Germany

Germany0 <By VIDA FOX CLAWSON Time — about 1908. Evening Scene I Ekhart: No, no, my honored guest, comes, Characters: Sister Ekhart, Elder Foster, Herr Kreisrichter and Frau, Herr Director Actuar and Frau, Herr Director Heimer and Frau and Herr Lach. The curtain rises on a room furnished with an old fashioned book-case, a few chairs, a sofa, small table on which is a coal-oil lamp with a fancy shade over it and a piano or victrola. There is a knock at the door. A woman of about forty enters and immedi- ately goes to the door. Sister Ekhart: Brother Foster, you are the first one here. I have just finished getting the children to bed; bless their hearts, they look so sweet with their little heads close together. Foster: You have five fine children; you and Bro. Ekhart should indeed be grateful for them. Sister Ekhart: We are. I am sorry Brother Ekhart will be working late tonight. Foster: Won't Brother Ekhart be here? I am sorry, too. Sister Ekhart: I am glad you came before the others for I must warn you again not to let any of them know that you are a "Mor- mon." The people that are com- ing tonight are not friends and I am sure they will re- port you to the police -.-■■ .----■ if they find out, and you would be ban- ished. They might also report me. Foster : If there is any danger of my getting you into trou- ble perhaps I had bet- ter not stay. Sister Ekhart : You must stay, only do be careful! Be seated! ammm (She leads him to the sofa, the seat of honor) course I know that you now but why Sister you are when Herr Director then — (Knock at the door and Sister Ekhart answers.) Good evening, (they shake hands.) Herr Kreis- richter and Frau Kreisrichter, give me your wraps. Meet Herr Foster, an American. (Sister Ekhart sees that Herr Foster does not know where to sit, so helps him to sit down on the sofa.) (Another knock at the door is heard.) Sister Ekhart: Good evening Herr Foster. This is Herr Director Actuar and Frau Director Actuar. (The missionary takes the hostess' hint to move to a chair and the Actuars sit down on the sofa. They are no sooner seated than curly there is another knock at the door.) Sister Ekhart (opening the door) : You are all very prompt. (Greetings are exchanged.) Herr Foster meet Herr Director Heimer and Frau Director Heimer. Herr Heimer was educated at the Uni- versity of Berlin and is an official at the postoffice. (Upon which those sitting on the sofa go to chairs and the Heimer s take the sofa. ) Heimer: Herr Foster, are you a traveler from America? Foster: Well, yes, in a sense. I — Sister Ekhart: He is a student. He is going to study. should sit on the sofa all evening, but perhaps tonight — Foster: Oh, I just as soon sit on a chair (laughingly starts to- ward a chair) . Of Heimer : You are right to come really to Germany to study. We are mas- ters in all the arts and sciences. America is so young and inexpe- rienced. She needs to get her learning from us. We are the most educated country in the world. You have done right in choosing Germany in which to study. Foster: Yes? Herr Kreisrichter: Germany has the most wonderful schools in all the world. Herr Actuar: And that is not all, the most wonderful doctors, the greatest economists, the most perfect police system — Frau Actuar: And our cities, where will you find their equal? They are beautiful. Beautiful and clean. England and France — noth- ing in comparison. Frau Kreisrichter: And our opera, famous the world over! No other country produces such sing- ers. And poets, we have the greatest! Foster: You must not forget that Shakespeare was English! Heimer: No, no! Shakespeare does not belong to the English. He belongs to the world. Just a mere accident that he was born at Strat- ford. England has given birth to only one poet — Byron; but Ger- many has literally hundreds: Goethe, Schiller — Foster: Germany has produced a great many artists of all kinds, but you must not forget that Eng- land has produced Milton, Keats, Chaucer, Shelley — Heimer: Pft! Nothing! Noth- ing! We in Germany never even hear of them. They are nothing, nothing! Frau Actuar: Yes, -t — -,, ■■ we are indeed fortu- "• nate to be born Ger- mans, for in this country our children learn to understand beauty and art. All can sing, all can make beautiful pic- tures and — Herr Kreisrich ter : And all are taught trades as well. Herr Actuar : And all are taught to be good soldiers. No other country in the world has such a military system! Sister Ekhart: I wonder where Professor Lach is? But let us not wait for him, for I am anxious for Herr Foster to hear some of you sing. :-.~r^^/'tviafs

The Improvement Era for January, 1930 205 Frau Actuar (to Herr Actuar) : August, sing "The Evening Star" from Tannhauser." All: Yes, yes! (Frau Actuar plays the accompaniment.) After the song there is applause and those seated near shake Herr Actuar's hand.) Herr Heimer: Etta, (to his wife) will you now sing "The Jewel Song" from Faust? (Frau Heimer complies. After the singing there is again applause.) Heimer: You see, Herr Foster, how talented our people are. We are indeed a great race. Have you studied our school system? The government educates the child over here, you know. Foster: We have free education in America too. Heimer: Such education! You see even you have to come here to finish. America has poor teachers. They are poor managers, the Americans, extravagant, wasteful. They are not thrifty; they will suffer. Some day you will need to send for the Kaiser to tell you how to run your nation. Foster (he smiles but resents this a little nevertheless) : I