nothing like so good as yesterday’s,” is the observation which robs you -of half your pleasure. You are enraptured with the song. “Oh, he’s gone -off lately. You should have heard him a year ago,” is the comment that -leaves you flat and disappointed. - -“How wonderful is the Coliseum!” exclaimed one of the delegates to the -rest of us. - -“But did you see it by moonlight? No? Then you have not seen it. You -must see it by moonlight if you really want to see the Coliseum.” And -we left Rome with the feeling that there was nothing to be done but to -return to Rome to see the Coliseum by moonlight, or our visit to the -city would be mere fruitless folly. - -I discovered the Corso to be no place for a woman walking alone. As a -matter of fact, reputable Italian women do not walk in the streets of -Rome unattended, particularly at night. I was ignorant of this, or had -forgotten it, and did as I am accustomed to do in my own country, when -I speedily discovered one difference between an English and an Italian -city which pleasantly distinguishes the former; for there are very -few places in England where a modest woman going about her legitimate -business unattended would be stopped and spoken to in a familiar way -in a public thoroughfare. In the streets of Rome the sun at midday -is, apparently, no guarantee of impunity for women from the annoying -familiarities of unknown and undesirable men. - - * * * * * - -Taranto, the port of sailing, is a quaint old city of antiquarian -interest situated on a beautiful bay. The museum is filled with ancient -statuary and pottery excavated from the ruins of a still older city, -dating back to the days of the ancients. We spent some hours in the -building, examining the tessellated tiles and old Greek vases under the -guidance of the elderly curator, who, as he said good-bye to us, broke -two delicious pink roses off the rose tree in the courtyard, and, with -a graceful old-world bow, his hand upon his heart, gave one each to -Miss Huysmans and myself. - -Taranto comprises two towns, the old and the new. The new is set upon -a hill, the old lies about the port. The new has an American look -about its new white stone-fronted buildings, the old has the stamp -of the Middle Ages upon it. The streets of the old are winding and so -narrow that the people on opposite sides of the streets can in some -cases shake hands from their bedroom windows. They are paved with -cobblestones, and there are no sidewalks. The houses have tiny windows -and the top storeys project. The shops, as a rule, have no windows at -all, but are open to the street along the whole of their front. Some of -the cafés are underground cellars. Men and women meet in the shops for -gossip, and in the cafés for scandal and politics. Work is leisurely. -The men are mostly engaged in fishing, net-making and basket-weaving. -The women wear native peasant dress, bright coloured, and attend to -their houses or help the men with the nets. Donkeys are numberless. -Huge masses of fruit, notably grapes and water melons, are piled up on -the stalls and barrows that line the street fronting the sea. It is -a city of amazing picturesqueness, astounding squalor and incredible -smells. - -Our ship was an Austrian vessel, part of the Italian share in the -spoils of war. Her commander was an easy-going Italian with a -tremendous admiration for Lord Fisher. He refused to promise us fine -weather, and, even as we entreated, the sun entered a cloud which, -before evening, had spread gloomily over the whole sky! - -We sailed pleasantly amongst the Greek Islands, sighting Corinth and -Athens and the Hill of Mars. We steamed slowly through the canal cut -through the Isthmus of Corinth, a marvellous feat of engineering. We -crept gently past Gallipoli and gazed with dim eyes on the graves of -the gallant dead. The sea near the shore was full of ships, sunk by -the fire from the Turkish forts, and the captain told us that here -careful navigation was very necessary and we might not go nearer the -land; but with the aid of field-glasses we marked the blasted hillsides -and battered fortifications of the Turk. Here and there a broken gun -rusted on its side in the scorched and trampled grass. Hearts felt sick -for the sacrifice that the politicians were threatening to make vain, -and we silently renewed our vows to devote our lives to the building -up of such international organization as should make such sacrifices -unnecessary in the future. - - * * * * * - -On the fourth day after leaving Taranto we sighted Constantinople. -This city was the most completely satisfying of all my childhood’s -dreams come true. I recollect how disappointing to me was my first -glimpse of the Niagara Falls. So it has been with many of my friends. -Such beauty as that grows upon one, but at the first visit one expects -too much. One expects something more and bigger than can be taken in -with a single glance of the eye, a wilderness of waters, something -stupendous, to send one reeling! One sees a vast and steady tumbling, -a roar like a Tube train entering a tunnel, and feels the lack of -mystery. I am inclined to think the injury is done by the aggressive -and vulgar civilization all round: the tawdry town, the eating-houses, -the electric-power stations, the street cars, the vendors of toys and -ice-cream and picture post cards and penny buns. Seen and heard in -the vast spaces and awful silence of a desert it would be altogether -different. - -Constantinople fulfilled every wish, satisfied every expectation. -Magnificently set upon its several hills it appeared the queen of -cities enthroned above the worshipping waters, crowned by the moon, -and glittering with ten thousand jewels of ten thousand shimmering -lights. By day her beauty changed. Unlike Moscow, whose domes and -minarets gleam golden in the sun, those of Constantinople have lost -their radiance, but they stand out nobly against the clearest of blue -skies, the mosques on the hills of Stamboul competing for praise with -the vast modern palaces at the water’s edge. The Golden Horn, classic -symbol of plenty, was crowded with shipping, a pleasing contrast to the -stagnation of Astrakhan. - -The streets of Constantinople are a kaleidoscope, a mass of jostling -humanity, white and black and brown. The Turkish fez predominates. The -dark-skinned Jew and the cunning Greek vie with the crafty Armenian -in the business of stripping the guileless stranger of his money. -Thick-lipped Nubians are as common as flies. Black-veiled Turkish women -add a distinctive note to the scene. Water-carriers sell their water to -thirsty traders in carpets and embroideries. Anatolian peasants bring -their fruits to sell. Turkish princes flash past in shabby automobiles. -Gay French officers on horseback menace the careless foot-traveller. -Young British officers on polo ponies rush laughingly by. The big -hotels are filled with the usual crowd of foreign Military Mission -folk, big business men, pseudo-politicians; youthful, _very youthful_ -diplomats and soldiers, profiteers, adventurers, wives of officers and -women of the underworld--gay, charming, lovely and dangerous. No sign -there of the bitter hate that sits on the brow of the Turkish café -habitué, who deems the least tolerable part of his burden the position -of dominance over him given to his ancient insolent enemy, the corrupt -and perfidious Greek. - -I shall write more about our doings in Constantinople later. We sailed -through the Bosphorus in a calm sea and into the dreaded Black Sea -after the third day. The beauty of the Bosphorus suggests the exquisite -reaches of the Rhine with its ancient castles and woody crags, but -with a gentle softness for the Rhine’s proud strength. The Black Sea -belied its name, and our passage was without a break in its comfort and -content. - - * * * * * - -We rested for a day outside the port of Trebizond. There, to -our amazement, was flying the red flag of the Bolsheviks, whose -co-operation with Kemal Pasha had evidently not been misreported by -the Press. Kemal’s headquarters were in Trebizond. Several boat-loads -of Bolsheviks in khaki uniforms and peaked caps came to inspect the -ship. Some came on board. They were perfectly civil. No attempt was -made to interfere with the passengers, who were strongly urged by the -chief officer on board not to risk a landing. We took on board many -new passengers here and at a previous stopping-place, the name of -which escapes me. These were of various nationalities, chiefly Turks, -with their carefully segregated and veiled womankind carrying large -quantities of fruit, and themselves hauling on board loads of wonderful -Turkey carpets. A few long-bearded Greeks and swarthy Jews were amongst -the new-comers, and several fascinating black-eyed children. These -people shared the lower deck with the sheep and goats. The sheep were -penned, but the goats escaped, leaping all over the deck and chewing to -tatters the sailcloth and the ropes, to the anger of the sailors, who, -with all their nimbleness, were no match for the goats. - -Below in the hold were the horned cattle, bellowing their protest -at two days and nights of painful thirst in their hot and crowded -quarters. The way in which these poor beasts were treated made us sick. -They were hauled from the small boats on to the ship and into the -hold suspended by the horns from the ship’s crane. Their eyes bulged -out of their heads, their legs beat the air as they swung up and then -down, their heavy bodies pulling at their horns. A young Englishwoman -expressed her detestation of the performance in a full company, when, -with a grin, a facetious foreign gentleman exclaimed with his hand -upon his heart: “Ah, mademoiselle, you English, you have pity for ze -poor animals but none for ze poor men. We break our hearts for ze -mademoiselle and she care not. But ze horses, ze cats and ze dogs, she -adores zem. It is desolating.” And he made a frantic gesture of despair. - -“What do you say to the idiots who talk like that?” I inquired, sorry -for the cause of that angry flush on her pretty face. - -“I say nothing,” she replied; “but I begin to feel thankful that our -quarrel with the German people is only skin deep.” - - * * * * * - -One night more and we were in Batoum, beautifully situated on the -slopes and at the foot of great, wooded hills which make a sombre -background to the white houses. As the noise of the ship’s engines -ceased, distant strains of music crept into our ears. It came from the -shore, which was black with people. I grew nervous and apprehensive. I -opened the cabin door. I strained forward anxiously to hear. I was not -mistaken. My first fear was realized. It was the “International,” the -song which brought Russia back to mind, the jingling melody that I had -heard, at a modest computation, a thousand times in Russia alone! - -I rushed to the ship’s side and, borrowing a field-glass, stared out -to shore. Yes, yes, it was all there, the familiar circus; the bands, -the crowds, the carriages, the flowers, the red flags and bunting, the -photographer and cinema operator--all so kind and well-intentioned. I -looked at Tom Shaw; he grinned back at me. There was nothing to be done -but resign ourselves to the inevitable and look as pleased as we could. - -We clambered down the ship’s side on a shaky, swinging ladder to the -waiting tender and steamed away to shore. The kindest of welcomes -awaited us. Our arms were filled with flowers, and after the usual -courteous preliminaries we were led off amidst deafening cheers to -receive the official welcome at the City Hall. - - * * * * * - -The City Fathers gave us greeting in a few short and well-chosen -phrases to which Mr. J. R. Macdonald suitably responded. We then -proceeded for a similar function to the headquarters of the Social -Democratic Party. Five thousand people assembled in the street to be -introduced to us. The introductions were made from a balcony. Each -delegate was brought forward separately and named, with certain of his -gifts and exploits. Then the crowd yelled with delight. M. Vandervelde -on our behalf acknowledged the courtesy and struck the international -note, and we were released for lunch and a subsequent tour of the -city’s chief points of interest. - -The tightness about my heart left me after the first hour amongst these -happy people. What, I asked myself, had I really been afraid of? I had -feared to see a starving company drawn up in stiff lines giving us -welcome by compulsion. I remembered how, in Petrograd, loss of work -or of ration was the punishment for non-attendance at these formal -ceremonies. The cruel fatigue of many hours of waiting in biting wind -or blistering sun was the price paid there by thousands of underfed and -underclad workmen and women for a sight of the foreign delegates. I -felt it quite impossible to endure this sort of thing again. - -But in Georgia it was different. The experience in Batoum was the same -everywhere. There was no compulsion to meet us. The people came because -they wanted to come. They moved freely amongst us, without restraint of -speech or manner, laughing, shouting, singing. The brown-eyed children -climbed into our laps. They shyly played with our watches or examined -our clothes. In all those merry faces turned up at us on the balcony I -saw not one look of bitterness, no tightening of thin lips, no burning -hate in the eyes. One jolly giant, whose curly grey-black hair waved -a head’s breadth above the crowd, led the cheering, which was caught -up by the crowd in unmistakable sincerity. They ran by the side of our -carriages, flinging red roses into them and blowing kisses to us as we -gathered up the roses and pinned them to our coats as the red emblem of -international solidarity. - -We spent a pleasant afternoon in the Botanical Gardens, rich with -every kind of tropical and semi-tropical fruit. The head gardener -boasted with joyous pride the possession of sixty different varieties -of orange. There they hung, yellow and tempting. Visions of Southern -California surged up, the blue Pacific at San Diego, and the big -glowing orange broken off the tree, ripe and delicious, for the daily -breakfast. From the figs and grapes, the lemons and bananas of these -gardens, we proceeded to the tea plantations and the bamboo woods, and -saw two infant industries developing themselves, the one under the -care of a skilled Japanese. Georgia’s industry needs development on -modern lines, with modern machinery and by modern methods. At present -production is slow and old fashioned. A common sight on a Georgian -landscape is a wooden plough, hand guided, drawn by eight pair of stout -oxen. This is mediæval. - - * * * * * - -In the evening we were entertained by the Batoum Municipality to a -dinner on the enclosed veranda of a large public ballroom. A Georgian -dinner is a thing to be remembered, and this, the first of many, -lingers pleasantly in the mind. Flowers and climbing plants adorned -the glass-covered veranda on the outside, palms and flowering trees -decorated and scented it within. The long table accommodated two -hundred guests. At one end of the room a choir sang songs, and an -orchestra made merry music whilst we ate. Course followed course of the -most deliciously cooked food. Enormous epergnes, filled with glowing -peaches of incredible size and huge black grapes, adorned the table at -frequent intervals of space. There were sparkling wines of rich vintage -and various colours, exquisite in the soft light from the shaded lamps. -This dinner could not have been surpassed for the completeness of its -appointments by the most expensive mountain hotel in America. Torrents -of summer rain and vivid flashes of lightning added to the sense of -comfort and jollity within. - -The speeches at a Georgian banquet are delivered between the courses. -After the speeches, before the speeches, furtively during the speeches, -the toasts are called. Never in the world was there anything like this -mad passion for toasting one another. Every guest is toasted at least -once. The health of every lady is drunk at least ten times! If the -wine does not give out, absent friends and popular causes, the cook -in the kitchen and the butler in the pantry supply excellent excuses -for a further riot of toasting. Conversation waxes louder and more -excited with every glass. Eyes begin to shine with the moving spirit -of alcohol. Strange stories of gallant adventure are told aloud. Wild -gestures are flung about. Out of the storm of confused tongues and -frantic gesticulations, from the far end of the table comes a faint -voice softly singing a slow song. Others take up the strain. In less -than two minutes the entire table is singing, each person roaring his -accompaniment at the very pitch of his voice. This song sounds like a -Scottish psalm tune, but it is the Georgian equivalent to “He’s a jolly -good fellow.” It is very impressive and runs something like this; I -give it from ear: - -[Illustration: Georgian “Toast” Song - -_Very slowly._] - -Perhaps twenty times in one evening this song is started and taken up -by the company. Each time it is a compliment directed at some special -guest, and concludes with the clinking of glasses and a roar of cheers -for the honoured one, who bows his appreciation of the kindly courtesy. - -A distinguished general of the _ancien régime_ was my _vis-à-vis_. He -delicately complimented me upon the few words those gallant Georgians -would have me say, and afterwards sent to Tiflis a large basket of -delicious red roses for the ladies of our party. On my right sat -several young nobles in the handsome native costume. They wore long -grey coats, full skirted and with belts at the waist. Underneath was a -high-necked blouse, buttoned at the front. Each side of the coat was -ornamented at the breast with a row of pockets for single cartridges. -Ornamental cartridge-cases were fitted into these pockets. The round -hats were of white astrakhan, and they wore soft leather Russian boots -which came high in the leg and were seamless and unlaced. Each carried -a dagger at his side, with richly chased silver handle. When the -spirits of the company had risen sufficiently high, two of these young -princes rose and danced a graceful Georgian dance down the whole length -of the corridor and back on the other side. The guests accompanied -with a monotonous clap, humming softly a suitable melody. One arm held -gracefully above the head, the left hand on the hip, the feet moving -intricately and delicately, the body swaying ever so slightly from the -hips and seeming to float upon the polished surface of the floor, there -is nothing that dance resembled so much as a sailing ship on a placid -lake gently moved by a soft wind. - -The absence of rancour, the atmosphere of friendliness, the fellowship -and intimacy of it all, charmed us, and we left for the night train and -Tiflis with regret at having to part so soon with these new friends. - - * * * * * - -The special train had been a royal train. It was replete with every -comfort. There were bathrooms even, and an excellent kitchen. The food -department was in the hands of a Russian family, a widowed mother and -three children. They were a family of good birth whose fallen fortunes -had been relieved in this way by the Social Democrats as a reward for -saving the life of the President, always in danger from the violent -extremists of both sorts. The mother was a stout, comfortable body, -and the girls beautiful creatures of the Slavonic type. - -We were received in the waiting room at Tiflis by the President, M. -Jordania, and his suite. The floor was carpeted with rich and costly -rugs. On the walls hung portraits of Karl Marx and the principal -Georgian Socialists. An orderly crowd waited outside and cheered us -as we left for our quarters in the residence of the departed American -Commissioner. - -Our first business in Tiflis was to attend the special session of -Parliament called in our honour, to hear a speech of welcome from each -of the eight political parties represented in that Parliament. The -Georgian Parliament is elected on a franchise which gives every man and -woman of twenty the vote. At the last election, which was conducted on -a basis of strictest proportional representation, 102 Social Democrats -were elected out of a total of 130. The nationalities represented by -this 130 are six, and there are five women in the House. The secretary -to the Speaker is also a woman, and a very able one. Distinctions of -sex do not exist in Georgian politics or in Georgian industry. Equal -pay for equal work is the ruling economic dictum. - -For the purposes of an election the whole country, with a population -of about 4,000,000, is one constituency. As a natural corollary of -this the districts have almost unlimited powers of self-government. -The model is a combination of Swiss and British. There is no second -Chamber. The President of the Republic is also the Prime Minister. -He is elected annually, and cannot hold office for more than two -consecutive years. Elections are organized and carried through by -national