[_18 July '08_]
I think I could read anything about German Colonial expansion. The subject
may not appear to be attractive; but it is. The reason lies in the fact
that one is always maliciously interested in the failures of pompous and
conceited persons. In the same way, one is conscious of disappointment
that the navy pother has not blossomed into a naked scandal. A naked
scandal would be a bad thing, and yet one feels cheated because it has not
occurred. At least I do. And I am rather human. I can glut myself on
German colonial expansion--a wondrous flower. I have just read with
genuine avidity M. Tonnelat's "L'Expansion allemande hors d'Europe"
(Armand Colin, 3 fr. 50). It is a very good book. Most of it does not deal
with colonial expansion, but with the growth and organization of Germania
in the United States and Brazil. There is some delicious psychology in
this part of the book. Hear the German Governor of Pennsylvania: "As for
me, I consider that if the influence of the German colonist had been
eliminated from Pennsylvania, Philadelphia would never have been anything
but an ordinary American town like Boston, New York, Baltimore, or
Chicago." M. Tonnelat gives a masterly and succinct account of the
relations between Germans and native races in Africa (particularly the
Hereros). It is farcical, disastrous, piquant, and grotesque. The
documentation is admirably done. What can you do but smile when you gather
from a table that for the murder of seven Germans by natives fifteen
capital punishments and one life-imprisonment were awarded; whereas, for
the murder of five natives (including a woman) by Germans, the total
punishment was six and a quarter years of prison. In 1906 the amazing
German Colonial Empire cost 180 millions of marks. A high price to pay for
a comic opera, even with real waterfalls! M. Tonnelat has combined
sobriety and exactitude with an exciting readableness.