admit that our nation is young, younger in civilization, younger in art and science, younger in many things and less experienced than your country, but we have the perfect government. It is you who some day will have to learn government from us. Heimer: • Bah! How does America handle her crimes? Ef- ficiently? No. Does she know how to handle her food supplies? No. If in one section there is too much of any certain commodity, it stays there and rots, and another section does without. Is Germany like that? No — too much in one place and it is distributed in other places. No waste, perfect man- agement; perfect government. - Foster: But still I have seen a great many poor since I came here. I should think with perfect distribution of foods, the poor would get their share. Heimer: Poor? Poor? We have no poor. There are no slums in Germany. Foster: But I recently read a confidential report made of school children and it has been found that sixty percent of the boys and sixty- three percent of the girls are not normal, because of mal-nutrition. Heimer : Well — perhaps we have some poor, but not dirty poor as France and England have. Every nation has poor, and I think you overestimate ours. But never- theless all are educated and our schools even provide places for the poor to bathe once a week if they do not have provision for such at home. (Knock at the door.) Sister Ekhart: That must be Herr Lach now! (Opens the door.) Welcome, better late than never. You are acquainted with all I believe except my friend from America. Herr Foster, meet Herr Professor Lach. Herr Lach: Madam, I am Herr Professor Doctor Lach! (He turns his eyes towards the sofa. The wife on the sofa nudges her husband and they both rather sheepishly move to chairs. During this time Sister Ekhart has been bowing and saying, I beg your pardon Herr Professor Doctor Lach, I beg your pardon. And Herr Professor Doc- tor takes his seat on the sofa) . Curtain Interlude Reader. You will be very glad to know that Elder Foster filled an honorable mission and during his stay became very well acquainted with Sister Ekhart and her family. He labored three years in Germany and although he was twice arrested and twice banished, he learned to love the German people; and when his release came and he sailed for home, he did so with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat. Needless to say when the war broke out in Europe in 1914, his sympathies were a little bit with the Germans, for they were the ones he knew best, and as the years rolled by he was worried for the women and children. He scanned the papers for news and one day when he read from a report: "Be- fore the war Berlin received 1,- 250,000 liters of milk per day; it now receives about 225,000 liters per day," his heart sank, for he knew the lack of milk would have a serious effect on the health of children. Then again from an in- terview with Dr. Gustav Frenssen: "There is no childhood in Ger- many, only little old creatures with heavy eyes and twitching shoulders who move wearily along the streets where once played the golden haired progeny of a child-worship- ing people." He thought, "'Tis the women and children who are ground under the heel of war." How proud he was when he saw the effort that America made to feed Germany, immediately the Armistice was signed, and glad he was to read Herbert Hoover's Why we are Feeding Germany — an an- swer to a minority of Skeptical Americans. Says Mr. Hoover in part: "From the point of view of my western upbringing I would say at once, because we do not kick a man in the stomach after we have licked him. * * * "From the point of view of a humanitarian, I would say that we have not been fighting with wom- en and children and we are not beginning now." He was delighted to read from a statement made by the American Society of Friends (Quakers) , after it had definitely identified itself with measures to aid Ger- many: 'The German people are not only hungry, but discouraged and in despair. They are without any aim or moral stimulant. They need friends. * * * The Society of Friends can best fulfill these needs. The peace testimony of Friends means not merely consci- entious objection to war, it means an alternative to war, overcoming evil with good, hate with love. Friends are not disloyal to their country but they desire to be su- premely loyal to the spirit of Jesus Christ who commands us to love those whom men call 'enemies*." One day he heard that President Grant had been in receipt of a ca- blegram from Mission President Angus J. Cannon (who had gone into Germany from Switzerland) which read something like this: 'Ten thousand Saints in dire need of sugar, flour, fats, rice, etc." He

206 The Improvement Era for January, 1930 understood that President Grant had immediately taken the matter up with Senator Smoot and Sen- ator Smoot with the Government and within an incredibly short time, Brother Cannon had re- ceived a cablegram informing him that arrangements had been made whereby he could purchase pro- visions from the American forces in Coblenz on the Rhine. His Church and his Country were working hand in hand! What a privilege to belong to such a Church; to such a Country. Brother Foster welcomed his second call on a mission to Ger- many, which came about twenty years after his first one; and the next scene shows the experiences of a Sunday afternoon in Germany shortly after his arrival there. Scene 2 Characters : Sister E k h a r t, Doris Ekhart Gluck, Brother Thomas, Brother Foster, Anna Ekhart, John Glockner, Richard