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MAKERS OF MADNESS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS
ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
MAKERS OF MADNESS
A PLAY IN ONE ACT AND THREE SCENES
BY
HERMANN HAGEDORN
AUTHOR OF "FACES IN THE DAWN," ETC.
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1914
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY HERMANN HAGEDORN
Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1914.
This play has been copyrighted and published simultaneously in the
United States and Great Britain. All acting rights, both professional
and amateur, are reserved in the United States, Great Britain, and
countries of the Copyright Union, by Hermann Hagedorn. Performances
forbidden and right of representation reserved. Application for the
right of performing this piece must be made to The Macmillan Company.
Any piracy or infringement will be prosecuted in accordance with the
penalties provided by the United States Statutes:
"Sec. 4966. Any person publicly performing or representing any dramatic
or musical composition, for which copyright has been obtained, without
the consent of the proprietor of the said dramatic or musical
composition, or his heirs or assigns, shall be liable for damages
therefor, such damages in all cases to be assessed at such sum, not less
than one hundred dollars for the first and fifty dollars for every
subsequent performance, as to the Court shall appear to be just. If the
unlawful performance and representation be willful and for profit, such
person or persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
be imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year." U.S. Revised
Statutes, Title 60, Chap. 3.
Transcriber's Note: Where obvious, I added missing punctuation,
and changed the typo "psycholology" to "psychology".
TO
ADOLF GUNTHER HAGEDORN
NIGHT! And a black and barren sky
With a wet wind in from the coast.
And only the kites to make reply
To heaving body and pleading cry--
Here where the lost battalions lie,
I walked last night with a ghost.
His face was gray, his hands were red,
And a ghostly mare he rode,
That wearily stepped, with drooping head,
Over the shadowy lines of dead,
And rolled her eyes, and shook with dread
Under her foam-white load.
The ghost turned not to left or right.
But mutely he beckoned me,
And moved like a pillar of livid light
Through the humid dark of the foggy night,
With eyes deep-sunken and greenly bright
As phosphor on the sea.
He led me where in ghostly files
The dead slept with their toys.
Miles, miles, and never-ending miles,
Along the valley's mournful aisles,
The voiceless, vague, misshapen piles
Of men and golden boys!
He led me up the gory hill
By wood and sodden heath.
Ravage! And faces, lone and chill,
In the murmuring wash of the willow-rill!
Slaughter! And voices, begging shrill
The merciful grace of death.
A waning moon broke, sickly pale,
Through the muddy fog's disguising;
And over the breadth of the ghastly vale
The battle-wake like a steamer's trail,
And a heaving as of waves in a gale,
Rising and falling and rising!
And out of the air, and up from the plain,
The ancient battle-story!--
Of stricken love and laughter slain,
And hearts beneath the hoofs of pain--
But not a breath of human gain,
And not a word of glory.
MAKERS OF MADNESS
CHARACTERS
_In the Capital of Iberia_:
THE KING
THE PRIME MINISTER
THE MINISTER OF WAR
THE CHIEF OF STAFF
A SECRETARY
OFFICERS
_In the Capital of the Republic_:
GROSVENOR, a contractor
CONROY, a manufacturer of guns
POLLEN, owner of a chain of newspapers
SENATOR TANEY
SENATOR HARRADAN
REPRESENTATIVE MAYNARD
A GENERAL IN THE ARMY
A CAPTAIN
CROWD
PAGE
_In costuming this play, it is essential that the uniforms of the
Iberian officers in the first scene should not be conspicuously copied
after those of any of the armies of Europe. A compromise, grotesque to
the expert, would be better here than a misleading realism._
MAKERS OF MADNESS
SCENE I
_A room in the Ministry of War in the capital of Iberia._
_Evening._
_The_ MINISTER OF WAR, _a tall, stern, bearded man with
deep-set eyes and many furrows, is sitting at a large, mahogany
desk-table, Left._
_The_ CHIEF OF STAFF, _silent, motionless and watchful, stands
beside him with his hands resting on the table-top. He is thin, old and
emaciated, clean-shaven, firm-lipped, and looks startlingly like a bird
of prey. Right, stands a group of generals and other officers._
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Rising and speaking in a sharp, crisp bass voice._
I can only repeat, gentlemen, what his Excellency, the Chief of Staff,
has already made clear to you. Nothing has been decided. You have your
orders in your pockets. There may be war and there may not be war. I
understand, gentlemen, your natural impatience once more to draw the
naked steel for the glory of our country, and you may rest assured that
his gracious majesty, the King, will not forget that his fame and the
happiness of his people rests ultimately in your hands. Personally, as a
man of family and as a Christian, I hope to God that peace may be
preserved. But if God wills that our enemy, by his insolence, forces us
to draw the sword, I know that you will wield it with honor and will not
sheathe it until our enemy is crushed, root and branch, stock and
barrel, and brought so low that he will never raise his head again in
dishonorable defiance of our holy rights.
[_The_ OFFICERS _shout with enthusiasm, lifting their helmets
in air. The_ MINISTER OF WAR _sits down again._
That is all, gentlemen.
[_With a grim smile._
But I recommend that you do not send your service uniforms to the tailor
tonight. You may have need of them.
[_There is another cheer. The_ OFFICERS _stand about in groups
a minute or so, then file out through the double-door in the centre of
the rear wall. One elderly general, only, comes up quickly to the desk._
GENERAL
[_In a rasping voice, to the_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
Delay again? Aren't we ever going to get at their throats?
CHIEF OF STAFF
We are ready. But the King!
[_He shrugs his shoulders._
The peace propagandists are after him. Mediation is the magic word.
Mediation--by which the neutral nations block our legitimate road to
victory for their own benefit, in the name of civilization and progress.
GENERAL
Old women's talk.
[_With a swagger._
Give me a sword in my right hand again, I say! I'll break open a few
skulls yet, for all my sixty years. Eh? Mediation! Let those mediate, I
say, who are afraid to fight!
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Calmly, dispassionately._
We are not mediating yet. You may tell that to your friends if they
become downhearted.
GENERAL
[_Saluting._
To command, your Excellency! It is good that some one looks out for the
honor of the army.
[_Saluting again._
Good night, gentlemen!
[_The_ MINISTER OF WAR _half rises and bows slightly. The_
CHIEF OF STAFF _nods. Exit the_ GENERAL.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_With a flash in his old eyes._
Ha! Once more to have those fellows behind me. Think of it! Each man of
them represents fifty thousand. And behind them another million and
another! God! What a machine to handle.
[_He slaps his forehead._
And the old brain working still!
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Rising and crossing to a window, right forward, then speaking
thoughtfully._
I don't know, Clement. I am growing old. I think sometimes that war is
the most terrible matter in which we erring humans become engaged. I
have always thought that--at times.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Who has crossed to the Left and stands facing a map of the world,
covering half the wall._
So you are a sentimentalist, after all?
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Looking out of the window._
No. Because there is something stronger in me, conquering the repulsion.
My temperament, character, destiny. I am impelled to war. A dozen
generations of soldiers in my blood press me on. My whole education
presses me on. My sympathies and my religious sense make me tremble
before the impending horror, but--I confess to you--I believe I want
this war.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Without turning._
So do we all. War is the soldier's work. And he does not want to play
all his life. Look. We land here and here and here.
[_He indicates places on the map with a paper-cutter, speaking with
growing excitement._
No defenses, except at this place--a masonry fort built thirty years
ago. Bad cement, moreover. Fraudulent contractor. Then--
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Returning to his desk, resolutely._
No, you old hawk, we're not going to do it. We'll be content to settle
ourselves in peaceful graves, you and I and the old Chief. No war, no
war!