and local Election Commissions. The twenty-one members of the -national Election Commission are elected by the Members of Parliament. -The insane, the criminal, deserters from the army and insolvents may -not vote. - -The domestic policy of the Socialist Government of Georgia is the -gradual socialization of land and industry. Having guaranteed -themselves as far as possible from enemies within the State by -establishing themselves upon a thoroughly democratic basis, they have -sought to accomplish what was expected of them by disturbing as little -as might be the private interests and ordinary pursuits of the citizens. - -They have established a system of peasant proprietorship. This it -was less difficult to do than might have been expected on account of -the fact that 90 per cent. of the land had already been mortgaged by -spendthrift proprietors. The law establishing the land in the hands of -the peasants was finally promulgated on January 25, 1919. The amount -of land allowed to each peasant is strictly limited to seven acres, or -thirty-five acres for a family of five. The old landlord may have his -seven acres if he will cultivate it himself, or within his own family. -I met landlords who submitted cheerfully to the new system and noble -ladies who rejoiced in their new-found economic liberties. - -But again I say, a knowledge of newer methods of production is -necessary to make the rich soil yield all that it is capable of -yielding, and quantities of machinery must be imported if the area of -soil under cultivation is to be increased. Only 24 per cent. of the -land in Georgia was cultivated as against 31.5 per cent. in Russia, 55 -per cent. in France and 57.4 per cent. in Italy in pre-war days. - -There is an excellent Co-operative Movement in Georgia which is working -up a national co-operative scheme of production and distribution for -the peasants. By this means it is hoped to guard the interests of the -consumer, so apt to be at the mercy of the cultivators of the soil in -a country of fallen exchanges, and at the same time leave the peasants -free in the possession and cultivation of their land. - -No attempt, so far as I could discover, has been made to destroy -private industry and individual enterprise, nor even to interfere -with either beyond the need for protecting the vital interests of the -workers and the necessity for safeguarding the interests and liberties -of the country. The shops and bazaars of Tiflis were open, not closed -and their windows boarded up as in Moscow and Petrograd. The principal -streets of Tiflis and Batoum were a pleasant contrast to the Nevski -Prospect. - -The Ministry of Labour consists of two Commissars. For its purposes -Georgia is divided into four districts: Tiflis, Koutais, Sokhum and -Batoum. The officials of the Ministry are chosen from candidates -elected by the Trade Unions. This important department has five -sections: (1) the Chamber of Tariffs, which fixes wages and salaries; -this is controlled by a committee comprising ten employers, ten -workpeople and one representative of the Ministry of Labour; (2) the -Chamber of Reconciliation; it is not obligatory that an employer or -union should appeal to this body for help in the settlement of a -dispute, but once having appealed its decision is binding upon both; -(3) The Commission of Insurance, which insures workpeople against -accidents of all kinds; (4) The Committee of Relief, which insures -against sickness and old age, and (5) The Labour Exchange, for the -supply and regulation of labour. There is a universal eight hours’ day -in Georgia. Overtime is permitted in certain circumstances, but must be -paid for at the rate of a time and a half. Holidays are fixed by law, -and those who are obliged to work in holiday time must be remunerated -with a double wage. Employers who dismiss workpeople must provide -compensation, a law which does not invariably work out happily for -workpeople or for masters. - -The price of bread in the open market at the time of our visit was 30 -roubles a pound. For the workers the same bread was 5 roubles. It was -possible for us to buy 3,800 roubles with an English pound. - -All this interesting information was given to us during numerous and -protracted interviews with members of Government departments and Trade -Union officials. The most distinguished of this number was M. Jordania, -the President Prime Minister. He is a man of tall and stately and even -aristocratic bearing. But there is not the slightest shadow of doubt -of his democratic sympathies and real belief in Socialism. He wears a -well-trimmed beard, has fine dark eyes and sensitive, shapely hands. He -speaks well and clearly, has a rich fund of humour and is adored by his -people. - -We had the pleasure of meeting the President’s aged mother in her -simple home at Goria. She was dressed in the native woman’s dress, a -stiff, black silk skirt, very full and touching the ground all round. A -long-sleeved jacket covered the embroidered blouse. Over her head she -wore a white veil which was attached to a black velvet circlet fixed -squarely on the head. The veil fell down the back almost to the edge -of the skirt. On either side of the sweet old face were old-fashioned -ringlets, a part of the general costume and style of the women. This -tiny old lady of lovely and hospitable spirit could not understand or -appreciate a subdivision of land which robbed her loved son of a large -part of his patrimony; but with gentle firmness he pointed out that the -new law was for all alike, the rich as well as the poor, and that those -who had more must give to those who had none. - -In a quiet part of the garden is a sacred spot where a loved child lies -buried. It is beautifully kept, and a garden seat facing the west is -placed near the grave. We bent our heads at this sacred family shrine -in a common feeling of sympathy and understanding. - - * * * * * - -The foreign policy of this Socialist Republic is better understood -when a little of its history is known. The Georgians are a race of -enormous antiquity. Their exact origin is still a matter of dispute -amongst the savants. It is now generally believed they are descended -from the ancient Babylonians. They are certainly not Slavs. Nor is -their language a Slavonic language. They are usually a dark-skinned -race, tall and graceful, with aquiline features and flashing black -or dark brown eyes. The typical Georgian man is superbly handsome, -passionate in love and brave in war. The typical Georgian woman has a -world reputation for beauty, too often blighted, as in most countries -of fighting men, by the hard tasks which ought to be done by men. - -A treaty with Catherine the Great guaranteeing their independence to -the Georgians did not save them from definite annexation to the Russian -Empire in 1801. Since then it has been a hundred years of struggle for -freedom for a gallant people whose unfortunate land lay in the route -of march towards the realization of Russia’s age-long ambition, the -possession of Constantinople and the command of the Straits. - -In the hope of achieving their freedom through the overthrow of the -Czars the Georgian Socialists took part in the abortive Revolution -of 1905. As a result their leaders were either thrown into prison or -exiled to Siberia. Then followed a period of terrible repression and -reaction. When the Revolution of 1917 came the Georgians helped it, and -some of them took office in the Kerensky Ministry. - -Kerensky’s magnetic personality and very real gifts of eloquence and -idealism could not hold a position difficult enough by reason of the -war, but made immeasurably more difficult, in fact impossible, by the -disastrous policy of the Allies towards Russia and the unscrupulous -machinations of the Bolshevik Party within the country. The mild policy -of the Kerensky regime left Lenin and Trotsky, with other leaders of -the Bolsheviks, free to subvert the loyalty of the soldiers in burning -speeches in the streets of Petrograd. Kerensky fell and fled, and Lenin -assumed his position. But not until May of 1918 was the independence of -Georgia duly recognized by Russia. - -This recognition was always half-hearted and unreal. It was looked upon -as a temporary necessity meant to relieve the Bolshevik Government of -one complication in their very dangerous international situation. With -a cynicism unsurpassed by any Foreign Office of a capitalist country a -Bolshevik dignitary in Moscow informed me that neither Azerbaijan nor -Georgia must expect to continue independent of the Moscow Government. -Russia must have the oil of Baku. It was a necessity of her very -existence; and Georgia was too important for Bolshevik policy in the -East for them to allow either of these countries permanently to be -independent. So long as Georgia remained non-Bolshevik, she was a -stumbling-block in the path of that policy. If she became Bolshevik -absolute independence became a matter of no importance. She then -entered directly into the Workers’ Confederation for the world-wide -destruction of the capitalist system, and national boundaries lost -their significance in such an enterprise. - -The Georgians desire, for economic reasons and for mutual defence, the -establishment of a Federation of Caucasian Republics. With the idea -of creating this they called three conferences in 1918, 1919 and 1920 -respectively, with the sister republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The -breakdown of the conference in 1918 was due to the Armenians, whose -timidity or reluctance to take any definite and independent action -could not be overborne. They declined during the second conference to -make a definite alliance to prevent the return of the Czars. In 1920 -Azerbaijan was _intransigeant_ under the pressure of the Bolsheviks. -These conferences were abortive as to their purpose, but useful for -preparing the ground for future action. A Treaty of Transit with -Armenia was actually signed. - -Tchicherine in Moscow, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, invited the -Georgians to join in the attack against Denikin. This their policy of -strict neutrality forbade. On the same ground they had refused help -from both the English and the Germans, the one eager to employ anybody -against the Bolsheviks, the other ready to engage anybody against the -Allies. The Bolsheviks, angry at this refusal to help them, invaded -Georgia from Vladicaucasia on May 17, 1920, but were successfully -repulsed. So far so good. But we saw clearly when we were in Georgia, -and at every point, that the situation there was anything but stable. -From the Kemalists on the one hand and the Bolsheviks on the other, the -population was in constant danger. The young general who accompanied -our expeditions travelled almost literally with his hand upon his -sword, and the statesmen were full of care and anxiety. - -The main points in the foreign policy of this young Socialist -Government besides that of strict neutrality, which has already been -mentioned, and the establishment of normal relations with the Western -world, are the recognition of Georgia’s independence by the Allies -and the inclusion of Georgia in the League of Nations. They strongly -desire federation with the other Caucasian republics. Some of them -anticipate with clear intelligence the time when they will be compelled -by economic necessities and the development of internationalism -in politics to enter one of the large political systems, possibly -Russia; but before that happens--and when it happens it must come -peacefully--they want to see Russia quit of all her tyrants, Czarist -and Bolshevik alike, and established upon a genuine, democratic basis -with a representative National Assembly. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -MORE ABOUT GEORGIA - - -After three interesting and informing days spent in Tiflis, a city -beautifully situated upon many hills, we left for a ten days’ excursion -into various parts of the country. The first trip was to Kasbec in the -Caucasus Mountains. - -Eight automobiles, with a complete camera and moving-picture equipment -and a couple of newspaper men, drew up in front of our door at 7 -o’clock one morning. The rain poured in torrents. The air was hot and -sultry. We were advised, none the less, to take with us the warmest -wraps we possessed, as we were to climb several thousand feet before -the end of the day and sleep in the mountains. I made an _entente -cordiale_ with two of the Frenchmen in order to exercise my French, and -we three packed ourselves into one of the roomy cars very comfortably; -and off we went. - -Despite the weather, it was a gay cavalcade which dashed along the -great military highway, one of the finest engineering feats in the -world. The rain became steadily less persistent after the first -half-hour. The clouds began to disperse and the sun to peep out at -us. About two hours’ distance from the city we were hailed by a brown -shaggy figure standing in the middle of the road. On either side of the -road was a group of picturesque peasant folk in their rough, homely -garb. The men were on one side, the women on the other. An ancient -priest was amongst them. The chief peasant advanced to the first car -bareheaded, carrying bread and salt. His companion held a large horn -of sour, strong wine. We were invited to break bread, to eat salt -and to taste the wine, all of which we did punctiliously. Their faces -broadened with happy smiles as they passed from car to car. Huge -bunches of grapes followed. The women threw flowers to us. The lips of -the bearded priest moved as if in prayer, and his hands were raised to -bless. The little children broke from the side of their mothers and -clapped their tiny hands. At last the horn sounded, the signal for -departure was given, and to the roar of cheers, the waving of hands, -the curtsying and the smiling, we left this patriarchal scene full of -thoughts of early Bible lessons and the pictures of the shepherds of -the East. Some of the young men wore curious yellow wigs of unsewn -sheepskin, which looked like a mass of tangled blond curls, contrasting -sharply with their laughing black eyes. One young giant, wearing a -sheepskin wig and carrying a heavy stick, suggested the traditional -Esau tending his herds and flocks. - -On we flew, through richest scenery hourly becoming more mountainous. -The road continued admirable. The sun broke dazzlingly through the -mists. The aspect of the country was that of a soft, delicate patchwork -in shades of green and gold. There were no hedgerows. There were no -glittering scintillations of light and atmosphere, no hardness of -outline as in Switzerland. All was soft, suggestive, seductive. Little -wooden houses perched upon the rocks and ledges. Large patriarchal -farm-houses lay in the valleys. Bright rivulets flashed in and out of -the sedge. Occasionally we passed a broad stream or a lake, or paused -to drink from a sparkling waterfall. Higher and higher we climbed, the -sweet air growing rarer, the habitations less numerous. Eagles screamed -aloft. An ancient castle or faded monastery, incredibly old, stood out -here and there upon the landscape. Everything spoke of a peaceful, -happy, peasant life, of rich flocks and autumn plenty. - -At intervals the cars were stopped for some radiant welcome of us by -happy villagers. Sometimes we made little speeches to them, which were -translated by a young Georgian officer. Bread and salt, wine and fruit, -song and dance, merry words and gentle prayers and fierce patriotic -vows--it was all very wonderful and very moving to the men and women -from the West. A tiny peasant boy danced for us shyly at the little -town where we lunched, and imagination removed that boy to the Opera -House in Petrograd or to the Alhambra in London, there to delight the -sophisticated city folk with his mountain-born grace and incomparable -agility. The Georgians are a race of dancers. Their feet and hands move -instinctively to a gay tune. The lilt of the song is in my ears as I -write: - -[Illustration: Georgian Dance Song (to be sung to the clapping of hands) - -_Vigorously._] - -On and on we went, higher and yet higher. The sun was beginning to go -down. Should we reach Kasbec before it quite set? Should we see the -great peaks before darkness came down upon us? We wished that we might. -We wrapped our furs more closely around us. It was really cold now. -Our faces were sore with alternate cold wind and hot sun. We chaffed -one another on our personal appearance, our red noses, suggestive of a -certain want of sobriety! The peaks grew higher. Round first one and -then another, we dashed at the maddest pace on those narrow roads. -Up and up we went. Now the road narrowed dangerously, the valleys -darkened, the gloom gathered on the hills. The solitary peasant at -the head of the pass stood gazing after us with astonished eyes, -leaning upon his staff. Round the last corner we panted, our machines -steaming their protest, when suddenly there burst upon our awestruck -gaze Kasbec, the prince of mountains, its immense snow-covered peak -glowing rose-pink in the last rays of the setting sun. One glorious -instant, and it was gone, shrouded in shadow and mysterious gloom. Up -one more slight incline, and then began our descent. It was quite dark -by this time. We settled down to quiet reverie upon the majesty of the -mountains and the beauty of the starry night. - -With startling suddenness wild shrieks tore the air, and the mad -clattering of innumerable horses’ feet coming towards us along the -pass. We sat up startled. What on earth could it be in that solitary -place? It was not the screaming of eagles, nor the roar of wild animals -in pain. That steady patter of feet growing ever louder was of horses -ridden by human beings. We were within a few miles of the Russian -frontier. Perhaps this was a raid of hungry Bolsheviks. If so, what -were we to do? Unfortunately for our safety, the Georgians carried -arms. At one of our pleasant stopping-places they had practised their -arms on improvised targets. The picturesque Mayor of Tiflis, for a -wager, had hit the bull’s-eye at thirty paces, the target being a piece -of white handkerchief on the branch of a tree. There would certainly -be fighting in the event of a collision with the Bolsheviks. And -then--what? - -The foremost emotion was curiosity, not fear. Renaudel stood up and -peered into the blackness. Marquet mounted the seat. I hung out of the -car at the side. We could discover nothing. The sounds were coming -nearer. They came from either side as well as in front. Shots rang -out. Wild whoops added to the mystery and the clamour. Suddenly from -out of the mountains on both sides, almost into the cars where we sat, -leapt ferocious horsemen, black and bearded, by the score. They were -dressed in native peasant warrior style, with swords and pistols, -curved scimitars and studded shields. Their head-dress was of various -kinds, round astrakhan caps or the captured peaked caps of the enemy -across the border. The heads of most were uncovered. Broad, spreading -square-shaped astrakhan capes, a family inheritance perchance, covered -the more sober riders. - -They rode hardy mountain horses or shaggy ponies, and rode them with -amazing skill, picking up their dropped swords as they galloped and -performing other feats of astounding dexterity. They were of several -tribes, these peasant soldiers of Georgia, of terrifying aspect, wild -and untamed, but withal the merriest, most engaging lot of black-eyed -brigands that ever stepped outside a cinema show. We were out of the -modern world and had moved back through a thousand years of history. - -This gallant company had assembled to conduct us into Kasbec, the most -original guard of honour that ever took charge of the guests of a -Government. At their head galloped a particularly attractive ruffian -carrying a red flag on a long wand. How he contrived to carry this -heavy pole in one hand, holding it perfectly erect, and to control -his spirited horse with the other, was one of the wonders at which we -marvelled greatly. It seemed as easy as falling off a log to him. He -led the procession in the three-mile gallop to Kasbec. On either side -of the cars ran torch-bearers on horseback. The fifty attendants grew -to a hundred as we neared the city, the hundred to two hundred, the -two hundred to three, four, five hundred. In addition were women and -children in the town, waiting to help with the songs and the dances. - -The old church in which the address of welcome was to be delivered -was too small for the company assembled. We held the meeting in the -churchyard and spoke to the people from the top of a broad wall. I -never heard Mr. Macdonald speak better than he did to those grim -but simple mountain warriors, reminiscent as they were of the shaggy -Highlanders of his native Scotland three centuries or more ago. - -I cannot write about the hotel in Kasbec. It was unbelievably awful in -its primitive arrangements and its dirt. The food was abundant and of -good quality, and the host was more than kind. To