Scheinert, Marie Bauer. The apartment is more poorly furnished than before. There is an old lady sitting in a chair knit- ing. Off stage the old lady's daughter, Doris, can be heard. Doris: Mother, did you press Heinrich's Sunday clothes? Mother (Sister Ekhart) : Yes, and put them in the chest. Doris: I think I'll take him to Church this evening. (As she en- ters.) Have you had your sun- bath today, mother? Mother: No, I don't mind if I don't get one. Doris: Mother, you know Pres. Hindenburg has said it is our duty as German citizens to use very means possible to build up our bodies. Scientists have proven that the sun's ray is a wonderful health producer. Mother: That is all very well for you young ones, but what does it matter about me? O me! O my! Doris: Now, mother, please don't get talking like that. You know your life is precious, very precious to me. I'd be very lonely without you, mother dear (kisses her). Mother: That is right, too. daughter, I will take my sun-bath tomorrow. Doris: Do you feel well enough to go to church this evening, mother. You know you always feel better after you make the ef- fort. Mother: I know I do, but I just haven't the strength to go today. I wish the missionaries would call on me. They do me so much good. Doris: Well, if they don't call today I will invite them next Sun- day. (Knock at the door is heard.) Mother: I wonder who that can be? (Doris answers door.) Doris : Why Brother Thomas ! Come in. Mother, you were just wishing for the missionaries and here they are! Enter missionaries — a young boy about twenty (Elder Thom- as) and a man about forty years old (Elder Foster) . Bro. Thomas motions to Doris not to say any- thing and to let Bro. Foster go over to the mother without intro- duction to see if she remembers him. The old lady's back has been towards the door. Bro. Foster goes quietly over to Sister Ekhart and she immediately recognizes him and jumps to her feet, putting a hand on each of his cheeks. Sister Ekhart: Brother Foster! Brother Foster! (She is overcome and great tears roll down her cheeks.) You were here in those happy days when I had my hus- band and my boys. (There is silence for a moment except for the sobbing of the old lady.) Foster (patting her on the shoulder) : And through it all you have been faithful. Mother: I would have lost my mind, if it had not been for the Gospel. O Brother Foster, I am glad to see you. (She shakes his hand earnestly.) You look well and strong. You were just a bo y when you were here before — are you married? Foster: Yes and have five chil- dren. Mother: Just the same as I had. Three boys — two girls. I have only two girls left, even my son-in-law — gone ! Doris: But mother, you have a grandson. Mother: Yes, thanks to Amer- ica. If those American workers had not come along and taken care of my Doris and her baby they would surely have died too. She was so ill and the baby so little. Foster: I worried about the Saints all during the war and hoped that in some miraculous way you women and children — . M other: The war was awful, but after the war was worse! Oh, Brother Foster, thousands starved to death. My boy, my boy, died! Doris: Mother, he died of tu- berculosis. Mother: But he would not have had tuberculosis if he had had enough food. He starved! I knew it then; I know it now! (Sadly.) My last boy, my last boy! If the Americans had only come sooner. Why didn't they come sooner? Foster: We tried to come. It was only because of disagreements among the allies that the food did not reach you earlier. Even before the Armistice was signed Herbert Hoover had bought food for the Germans and only four days after the signing of the Armistice food was sailing across the Atlantic. But the blockade — . Mother: I know the French and the English, hate us. They wanted us to starve. Foster: I don't think that, Sister Ekhart. I think they did not understand. Mother: I had looked for America to help. I knew you and other missionaries and knew if you only understood you would help. We waited each day expecting news of provisions. Oh, we waited and waited, and then one day some food came for Doris with a note attached to it. Just a moment. (She goes to a drawer and pro- duces the note and hands it to Bro. Foster, who reads:) "To those who suffer in Ger- many with a message" of good will from the American Society of Friends (Quakers), who for 250 years, and also all through this great war, have believed that those who were called enemies were really friends separated by a great misunderstanding." Foster: That is a wonderful organization. I remember when they got the appointment from Hoover to come into Germany to aid in the distribution of food. Mother: That was the first light shed from heaven. I shall always keep it. (She folds paper and puts it carefully away.) Then in two or three days, flour, sugar, rice and butter came from Brother Cannon. The Church had not forgotten us. 'Twas the Church that saved my life and Anna's. You see, at first they fed only those who needed it the worst, and Doris was helped because of the baby. They thought Anna and I could go a little longer — but if Brother Cannon had not sent us food when he did I am sure we both would