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Calmly._
That is sentiment. Here is fact. We land here and here and here. Then
march down here and up there, uniting the armies. Rich country. I've
never seen it, but I know it better than any letter-carrier in the
district. We live on the land, burning and pillaging if the inhabitants
don't give us what we want. A little dose will tame them. We'll sweep
all before us in six weeks.
MINISTER OF WAR
[_In mock protest._
Stop, man, stop! You make me want to try it.
CHIEF OF STAFF
I can't stop. It's a game with me. I play it all day in my thoughts and
all night I direct campaigns in my dreams. A great game. Only sometimes
I get tired of playing it on paper, and want to hear the real guns and
see the real battalions.
[_A_ SECRETARY _enters with a message._
SECRETARY
[_To Minister of War._
A message from the King sent over from the Foreign Office. The Prime
Minister was not there.
MINISTER OF WAR
Let me have it.
[_He takes the message and glances at it._
What?
[_With a gesture to the Secretary._
That will do.
[_Exit_ SECRETARY.
CHIEF OF STAFF
Well?
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Flaring up._
Look at this, look at it! The King is sending our national honor to the
dogs. He has secretly resumed communication with the Ambassador of the
Republic, instead of doing what was natural and constitutional, sending
the man to us. He is going to compromise. Pack up your tin soldiers, old
man. Take them home for your grandchildren to play with. Our country
evidently has no more use for them.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_With compressed lips._
Show me.
[_He takes the paper and reads its contents aloud._
"The King desires to inform the Foreign Office that, in pursuance of
his well-known love of peace, he sent for the Ambassador of the Republic
this afternoon and outlined a plan that would satisfy the royal
government and at the same time yield certain points to the government
of the Republic. The Ambassador was courteous, but, although
acknowledging the generosity of the King's offer, regretted that he was
unable to consider any compromise before communicating again with his
government. The King replied that if his offers were refused he could
then have nothing further to say in the matter, but would have to turn
it over entirely to his Ministers.
"The King suggests to the Foreign Office that these facts be put before
our Ambassadors abroad, and, to pacify the public mind, be given at once
to the newspapers."
My God, and you want peace!
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Harshly._
Well, how do you like it?
CHIEF OF STAFF
He's backed down, he's backed down. All the world will be shouting
tomorrow how our King has backed down. _Christo!_ To accept defeat
before you've begun to fight!
[_He turns again to the map._
If this other plan should be frustrated by the enemy's navy, look, we
could land here and here and--
[_The door opens and the_ PRIME MINISTER _enters. He is a
stern, titanic figure in the sixties, sallow-skinned, gray-haired._
PRIME MINISTER
[_Standing in the doorway._
Good evening, gentlemen. Counting your battalions?
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Absorbed._
And here, joining our armies at--
MINISTER OF WAR
Thank God, you're here. Where in sin have you been?
PRIME MINISTER
Home on my estates, saying good-bye to my family.
[_He smiles grimly, and with his cane makes a thrust in carte and
tierce._
MINISTER OF WAR
You think you are going to war?
PRIME MINISTER
I know.
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Taking up the paper the_ CHIEF OF STAFF _has let fall on the
desk._
Read that. It came from your office.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Takes it and begins to read._
Eh? The King? Mediation on his own hook?
[_With growing anger._
So? So? So?
[_He lets the paper flutter to the floor._
Very good. He can find a new Prime Minister. I resign.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Turning abruptly._
No, you don't!
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Hotly._
We stick together in this. You are not going to resign.
PRIME MINISTER
My good friends, I am going to resign.
[_He picks up the paper off the floor._
Give me your seat at the desk. On the back of this ignoble parley, my
resignation goes to him.