make us feel more at -home and more secure, exuberant young warriors during the whole night -at intervals flashed past the hotel on horseback, firing shots as they -galloped! And towering high and white in the risen moon, like a stern -but indulgent father, was Kasbec of the everlasting snows. - - * * * * * - -On the morrow morning we took a trip to the Russian frontier to pay -our respects to the Bolshevik guards and to give some of our friends -the satisfaction of saying they had set foot in Russia in defiance of -Lenin and Trotsky. There the poor fellows stood, in frayed uniforms -with the red star in front of their peaked caps, looking dull and -lonely and tired. They were very pleased to see us, and our cigarettes -and chocolates gave them great satisfaction. “Poor devils!” said a -sympathetic delegate. “They must have an awful time in this lonely, -God-forsaken spot.” No attempt was made to engage them in argument nor -to weaken in any way their adherence to their Government, but one young -fellow volunteered to us in excellent French as we parted: “Nous ne -sommes pas communistes; mobilisées!” - - * * * * * - -Perhaps in some respects the most amazing reception we received was -at Koutäis, the ancient capital of Georgia. Literally the whole city -turned out to receive us. Masses of people assembled outside the -station. Beautiful white-frocked children, with wreaths in their hair, -lined the road from the railway cars to the carriages, throwing flowers -in our paths. The streets were lined half a dozen deep for the mile and -a half to the public park where the great demonstration was held. Here -there was an enormous concourse, and we had a great time with these -happy folk. - -Börjom is perhaps the most beautiful of all the cities of Georgia. It -is in the very heart of the mountains and is famous for its mineral -springs. The surrounding country suggests Switzerland, with this -difference, that for nine months of the year there is a warm and sunny -climate and a profusion of sub-tropical fruits of the greatest variety. -As we wound through the woods and climbed the great hills on the -mountain railway we felt a regret that Georgia and its beauties are not -better known and more accessible to European and American travellers -after health and pleasure. Otherwise it could not fail to attract -thousands of people content with lesser beauties at a greater cost. - -At a place called Ikan, about three versts from Börjom, is the palace -of the Grand Duke Michael Nicolaivich, whose ancient and impeccable -servitors, long-bearded and profound, ministered to our needs during -the whole of a long summer’s night. Of this I have already written. - -The port of Poti we saw through a flood of rain which filled the -streets with miniature lakes and roused to malignancy a veritable -plague of mosquitoes. These vile insects made the hours in Poti a time -of intolerable torture; but the ladies of Poti were most kind in their -ministrations, and made matters as easy as they could. In an immense -church which had not then been consecrated, reminiscent in size and -austerity of St. Paul’s Cathedral, we held a meeting, beginning in the -early afternoon and continuing until the light had faded and the fitful -gleam of torches lit up the faces of the speakers to ten thousand -eager, patient, curious spectators of a dozen nationalities--Turks, -Armenians, Jews, Tartars, Russians and native Georgians; Christians -and Mussulmans; soldiers and peasants; princes and workmen; women -with and without veils, little children on their mothers’ laps, all -congregated to see and hear the strangers from the unknown lands of the -West. - -Our practice was to travel all night and speak and visit during the -day. Sometimes we did not leave the train but spoke to the people -from the steps of the railway carriage. Sometimes the platform was -placed in a field adjoining the railway station, to save the time of -the delegation. Often carriages were in waiting to take us into the -larger towns, where we were shown the more important of the civic -institutions. Frequently we spoke four, five, six, or seven times in -one day. I think the minimum number of speeches was four. And always -there were bouquets of flowers and baskets of fruit as a reward. The -Georgians are indeed “given to hospitality” of the most generous sort. - -Amongst the interesting experiences they gave us was a visit to the -manganese mines. Georgia has some of the richest deposits of manganese -in the world. There are already mined vast quantities of this mineral -waiting the restoration in Europe of the amenities of trade and travel -for shipment abroad. In the case of this important industry the -principle of nationalization has not been adopted. A heavy percentage -on profits is paid by the companies to the Government. The managers of -the mines are of several nationalities--Belgian, German and English. -The Englishman we met appears to be a favourite with the men. The -Belgians were less popular. The German overseer of coal mines with -whom we spoke gave the usual impression of very great efficiency, -and obviously commanded respect. The rich coal deposits need capital -for their adequate working. The two thousand miners to whom I spoke -appeared to enjoy the novelty of a woman speaker. - -But to say everything that might be said about this gallant little -Socialist Republic, or even one-half of what we ourselves saw during -our two weeks’ visit, is out of the question. The impressions formed -need time for their ripening, but on certain matters we formed very -clear and definite judgments. - -The Republic of Georgia, about the same size as Switzerland and with -the same population, is equally beautiful if it is not even more -lovely. It has a good soil, very fertile, with useful deposits of -valuable minerals and a rich supply of oil. Its industries might be -made very productive if modernized and supplied with the necessary -capital. Foreign capital is shy, however, since the Russian Revolution. -It fears confiscation by even the moderate Socialist Government of -Georgia, and is certain of it if Georgia comes to be Bolshevized either -by Lenin from the outside or revolutionaries from within. - -Georgia needs peace and security for her happiness. There is no -immediate prospect of either. From the Turks on one side and the -Bolsheviks all round she is in constant danger. - -I had the very strongest impression when in Georgia that the population -was overwhelmingly against Bolshevism, and that their support of the -Social Democrats was founded on the love of the peasants for the land -and the fear of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy that a worse fate -might befall them. I believe it to be true of Georgia, as of other -countries whose ancient orders have been overthrown, that the vicious -terms of the various Peace Treaties have united all classes in support -of a party which has not failed in government because it has never -been tried, and which stands for the national existence against a -world of foes combined. In other words, there is a thick streak of -nationalism running through every Socialist Movement of Europe, not -excepting the Russian, whose chief leaders only, and not the rank and -file to any extent, are believers in that anti-nationalism they falsely -parade before the world as internationalism. Surely there can be no -internationalism unless there are nations out of which to make it. - - * * * * * - -Since the writing of the above I have received this letter from Paris. -President Jordania is there, in exile. He writes in French, but I have -translated the letter: - - _Paris, - April 9th, 1921._ - - DEAR MADAM: - - I enclose the manifesto signed by my comrades and myself and addressed - to all the Socialist parties and workers’ organizations. You will find - in it in detail the latest events in Georgia. This exact document - gives in brief amongst other things, the purpose of our action in - Europe: it is to expedite the evacuation of Georgia by the Bolshevik - troops. - - The war is not yet finished in Georgia, but it has taken a new form: - it is no longer the Republican army which desperately resists the - invaders, it is the whole country which fights against the armies of - occupation as it has formerly fought against the power of the Czar. - - The issue of this conflict depends very largely upon the attitude - of the workers of the world. Each voice of protest raised against - the invaders of Georgia strengthens the power of resistance of the - Georgian democracy and quickens the day of its deliverance. - - In thanking you warmly for all you have done for the cause of Georgia - I count upon your support, dear madam, in this new campaign. - - Socialist greetings, - N. JORDANIA. - - Madame Snowden, - London. - - -It is a thousand pities that the enclosed manifesto, signed by the -Minister for Foreign Affairs, M. Gueguetchkori, the President of the -Constituent Assembly, M. Tcheidze, and the Minister of the Interior, M. -Ramichvili, in addition to President Jordania, cannot be reproduced in -full, for it is interesting and valuable history; but in the fears for -Georgia already expressed I had foreshadowed only what has unhappily -come to pass. - -The substance of the document can be given in a few words. It begins -by pointing out the importance of Georgia in Bolshevik policy in the -Orient and of the desire in Moscow to accomplish its conversion to -Bolshevism. For a long time it was hoped to do this by subsidized -propaganda from the inside. In spite of a wealth of money poured into -the country, this plan failed. Then came an attempt to do so by force. -This also failed. A Russo-Georgian Treaty secured the recognition of -Georgian independence by Russia on May 7, 1920. In November of the same -year Trotsky, speaking to the assembled secretaries of the Communist -Party, declared: “The establishment of the Soviet in Armenia is the -end of Georgia.” The Russian General Hocker was asked to present -a report on the number of soldiers and equipment required for the -conquering of Georgia. This was in December. The general pointed out -that it could be done only with the co-operation of Angora; but from -this moment began the massing of Bolshevik troops on the Georgian -frontier, notwithstanding the vigorous protests of the Georgian Foreign -Minister. Although it had been clear for long that the Russians meant -to attack Georgia, they sought to find some excuse that would satisfy -exterior public opinion by discovering a quarrel between Georgia and -Armenia over some disputed territory. Part of the Bolshevik army -attacked from the Armenian side, Armenia having been compulsorily -Sovietized also in the interests of Bolshevik policy in the East. This -enterprise was undertaken at the very time when M. Chavordoff, the -Armenian Bolshevik, declared his willingness to negotiate with Georgia -the disputed districts. Another section of the Russian army began to -close in from the side of Azerbaijan. Instructions were sent to the -Bolshevik representative in Tiflis to join his agitation to the efforts -of the army in the hope of counter-revolution within. Tiflis was -occupied after valiant resistance. The Turkish Kemalists, assisted by -Bolsheviks, attacked and captured Batoum. The whole country was given -over to its enemies, who cared nothing for treaties when something -crossed their path. - -Since all this, a treaty between the Turks and the Russians has been -signed at Moscow, in which the Bolsheviks are recognized as the masters -of Georgia. The Kemalists renounce their aspirations after Batoum, -receiving for themselves the two disputed districts of Middle Georgia, -Artvin, and Ardahan, and a part of the province of Batoum. - -[Illustration: Georgian National Anthem] - -Lenin is making a great effort to reconcile the people of Georgia. -He has urged his representatives in Georgia to find a way of -reconciliation and a common platform with President Jordania and -his friends. But so far the Georgian people have shown no sign of -going over to the enemy and forsaking their old leaders and elected -representatives. And Jordania, an exile, writes from Paris. - -As I write my mind travels first to Russia and the dying population -of Petrograd, then to the merry Georgian peasants with their cakes -and honey in the fields on the way from Kasbec, and finally to the -unforgettable national song which poured from a thousand throats when -patriot-soldiers swore to defend their country’s liberties with their -blood, like the loving sons of every land. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -HOME THROUGH THE BALKANS - - -After a very happy two weeks in Georgia, we left for the homeward trip. -The special train brought us to Batoum overnight. The day we spent in -wandering about the city’s bazaars. Everything was ridiculously cheap -for those possessed of English money, though for some curious reason -which I never explored the Turks and Armenians whose shops we visited -were forbidden to accept English pounds. Some did accept them on the -guarantee of our guide, an English-speaking Georgian, that no evil -would come to them as a consequence. We bought astrakhan caps, Russian -boots, silver-mounted daggers, drinking-cups, silver chains, furs, and -jewelled belts for a mere trifle. In one shop there was a magnificent -set of ermine skins for £70 which would have sold for ten times the -money in England or America had any one of us had enough business -instinct to buy. Persian and Turkish carpets were selling for a mere -song! - -The British Delegation of three kept together during this promenade. -There is no reason for making a special note of this fact except -this--that each of us can testify to the falsity of a Reuter’s report -circulated throughout England at a later date that Mr. Ramsay Macdonald -was mobbed in the streets of Batoum by a number of Bolsheviks! Mr. -Macdonald was one of our party. We saw no Bolsheviks in Batoum. And the -only semblance of a crowd was when, in a Turkish quarter, the unveiled -Englishwoman showed herself in the shortest dress that had been seen in -that quarter since the last batch of American women passed that way! -The Turkish women go black veiled still, generally by their own choice, -and their dresses almost touch the ground. - -Before the steamer sailed M. Marquet and I drove along the sea-front -to inspect the tents we imagined we saw from a distance, bordering the -coast. They were not tents in the regular sense, but rude shelters -improvised with poles and tattered garments, which sheltered the most -miserable and squalid mass of wild-eyed human beings it has been my lot -to see. It was said they were Greek refugees who had fled the approach -of the Nationalist Turks. A pro-Bolshevik critic of the Georgians -censured them severely for not having provided for these unfortunates; -but when huge masses of people suddenly hurl themselves upon a -community out of nowhere, organization is not simple, especially when -means are limited. The condition of some of the German prisoners’ camps -in England in the early days of the war was very far from perfect; but -the suddenness of the contingency, no less then the proportions of the -problem, offered a reasonable explanation of the unsatisfactoriness of -things. - -The steamer which took us back to Constantinople brought Herr Kautsky -and his wife to Georgia. Kautsky had been detained in Rome with fever -for two weeks. - -We had a perfect voyage to Constantinople. The sea was as smooth as a -mill-pond, and a heavenly moon lighted our path across the waves at -night. At Trebizond several of the party went on shore and braved the -questionings of the Turko-Bolshevik Governor; but they saw nothing -for their pains but a bazaar which was very much inferior to those of -Constantinople. - -We spent two days in Constantinople waiting for the transcontinental -express. During those days I talked with several people who claim -to speak authoritatively about affairs in Turkey, and checked my -impressions of the earlier visit. Lunch at the British Military Mission -and an interview with a Turkish prince of the blood rounded off an -experience of the city and its problems, too brief to justify the -record of anything more serious than general impressions, liable to be -modified upon closer acquaintance. - -And perhaps the clearest impression of all that I received was that of -the disinterestedness of the British Government in Turkish affairs. -France and Italy were clearly up to the eyes in intrigue for positions -of commercial and industrial advantage in Turkey. With this in view -they were manifestly encouraging in his defiance Mustapha Kemal Pasha, -even whilst they were conspiring to perpetrate the Treaty of Sevres. -Greece likewise was adopting the insolent attitude of the conqueror, -more galling to the Turks than the domination of any other foe. Upon -the Commission instituted to govern the affairs of Turkey in general -and Constantinople in particular, England glanced with wary eye at the -deeds of her colleagues, France, Italy, and Greece. It might be urged -that England has quite enough to do with her own vast territories and -enormous responsibilities without adding to the burden by taking more -than a nominal interest in the development of Turkey. Against such a -view the men on the spot protest with indignation. There is a land of -inestimable fruitfulness. It lies on the route of valuable British -possessions. It is possessed by a race holding high repute amongst -the peoples of that part of the world which is not averse to England. -Widely advertised Armenian massacres ought not to be permitted to blind -the untravelled to the fact that the Turk is regarded very highly by -most people who know him well. His faults of cruelty and corruption he -shares with all Eastern peoples. His virtues of cleanliness, sobriety, -and (in the country) honesty and industry mark him out for peculiar -admiration. I have to confess that I met nobody who expressed dislike -of the Turk. I met everywhere people who spoke with contempt of the -Greek and the Armenian. - -“Tell me,” I said to a British officer in Constantinople, “why does -everybody hate the Armenians? I do not myself know any of these people; -but I can find nobody with a good word to say for them. I have just -heard one educated man declare that the only thing to do with the -Armenians is to massacre them.” - -“It is certainly true,” he replied. “There is a saying in this part -of the world that it takes two Jews to make a Greek, two Greeks to -make a Levantine, and two Levantines to make an Armenian. Perhaps that -explains it.” - -“You mean that they are notorious beyond all words for commercial -dishonesty and extortionate dealing? But is that all? That is very bad, -of course; but does it explain all the bitter hate?” - -“I don’t know; but I don’t believe for a moment that it is purely a -hatred of Christianity. The Turks are a warlike race. They hate the -pacifism of races like the Jews and the Armenians. To them it is -effeminate weakness. They despise the drunkenness of Christian tribes. -They are abstainers by religion. And the plundering of the peasants -by Christian extortioners has done more to set the Crescent against -the Cross than any preaching of Christian doctrine could have done by -itself.” - -“I am proposing to return to this part of the world to visit Armenia in -the spring, unless the Bolsheviks from Angora capture it between now -and then.” - -“Well, good luck to you!” said the young Englishman. “Nothing would -tempt me to go. Please remember that if half the Armenians reported -to have been massacred had really died, there would not have been any -Armenians left to visit!” - -The Bolsheviks have captured Armenia, and the Allies do nothing to -help. Therein the Armenians have a real grievance. Their really -marvellous propaganda had secured them the sympathy of the whole -Western world. They had received distinct or tacit promises from the -Allies and the League of Nations. But neither the one nor the other -has done anything to save them from their frightful fate at the hands -of Russian Bolsheviks and Kemalist Turks. - -Prince S----, the nephew of Abdul Hamid, is a cultured Turkish -gentleman of the very first order. His beautiful little daughter was -educated in England. She speaks perfect English, her father admirable -French. Over the Turkish coffee, thickly sweet and delicious, we -discussed the future of Turkey. I had met the prince and his daughter -first in Switzerland, at Caux, overlooking the Montreux end of the -Lake of Geneva. The Castle of Chillon, and mountains of Savoy on -the French side make a picture of extraordinary beauty. Then, as -in Constantinople, he spoke warmly of England. I have seldom met a -foreigner who had a higher opinion of England and English institutions. -In Turkish matters the prince appears to stand half-way between the -Turkish Nationalists and the representatives of the old order. He looks -for the day of an independent Turkey, self-governing and governing with -intelligence; but he appears to think that day has not yet arrived. -Before