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Show By SIR JAMES BARR, M.D., LL.D. SOME EUGENIC IDEALS AS one of those who do not look upon war as an unmixed evil, and who think that it is sometimes well for a nation to be purified as if by fire, I feel confident that a fine race like the Belgians, who have shown their survival value, will yet rise superior to " German Kultur," and with the aid of their Allies will crush the barbarous monster who seeks to rule the world by brute force. War, no doubt, has played an important part in the evolution of the human race, just as a struggle for existence among lower forms of life occurred long before the appearance of man on the globe. No doubt this struggle in one form or another will continue for generations yet unborn. The millennium, whatever that may mean, is still in the dim and shadowy future. There is now a vain hope, a kind of blessed assurance, among many peaceful individuals that this is the last great war, that the battle of Arma- geddon is being now fought, and that men will learn the art of war no more. This is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but one which will not be attained as we are still on the borderland of savagery. I hope the rulers of the allied nations will not be actuated by any such foolish ideas, but will recognise facts and not be misled by lying proclamations of Germany's peaceful intentions-proclamations which contravened facts and the falsity of which should have been apparent to every intelligent being. I have long recognised that a life and death struggle would be forced on Britain by Germany, but I never thought that it would occur under such favourable conditions for our country. Now that this struggle has occurred it should be the duty of all the Allies to see that the conditions are so altered that it will never recur. As a wise preventive the Hohenzollern and Hapsburg families should be eliminated root and branch, and sane rulers placed in their stead. It should not be left within the power of any series of megalomaniacs to disturb the peace of the world. The " German Kultur " as manifested in Louvain, and by rapine and plunder throughout Belgium, must be exterminated, and this savage breed as far as possible wiped out, but herein arises an insuperable diHiculty. Maeterlinck truly says the Germans are all guilty, any differentiation is a mere matter of degree, and you cannot wipe out 100 millions. Moreover, any such attempt would degrade the Allies to the low base level of German conduct. We must carry on an honourable warfare which will leave no blot on our escutcheon. We must conquer nobly, we must make the Germans pay to their last stiver for the war which they have so ruthlessly conducted. We must weed out the worst of the barbarians, and utterly destroy the princely looters with the rest of the Prussian military gang who have proved themselves a disgrace to humanity. When the Germans discover that dishonourable conduct does not pay, that it has no survival value, then we may eventually get a newer and truer Germany. . Personally, I have no objection to German ascendancy if they produce a finer race than ourselves, but I do object to that ascendancy being attained I77 1 ‘ ,W. mm!- mm |