MINISTER OF WAR
You are the support of the army. We go to the dogs, if you leave us.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Sitting at the desk._
So? "The King suggests to the Foreign Office that these facts be put
before our Ambassadors abroad and, to pacify the public mind, be given
at once to the newspapers." He suggests. So do I suggest--something
different.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_In front of the map again._
Three hundred thousand men here, turning the flank of a possible army
marching north with that ridge of mountains as a cover--If we can only
have the chance!
PRIME MINISTER
[_Studying the message, suddenly._
By Heaven! If--
MINISTER OF WAR
What is it? You look as if--
PRIME MINISTER
If nothing! Bring me some claret out of that inexhaustible cabinet of
yours.
[_He draws his pen through a section of the message. The_ MINISTER
OF WAR _goes to a cabinet in the rear wall and brings forth a
decanter of claret and glasses._
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Pouring a glassful for the_ PRIME MINISTER.
Here, dear old Titan.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Gulping it down._
Thanks. More. And cigars.
[_The_ MINISTER OF WAR _refills the glass and brings cigars.
The_ PRIME MINISTER _wreathes himself in smoke._
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_With his back still turned to the others._
I planned this campaign first some twenty years ago. But there was no
navy then to speak of, and no airships. It is more intricate now, but
very much more interesting as an intellectual problem.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Indicating his glass._
Another, good man.
MINISTER OF WAR
You're smelling blood when you drink like that.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Turning to the_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
Here! You old death's head! You are prepared, you say?
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Calmly._
I have been making my plans for twenty years. The present plans have
been complete, except for slight revisions, for three years.
PRIME MINISTER
The army and navy are fully equipped?
MINISTER OF WAR
Down to the last shoe-string.
PRIME MINISTER
[_To_ CHIEF OF STAFF.
Would you say it would be better to wait a week or a month or even a
year--or to strike at once?
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Firmly and quietly._
Strike at once.
MINISTER OF WAR
You dreamers, you theorists! How about the King's negotiations?
PRIME MINISTER
[_Rising, with the message in his hand._
Gentlemen, I have seen fit to abbreviate the King's message. I have not
altered a word nor added a word. I have merely omitted all that did not
seem to me pertinent or useful. The message reads as follows: "The King
sent for the Ambassador of the Republic this afternoon and outlined a
plan that would satisfy the royal government. The Ambassador regretted
that he was unable to consider any compromise. The King replied that
then he could have nothing more to say in the matter."
MINISTER OF WAR
There's ginger, by Heaven! The other was a dove-peep to a parley. This
is a trumpet call of defiance.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_With quiet delight._
The Republic will never swallow that.
PRIME MINISTER
They are not supposed to. They will declare war, and then be the
aggressors.
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Exultantly._
Our God of old lives yet and will not let us perish in disgrace!
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Looking about._
My helmet. Damn it! Where is my helmet? I am going to dig at the plans
once more. If God lets me lead the armies in such a fight, the devil can
come when I'm through and fetch away the old carcass.
PRIME MINISTER
[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
Where's your Secretary?
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Crossing to door._
Secretary, here!
[SECRETARY _enters._
PRIME MINISTER
[_Handing him the paper._
To the telegraph-operator with this. It is to be sent to every news
bureau in the city and to all our embassies abroad.
MINISTER OF WAR
Tomorrow, the mobilization!
CHIEF OF STAFF
Tonight! I need those twelve hours for my plans.
[_The_ SECRETARY _holds the door open for the_ CHIEF OF
STAFF _who is about to go out when suddenly in the doorway appears
a young man of thirty, pale, dark, timid. He hesitates on the
threshold._
SECRETARY
[_Taken aback, bowing._
Your Majesty!
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Drawing back._
My King!
[PRIME MINISTER _and_ MINISTER OF WAR _bow._
KING
[_Courteously._
I trust I am not breaking in upon a matter that does not concern me?
PRIME MINISTER
There is nothing that the King's servants may do that does not concern
the King.
KING
True. But sometimes the King is kept in ignorance nevertheless.
[_To the_ SECRETARY.
What paper is that you have there, if you please?