that, there should be universal education for Turkey, free and -progressive. The rich, natural soil of agricultural Turkey should be -subject to intensive cultivation on modern scientific lines. Land -should be made available for all would-be cultivators; estates limited -in size, but not alienated from the owners by the State. - -Till the day of its emancipation arrives this patriot prince would -have for Turkey the assistance of England. It was obvious to the least -interested amongst us that Constantinople suffered atrociously from -the divided authority of the Allies. Who were their masters--French, -Italian, British, or Greek--the wretched Turks really did not know. -Each set of nationals in authority got into the others’ way. There -were general suspicions and dislikes. Could the prince have had his -way, Turkey would have been ruled jointly by Turks and British until -education in responsibility had gradually but surely fitted the Turks -to be absolute masters in their own house. - -This amiable cultured Turkish gentleman admitted the awful atrocities -committed by the Turkish Government in the past against the Armenians, -and regretted them. His secretary and not himself spoke of equally -fearful cruelties practised upon the Turks by Armenians--the same -dreadful game of reprisals with which a mad world appears to be anxious -to destroy itself. - -A marked feature of the British personnel in Turkey is the extreme -youth of most of its members. Those who do not take themselves and -their work very seriously do not suffer. Those who are conscientious -and have their country’s interests really at heart suffer acutely, -not only through the physical strain of getting things done against -indifferent officialism in a country of unequalled opportunities and -matchless interest, but from the mental pain which is born of seeing -great opportunities passed by, or seized by wiser people in the -interests of nations other than England. - - * * * * * - -There is a new-born Socialist Movement in Constantinople--at least, -it calls itself Socialist. It came into being as the result of a -successful tram strike. As a matter of fact it is really a Trade -Union Movement. It has little knowledge of the economics of Marx. Its -leader would be described as a Radical in England. I have the same -view about the Socialist Movement that Prince S---- has about the -Nationalist Movement--that a period of education would be a valuable -and is, indeed, a necessary precedent to the agitation for Socialist -government, even municipal government. - - * * * * * - -When we boarded the train in Constantinople it was intensely hot. -Within an hour of leaving it blew so cold that the women of our party -were constrained to put on their furs. For two days the intense cold -lasted. Not until we had passed over the bleak moor and forest lands -of Bulgaria, reminiscent of certain parts of Scotland, did we begin to -feel anew the warmth of autumn days. Milder Serbia warmed our blood, -and we ventured to make an excursion into Belgrade, where the express -rested for four hours. Tired of train food, we betook ourselves in a -party to the Hôtel Moscou and enjoyed a first-rate supper amongst the -joyous Serbs. - -I hope to see Belgrade by day in order to revise my opinion of the -city. As it is, I have the poorest opinion of it. Its streets are paved -with cobble-stones and are full of shell-holes which would hold the -proverbial horse and cart! In the pitch black of the night--for the -streets were either badly lighted or not lit at all--we were constantly -tumbling into the smaller of these unspeakable holes or twisting our -ankles on the round cobble-stones. One required the feet of a mountain -goat to maintain oneself erect in such abominable thoroughfares. - -But a pleasing experience superseded the unpleasant memory of Belgrade -streets. I had been given a letter to post to Budapest by a lady in -Constantinople, who feared it might be opened if posted in that city. -I had given a solemn promise that this should be done. To venture into -those Belgrade streets alone was impossible. I had to wait until my -fellow-delegates had done feasting. Time passed, and still they ate -and ate. Soon it would be impossible. The train was due to leave in -a little while. I waited. The eating went on. I rose to go alone. M. -Marquet’s kind French heart was touched. He went with me. We wandered -over half Belgrade before we found the post office, and when we found -it it was closed! We walked to the back of the premises, and there -were two young men packing letters into bags. In a mixture of French, -English, and German we contrived to make them understand we wanted a -stamp. One of them, smiling broadly, took out his pocket-book and -produced the necessary article, sticking it on to the letter himself, -which he then pushed into his bag. We laid down a substantial coin. -But with a graceful bow and a fine smile he declined payment. We shook -hands cordially and parted, the travellers with a happier estimate of -Belgrade than its stones had supplied! - -If one can in any real measure judge a country’s state from the -railway train, Serbia and the highlands of Jugo-Slavia are enjoying -considerable prosperity. At the time we passed through the country the -same abundance of produce was everywhere visible as in Belgium. In -addition, the little pigs for which Serbia is renowned were numberless. -They ran all over the lines at the railway stations and clustered -in herds round every cottage door. The neat, bright comfort of the -mountain farms of the Tyrol made a very profound impression, and were a -real joy to those of us who were on the look out for as much happiness -and prosperity as we could discover in a world torn with sorrow. - -A rush round the city of Trieste, a long wait in the railway station -in Venice on account of a serious railway accident just ahead, a peep -at Milan, a glimpse at Lausanne, and we were on the last stage of -our long journey to Paris. The journey had been fairly comfortable -with the exception of the last day. There was no water for washing in -our carriage. I mean by “our carriage” the one in which the English -delegates were. We gave mighty tips, but the attendant would not be -comforted and refused to get us more water! He protested savagely at -the amount of water the English people used. He complained of the -number of times we thought it necessary to wash ourselves. We were -thoroughly in disfavour. We bore the discomfort and the feeling of not -looking our best till we got to Paris. There came relief, cleanliness -and good coffee. Twelve more hours and we should see the home faces -once more and recount our adventures to interested friends. - -Every one of us vowed we would not go abroad again for a very long -while. Every one of us has broken that pledge. It must be so. The human -spirit, once having escaped from the circumscribing atmosphere of -native city or even country, will never more be content to be environed -perpetually by so much less than it has known. It must go out again -and again to the scenes and the people it has known in other lands, -or break its wings against the bars of its cage, imprisoned in the -infinitely small and narrow. Let all who can travel, for the broadening -of their minds, the widening of their outlook, the strengthening -of their sympathies. And let those who cannot travel read, so that -they may know what the men and women of other lands are thinking and -feeling, and may co-operate with them in the shaping of brighter and -better things for mankind. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY - - -Late one evening I was returning home from a Fabian lecture when a -tall, middle-aged man, with slightly wavy hair and a pair of merry blue -eyes, accosted me. He carried under his arm a large and rather untidy -brown-paper parcel, which looked as though it might contain groceries -and gave him the appearance of the middle-class father of a family. His -voice was soft and pleasant, his accent unmistakably Irish. - -“Pardon me, madam, but are you an Irishwoman?” he asked interestedly. - -“No,” I replied. “I was born in Yorkshire. But why do you ask?” - -“Forgive me, but your voice carries a long way, and I could not help -hearing a part of your conversation with the lady who left you at -Hampstead. You were talking about Ireland. Your voice and the kind -things you said about Ireland made me think you might be an Irishwoman.” - -“No,” I said again; “I am not Irish, but I am going to Ireland -to-morrow.” - -“Ah!” he said, drawing a deep breath. “And why are you going to Ireland -at a time like this? Surely not for pleasure?” - -“No, indeed; there can be no pleasure in Ireland for anybody with a -spark of human feeling. I am going to Ireland to try to discover the -truth, if that is possible.” - -“You are a newspaper woman, then?” was the next query. I made no -further answer, feeling that the conversation with a perfect stranger, -albeit a courteous and sympathetic one, had gone on long enough, when -he began to speak with added warmth both of speech and manner. - -“Ah! you English people, you do not understand, you never will -understand Ireland. In your imagination you have peopled our island -with devils and conceive it to be your duty to exterminate the plague. -‘The dirty Irish’ is the way you think about us. Hunting down Irishmen -is by some Englishmen regarded as legitimate sport. I am a native of -Cork. I am not a Sinn Feiner. I do not want to see Ireland cut loose -from the Empire. And I deplore as much as anybody the murders on both -sides. But I understand my countrymen. I doubt if you do. I very much -doubt if you can. The differences are too great. But whosoever goes to -Ireland without clearly realizing that the English and the Irish are -two distinct and separate nations will fail to understand the things -he sees and hears when he gets there. I am constantly hearing talk on -this side about the possibility of Ireland making terms with Germany, -becoming even a German province if she secures self-government.” Here -his voice became louder and his manner more excited than ever; the -newspaper he was holding dropped from his hand and fluttered away in -the wind. “Surely if such people understood the racial differences -between English and Irish they would realize that the same applies, -though in a much greater degree, to the German and Irish?” - -“Believe me,” I said, holding out my hand, “there are many people in -this country who do understand and who labour continuously to create -understanding in others. They yearn to bring about peace between the -two countries. Between peoples who speak the same language war is a -crime. I am going to Ireland to get more knowledge about her, to talk -to her people directly. And when I return I shall join the band of -workers for peace and reconciliation.” - -He raised his hat, renewed his apologies for detaining me, and -disappeared. Under the gas lamp I caught a glimpse of tears on his -lashes--tears of a strong man for Ireland, his native land, a suffering -thing he cannot help. - -The Labour Party’s delegation to Ireland had not included a woman. -Several members of the Women’s International League, and a few Quaker -women on errands of mercy, had visited the country. This was some -time before the Labour Party had decided upon an official visit. -The secretary of the party had received from an Irishwoman a letter -imploring him to include a woman amongst his investigators, but it was -not thought wise to do this by the men on account of the danger and -inconvenience. When one of the executive proposed my name as one of the -delegates Mr. Henderson, with the most paternal solicitude, suggested -that the Executive Committee ought not to take upon itself the -responsibility of running any woman into such real danger as existed -for travellers in general and investigators in particular in Ireland at -that time. So the proposal fell to the ground. - -No such objection was raised when the delegation to Russia was -appointed. On the contrary, Mr. Henderson strongly pressed me to -go to Russia. I cannot imagine that the concern of this genuinely -kind-hearted man for the safety for his women colleagues was in -abeyance on that occasion. Mr. Henderson had been to Russia and -suffered considerable danger himself. I can only conclude that this -serious-minded colleague of mine believed the danger to be greater -in Ireland under British rule than in Russia under the rule of the -Bolsheviks! I agreed to go to Russia with some reluctance on my own -account. Not because of any fear of going. Atrocity stories and wild -tales of epidemics had no terrors for me. But the time of the proposed -Russian visit was inopportune. I had received invitations to go to -Poland, Spain, and Hungary. Preparations for the journey to Madrid had -already been made and had to be cancelled. - -But there were no obstacles to the Irish visit. I wanted to go. -Irishwomen wanted me to go. I received one pressing letter after -another. The Labour Party’s objection was laughed to scorn. I must -say the idea that women who have lived more summers than they care -to confess cannot be allowed to take the responsibility for their -own lives, but must be a burden and a charge, whether they like it -or not, on the consciences of their men comrades is in these days -vastly amusing; particularly to the women of the Labour Movement, -whose conception of progress is of equality of effort, of danger, of -suffering, and of reward for men and women. - -None the less, I understood and valued at its very real worth the -altogether gracious and kindly thought which lay at the root of the -action of the Labour Executive. - -It was impossible to resist the pleading of Irishwomen that as many -women as could do so should go over there and see with their own eyes -what the women and children of Ireland are called upon to endure. - -On Saturday, January 15, 1921, I left Euston for Holyhead, alone, -and without having in any way advertised my intention. I landed in -Dublin in the evening and proceeded to friends in one of the suburbs. -We drove from the station in a jaunting-car. In such a fashion did I -get my first glimpse of Dublin under what the majority of Irishmen -consider to be foreign occupation. Westland Row Station, as well as -Kingstown Harbour, was full of soldiers and police. Passengers coming -off the boat were heavily scrutinized. We were closely examined in -the train. In the streets and public places of all sorts in every -town I visited during the ten days of my visit, even in country -villages and lanes, the atmosphere was tense with the expectation of -the sudden assault, the quick firing of rifles, the rough arrest, the -climbing of military lorries on to the footpaths, the humiliating -search, the heart-breaking insult. Women and men alike feared these -things. Here was an equality of treatment which nobody objected to so -far as Irishwomen were concerned, least of all the Republican women -themselves, who would think shame of themselves if they were unwilling -to suffer what their men are called upon to endure. But the pity of it! -Little children are often victims. Boys and girls have been shot dead. - -On this night the streets of Dublin were lively with the clatter of -armoured cars and lorry loads of singing soldiers not too sober. -Occasionally a distant shot was heard. Now and then a side-car packed -with merry little dare-devils flaunting their green flag provocatively -for the sheer fun of the thing would rattle past. One trembled for the -ignorant folly of madcap youth. - -My host, who is one of the best-known and most highly respected -citizens of Dublin, did everything in his power to bring me into touch -with every shade of Irish opinion, so that I might judge of things -for myself without bias or pressure from outside. I never was in any -country where there were fewer attempts to make proselytes. He himself -is a Quaker, and has a long record of devoted service to his country -and to the less fortunate of his fellow-citizens to his credit, which -inspired confidence and respect. His beautiful wife and lovely children -gave me a warm Irish welcome, and, although an Englishwoman and, -therefore, a justifiable object of suspicion, I was never permitted for -a moment to feel myself an intruder. - -From Saturday night till Tuesday morning the hours were packed with -incident. I think it would have been difficult for anybody to see more -people and hear more tales of woe than it was my lot to see and hear -during these ten days in Ireland. Amongst my new acquaintances were -Republicans of all sorts, Nationalist Home Rulers, Unionists, Labour -Party officials, Trade Unionists, Quakers, humble citizens with no -particular political affiliations, Catholic priests and Protestant -ministers boys and girls from the country “on the run” in the city, -newspaper men, writers of books and pamphlets, British officers, -lawyers by the dozen, ex-soldiers, high-born ladies, the widows of -men executed in the rebellion of 1916, suffragettes, women doctors, -temperance folk, members of the Irish Republican Army, commercial -travellers, and men and women suspected of being British agents and -spies. I should like to disclose the names of all these interesting -persons. In most cases I have full authority to do so. But when that -permission is coupled with a declaration that they do not care two pins -about the consequences to themselves, I am involved in too great a -responsibility to be reckless in a matter where human life and liberty -are so manifestly involved. - -But because I believe even the present British Government, more -profligate of its power than any Government of modern times in this -country, would scarcely dare to mishandle a man so great in the esteem, -not only of Ireland but of the whole world of culture, I feel I may -write freely of that towering personality, Mr. G. W. Russell (“Æ”), -whom I met several times in Dublin, always to my great spiritual profit. - -Picture a face and figure not unlike those of William Morris in the -prime of his life, with a tenderness joined to his strength which I -imagine was less conspicuous in the English poet. Masses of wavy hair -tossed back but occasionally falling over a fine square forehead, a -full mouth, glorious eyes full of humour and gentleness, a soft musical -voice; the frame of a Viking, the heart of a saint, the imagination -of a poet, the vision of a prophet; a man to whom children would run -with their troubles, whom women would trust unflinchingly, whom men -would serve with utter loyalty; the embodiment of the real Ireland, the -Ireland that is not known in England--this is the man whose devoted, -lifelong work for the salvation of Ireland is being wantonly and -savagely annihilated by British troops. - -Mr. Russell spoke without a trace of bitterness, though I know he -suffers keenly, when he told me of the destruction of Irish creameries -and of the difficulties which co-operative enterprise is meeting with -in every part of Ireland. He edits the _Irish Homestead_, and there -he has voiced the complaints of Irish co-operators in language of the -greatest beauty; but to hear him tell the story himself was a pleasure -fraught with pain to his English auditor. - -“It cannot be that the system of reprisals has become an integral part -of the British nation’s scheme of justice?” he asked, as we sat talking -by the fire in the house of a friend. “It would be too terrible to -think that that were true.” - -“The British people do not know all that is happening here,” I replied. -“Oh, I know they ought to. Enough has been said and written about -it. The ignorance of affairs outside the little circle of their own -interests of the average man and woman makes me almost despair of -democracy at times. But there is this explanation of the inactivity -of the British public about Irish matters. In the first place, very -many people know nothing. Those who do read that part of their daily -paper which is not devoted to the sporting news or the Divorce Court -proceedings read a partial tale. The news is generally coloured in -favour of Dublin Castle and the Black and Tans. I cannot believe that -British co-operators would be content to tolerate the things which are -being done to Irish co-operative enterprises if they knew the facts.” - -I was given a tiny yellow book containing the facts which I promised -to help circulate in England. It is an amazing story. The statements -would have appeared incredible to me had I not seen with my own eyes -the blackened walls and twisted machinery of the gutted creameries in -several parts of Ireland. Forty-two attacks by the Crown forces on -these village and country town institutions had been made up to the -time of my conversation with “Æ.” In these attacks the factories were -burned down, the machinery destroyed, the stores looted, the employés -beaten and sometimes wounded and killed. - -Questioned in Parliament, the Government has excused itself by -declaring that the creameries were centres of propaganda and of Sinn -Fein activity. They alleged that in two