The Improvement Era for January, 1930 207 have died. It was the Church that saved us. Doris: We have been very for- tunate, as all good Church mem- bers have been. We not only re- ceived food, but we received clothes from the Relief Society. We are very happy for the Gospel. Very happy. Foster: Just to think that such a short time ago you all were in dire need, and now you have things running so smoothly. I was surprised to find your regis- tration system of the olden days working again, and your streets are clean and orderly. (Singing of "I Want to be Happy" is heard in the outer hall.) That sounds like home. That's from the American comic .opera, "No, No Nanette." Thomas: They sing a great many American songs over here now. (Two boys and two girls enter — Anna, John, Richard, Marie. They finish singing the chorus as they enter. The girls are dressed in skirts and sleeveless sweaters, and the boys in soft shirts and light trousers.) Mother: Goodness me, tennis again this Sunday. It is very hard, Brother Foster, to get the young folks to obey the Sabbath implic- itly with so much activity going on all about us. Foster: It is very hard to get young people in America to keep the Sabbath implicitly. Are these young folks members of the Church? Doris: Anna, this is Brother Foster that was here as a mission- ary years ago. You remember. Mother has often mentioned him. And this is Fraulein Marie Bauer, Brother Foster, and Herr John Glockner and Herr Richard Schein- ert. They are all friends, and we hope that some day at least Herr Glockner will be a member of the Church, for we want Anna to marry a Latter-day Saint. Thomas: By the way, have you young folks found a place to live in yet? Anna: Not yet. Doris: They have been en- gaged two years and can't get mar- ried because it is impossible to find an apartment in which to live. Thomas: There have been so many people move in from coun- tries round about and so many from the country to the cities, that the housing problem has grown to immense proportions. Mother: Well, perhaps when John gets baptized the Lord will open up the way and they may get an apartment. Doris: Yes, I believe if he'd study the Gospel as much time as he spends looking for apartments, he'd be converted. Mother: I wish you young folks would sing for Brother Foster. Anna: What shall we sing? Herr Glockner: Something from "The Student Prince." (The four then sing "The Serenade" and "Deep in My Heart.") Foster: One great difference I notice between now and the olden days is in the songs that are being sung. It seems to me they always used to sing songs from Grand Opera, and now you often choose popular songs and many of them of American origin. Thomas: They dance as the Americans do, too, and I don't know but that the German girl of today is even more athletic than the American girl. There are cer- tainly plenty of athletic associa- tions. I read that a recent census shows that one out of every five in the whole of Germany belongs to some sort of an Athletic Club. Anna: And some belong to two. I, for instance, belong to a hiking club, as well as a tennis club. And both of the boys here play football when it is in season. Mother: Everything is for the sake of health, it seems to me. Foster: I believe that is a very good thing, Sister Ekhart. Fine bodies and fine minds usually go hand in hand, and fine minds are most apt to appreciate the Gospel. I feel that Germany is preparing itself for some great blessings and after the urge for a livelihood is not so pressing and the people have built up their bodies, their minds will undoubtedly turn to the finer things of life and religion will strike deep into the soul. Mother: One great blessing we have already, and that is religious freedom. Foster: Yes, and the Lord has just begun to pour out his bless- ings on this great people. Greater things are yet to come. Curtain Has Youthful Utah Lost the Faith? By Elsie Petersen 1} AITH, like muscle and brain, must be nourished, stimulated and challenged in order for perfect development to take place. In the lives of early Latter-day Saints, there was almost daily opportunity and necessity for exercising faith. In the luxurious lives of the fourth generation of pioneer Utah, free of fear, of worry, of hunger, is there anything to instill the desire or create the necessity for faith? In the comfort of steam-heated homes, in the assurance of im- mediate medical aid, in the protec- tion of modern laws, with well- filled larders and over-flowing granaries, has youthful Utah lost the faith of its fathers? "The faith of its fathers." * * Back in the days when Latter-day Saints had to meet secretly, back in the days when to admit you were a "Mormon" was to bring down instant ridicule and some- times persecution, faith in the pro- tection, the goodness, the need of God was a very vital thing. OOMETHING more than love of ^ adventure was necessary for men and women to relinquish the comfort and security of foreign homes, to cross an unknown sea, to brave the terrors of an uncivil- ized land! It required something more than courage for women who had somehow brought cherished pieces of furniture from foreign homes to leave them with all their treasured contents on the banks of the Missouri river! And some- thing more than bravery to enter the Indian-infested plains that led to Utah. Yes, something more than love of adventure, something greater than courage and bravery — faith! Faith was as much a part of early Utah as the food that was eaten. Those of Utah's pioneers who braved the danger of crossing the plains tasted the horror of brutal Indian attacks. Most of them had harrowing experiences, and most of them with prayers in their hearts and faith in God's protec- tion, came safely through. "Came safely through" to what? To more untamed terri- tory, to desert land, to Indian raids in the darkness of starless nights, to sickness burning at loved-ones (Continued on page 211)