SECRETARY
[_With an uneasy glance at the others._
Here, your Majesty.
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Aside to_ SECRETARY.
Get out!
[_Exit_ SECRETARY.
PRIME MINISTER
It is the report of your Majesty's interview with the Ambassador.
KING
[_Glancing at the paper and speaking in quick, excited tones._
My message has been altered. It was conciliatory. It is a challenge now.
Who did this?
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty sees the culprit before you.
KING
Are you trying to make war?
PRIME MINISTER
I am trying, your Majesty, to save the country from the results of your
Majesty's indiscretion in calling the Ambassador to your palace without
consulting your Ministers. If we do not strike now we lose our prestige
as a great nation, our national honor is dragged in the dust. We have to
fight. We cannot afford to back down.
KING
[_Striding across the room, agitatedly._
But this is unholy, barbaric--this deliberate concoction of a great,
terrible war. I saw clearly this evening as I was talking with the
Ambassador how utterly without inner necessity this war-scare is. It is
a made thing from beginning to end, and I refuse absolutely to sanction
it.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Deliberately._
Your Majesty is an idealist. We are practical, and, I may say,
far-seeing men. And we are the three men, perhaps, who have given your
Majesty the chair you sit on and made your kingdom what it is.
KING
[_Drawing himself up._
I think I have not been ungrateful. But my people come first, and I will
not have my people plunged into misery for no valid and inevitable
necessity.
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty, I have served you for fifteen years and I served your
exalted father for twenty. You are right. This war may be avoided. In
two days this war-cloud could be so utterly dissipated that men would
laugh here and in the great Republic that for a day they had talked so
hotly of war. Dissipated. For a year, for two years. For always? No. The
war must come sooner or later. It is a matter, in the first place, of
prestige, of national honor. But, more emphatically, it is a question of
mathematics, birth-rate, death-rate, revenue, taxes, industries,
imports, exports.
[_Crossing to left._
There is a map of the world, your Majesty. This stretch of land there we
need as a safety-valve. If we get that we are safe. If we fail to get it
we explode. Not at once. But sooner or later. Our army and navy have
never been in better shape. These two gentlemen can give your Majesty
their word for that. But you can take mine, too. The enemy's army is
politically rotten, and enfeebled by sentimental peace propaganda. Their
defenses are inadequate and their navy likewise. Those things will
change. Strike today--and they never raise their heads again. Wait--and
it is you who may be crushed.
KING
[_Sharply._
That is a theory. Not a fact. Ten years may change the aspect of things
entirely, particularly if we use those ten years in preparations not for
war but for peace, honest at home and abroad, just, open, civil, to our
neighbors.
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty, I look farther than ten years, farther than ten times ten
years. And I have wrought for this moment, prepared for this moment,
this moment of our strength and our enemy's weakness. I have a right to
insist that I, who have brought your kingdom thus far, shall not have my
hands tied when the moment for stern action arrives.
KING
[_With a whimsical smile._
After all, my good Prime Minister, it is _my_ kingdom, you know.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Moved._
Your Majesty knows that what I have done I have done for your glory.
The liberals have cursed me for a reactionary through the length and
breadth of the kingdom; because I served you, and served you in all love
and devotion.
KING
I know your devotion. But give me a fresh example of it. Keep my kingdom
at peace with the world.
PRIME MINISTER
That I cannot do.
KING
You cannot? You _will_ not.
PRIME MINISTER
I could not face my conscience, or make my peace with God, if I weakened
now and allowed the golden opportunity to pass by. For your Majesty's
sake as well as for our country's.
KING
For mine?
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty has forgotten that your throne was built by war and rests
on force. Force only, military prestige only, can uphold you. The rebels
of labor have crept close to your throne now. Ten more years of peace,
and you are cast out overnight, to wander over Europe, a homeless
absurdity, a king without a chair to sit on.
KING
[_With flashing eyes._
We shall see!