cases shots were fired at the -troops from the buildings. The most searching inquiries by responsible -people, including Sir Horace Plunkett, failed to produce any evidence -in support of the charges of the Government. But Mr. Russell is not -concerned about the result of these inquiries. He wants a Government -inquiry into the whole of the circumstances connected with this -particularly lamentable form of reprisal, and this inquiry is steadily -denied. Why? - -Travellers in Ireland to-day see all over the country these new ruins, -centres of village industry and culture utterly wrecked, and the -peasant farmers and their families driven back to their lonely farms to -live in poverty and isolation; driven back to feed not only upon their -own scant produce but upon the black passions of hate and individualism -from which the co-operative idea had begun so successfully to rescue -them. - -“Surely the English workmen begin to realize the connexion between -our problem and theirs,” said another distinguished co-operator. “If -our economic life continues to be so seriously disturbed, or if it -be destroyed, we cannot buy from England as we have been doing. Do -you know that, with the single exception of India, Ireland is the -best customer that England possesses within the British Empire?” -The political views of this cultured gentleman are distinctly -non-Republican, yet his house is not safe from the official intruder, -and he is tormented hourly with the sense of outrage and injustice -which the destruction of his life’s labours must necessarily produce. - -“To us it would be simply unbelievable but for the other follies we -have seen perpetrated by your statesmen, that any Government with -the least knowledge of the world-situation could willingly add to its -dangers and difficulties. Yet I cannot believe that the members of the -British Government are all ignorant and stupid.” This third speaker -was a man who had served with distinction in the British Army during -the war. But the droop of his figure, the gloom in his eye, the bitter -curl of his lips--everything about him spoke of a confidence lost and a -faith killed. - -“Two millions of adult people in Great Britain either wholly or -partially unemployed; wives and children beginning to hunger; -industrial strife on a scale hitherto unimagined clouding the horizon; -men by the million trained to kill, ready to be used by one side or -the other in a class war; hate and violence the fruit of it all, and -appalling suffering for all classes before one side recognizes the -right of the workers to an assured and abundant life and the other -side realizes that Russia’s way is not the way even for Russia. All -this and more--and yet the British Government actually or tacitly -encourages the troops to add Irish tens of thousands to the British -millions of workless, starving, hating men and women, and is slowly but -surely converting the only revolution in history which makes a point of -preserving the rights of private property into something which will be -akin to a class war for a Communist republic--an issue which I should -deeply deplore.” - -I am bound to confess that I discovered no substantial evidence that -the civil war in Ireland has either a Communist basis or a Communist -ideal. The utter conservatism of the Irish is the most striking thing -about them. Their determination to win self-government is based almost -entirely upon that conservatism, the love of the Ireland of history, -the passion for the Irish tongue, the devotion to the ancient faith, -their love of the soil--these things and the memory of a thousand -wrongs put upon them by the alien conqueror have much more to do with -Irish discontent than any desire to hold the land in common and -convert the industries from private to public ownership and control; -which ideas would, indeed, be repugnant to the last degree to the -peasant owners of the South and West of Ireland. - -Speaking on this point with some of the workingmen leaders I asked how -far, in their opinion, the Communist propaganda had captured the Irish -workers. “Scarcely at all,” was the quick reply. “There was fearful -anger over the cruel death of Connolly. His execution did a great deal -to unite the Labour Movement in Ireland with the Republican Party. -It was the sheer brutality of it. The poor fellow hadn’t more than -forty-eight hours to live. He had been shot in the scrimmage in Dublin, -and gangrene had set in. Yet they dragged him out of his bed groaning -with pain, put him on a chair and shot him--the brutes! They think it’s -all in the day’s work to shoot a ‘dirty Irishman.’ But our people will -never forget Connolly and the way he died. No; the Irish workers are -not Communists. They just hate England and want to be quit of her. - -“Ay, and there’s the case of Kevin Barry while you’re on about the -killing. Do you know they tortured that poor lad to get him to tell the -names of his comrades? We have his affidavit. They bruised his flesh -and twisted his limbs and then they hanged him--hanged him, mind you, -when the poor lad begged that he might be shot as a prisoner of war! -Your Prime Minister calls it war when he wants to excuse the murders -of his own hired assassins. But if so, our men are prisoners of war -when they are captured. Who ever heard of a civilized nation hanging -prisoners of war? But praise be to God, every time you hang a boy like -Kevin Barry you make hundreds of soldiers for the Republican Army. -Eighteen hundred men in Dublin joined up the day Kevin was hanged.” - -The little man who thus broke in began to fill with tobacco the bowl of -his small black pipe, and when he had lit it he turned on me, fiercely -demanding: “Why have you come to Ireland now? Why didn’t you come -before? Why don’t more of you come? How many thousands of our brave -boys have got to be killed before you folks find out what your bloody -troops are doing to Irish men, women, and children?” And he flung -himself out of the room. - -I felt sorry to have appeared indifferent for so long, and said so to -the rest of the assembled company. “But to tell you the truth, I have -lived all these years under the impression that Irish men and women -preferred to win their own battles in their own way; that they regarded -rather as an intrusion any effort of English people to help and advise -them. From the first hour of my political life I have been a supporter -of self-government for Ireland; but I never dreamt that you wanted me, -or any of the rest of us, to come to Ireland to say so. I believed that -you wanted to work out your own salvation.” - -“So far as _advice_ is concerned you were right,” said a young fellow -with a large freckled face and fine eyes. “I reckon the English can’t -teach us much about politics.” - -“I’m not so sure,” I said very softly. “After all, you have not got -what you have been fighting for during more than a hundred years, and -you have not got rid of the oppression that has tormented you for -several hundreds of years. Perhaps it is possible that co-operation -might have done it. We can all teach each other something. Ireland has -glorious lessons for us English. Perhaps you could have learnt a little -of something from us.” - -There was a long pause, and I continued: “It is of the first importance -to carry the plain matter-of-fact people of England with you. Ordinary -men and women in England have a strong sense of justice, but their -imagination is weak. They find it difficult to understand what they -do not endure themselves. They find it hard to believe in the wounds -unless they can lay their fingers on the prints. You must admit -that some of the things which are happening in Ireland are almost -incredible. One thing which makes it difficult to open and keep open -the minds of English people on the subject of Ireland’s wrongs is -what they regard as Ireland’s wrongdoing, the killing of soldiers and -police. Of course, a certain section of the newspaper press exploits -this to the last degree. Why do you do it? Why use the methods so -hateful in the others? Why put an argument in the mouths of the enemy? -Why soil and stain a good cause?” - -“Because we are at war,” was the prompt reply. “You have just heard -that your Prime Minister says so. He justifies the methods of the -Government because it is war. We do not like killing people; but can we -be expected to sit quietly whilst our own men and women are killed and -their property looted? It isn’t in human nature. Would Englishmen sit -quiet under such provocation? We don’t like it. And, remember, we don’t -kill innocent people like the other side. Every person executed by the -Irish--executed, mark you, not murdered--is tried by the Republican -Courts and found guilty on substantial evidence of traitorous conduct -or brutal murder.” He folded up the copy of the _Irish Bulletin_ he -had been reading, and then proceeded: “I’m glad you came over. I wish -others would come. I’m sure you’ll help Ireland. Tell your people -that if it’s war they want, war they will get till every young man -in Ireland is dead. Then they can begin with the old men and the -women--they’ve begun with the women--and after that they’ll have to -wait till the children grow up. But they’ll find them every bit as keen -as their fathers. It’s in the blood of us. There are only two ways to -peace, and God knows we want peace. You can either give Ireland her -freedom, or you can sink the whole country in the sea. It’s the peace -of the dead you’ll get if you won’t have that of the living.” - -It is only fair to say that nine out of every ten of the Republicans to -whom I spoke expressed sorrow and regret that the policy of violence -had been adopted instead of that of passive resistance. - -“But now that the fighting has been begun it is very difficult to stop -it without laying ourselves open to the charge that we are weakening, -or without giving the British Government the opportunity of saying that -its policy of reprisals has succeeded. The very thought of these things -is hateful to the sons and daughters of a brave fighting race.” The -distinguished old lady who said this drew herself up as she spoke with -the dignity of a queen and flashed swords and daggers from her fine -proud eyes. - -Her house had been searched twice by Crown forces. They did some small -damage to doors and windows, nothing serious, for she is a woman of -property and social position, an outstanding example of the thing I -found to be true, that the severity of the reprisals, the ruthlessness -of the visitations, the length and discomforts of the imprisonments -were generally in proportion to the means or in accordance with the -religious beliefs of the suspects. Age and sex did not count. - -During an official reprisal which I witnessed in Cork, the blowing-up -of two excellent shops in one of the main thoroughfares, when armed -troops kept the crowd moving, and armoured cars, fully manned, kept -the roads, I heard an old woman tremblingly ask a good-natured Tommy -carelessly swinging his rifle as he moved people along the pavement, -what the matter was. “We’re only going to send all you bloody Catholics -to hell,” was the cheerful reply. - -To refer once more to the searchings of private houses and shops: I -investigated three cases, the one to which I have referred, the house -of the old lady and her secretary, and two others, both shops. The -usual practice is to knock loudly and demand admittance, but to give -no time for anyone to run to the door, which is frequently burst -open. Sometimes shots are fired into the passage as a precaution, -killing or wounding perchance the man who is descending the stairs to -answer the summons, which often comes in the middle of the night. A -soldier stands guard over each member of the family. If the house be -big enough each is placed in a separate room. If it be small they are -turned into the streets and guarded there. A rigorous search is made, -beds stripped, mattresses sometimes bayoneted, drawers opened and their -contents tossed out, pictures pulled off the walls, letters opened and -read, cupboards emptied--the whole house turned topsy-turvy. A shop -is usually looted of half its contents. Recently, in the attempt to -restore discipline, the householder has been requested to sign a paper -stating that the soldiers left all in order and stole nothing. But no -opportunity of checking is allowed, and the dazed and frightened woman -(it is generally a woman, for the men are “on the run”) signs quickly, -and would sign anything to get the soldiers and police out of the house -and her terrified children into their beds. - -In the case of the little sweet and tobacco shop the whole family, -including two young children and an old woman, were turned into the -street at midnight and made to stand there in the pouring rain for two -hours. The gentle young Irish mother with the soft voice and seductive -Irish drawl told me the story. - -“It was me brother they wanted. He’s in the arrmy. But it’s weeks since -Oi saw the face av him. Oi couldn’t tell thim where he was, but they -wouldn’t belave me. It nearly broke me heart to see thim poke thurr -bayonets thru the pickshure av the Blessed Virgin. An’ all the swates -was trampled on the flure. The bits av tobaccy wint into the pockets av -the crathurs. An’ the pore children was gittin’ thurr deaths av cold in -the rain outside. An’ now the pore lambs will nut slape widout a light -over thurr beds in the noight furr the fear av the cruel men that is on -them. An’ what have Oi done but keep moi house an’ pay moi way like an -honest woman? Shure,” she said, with a droll look and a twinkle, “if Oi -knew whurr moi brother was, would Oi be tellin’ the soldiers? Oi would -not, indade. Wolfe Tone is the name av him. An’ wouldn’t they be afther -shootin’ at sight a man wid a name loike that?” - -The Irish sense of humour never forsakes them even in their deepest -distress. Mrs. A. Stopford Green, the widow of the great historian and -herself an historian of merit, told me of a Catholic priest who had his -home invaded and sacked. Standing amongst the wreckage of his little -home, he exclaimed, between tears and smiles: “Glory be to God! They’ve -taken everything they could lay their hands on. But there’s one thing -they haven’t taken, because they can’t take it, and that is--the laugh!” - -I came to one house in order to have an interview with a young Irish -patriot who is “on the run.” He came secretly and at great risk to -himself. He was cheerful and jolly; but, like everybody else in -Ireland, he showed clear signs of strain and of an imminent breakdown. -Eight times his premises had been searched, and each time valuable -things had been stolen. Even whilst we talked a telegram from a friend -arrived to say that the night before they had raided him again and -taken away a pair of much-prized army boots. - -A splendid type of cultivated and idealistic young manhood, he was -hunted hourly from pillar to post on suspicion of ill-doing; but his -life’s work had been humanitarian, designed by the slow but sure -methods of education and co-operation to win the suspicious and -illiterate peasant from his bondage to ignorance and intolerance. - -He had been tried once and acquitted. He and his friend had been lodged -in the guard-room. There was a struggle, and bombs, and the dead and -mutilated body of his friend was carried out. The story was set about -that the two of them had thrown the bombs at the troops. The bombs -were lying loose in the guard-room. Nobody believed a story so thin. -The pacific reputation of the two men was well known. Everybody asked -why live bombs were left lying about in such a place. Were they put -there to furnish an excuse for premeditated crime? Some believed this. -Nothing is clear. In the subsequent inquiry before a Military Court -composed of young and ignorant officers with a natural prepossession -in favour of their profession and caste, it was denied that Clun’s -body was mutilated. But a reliable witness told me that he had counted -thirteen bayonet wounds. - -The first thing which impressed me about the Sinn Feiners I met was -their culture, then their courage, finally their spirituality. I speak -now of those I met in the city--probably two hundred. Many of them -would have been shot at sight if they had been seen coming out of their -hiding-places to meet me. At the moment of writing more than one of -those with whom I talked lies in a dark and dismal prison cell, notably -Desmond Fitzgerald, head of the Republican Propaganda Department. - -What amazed me continually was the entire absence of bitterness in the -speech of most of these people. Bitterness they must have felt, and yet -so sure are they of the goodness of their cause and of its ultimate -triumph, that they can talk with calmness and even humour of the tragic -events of which so many of them are the central figures. - -“They say in England that this is first and foremost and all the time a -religious quarrel; that the domination of Irish politics by the Pope is -to be greatly feared if Ireland gets self-government. What have you to -say to that?” I asked the handsome youth whose effective propaganda has -filtered through to every country in Europe. It is one of the important -facts of the present situation that the conduct of England towards -Ireland is breeding a cynical contempt for England throughout the world. - -“I have to say of the first statement that it is not true, and of the -question that the fear is groundless. The Irish priests have tried in -vain to stop the ambush. They have denounced it from their pulpits. -But they have protested in vain. This defiance is the symbol of a -conviction that the place of the priest is at the altar. When he leaves -that to meddle with matters which are not his concern, he is thrust -aside. I am myself a devout Catholic. But I would not tolerate for a -moment the interference of the priest with my politics. Young Ireland -will not. Our movement is spiritual, deeply spiritual. But with the -methods by which we shall, under God, win this battle with our foes -neither priest nor pacifist must interfere.” - -Subsequent experience confirmed the impression that this is true; that -the power of the priest in politics, if it ever seriously existed in -Ireland, is rapidly on the wane. True also I found was the loathing of -the priests for murder. I talked with several in different parts of the -country. “Murder is murder by whomsoever committed,” was the invariable -comment on the killing by both sides. