The Abbé Wetterlé showed in his lecture how every German, through his
civil and military education, has become a potential spy; how, on going
forth to spend his holidays in France or elsewhere abroad, he could not
help being the active agent of those directors of his conscience, the
Pan-Germanists.
"Recollect, everywhere and always, that you belong to the supreme
race," they said to him, through their newspapers, pamphlets, and
tracts. "Even if you know the language of the country where you are
travelling, speak nothing but German. Never put up at any hotels but
those kept by Germans, and amongst these choose only the ones kept by
compatriots who you know have preserved all their attachment for the
Fatherland. Insist in these establishments that they serve you with
German products, and that the bill of fare is drawn up in your native
tongue. Drink only beer imported from Germany. In the shops buy only
those goods which bear the mark 'Made in Germany.' Praise wherever
you go German industry, German methods, German science. To keep your
feet on the right path, we will supply you with guides, in which you
will find every needful address. Our good counsel will accompany you
everywhere. And thus, whilst amusing and instructing yourself, you will
render signal service to your country and will become a pioneer of
Germanism in those countries which we wish, progressively, to dominate.
Moreover, _never forget in the course of your travels that you can make
a thousand useful observations. Note down what you see and send us the
information you collect._ Details apparently the most insignificant
may be of use to our industrial, commercial, and patriotic societies.
Finally, strengthen the patriotic feeling with our compatriots
established abroad. Tell them that Germany does not forget them, and
that it is to their interest to remain in close relations with it. If
you act in this way--and you cannot do otherwise, for we shall keep a
sharp eye on you--you will contribute largely to the glory of Germany,
which to-morrow will dominate the world."
This picture is in no way exaggerated. Identical language was addressed
to German tourists by the Pan-Germanist Association and the Deutschtum
im Ausland Society, and the guides they published inculcated the
principles of the most barefaced espionage.
The information which these ambulatory amateur spies collected was
undoubtedly precious. It assisted in the spread of German commerce and
German ideas. Our enemies worked on the principle that every little
helped, and that the observations of a spectacled professor tramping
through France could be turned to almost as much use as those of a
professional spy, working under cover of a bank or an insurance company
like the Viktoria zu Berlin in Paris, which our friends and Allies the
French very soon closed down. The sum-total of the efforts of all these
amateur and professional spies was enormous, and would indeed have led
to the domination of Europe by the Teuton but for his inborn crass
stupidity.
I wonder when we shall really learn to know the true character of the
German? French people, who long ago put a stop to Teuton tricks, are
amazed to hear that we still allow the enemy to remain in our midst,
and that we actually help them to carry on their businesses, just as
though the war never existed. "Are you aware of the fact," I have often
been asked by Parisian friends, "that these large German concerns were
nothing more or less than gigantic spying organizations?"