PRIME MINISTER
[_Quietly._
May I ask your Majesty in all humility and devotion to give me back that
slip of paper?
KING
You have thought of our national honor, our prestige, our commercial
growth, our dynastic life. Have you given no thought at all to the men
you send to death to purchase these?
PRIME MINISTER
A man has no higher privilege than to die for his country. I beg your
Majesty--the paper?
KING
[_Tearing the paper once across._
And the women?
PRIME MINISTER
[_Grimly._
We'll find them new husbands, your Majesty. The paper, if you please.
KING
[_Tearing the paper into shreds._
I forbid this war!
PRIME MINISTER
[_With controlled anger._
My God, your Majesty! You are letting a sentiment master you. There are
worse things than war. There are possibilities in peace infinitely worse
than any war, or there would be no war. War may kill a million bodies,
but a wicked peace can snuff out unnumbered souls!
KING
I will take my chances with peace.
MINISTER OF WAR
It is for you we are fighting, your Majesty, but not for you only, not
for your glory only and the permanence of your House, but for the
permanence of the monarchical principle, which we know is better and
higher than the principle of democracy, since it is the earthly symbol
of God's singleness of rule, and comes direct from God.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Coolly._
Moreover, your Majesty, it works!
KING
This is a matter of war and peace, not a matter of monarchy or
democracy.
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty does not see far enough. Give us war, and we keep our
monarchy. Give us peace, and we plunge within ten years into the rapids
of revolution and democracy.
KING
[_Simply._
I will take my chances with peace.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Stern and cold._
Very good, your Majesty. Then you may paddle your bark alone. I resign.
MINISTER OF WAR
And I resign!
CHIEF OF STAFF
And I!
KING
[_Crossing to the window, where he stands with his back turned to the
others. His voice is uncertain._
I did not expect that of you.
PRIME MINISTER
[_Moved._
Oh, your Majesty! You know what my love has been--
KING
[_Turning._
Half the country will fall from me if you three desert me.
PRIME MINISTER
It is not desertion, your Majesty. It is loyalty to something even
higher than the King, the principle that makes him King.
KING
[_Perplexed._
Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I am sentimental--
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Gently._
Your Majesty is humane, but perhaps a deeper humanity demands a
hardening of the heart sometimes.
KING
[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
But you always detested war. You called yourself my Minister not of War,
but of Peace.
MINISTER OF WAR
[_Rigidly._
When the honor of our country is at stake--
KING
[_Impatiently._
But nobody is attacking our honor!
PRIME MINISTER
[_Bluntly._
The case is as I said. We need this war, and we must have it.
KING
[_Torn by his conflicting desires._
I cannot let you resign. There is no one else I can trust as I trust you
three. But not war, not war!
PRIME MINISTER
I am a lover of peace, but the time has come when we must have war.
MINISTER OF WAR
It is our sacred duty, your Majesty, to draw our swords for light and
justice when God calls!
CHIEF OF STAFF
And God has always been with us. God will be with us now!
KING
[_White and tense._
You are three strong men against me. I want peace, but I am helpless
without you three. For I am an anachronism. Not nature but human force,
fighting against nature, keeps me on my throne. If you must have war,
have it. But I tell you this: God has no part in it. Leave God out of
the game!
[_He sinks into the chair by the desk._
PRIME MINISTER
[_To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
Call your Secretary!
[MINISTER OF WAR _goes to the door. The_ SECRETARY
_enters. The_ PRIME MINISTER _takes a paper out of his pocket._
Here. It is a copy of the message I directed you to send to the news
bureaus and embassies. Transmit it at once.
[_The_ SECRETARY _bows and goes out. The_ KING _falls
forward on the desk, sobbing. At his side, straight and stern, the_
PRIME MINISTER _Stands. To_ MINISTER OF WAR.
Give orders for immediate mobilization.
[_The stage is slowly darkened._