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MORE ABOUT IRELAND - - -It is, of course, as difficult as most such things to measure, but in -the course of my travels and talks, I received the impression that -there is less of religious intolerance amongst the Catholics than -amongst the Protestants; at any rate in the South. The faith of the -minority there appears to be treated with greater respect than the -faith of the minority in Ulster. I came across numerous instances in -the country between Dublin and Cork of a violent distaste for the -provocative behaviour of bigoted religionists. - -I spoke with a Tipperary man about the cruel treatment in the Belfast -shipyards of the Catholic workmen by the Protestants. It will be -remembered that the decline in shipbuilding necessitated a reduction in -the staff in the shipyards, and that Catholic workmen were selected to -be the victims of the labour depression, and were driven with violence -from the yards. It was told me that they were forced into the sea and -stoned as they struggled to regain the land. - -“Serves them roight,” said this Catholic workman of Tipperary -unperturbed, “they be always trailin’ thurr coats.” - -This good-natured fellow had had a brother killed in an ambush. He had -lost his work through the firing of the shop where he worked. He had -his own and his brother’s family to maintain--“orr Oi would be wid the -bhoys on the mountains, I would.” He came to the hotel where I was -staying to say that some unknown person had stopped him and asked him -for the name of the lady to whom he was speaking. - -“It’s wan av thurr dhirty sphies afther ye. I just told him ye was me -half-cousin, Mary Ann Watson, av Manchester, and ye’d called to see the -pore childer an yurr way to Dublin. So now ye’d better be afther takin’ -yurr tickut for Corrk, forr Oi’m thinkin’ the crathur isn’t believin’ -me at all.” - -I had gone to Tipperary for a sentimental reason. Hundreds of thousands -of gallant young Britons had marched out to meet the foreign foe, -cheering one another and their own sad hearts with the refrain: -“It’s a long, long way to Tipperary.” This song has become for all -time associated with the British Army. On several social occasions -in foreign lands I have asked the orchestra for an English song; or -knowing my nationality the orchestra has volunteered the compliment. -It was invariably “Tipperary.” The very sound of it calls up visions -of healthy, sturdy young British manhood marching out in its millions -to engage its lives and fortunes in what it believed to be the most -righteous war that ever was waged. Surely, I thought, if any place in -Ireland should be sacred to Englishmen and to the memory of the 250,000 -Irishmen who enlisted in England’s battles, it should be Tipperary. But -what did I see in Tipperary? - -The whole of the principal street of this little market town was -blackened and disfigured with burnt and burning buildings. A -magnificent stone-fronted draper’s shop was completely gutted. Such -shops as remained were shuttered, for a murdered policeman was to -be brought through the town for burial later in the day, and the -authorities were afraid of a demonstration. The streets were full -of “Black and Tans,” the name derived from the nondescript clothing -which these military police wear, black coats and khaki trousers, blue -trousers and khaki coats, Scotch bonnets, and blue helmets--a mixture -of garments as varied as their wearers’ breeding. Officers on horseback -dashed about furiously. Numerous groups of idle men lolled against the -walls, regarding the ruins of their town with philosophy and curious -about the stranger within their gates. Was she an English spy? was -the query in their glances. Is she a Republican agent? the eye of the -soldier on duty at the street-corner questioned. It was an awkward -situation. I had no papers with me, nothing to identify me with one -party or the other. And it was a lawless time. - -One hundred and twenty-seven buildings in Tipperary (whether town or -county was not quite clear) had been deliberately destroyed by fire. -The damage was estimated by a lawyer in the district at £300,000. A -girl had been taken to the barracks the day before, and not allowed -any female attendance. A young draper’s assistant had been bayoneted -to death in the guard-room a little while previously. “Shot trying to -escape,” was the report from the authorities on a Tipperary lad brought -into the barracks dead. But the wound was in the forehead, and men -trying to escape do not usually run backwards. - -The young women of the town rarely undress when they go to bed, so -fearful are they of a midnight entry and search. The Irish girl has -a delicacy all her own in matters of this sort. The nerves of the -children are fearfully affected, and many of them scream in the dark. -Ruin, misery, desolation and death in Tipperary--“It’s a long, long way -to Tipperary, but my heart’s right there.” - - * * * * * - -It was not very easy to go about Ireland’s more remote districts. One -day I walked for several miles into the country alone. On the way back -I passed a country school. Through the open window came the sound of -singing. Sweet children’s voices sang of spring and the nightingale--an -English nursery song. I stopped to listen. There followed two verses of -“Men of Harlech,” “The Bluebells of Scotland,” was the next item on the -programme. I waited for the Irish song. It never came. A face appeared -at the window, a face with the strained look of every Irish eye. The -first song was begun again. I walked away slowly, full of pity. The -young voices shrilled forth: - - “The awkward owl and the bashful jay - Wished each other a very good day, - Tra la la.” - -Within a hundred yards of this school, full of bright young creatures -and their sad-eyed teacher, the smoke was still rising from a burning -homestead, and the smell of scorched timber spoilt the freshness of the -air. - -A curious adventure befell me on this occasion. I sat on a low wall -covered with moss. There had been a heavy shower of rain, and the -country was very green and lovely. The sombre hills in the distance -were relieved by the intense blue of the sky and white of the clouds. -The long white lane wound coaxingly to the west calling for new -adventures. Nobody passed me for full twenty minutes. There was much -to think about: the stupid blunders of politicians and the many -injustices of life. I was content to sit alone and muse on things in -that loveliest bit of countryside. Suddenly the roar of a motor engine -broke upon the stillness, and there flashed past me a large military -lorry full of troops with grim faces and poised rifles. Ten seconds and -they were gone; and I too rose to go. At my elbow, as if sprung out of -the ground, was an old man who had come silently up during my musings. - -“You are a stranger here, lady, and not an Irishwoman, and if you will -take advice from an old man you will never sit on a wall in an Irish -country lane. Not now, at any rate. I know a man who did that. He was -found dead in the lane. He was picked off by a crack British rifleman -who shot at the target from a distance to win a bet. Oh, it was an -accident,” he added hastily, noting my horrified expression. “It was -not known that the chosen target was a human being. It might have -been anything at a distance, a young tree, a large stone--anything. -What happened once might happen again. And in that red cloak of yours -what an excellent target you would be. You take great risks in Ireland -during the foreign occupation. Good day to you, ma’am.” - - * * * * * - -One day, having succeeded in hiring a car, I drove to some of the more -remote farms in the hills I had seen and admired from the side of the -road where I talked with the old man. The youth who drove me was a -member of the Republican Army, but a discreet and quiet boy, who would -not be drawn into conversation. We sped for an hour and a half along a -bad road in a high wind. It was bitterly cold, but fine and sunny. We -stopped at the cottage of an old widow to ask for some information, but -she lived in hourly terror of the barracks two miles away, and would -tell us nothing. On we went till we came to a farm at the crest of the -hill standing back a little from the high road. - -It was a poor farm, one of the poorest in the district. The farmer was -a strong, thick-set type, not very easy to persuade to tell his story. -His wife was a pale, delicate woman without the words to express all -she felt and knew. Her ordinary speech was Irish. We sat down in the -kitchen, and the wife worked the bellows till a bright blaze burst from -the soft coal piled up on the old-fashioned huge hearthstone. The water -in the large potato cauldron began to steam, and the tiny potatoes -cooking for the pigs to stir in the pot. Three dogs of different breeds -invited the stranger to caress them. A couple of cats lay curled up on -the kitchen table. A white hen roosted on the top of a sack of grain, -and chickens walked up and down the floor. An immense sow peeped in at -the door just for friendliness, and turned away when she had satisfied -her curiosity. - -“It was midnight,” began the farmer, “and the wife and Oi wurr in bed. -All av a sudden a bullet flew through the window. Thin Oi knew that -the Black and Tans was here. They broke in the door an’ asked furr moi -lads. The bhoys was slapin’ in the barrn. They ran away, but they was -caught, an’ the soldiers made them kneel in the yard wid thurr hands -above thurr heads whoile they surrched the house. They found nothin’ -at all. Thin they told the lads to run. They ran out av the gate an’ -the dirty blackguards shot at thim. But they got away, all but wan. He -was shot in the arrm and leg, an’ he’s lyin’ in the hospital now. We -found him in the turnup field the next mornin’ bleeding bad; for it -was foive hours he was lying thurr before we found him, the pore lad.” -He spoke quietly and without emotion, but there was a gleam in his eye -that spoke volumes of hate and fury. Later in the day I went to the -hospital and saw the wounded son, a beautiful, modest boy with the sort -of open face that invites perfect trust. He told me he neither smokes -nor drinks, and passed the cigarettes I brought him to his comrades. - -“It is the rule of the Republican Army,” added the gentle Catholic -sister who was nursing these wounded boys, “that no alcohol must be -taken. Would to heaven it were the rule of the British Army too. But -they tell me that Dublin Castle gives drink freely to the men it sends -out upon its black errands.” She stopped suddenly, and busied herself -with one of her patients in some confusion for fear she had said too -much. It reminded me of a pathetic school teacher in Petrograd who told -me things about herself, thinking I was sympathetic, and then became -overwhelmed with fear lest she had made a mistake and revealed her -secrets to a Bolshevik spy. “You will not give me away, dear madame? I -have said nothing wrong, have I? Only that we are all very hungry and -very unhappy? Say you will not report what I have said. Swear it! Swear -it!” And she pressed my hand in her fear of what might befall her till -I could have shouted with pain. - -The old peasant wife begged me to take tea, but there was much to -do that day, so I begged to be excused, and drove away to a small -farm still more remote from the broad highway. This farm was reached -through two ploughed fields. In it lived an elderly farmer, his wife -and daughter. I knocked loudly at the door, but there was no reply. -I knocked again and again, but nobody appeared. A dog barked loudly, -suggesting human habitation, so I persisted, and after a while the -farmer appeared and roughly demanded my business. I told him who I was -and what my errand--to hear his story and make it known. - -“And what forr should Oi tell ye my sthory,” he demanded fiercely. -“Don’t ye know, don’t the people av England know that it was the -English Crown that killed my bhoy? Don’t the English people know widout -my tellin’ thim what thurr soldiers are doin’ to Oireland? Av course -they know; but they don’t care. Oi’ll not tell ye wan worrd av the -tale.” - -His daughter came in, a buxom dark-haired girl, whose face was black -with the smoke from the peat fire, and we two listened for ten minutes -to the most terrible outpouring of hate and rage against England -that it has ever been my lot to hear. I sat perfectly still, but the -torrent of passionate words brought from an inner room the farmer’s -white-haired old wife, who greeted me with the grace of a queen and -tried to stem the torrent of the old man’s rage. “I understand, dear -friend,” I said to the old woman, “I understand. If I had lost a child -in such a way I should probably have said much worse things than this, -being a woman.” - -The old man’s blue eyes softened a little at this, and after I had -tried to make him understand that it was no idle curiosity that had -brought me from England to his lonely farm, he said brokenly: “Well, -ma’am, ye seem to have a koind heart, an’ if it’s really wantin’ to -help sthop this koind av thing ye’re afther Oi’ll thry to tell ye.” And -he tried. But he failed. He broke into awful weeping instead. And when -she saw her old man broken down the old wife fell a-weeping too, and -there was such a wailing and a sobbing in that little farm kitchen as -almost drew the heart out of the body. I took the frail old woman in -my arms and tried to soothe her. I begged her to cry on my shoulder. -She said she couldn’t cry, hadn’t cried since they brought the boy home -dead. Her eyes were wild and burning. Between dry sobs and moans I got -the tale. - -The men had come in the night, the same men who had shot the lad at -the farm below, and the same night, and demanded the whereabouts of -one of the sons. Neither man nor wife knew. They had not seen the boy -for weeks. They pushed the old farmer against the wall and threatened -to kill him if he didn’t tell. A young and delicate boy, never allowed -out at nights because of his lungs, hearing the noise and the scuffle -dressed quickly and rushed into the room crying: “Don’t shoot my old -dad. Shoot me.” - -“Ah,” said one of the intruders, “here’s our man. I knew they had him -somewhere.” - -“No,” said another. “He’s not the chap. It’s his brother we’re after.” - -“Never mind,” was the retort. “This one will do.” And they dragged him -across the field to the waiting lorry and there they shot him dead. -“Trying to escape,” was the official story; but it was not true, and -nobody believes it. If in Ireland you speak of this excuse in any -company there are shouts of ironic laughter. - -“And it was to save his father my poor bhoy went wid the murthering -men,” said the poor mother; “an’ for that they shot him, the -black-hearted scoundrels; an’ no priest wid him wan he died. But if -there’s a God in ’ivin me pore bhoy will go straight to his arms, forr -niver a word av wrong could be said against the lad. He was the best -son Oi had, an’ a good bhoy to his father.” - -A small black cross on the side of the road and the letters R.I.P. -mark the spot where the young martyr was killed. - -I left the farm sick with the sight of so much pain and sorrow. The -old man accompanied me to the gate, choosing the path for me and -offering his aid over the bad places with all the instinctive courtesy -of his race. His eye lit up when he heard that “the Prisident” had -arrived in Ireland. He idealized De Valera with all the power of his -native imagination. He told how, for miles around, men, women and -little children were afraid to sleep in their beds at night, but took -to the fields and hills, and slept in blankets under the hedges. The -wind whistled past me as he spoke, and the rain began to fall, and I -pulled my cloak more tightly around me, for I heard with the mind’s ear -small children in the night sobbing themselves to sleep under the dank -hedgerows. - -I had planned to visit other sufferers, but farther I could not go. The -human spirit bruises itself to death in the perpetual contemplation -at close quarters of misery and wrong, and relief in action becomes -necessary for sanity. I would go to Cork and see the sacked city, and -then return to England with the story of it all. - - * * * * * - -The train drew into Cork station an hour late, only twenty minutes -before the hour of curfew. The jarvey who drove me to the hotel was -determined that I should have a swift view of the ruins; or was it a -laudable desire to earn more money made him take me by a circuitous -route? It did not matter. I was glad of the view. And the ruins were -softened by the moonlight into a poetry of aspect which the charred -walls of daylight could never display. The whole of the town’s business -centre appeared to have been destroyed. It stood out in my mind as -comparable with some of the newspaper pictures of Ypres after the -great battle. Of course, there was nothing like the same amount of -devastation; but the ruin of the particular section which met the eye -on entering the city’s centre was complete and very appalling. - -The first thing I did at the hotel was to ask for the headquarters of -the Society of Friends. My friend, Miss Edith Ellis, was doing relief -work in the city, and I had mislaid her address. The Friends would -know it. I also inquired for Mrs. Despard, for I had seen a picture of -her in that day’s newspaper standing in the ruins with Madame McBride, -the beautiful widow of Major McBride, who was executed in the 1916 -rebellion. I was told Mrs. Despard had left for Mallow two days before. -This was disappointing. A tall evil-looking man leaning up against the -hotel bureau scrutinized everybody who came into the hotel, and gave -the impression of being there for that purpose. I have seen so many -“Intelligence” men that I know them as well as I know a Lancashire -weaver, a Yorkshire miner, or a school teacher from anywhere. - -I asked if it were possible to have something to eat at that hour, for -there was an ominous emptiness in the dining-room. This was 8.45 p.m. - -“I hope, ma’am, that ye’ll be comfortable here,” said a kindly waiter. -“I heard ye asking after Mrs. Despard. I hope ye’ll have a better time -than the pore lady herself had.” - -“Why, whatever was the matter with her?” I asked, with interest and -alarm. - -“Nothing was the matter wid Mrs. Despard, lady; but the pore lady was -niver foive minutes widout somebody followin’ her about, though she -doesn’t know ut.” - -“Mrs. Despard wouldn’t be troubled about that. She is a gallant soul, -and her only concern is the care of the poor and the oppressed. She is -an Irishwoman, you know, and a true friend of your country.” - -“Indade an’ she is, ma’am, an’ if it’s her friend ye are, ye’ll be -wishin’ nothin’ but good to the counthry too. But be vurry careful or -wan side or the other’ll be shootin’ ye. The blood is up in Corrk.” - -There was much laughing and screaming in the streets outside, and my -side-car had wormed its way through vast crowds of saunterers in the -splendid moonlit evening. The hour for curfew struck, and in an instant -an uncanny silence fell upon the city. Indoors, affected by the quiet -outside, men crept about softly, or sought their beds early, afraid -almost of the sudden and general noiselessness. The only sounds that -were heard till the dawn of day were those of the racing lorries full -of armed men and the armoured cars patrolling the city. Round the bend -of Patrick Street they came, noisy and aggressive, to arrest or shoot -at sight the unfortunate individual caught walking the streets after -the hour of nine. On the second night a new sound struck upon the ear, -cutting the perfect silence with its shrillness, the loud laughing and -screaming of coarse women’s voices, which suggested unspeakable things. - -Apart from seeing the official reprisal to which reference has already -been made and the awful ruins of the city, which included the Carnegie -Library and the City Hall on the opposite side of the river, the short -visit to Cork was fruitful of the conviction that the unhappy citizens -of Cork are placed on the horns of a very terrible dilemma. General -Strickland has made them responsible for the outrages on soldiers and -police which are committed. He inflicts severe penalties on them for -failing to stop them. This they would endeavour to do, but they do not -know how and they are genuinely afraid to attempt. They believe that -the shooting of police is done by people who do not live in Cork. As -in all cities the citizens of Cork are for the most part not actively -interested in politics. They vote when occasion comes, but this is the -limit of their activity. And voting and not shooting is their chosen -method of expressing their views. They do not know who shoots. If -they did and informed they would be shot by the Republicans. As they -don’t know and cannot inform they are made to suffer reprisals by the -British authorities. Their position calls for the utmost sympathy and -understanding. - -I cannot help feeling that the citizens of Cork who are against -violence would be greatly strengthened if the findings in the official -inquiry on the Cork burnings could be published and adequate punishment -administered to the evildoers. This has not been done. British -justice in Ireland is not evenhanded. Somebody is being sheltered. -The Black and Tans would mutiny. The authorities themselves organized -the looting. All sorts of things are being said, all sorts of things -believed. The belief in British fair play is gone. Can it really be -after all that we are living on our tradition in this matter as are the -French on their reputation for good manners? - -Back to Dublin from Cork and a final meeting with my good friends -there. It was a splendid company, representative of the brilliant wit -and intellect for which Ireland is so justly famed. I was going home, -so it was entirely proper that these last hours should be devoted to -question and answer on both sides. - -I spoke again of the difficulty of winning and maintaining sympathy -for Ireland in England so long as the killing of British soldiers -continued. All deplored the necessity, but those who believed that the -method could now be changed were in a small minority. - -“Ask Englishmen who complain two questions,” said a distinguished -professor, whose name is known wherever scholarship is respected. “Who -began it, and how they would behave in the same circumstances.” - -“Forgive the question,” I said, “but who do you really think did begin -it?” - -“The Republicans certainly did not,” said a young lawyer rather hotly. -“I am not a Republican, but one must face facts. For two years after -the killing of Irish civilians by British Crown forces no member of -the forces lost his life. In the meantime unspeakable humiliations -were put upon the Irish people. The miscreants who killed two Irish -civilians in 1917 and five in 1918 were never brought to trial. No -steps were taken to bring them to trial. In the meantime innocent men -on the Irish side were arrested and imprisoned without trial; private -houses were raided and their contents stolen, meetings and newspapers -were violently suppressed, and deportations were very frequent. In 1918 -alone 1,117 Irish men and women were arrested for political reasons; 77 -Sinn Feiners were deported in one month; 260 private houses were raided -by night, and 81 meetings were broken up with bayonets. - -“The bottom fact of the whole trouble lies in this: The British -Government is uneven in its administration of justice, and it breaks -its pledges. It hangs the Casements and puts the Carsons in the -Cabinet. What essential difference