Speeches on Germany at Fest-Kneipe

The Deutscher Verein held a "Fest-Kneipe" last evening in the Assembly Room of the Union to celebrate the 209th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Prussia and the 39th anniversary of the founding of the German Empire.

The first speaker of the evening was Professor Eduard Meyer, the German exchange professor from the University of Berlin, who spoke on "The Significance of the Day." After outlining briefly the main events in German history since the Middle Ages, Professor Meyer said that the founding of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 marked the first step toward German national unity. Since that date the strength of the central government has increased until now the power of Germany is such as to guarantee universal peace to Europe. In contrasting the present centralized power with the former disorganization, the speaker pointed out that, whereas in the Middle Ages other nations used Germany as a common battlefield, there has been no great war fought on German soil since the time of Napoleon. In conclusion, Professor Meyer emphasized the fact that other nations have nothing to fear from Germany, that on the contrary, the House of Hohenzollern wants to prevent wars and to be let alone.

Professor A. B. Hart '80 was the next speaker. Under the head of "Bismarck as a Commonwealth Builder," he spoke of the latter's main purpose, that of converting the many German states into one central unified whole. Three reasons may be given for the ultimate success of this greatest of nineteenth century diplomats in this stupendous undertaking: first, the class to which Bismarck belonged was such that if once convinced of the usefulness of a project, it would pursue it to the end; second, Bismarck himself had a glorious vision of what could be accomplished; third, Bismarck's remarkable force of character was able to cope with the situation.

Following this, short addresses were made by Professor W. B. Munro h.'99, and Major Bigelow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology