William II is triumphant in Germany, and his officious newspapers vie with each other in proclaiming the grandeur of his ideas. Meanwhile, the people of Berlin hiss him and sing rebel songs about him on the review ground at Tempelhof.
Beyond all doubt the King of Prussia got the better of much opposition when he secured the vote for his commercial treaty with Russia. Our friends of the north cannot doubt that they have our best wishes, that their commercial and agrarian position may be improved thereby, but the more favourable the treaty proves for them, the more we would beg them to profit by its advantages, but not to allow themselves to be entangled in its dangerous consequences. If they act thus, if Germany's sacrifices should prove of benefit only to her neighbours, if the advantages of influence and penetration aimed at by William II under cover of this treaty, should be revealed to Russian patriotism, Germany may prove to be the party deceived.
If William II is clever it is only because of our lack of cleverness and foresight. It is because we leave the door open that he is able to make his way in. Prussian policy is completely lacking in honesty. It forces an entry by all possible means, keeps listening ears at every door, and weakens its rivals by the dissensions which it creates, maintains and fosters.
Neither French influence in Russia, nor Russian influence in France, has ever made use of such methods of procedure as Germany employs in both our countries. The unwholesome and dangerous penetration of reptile influences and of espionage, in all its multitudinous forms, produce effects on our two allied nations, whose consequences are impossible to over-estimate. Only an unceasing vigilance against every one of the foreign intruders, salaried and enlisted in our midst, can protect Russia and France against their insidious influences. Our enemies labour to weaken us with the desperation inspired in them by the dangers which they must face, if only we remain staunch, united and strong.
Is it generally known that the German subjects of the poorer class who inhabit Paris, receive an annual subsidy of 100 marks? This amounts to putting a premium on a form of emigration useful to Germany and constitutes for us a grave danger. Proof of this is to be found in the report of a recent meeting of the municipal council at Metz. Instead of sending back distressed German subjects in France to their own country, Germany sends them money. The Alsatian newspaper which affords us this information adds with perfect accuracy: "What would Germany say if French municipalities were to subsidise officially Frenchmen living in Berlin?"
April 12, 1894. [2]
I am one of those French people who have hoped, up to the very last moment, for a continuation of good commercial relations (which means good political relations) with Italy; I am one of those who first believed in the possibility of re-establishing a good understanding under both these headings; but for this very reason I retain a certain susceptibility and pride which others, less sincere in the pursuit of a definite reconciliation, certainly do not possess. Sadly I have followed the cavalcade of the Prince of Naples to Metz. I can find no joy in the words of King Humbert, which M. Gaston Calmette has reproduced so wittily and with such good nature, in the Figaro. From my point of view, both these actions of the King of Italy were inspired by William II; and both had the same object in view, viz. to prove at Metz that he could wound us cruelly through his ally, and to prove at Venice that the good-will of Humbert I was subject to his control, dictated in his own good time, and sanctioned at his pleasure. The Emperor of Germany has inaugurated in Europe the policy of right-about-face, a policy which bewilders diplomacy, astonishes the bourgeoisie and fills the nations with fear.
April 27, 1894. [3]
The revelations published by Mr. Valentin, Comptroller of Stores in the Cameroons, deserve to be quoted in their entirety. In the Neue Deutsche Rundschau he has described the atrocities committed by governors of German colonies, or by their representatives. Wholesale butcheries, slow and horrible tortures, a new and ingenious method of scalping, the imprisonment of wives snatched from their husbands and of young girls taken from their mothers (to minister to the debaucheries of these governors and their officers) and then brought back to tell the terrible story to other unfortunate creatures destined to the same fate; the horrible brutality of sentences, by virtue of which the flesh of the victims was reduced to pulp under the eyes of the judges—the revelation of all these things leaves one's mind possessed with feelings of terror and horror, sufficient in themselves to justify any reprisals that negro races might inflict upon white people.
July 23, 1894. [4]