was there in their offences? The -death of a British soldier or policeman is bitterly avenged even upon -the innocent and out of all proportion to the crime. The death of a -Republican is applauded, and that of a non-partisan is rarely even -inquired into. Have you seen the kind of thing which is published and -circulated broadcast with the approval of the authorities?” Here he -handed to me a paper, an extract from which I quote. It was delivered -to the Cork newspaper offices:-- - - _Anti-Sinn Fein Society, - Cork Headquarters, - Grand Parade, Cork._ - - “In the event of a member of His Majesty’s Forces being wounded or an - attempt made to wound him, one member of the Sinn Fein Party will be - killed; or if a member of the Sinn Fein Party is not available two - sympathisers will be killed. - - “(Signed) The Assistant Secretary.” - - -“And you must agree,” said a third speaker, “that Ireland has been -very badly tricked by your Government. Witness the Convention and -the use that was made of it to impose conscription upon Ireland; the -conscription of a country which has been reviled by Englishmen for -years, and which it was proposed even then to partition--conscription -which was by very many disapproved of for England, accepted with -extreme reluctance by Canada and rejected by Australia.” - -I recalled at this stage of the proceedings the humorous hall-porter -at one of the hotels who had put his head round the corner of the -writing-room when I was alone there and whispered: “John Redmond’s the -man who made all the trouble. He wasn’t clever enough for your Lloyd -George. Why the divil didn’t he get the promise in writin’. There’s no -wrigglin’ out av somethin’ that’s in black and white, wid a good strong -name at the end av the paper. Shure,” he continued with a roguish smile -broadening his honest red face, “isn’t it the Kingdom av ’Ivin Oi’d be -afther promisin’ if Oi was the Proime Minister an thurr was throuble -brewin’?” - -I am sure this must have been the man who tried to persuade one of the -Labour delegates not to go into the street when the Black and Tans were -busy shooting. “But I’m an Englishman, friend. They’ll not shoot me.” - -“Shure, sorr, an’ I wouldn’t be trustin’ thim divils. They’ll shoot ye -first, and thin find out ye’re an Englishman aftherwards.” - - * * * * * - -“What about the rebellion of 1916? Talk to me a little about that,” I -said to a young fellow whose keenness was very attractive. - -“It was a very small rising of extremists, a piece of insanity -repudiated by nearly everybody in Ireland. A group of idealists, who -believed they could imitate the Ulster Unionists and enjoy the same -immunity, thought they would make a similar demonstration. The hideous -severity with which the rebels were treated and the long-continued -persecution of perfectly innocent people suspected of sympathy with the -rebels were the causes of the rise of political Sinn Fein.” - -“And now?” I asked. “What is the exact situation now? What are the -hopes for peace?” - -“There is no hope unless the English people wake up, change this -Government and Parliament for one more competent and humane, which will -adopt a saner policy, the one for which they say they fought the war. -Ireland must have the right to choose her own form of government.” - -“The Irish have chosen their government, and it is working very well,” -chimed in a determined-looking young woman wearing the uniform of the -Irish Republican Army. “All we ask is to be let alone. We can keep -order if the English will let us. _They_ cannot do so.” - -I thought as these stern criticisms of England’s Government stormed my -ears, often expressed in stronger language than I have used here, that -it is no use going into the enemy’s country if one cannot stand fire. -The person who has no facility for getting into the skin of another had -better stay at home by his own fireside. The rôle of political pilgrim -is not for him. - -“The fact is there are two Governments in Ireland: the Republican -Government representing roughly 75 per cent. of the population, and the -British Government representing the remaining 25 per cent. The will -of the majority should prevail in these democratic days. England says -not. Very well. If we must die to establish the rights of democracy in -Ireland we are ready.” - -“And we will fight and die with our men!” exclaimed a hitherto silent -member of the company. She turned to me. “Do you know that the hate -of England is so intense in my part of the country that a woman told -me she scarcely knew how to bear the disgrace of having had a son who -fought for England in the war? And the neighbours are so sorry for her -they are breaking her heart with kindness and pity.” - -“There is an old man lives near here,” said my hostess, “who is dying. -He has eight children, and his wife is delicate. He is tortured with -the fear of what will become of them when he goes. The priest came -to administer the sacrament: ‘I will get the boy a place in the -munitions,’ he said, speaking of the eldest son. ‘He will help his -mother.’ - -“‘Thank you very kindly, Father. You mean it well, and you are very -kind. But it cannot be. We are not of that way of thinking.’” - -There was a long silence after this story. Memory took me back to the -scene in London when the Irish Labour leaders came to explain their -cause and solicit our co-operation. “You may remain indifferent or even -refuse to help us,” said Mr. Johnson, their spokesman. “Your Government -may torture our women and kill our men by the thousand, but you will -never break our spirit.” It was a proud boast, but the reason was a -revelation. “You will never defeat us, for we Irish have a _living -faith in God_.” - -I believe this to be profoundly true; and he will misread the Irish -situation and misunderstand Irish men and women who fails to look -beyond the picture drawn by partisan newspapers for their own ends to -the vision in the souls of those to whom God and country are real and -noble passions. - -“But will you take nothing less than complete separation?” I pleaded. - -“On grounds of economy, for reasons of efficiency, for our common -safety, is not national self-government within the Commonwealth a -happier issue for us all?” - -“Ourselves alone,” was murmured round the room; but from the general -smile I felt a lighter heart. - -“Give us the right to choose, free and unfettered, and--wait and see.” - -It is the least they can claim or that the British Government can give -in its own interests as well as those of the Irish. It would be an -act of faith such as few Governments in history have shown themselves -capable of performing; but there are national and international -situations where only a supreme act of faith will suffice. - -And this is one of those. - - - - -CONCLUSION - - -And the fruits of these wanderings abroad are--what? - -For two hours I sat in the old-world garden of an English manor house -pondering the answer to that question. Old-fashioned and variegated -flowers in every colour of the rainbow massed themselves around the -moss-covered rocks, climbed the walls, and peeped out of the crevices -and corners, throwing out strong, sweet scents of the wallflower and -the jasmine. The shadow on the sundial crept slowly round its withered -face. Tall elm trees sheltered the noisy crows. A bold cuckoo competed -with the lark for our attention and regard. A typical English scene, -suggestive of peace and plenty; so entirely different from any scene in -the torn and stricken lands of Europe. - -The twofold character of my work abroad has been told in these pages. -The physical relief of suffering goes on through the American Relief -agencies, the Society of Friends and the Save the Children Fund. -The utmost that can be done is but a drop in the bucket of Europe’s -overwhelming needs. It is only the first dressing of wounds, which -cannot be cured except by probing to the cause and clearing away -the poison. This is not the business of philanthropy when the cause -is political. An exaggerated sympathy, which is the very essence of -charitable enterprise, could even hinder the work of political and -economic recovery by an uninformed emphasis of the patient’s suffering -and a forgetfulness of his guilt. A stable internationalism can be -built only upon a universal recognition of partnership in the guilt -which has laid the world so low. But in such internationalism lies the -hope of the future. - -I returned from my travels reinforced a thousand-fold in the conviction -of the necessity of internationalism if the world is to be saved; -with this in addition, that the present problem for mankind is not to -persuade the world to internationalism. It is rather to teach it the -right kind of internationalism. Internationalism of one sort or another -is as inevitable as the rising of the sun. The League of Nations is the -second embodiment of an idea which held great masses of men and women -before even the first, the Workers’ International, was born. This idea -can be safely trusted to persist and grow in spite of every menace, -because it is in the direct line of political and economic evolution. -It is the next inevitable step in the march of ordered progress. - -In the realms of art, science, invention, commerce, industry, economics -and finance nationalism is languishing towards its inevitable decay--if -it is not already dead. Political internationalism is destined to crown -the structure of the world society of the future as surely as the night -follows the day. - -But what kind of political internationalism is it to be? That is -the question. Heaven forbid that it should be the anti-nationalism -of Lenin, wrongly called internationalism, which will prevail over -the earth. That would be to menace too alarmingly the truly valuable -differences amongst men. The characteristic differences of nations -should be, with very great reluctance and only for sufficient reason, -sought to be obliterated. The variety in dress, manners, customs, -speech of the various races and nations is the very spice of the -world’s life which gives it all its flavours. Difficulties of language, -so fruitful of the misunderstandings which create wars, should be -overcome by the provision of larger educational opportunities rather -than by the establishment of one universal tongue. Esperanto is a -wise and simple device to facilitate discussion between men and -nations; but the compulsory study of French, German and English in -the elementary schools would be of greater value to mankind than a -knowledge of the most useful of languages manufactured for a purpose, -and not born of a living nation’s intellectual and spiritual growth. A -knowledge of languages would add a richness and beauty to life which -might well give place to the boasted utilitarianism of most British -curricula. - -But although Lenin’s anti-nationalism is to be avoided like the plague, -the militarist internationalism of a capitalist order of society should -be shunned like the pestilence. The new “Balance of Power” would then -be the balance of classes, the possessors in every country leagued -against the possessed in every land. Victory would go to that side -which controlled the fighting material. All the disorders of the old -system would afflict the new, with the added terror which increased -efficiency would produce. - -To save the new international organization, the League of Nations, -from such an evolution, is enlightened Labour’s best reason for giving -its support to the League. It is Labour’s business to see that the -organization of the League is on thoroughly democratic lines; that it -admits at no distant date every country within its fold, and that the -broad matters of its discussions be not conducted in secrecy nor its -broad lines of policy be adopted without the knowledge and consent of -the peoples of the world themselves. - -And for the Workers’ International, I know of no line of policy which -they could adopt more advantageous to themselves than that of educating -the public opinions of the various countries included therein to compel -their respective Governments to disarm. The rationality of total -disarmament has always been seriously questioned by those who have -passed for wise. But _total disarmament by all the nations_ is the -only rational solution of the problems of peace and war. Such action -may have to be gradual; it must certainly be taken in concert. But -if the responsible statesmen of all lands would together lead the van -and, scorning vested and professional interests, would declare for the -ploughshare and the pruning-hook instead of the sword and the spear, -the hosts of mankind would joyfully follow them in such a holy crusade. - -It may be that men and women will have to wade through oceans of -suffering before they recognize modern warfare for the organized -filthiness it is. There was a certain personal dignity in physical -strife when men met with bare hands, or with a stick or even a single -sword, the human foe equally equipped. But the modern machine-gun, -the tank, the poison gas, the fighting aeroplane--all the resources -of science used against the innocent and guilty alike--women, old -folks and babes--what single element of dignity or decency in such -a conflict; honour, democracy, freedom, the pledged word setting -the monstrous machine in motion, since men are too good in the mass -to fight for anything less than these; and lurking in the shadow, -anxious but safe, that insatiable dragon of greed, which for oil-wells -and mining interests and timber concessions and goldfields will see -millions of men welter in blood and millions of children and their -mothers succumb to famine and disease. - -Which brings me to my final word. That for the evils which afflict -mankind there is no remedy save the elimination of selfishness, -which is “the whole of the law and the prophets.” Selfishness in the -individual, selfishness in the State. When it is universally recognized -that every child born is entitled to the “development of all the -perfection of which it is capable”; when the equal rights of nations, -great and small, are admitted by all the States in Council; when the -power of law and not the rule of force is the governing factor in the -relations of men and nations, then begins the new era. - -On such a foundation only can the true International Order be securely -built. - - - - -INDEX - - - Addams, Miss Jane, at International Conference of Women at the Hague, - 13, 76 - at Kingsway Hall, 78 - author and, 77 - peace mission of, 78, 79 - personality of, 77 - - Adler, Friedrich, and Bolshevism, 33, 35, 182 - at Berne Conference, 31 - fidelity to principles of, 32 - murderer of Count Sturgh, 31, 32 - pardoned by Emperor Charles, 31 - sent to quell riot, 33 - trial of, 32, 33 - - Adlon, Hôtel, Berlin, 169 - - Ador, President, and Second International Conference, 4 - - Agoston, Professor, imprisonment of, 117 - - “Alfred and Omega” (Lord Northcliffe), 172 - - American Peace Delegation, at Hôtel Crillon, 7, 8, 38 - - American Relief Commission, work of, in Vienna, 114 - - Andrassy, Count Geza, 72 - author and, 73 - - Angell, Norman, at Berne, 36, 52 - - Anti-Semitism, fallacies of, 182-4 - - Antwerp, author at, 173 - - Arco, Count, 85 - - Armenia, 149 - Bolsheviks and, 225, 231 - cruelties in, 150 - - Armistice, hard conditions of, 27 - - Ashton, Councillor Margaret, 75 - - Asquith, Mr., Germans and speeches of, 168 - - Astor, Lady, 167 - - Augspurg, Dr. Anita, at Zurich, 83 - - Austerlitz, Dr., 119 - - Austria, author’s tour through, 103 _et seq._ - Christian Socialism in, 122 - currency depreciation in, 111 - “dying,” 103 _et seq._ - evil of embargoes on, 25 - fear of France in, 117 - menace of union with Germany, 117 - pro-German feeling in, 120 - proposed union with Bavaria and, 120 - Social Democratic Party of, and union with Germany, 118 - Socialist Government of, 28 - Union with Germany movement in, 119, 120 - - Austrian Government and Socialists, 32 - - Austrian Socialists, and union with Germany, 118 - at Berne, 22 - denounce the war, 32 - - Azerbaijan, Bolsheviks and, 149, 213, 225 - - - Baku, Bolsheviks and, 149 - - Balabanova, Angelica, 3, 140, 181 - - “Balance of Power,” the new, 273 - - Baltic, minefields in, 155 - - Barbusse, M., and Clarté group, 129 - - Barnes, Mr., and Berne Conference, 4 - - Batoum, author at, 203, 228 - capture of, by Bolsheviks, 226 - Greek refugees at, 229 - - Bauer, Dr., and Austro-German union, 118 - and Peace Treaty, 119 - author and, 118, 119 - on problems of Town _v._ Country, 121 - personality of, 118, 119 - the “Kreuzlbauer,” 133 - writes in _National Zeitung_, 133 - - Bavaria, under Communism, 63, 83, 84 - - Beek en Donk, Dr. de Jong van, 54, 132 - - Beesly, Professor, founder of First International, 130 - - Belgarde, Passport and Customs examination at, 13 - - Belgian Socialists and Berne Conference, 11 - and the war, 193 - at Geneva, 12 - - Belgrade, author in, 234 - - Belle Vue Hotel, Berne, author at, 57, 58, 79, 132 - secretariat of Second International at, 17 - - Berlin, author’s visit to, 159, 161-172 - Communists of, 162 - Hôtel Adlon at, 169 - post-war condition of, 168 - - Berne, author on, 51, 132 - League of Nations Conference at, 54 _et seq._ - political agents (spies) at, 18 _et seq._ - Second International Conference at, 1 _et seq._ - arrival of delegates to, 14 - delegates journey to, 4 _et seq._ - Wiener Café at, 51, 52, 133, 134 - - Bernstein, Edouard, 29, 30 - at Lucerne, 97 - personality and views of, 97 - refused admission to England, 98 - - “Biology of War,” by Professor Nicolai, 68 - - “Black and Tans,” 255, 265 - - Blockade of Germany, continuance of, after Armistice, 25 - - Bolshevism, author on, 139 _et seq._ - fear of, in Border Republics, 155 - fear of, in Central Europe, 181 - Kautsky and, 25 - Second International and, 35, 36 - Third International and, 130 - - Bolshevik Government, and Kemalists, 149, 201 - Armenia and, 149, 150, 213, 231 - Azerbaijan and, 149, 213, 225 - Baku and, 149 - Caucasus and, 225 - causes of long life of, 144 - Georgia and, 149, 150, 212, 225, 226 - Jews and, 182 - Poland and, 178 - propaganda of, 149 - - Bondfield, Margaret, and Berne Conference, 3 - in Paris, 8 - - Börjom, author at, 221 - - Bornemiza, Baron, 137 - - Boulogne, post-war scenes at, 5 - - Bourgeois, Socialist interpretation of, 59 - - Bramley, Fred, 7 - - Branting, M., at Berne, 30 - author and, 159, 160, 161 - pro-Ally, 32 - - Breitschied, Herr, 166 - - Brentano, Professor, author and, 63 - - Brest-Litovsk, Peace of, Trotsky and, _xi_, 143 - Allies and, 142 - Lenin and, 142 - - “Briefe einer Deutsch-Franzosin,” by Annette Kolb, 67 - - Bristol Hotel, Vienna, author’s experiences in, 111, 112 - - British Delegation to Berne, harmony of, 23 - meeting of, with German delegates, 24 - - British Military Mission, at Berlin, 161 - at Constantinople, 229 - at Vienna, 114 - in Esthonia, 156 - popularity of, 114 - - British Military Permit, 56 - - Buchs, author at, 105, 106 - - Budapest, Conference of National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies - at, 70 - - Bullitt, William, at Berlin, 170 - at Berne, 38 - - Bunning, Mr. Stuart, at Berne, 23 - - Burns, John, and Miss Jane Addams, 77 - - Buxton, Mrs. Chas. Roden, author and, 135 - delegate to League of Nations Conference, 60 - Relief efforts for Viennese children, 61 - “Save the Children Fund,” and, 61 - - Buxton, Mr. Charles Roden, 26 - - - Capitalism, failure of, _xii_ - replacement of, by Collectivist Internationalism, 143 - - Carmi, Maria, 172 - - Casement, Roger, 33, 266 - - Catt, Mrs. C. Chapman, 42 - - Caucasian Republics, Federation of, 213 - - Caucasus, Imperialist policy in, 149 - - Central Europe, post-war conditions in, 109, 110 - - Charles, ex-Emperor, Adler and, 31 - attempts to recover throne, 33 - Bohemian delegate and, 20 - Count Teleki and, 69 - Prince Windischgraetz and, 71 - - Charles, Prince of Sweden, and relief for Russia, 157, 158 - - Charlottenburg, Children’s Clinic at, 170-1 - - Child relief, International organization for, 60 - - Children, Austrian, sufferings of, 26, 61, 73, 74, 125 - German, sufferings of, 25, 26, 164, 170 - Polish, sufferings of, 180 - - Christian Socialism in Austria, 122 - - Claparéde René and Clarté group, 129 - edits newspaper in Geneva, 139 - - Clarté Socialist group, 129 - - Clemenceau, story of, on Peace, 123 - - Cohn, Oscar, 166 - - Cologne, author at, 172-3 - - Communism, and spirit of hate, _xii_ - - Communists and Kautsky, 25 - German, 162, 164, 165 - Russian programme of, 144 - - “Comrade,” author’s protest at misuse of, 15, 16 - - Connolly, execution of, 246 - - Constantinople, author at, 200, 201, 229 - Socialist movement in, 233 - - Cork, author in, 262-4 - - Courtney, Lord, 46 - - Crown Princess of Sweden, death of, 158 - - Cunninghame, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas, author and, 114 - Hungarian aristocracy and, 115 - - Czapsritski, K., 175 - - Czecho-Slovak Delegates, at Lucerne, 98 - - Czecho-Slovakia, opposition to economic union with Austria in, 120 - - - _Daily Herald_, as representative of organized Labour, 17 - - Danubian federation suggested, 120 - - De Brouckere, M. Louis, delegate to Georgia, 189, 191 - - de Jong, Dr., _see_ Beek en Donk - - De Kay, John, at Berne, 38, 39, 40, 41 - at Lucerne, 133 - - Dernburg, Herr, author and, 167 - - De Valera, 182, 184 - - Despard, Mrs., and Lord French, 94 - at Zurich, 93 - in Berne, 138 - in Ireland, 263 - personality of, 93, 94 - - Dictatorship of the Proletariat, fallacy of, in Russia, 141 - - Disarmament, necessity for, 273 - - Dittmann, Herr, 166 - - Dobrenszky, Countess, 186 - - Drexel, Mr., 170 - - Dublin, author’s visit to, 241, 265 - - Dvarzaladze, M. and Mme., 195 - - - Ebert, President, author and, 165 - personality of, 165 - - Ehrlich, Professor, 187 - - Einam, Baroness von, and starving Austrian children, 73, 74 - - Einstein, Prof., 187 - - Eisner, Kurt, and Dr. Förster, 65, 66 - and free speech, 118 - author and, 86 - incompetent as President, 63 - murder of, 15, 86 - personality of, 83, 84, 85, 165 - welcomes British delegates at Berne, 15, 30, 85 - - Ellis, Miss Edith, 263 - - England, and Turkey, 230, 232 - great Jews of, 187 - - “Entente husband,” 134 - - Esperanto, a wise device, 272 - - Esthonia, poverty in, 156 - - Extraordinary Commission, in Russia, 144 - - - Fehrenbach, Herr, 161 - - “Fight the Famine” conference, 136 - - Finland, fear of Russia in, 155 - - First International, foundation and dissolution of, 130 - - Fitzgerald, Desmond, 252 - - Ford, Henry, and Jews, 182 - Peace mission of, 47 - Peace ship, 47, 48 - - Ford, Isabella, at Zurich, 82 - author and, 82 - - Förster, Professor A. W., and Kurt Eisner, 66 - as Minister to Switzerland, 65 - as Pacifist, 65, 69 - delegate to League of Nations Conference, 64 - - Fourteen Points, Wilson’s, 170 - a German opinion of, 89, 90 - - France, Anatole, 129 - - France, and German coal, 171 - - Free Trade and Austrian Christian Socialists, 122 - - French, Lord, and Mrs. Despard, 94 - - French Military Permit, 56 - - French Socialists at Berne, 22 - - French Socialist Congress, Strasburg, author at, 129, 131, 132 - differences at, 131 - votes for Third International, 133 - - Freundlich, Frau, and Austrian Socialist policy, 118 - - Fried, and Clarté Group, 129 - - Frutigen, camp of Austrian children at, 73, 74 - - Fry, Miss Joan, delegate to League of Nations Conference, 60 - - - Gallipoli, author sees, 199 - - Gavronsky, M., 177, 178 - - Geneva, author in, 135 - Berne delegates at, 13, 14 - Conference at, Belgian Socialists and, 12 - Passport and Customs examination at, 13 - “Save the Children Fund” Conference at, 131 - Second International Conference at, 136 - - George, Mr. Lloyd, Germans and speeches of, 168 - on Peace objects, _xi._, 89, 92 - - Georgia, and Bolshevism, 150, 223, 225 - author’s visit to, 175, 189 _et seq._ - Bolshevik Government and, 149, 150, 212, 213 - Dance song of, 217 - Foreign policy of, 211 - National Anthem of, 226 - Parliament of, 208 - Radek on Bolshevization of, 150 - Second International and, 175 - Socialist Government of, 208 - Steklov on, 150 - Toast song of, 206 - - German Majority Socialists, at Berne, 22, 28, 29 - Belgian Socialists and, 11 - restraint and moderation of, 29 - - German Minority Socialists, at Berne, 22, 28 - - Germany, Alien Tax in, 159 - an opinion of effect of Peace in, 91, 92 - Communism and, 162, 164 - disarmament default of, 162 - export of coal from, 171 - false reports concerning, 173-4 - Independent Socialists of, 166 - Nationalists of, 162-3 - Socialist newspapers in, 17 - sufferings of children in, from blockade, 25 - thrift habits in, 167, 168 - - Gilles, Lieut., 19 - - Gobat, Mlle., at Zurich, 86 - - Golden, Mr., 136 - - Greece, attitude of, to Turkey, 230 - - Green, Mrs. A. Stopford, 251 - - Grockney, Otto, 124 - - Grumbach, Herr, Alsatian delegate to Berne, 128 - - Guest, Dr. Haden, 155 - - Guttmann, Dr., at Berne, 36 - - - Haase, German delegate to Berne, 30 - murder of, 30 - - Hague, The, International Conference of Women at, 12, 76 - - Hall, Captain, 7 - - _Hans in Schnakenloch_, by René Schickele, 129 - - Harden, Maximilian, 187 - - Hardie, Keir, 97 - - Haupt, Baron, author and, 103, 104 - - Hedin, Sven, author and, 158, 159 - - Henderson, Mr. Arthur, M.P., and author’s visit to Ireland, 239 - and Berne Conference, 3, 4, 30 - and spy’s report, 20 - and Stockholm Socialist Conference, 1, 2 - as member of War Cabinet, 32 - work of, for Labour Party, 7 - - Henderson, Will, 7 - - Hennet, Baron, 118 - - Herzka, Frau, at Zurich, 86 - - Hobhouse, Miss, and foreign agent, 96 - - Hohenlohe, Prince Alexander, at Zurich, 92, 93 - author and, 93 - - Horthy, Admiral, offensive cartoons of, 137 - - Hôtel Crillon, as headquarters of American Peace Delegation, 7, 8 - - House, Colonel, 7, 81 - - Hull House, Chicago, Miss Jane Addams and, 77, 78 - - Humperdinck, Egbert, 172 - - Hungarian Peace Treaty, 117 - - Hungarian Red Cross, author and petition from, to President Wilson, 81 - members of, and Bolshevism, 135 - - Hungary, anti-democratic policy of White Government of, 117 - aristocrats of, 115 - Bolshevik Revolution in, 49 - Count Teleki, Prime Minister of, 69 - counter-revolution in, 95 - Entente officials and counter-revolution of, 117 - poverty in, 116 - Red Terror in, 175 - Socialist policy in, 72 - White Terror in, 70, 116, 137, 184 - - Huysmans, M. Camille, at Berne Conference, 3, 4, 11, 30 - at Second International Conference, Geneva, 137 - author and, 189 - delegate to Georgia, 189 - personality of, 189, 190 - - Huysmans, Mme., 189, 195 - - Huysmans, Mlle. Sara, 191 - - Hyman, Fraulein L. G., at Zurich, 83 - - - Imperialism, mischief of, _xii._ - - Independent Socialists, German, 160 - - India, Bolshevik propaganda and, 149 - - Inge, Dean, and democracy, 88 - - Inghels, M., delegate to Georgia, 189, 196 - - “Intelligence” man, in Cork, 263 - - International Conferences, method of conducting, 21, 22 - - International Council, Conference of, at Lucerne, 95 _et seq._ - author as Press representative at, 95 _et seq._ - - “International, The,” sung at Batoum, 203 - - International Woman Suffrage Alliance, Conference of, 42 - - Internationalism, capitalists and, 130 - collectivist, 143 - difficulties of, 95 - inevitability of, 272 - - Ireland, author visits, 237 _et seq._ - Catholic _v._ Protestant in, 254 - G. W. Russell on, 242 _et seq._ - murder of soldiers in, 265 - rebellion of 1916, 267 - two Governments of, 268 - “tyranny of the minority” in, 141 - - - Jaurès, scandal of acquittal of murderer of, 9, 10 - portrait of, in Chamber of Deputies, 10 - scene of murder of, 9 - - Jebb, Miss Eglantyne, 61, 135 - - Jews, celebrated, 187 - of Central Europe, 181 _et seq._ - Socialist, 187 - Vienna Press and, 187 - - Joachim, Prince at Hôtel Adlon, 115 - - Jordania, M., 208, 210 - letter from, 224 - - Journalists, Continental and British, compared, 36, 37 - - Jugo-Slavia, prosperity of, 235 - - - Kaiserhof, The, author at, 166 - - Karolyi, Count, and Frau Schwimmer, 42 - author and, 42 - Princess von Liechtenstein on policy of, 72 - - Kasbec, author’s visit to, 215 _et seq._ - - Kautsky, Herr, as Marxist and anti-Bolshevik, 25 - author’s meeting with, 24, 25, 166 - delegate to Georgia, 189, 229 - hatred of, by Communists, 25 - personality of, 25 - - Kellner, Professor Léon, 124, 187 - - Kemal Pasha, and Bolsheviks, 149, 201 - at Trebizond, 201 - France and Italy and, 230 - - Kerensky, M., personality and policy of, 212 - - Kilmarnock, Lord, 161 - - Kleist, Major von, author and daughter of, 80 - - Knock-out blow, evils of policy of, _xi_ - - Kolb, Annette, author and, 129 - “Briefe einer Deutsch-Franzosin,” by, 67 - personality of, 66, 67 - - Kommer, Rudolf, at Berne, 36, 52, 71, 72 - in Berlin, 132 - - Koutäis, author’s visit to, 220 - - Kuenzer, Herr, 166 - - Kun, Bela, 69, 70, 117 - a Jew, 181, 182 - - - Labour Party, British, and Second International, 130 - Anti-war demonstration of, 28 - delegation to Ireland from, 239 - delegation to Poland from, 176 - devoted work of officials of, 7 - “Jim” Middleton and, 6 - lack of Press organization by, 17 - - Labour Temples, Continental, 17 - - Lansbury, George, at Berne, 38 - - Latzko, Andreas, author and, 67, 68 - “Men in Battle,” by, 67 - personality of, 67 - - Law, Bonar, Germans and speeches of, 169 - - Lawrence, Mrs. Pethick, at Zurich, 86 - - League of Nations, _xi_, 81 - Armenia and, 231 - Georgia and, 214 - Internationalism and, 272 - Labour and, 273 - Labour Department, Miss Sophie Sanger and, 3 - Vienna as centre for, 136 - - League of Nations Commission, of the Second International, author as - member of, 22 - - League of Nations Conference, author as delegate to, 54 _et seq._ - first meeting with Women’s International League, 79 - purpose of, 62 - recommendations of, 63 - types of delegates at, 59 - - Lenin, and bourgeois ideal of liberty, 59 - and Brest-Litovsk manifesto, 142 - anti-nationalism of, 273 - as “only happy Socialist Minister,” 28 - at Wiener Café, 53 - author’s estimate of, 145, 146 - changed views of, 99, 147, 148 - differences of, with Trotsky, 148 - difficulties of, 85 - Georgia and, 226 - Kerensky’s policy and, 212 - moderate policy of, 144 - Second International on, 35 - speech of, at Russian Communist Conference, 146 - World-Communism and World-revolution ideas of, 145 - - Leslie, Mr., Consul at Reval, 156 - - Liebknecht, 182 - - Liechtenstein, Prince Johan von, 73 - - Liechtenstein, Princess Maritza von, on Count Karolyi’s policy, 72 - personality of, 72, 73 - - “Little Gillies,” 6 - - Longuet, M. Jean, and Bolshevism, 35 - and British delegates to Berne, 9 - at Strasburg Conference, 130, 131 - personality of, 10 - - Lord, Mrs., 132 - - Lucerne, American millionaire socialist at, 100 - Conference of International Council at, 95 _et seq._ - - Ludendorff, Gen., 165 - - - MacArthur, Mary, 176 - - McBride, Major, execution of, 263 - - McBride, Mme., 263 - - Macdonald, Mr. J. Ramsay, and M. Gavronsky, 179 - and M. Longuet, 9 - at Batoum, 203, 204, 228 - at Berne, 38, 52 - delegate to Georgia, 189, 196 - delegation to Georgia and, 175 - in Geneva, 14 - woman spy and, 96 - - Macmillan, Miss Crystal, 86 - - Malcolm, General, 161 - - Marquet, M., at Batoum, 229 - at Strasburg conference, 130 - delegate to Georgia, 189, 196, 218 - in Belgrade, 234 - - Marshall, Miss Katharine, 102 - - Marx, Karl, founds First International, 130 - Jean Longuet, grandson of, 9 - Kautsky, as exponent of principles of, 25 - - Meinl, Mr. Julius, on decontrol of food, 122 - - Melan, Mlle., at Zurich, 86 - - “Men in Battle,” by Andreas Latzko, 67 - - Meyer, Herr Edouard, 164 - - Middleton, Jim, as secretary to delegates to Berne, 6 - - Militarism, _x._ - Bolsheviks and, 141 - failure of, _xii._ - - Miners, British, and “Save the Children Fund,” 171 - - Mölkenbuhr at Berne, 29, 30 - - Montgelas, Count Max, at League of Nations Conference, 60 - - _Morning Post_, author and, 183 - - Müller (ex-Chancellor), at Berne, 23, 29 - author and, 165 - supporter of Germany, 32 - - Munich, strange story of delegate from, 6 - revolutionary scenes in, 84 - - - Nansen, Dr., 81 - - National Council for Civil Liberties, 151 - - National Peace Council, author as representative of, 60 - - National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, Conference of, at - Budapest, 70 - Peace efforts of, 75 - - Nationalists, German, author and, 162-165 - - Nazarov, 196 - - Nemec, Dr., at Berne, 98 - at Lucerne, 98 - - Nicolai, Professor, “Biology of War,” by, 68 - escape to Denmark of, 69 - personality of, 68 - - Nicolaivich, Grand Duke, author and palace of, 192, 221 - - Northcliffe, Lord, German Radicals and, 172 - - - Ochme, Herr, 166 - - Ogenheim, Baron, 135 - - - Pacifist, author as, 19 - - Pallenberg, Max, 172 - - Paris, delegates to Berne in, 7, 8 - dirty condition of, after Armistice, 8, 9 - - Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress, delegates of, at - Berne, 3 - - Passports, difficulties of obtaining, 55, 56, 96 - examination of, 5, 13, 106, 107 - - Peabody, George Foster, author and, 50 - - Peace, views on, _xi._ - - Peace Conference, Paris as “ill-chosen seat of,” 8 - - Peace ship, Henry Ford’s, 47 - Miss Addams and, 79 - - Peasant _v._ Town worker, problem of, in Central Europe, 121 - - Peasant-proprietorship in Georgia, 209 - - Persia, Bolsheviks and, 149 - - Plunkett, Sir Horace, 244 - - Poland, Bolsheviks and, 177-9 - children’s sufferings in, 180 - Jews in, 185-6 - Labour party and, 176, 177 - plight of, 179-80 - - Political agents at Berne, 18 _et seq._ - - Poti, author’s visit to, 221 - - Prague, split among Socialists of, 99 - - Price, Phillips, and Germany’s disarmament, 162 - - - Radek, 25 - a Jew, 181 - and bourgeois institutions, 59 - and Treaty of Sèvres, 149 - on Bolshevization of Georgia, 150 - - Reading, Lord, 187 - - Redlich, Dr., Christian Socialist leader, 122 - - Redmond, John, 267 - - Red Terror, in Hungary, 175 - in Russia, 35 - - Reichstag, and Peace Resolution, _xi_ - author’s visit to, 162 - women members of, 166 - - Reinhardt, Max, 187 - - Renaudel, M., at Berne, 15, 23 - at Strasburg Conference, 130, 131 - delegate to Georgia, 189, 196, 218 - - Renner, Dr., 104 - - Reprisals in Ireland, 243 - - Reval, author at, 155 - - Rhine, The, author and, 173 - - Rome, author in, 197, 198 - - Royden, Miss Maude, 75 - - Rusiecka, Dr. Marie de, 133 - and League of Nations Conference, 138 - and Serbian retreat, 137 - at Zurich, 138 - personality of, 138 - - Russell, G. W., author and, 242 - - Russell, Hon. Bertrand, 65, 70 - - Russia, author’s views on, 139 _et seq._ - democratic programme of, 147 - Red Terror in, 35 - - Russian Revolution and Third International, 130 - - Russo-Georgian Treaty, 225 - - Russo-Polish Treaty, 148 - - - Samuel, Sir Herbert, 187 - - Sanger, Miss Sophie, 3 - - Sapieha, Princess, 180 - - Savery, Mr., 133 - - “Save the Children” Fund, author as member of executive of, 155 - conference at Geneva, 131 - foundation and work of, 61 - organization of, 136 - relief work of, 271 - work of, in Vienna, 114 - - Schickele, René, 128, 129 - _Hans in Schnakenloch_, by, 129 - - Schönbrunn Palace, children’s hospital in, 125 - - Schwartz-Hillen, Dr., and Galician Jewish refugees, 118 - - Schwimmer, Rosika, and Henry Ford, 47, 48 - and President Wilson, 44, 45 - appointed Minister to Switzerland, 42 - author and, 42, 43, 48, 49 - personality of, 49 - - Second International, Adler’s reception by, 31, 32 - author at conference of, 18 - Belgian Socialists and, 11 - British delegates, 23 - British Labour Party decides for, 130 - conference of, at Berne, 1 _et seq._ - conference of, at Geneva, 136 - countries represented at Berne, 30 - delegation to Georgia from, 175, 189 _et seq._ - Executive Committee at Berne, 30 - foundation of, 130 - German delegates at Berne, 24, 28 - League of Nations commission of, 22 - main achievement of Berne Conference, 34 - newspaper men at conference of, 36 - on Bolshevism, 35 - Socialist differences with, 130, 166 - - Secret diplomacy, 118 - - Seitz, President, at Berne, 26 - author and, 111, 124 - personality of, 124, 165 - - Selfishness, elimination of, 274 - - Semmering, author at, 124 - - Serbia, prosperity of, 235 - - Sèvres, Treaty of Radek and, 149 - - Shaw, Dr. Anna, 77 - - Shaw, Tom, M.P., 176 - delegate to Georgia, 189, 196 - - Shinwell, 182 - - Siberian prisoners, sufferings of, 80 - - Sinn Fein, causes of political rise of, 268 - - Skobeloff, Mme., 195 - - Smeral, Dr., at Lucerne, 98 - personality of, 99 - - Social Democracy, Kautsky and, 25 - - Socialist Conference, International, at Stockholm, 2 - - Socialist Government of Georgia, 208 - - Socialist Governments, European, difficulties of, 27 - - _Société des Amis_, good work of, 62 - - Society of Friends, and Continental distress, 62 - in Cork, 263 - relief work of, 114, 271 - Russians’ trust in, 158 - - Spy, political, author and, 18, 19, 96 - fear of, at Berne, 18, - at Lucerne, 97 - - Steklov on Georgia, 150 - - Stinnes, Hugo, 169 - - Stockholm, author in, 157 - proposed Socialist conference at, 2 - - Strasburg, author at French Socialist Congress at, 129 - - Strunsky, Simeon, at Berne, 36 - - Sturgh, Count, murder of, 31 - - Swanwick, Mrs., and Zurich Conference, 79 - personality of, 81, 82 - - Swedish Red Cross and relief expedition to Russia, 157 - - Swiss Government, and Second International Conference, 4 - efforts at neutrality of, 133 - - Szamuely, atrocities of, 184 - “pervert and madman,” 115 - - Szilassy, Baron, 81, 133 - - - Taranto, author at, 198 - - Tchicherine, and Georgians, 213 - and Swedish relief expedition, 158 - personality of, 151 - - Teleki, Count, and ex-Emperor Charles, 69 - author and, 69, 70 - - “The 2¹⁄₂ International,” 34 - - Third International, Bolsheviks and, 130 - efforts of, to absorb Second, 130 - establishment of, 35, 36 - influence of, 166 - Strasburg Conference and, 133 - - Thomas, Albert M., at Berne, 23 - French “patriot,” 32 - - Thomas, Mr. J. H., and Second International Conference, 4 - - “Through Bolshevik Russia,” by Mrs. Philip Snowden, 139, 181 - - Tiflis, author at, 208 - Bolsheviks at, 225 - - Tipperary, destruction at, 256 - - Toller, author and, 64 - - Tracey, Herbert, 7 - - Trebizond, author at, 201, 229 - - Trotsky, a Jew, 181, 182 - and Peace of Brest-Litovsk, _xi_, 143 - and Poland, 177 - as Russian Napoleon, 148 - at Wiener Café, 53 - differences between Lenin and, 148 - in Vienna, 123 - Kerensky’s policy and, 212 - on Armenia and Georgia, 225 - Second International on, 35 - story of, 124 - - Tseretelli, M., 175, 197 - - Turco-Russian Treaty, 236 - - Turk, virtues and vices of, 230, 231 - - Turkey, position of, 232-3 - - Turkish Nationalists, and Bolsheviks, 149 - - - Union of Democratic Control, author as delegate from, 54 - similarity of policy with Clarté group, 129 - - - Vaillant-Couturier, at Strasburg Conference, 131 - - Vandervelde, Emil, delegate to Georgia, 189, 191, 192 - speech of, at Geneva Conference, 12 - - Vandervelde, Mme., 194 - - Versailles, Treaty of, and German coal, 171 - author’s condemnation of, at Zurich, 87 - at Berne, 138 - Branting and, 160 - German Socialists and, 166 - German view of, 88-92 - injustice of, 26, 27 - Women’s International Conference and, 87 - - Vienna, as centre for League of Nations, 136 - author’s distressing journey to, 105 _et seq._ - Bristol Hotel at, 111, 112 - British Military Mission at, 114 - children’s holiday camps in, 125 - food profiteering in, 109 - hotel charges in, 111 - Jews and Press in, 187 - poverty in, 112, 113, 126 - Schönbrunn Palace, children’s hospital at, 125 - terrible condition of children in, 60 - “The 2¹⁄₂ International” Conference at, 34, 60 - unemployment in, 113 - - Villard, Oswald G., and President Wilson, 49, 50 - at Berne Conference, 36 - author and, 50, 51 - personality of, 49, 50 - views on war and peace, 50 - - Volkshaus, Berne, Second International Conference in, 17 - - Vollmoeller, Karl, author and, 171-2 - - “Voltaire of Würternberg,” the, 171 - - - Wake, E. P., 7 - - Warfare, modern, “filthiness” of, 274 - - Warsaw, and Bolshevik attack, 179 - - Washington, author at, 44, 45, 46 - - Weardale, Lord, and “Save the Children” Fund, 61 - - Webb, Mr. Sidney, and Gavronsky, 179 - - Wels, M., at Berne, 23 - - “White Terror,” in Hungary, 70, 116, 184 - Admiral Horthy and, 137 - - Wied, Prince, 159 - - Wiener Café, Berne, 51, 52, 53, 133, 134 - Lenin and Trotsky at, 53 - - Wiesbaden, saluting French flag at, 115 - - Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, Countess, 157, 169 - - Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, Professor, author and, 163 - - Wilson, Mr. Hugh, in Berlin, 170 - - Wilson, President, author and, 43, 44 - failure of, 34 - “Fourteen Points” of, 87, 89, 90, 170 - League of Nations Conference and, 63 - O. G. Villard and, 49, 50 - on rights of small nations, _xi_ - petition to, from Hungarian Red Cross, 81 - - Windischgraetz, Prince Ludwig, 53 - author and, 70 - ex-Emperor Charles and, 71 - in Paris, 132 - personality of, 70, 71 - - Windischgraetz, Princess Maria, author and, 72 - in Prague, 132 - personality of, 71 - - Winter, Dr. Max, author and, 125 - - Wise, Rabbi, 80 - - Women, International Conference of, at the Hague, 12 - at Zurich, 18 - - Women spies at Berne, 20, 96 - - Women’s International League for Permanent Peace, British delegates - to, 76 - differences in, 75 - first conference of, at the Hague, 76 - foundation of, 75 - Swiss branch of, and League of Nations Conference, 79 - Treaty of Versailles, 87 - - Women’s Peace Crusade, and petition for negotiated peace, 2 - - Workers’ International, Berne Conference and, 30 - policy for, 273 - - - Zalewski, M., author and, 133 - - Zelkin, Clara, 3 - - Zinoviev, 25 - a Jew, 181 - - Zuckerkandl, Mdme., author and, 118, 122, 123 - - Zurich, author on, 79 - Women’s Conference at, 18, 75 _et seq._ - - -PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C.4 - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -Minor errors in punctuation have been corrected. - -Page 97: “less of mankind then” changed to “less of mankind than” - -Page 172: “Egelbert Humperdinck” changed to “Engelbert Humperdinck” - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POLITICAL PILGRIM IN -EUROPE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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