Front matter

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GERMAN WAR PRACTICES

PART I TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS

EDITED BY DANA C. MUNRO PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

GEORGE C. SELLERY and AUGUST C. KREY UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ISSUED BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF WAR THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY GEORGE CREEL

November 15, 1917

EXECUTIVE ORDER.

I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr. George Creel.

The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work of the Committee.

WOODROW WILSON.

April 14, 1917.

INTRODUCTION.

Germany pledged to Hague regulations.

For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy. The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article 44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the most binding manner.

German policy of frightfulness.

But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871. Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.

Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of his master work, Vom Kriege (On War), he says:

"Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * * Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of 'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not so use it."

In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as von Clausewitz:

Frightfulness advocated by German generals.

"The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * * * Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence, and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle made necessary by military considerations."

In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:

"Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation, fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice—the soldier gives his life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman." "The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable, must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and even his prestige. * * *"

Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.

Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in 1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China, he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army, the head of all Germany.

"As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look at a German askance. * * * Open the way for Kultur once for all."

Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers in China were being published in local German papers, the leading socialist newspaper, Vorwärts, excerpted from them reports of atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party), after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There are, alas,Opposition in Reichstag. in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in China and on the speech of the Emperor he said:

"If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the respect of the world."

The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:

"By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home." "An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he sacked Magdeburg."

Atrocities in China.

These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued to be published in the Vorwärts for several years and appeared intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery, as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them." He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa in the campaign against the Hereros.

The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.

These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military class, are best shown in the German War Book (Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book may be judged from the following extracts:

Teachings of the German War Book.

"But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (Sentimentalität und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei), there have not been wanting attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague Conferences."

"By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of them."

For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered territory should take up arms against the German Army, the German War Book quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against him:

"The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them; my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty. Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the clergy.]

German war proclamations in French translations.

Some of the rules laid down in the German War Book are illustrated and their spirit made more definite in L'Interprète Militaire. Zum Gebrauch im Feindesland (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains," says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years before this war began, the German military authorities were not only preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:

"A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by —— to assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of ——.

"Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of the fine.

"The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17, at noon ——.

"Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."

"I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R—— is not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"

"On account of the destruction of the bridge of F——, I order: The district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost severity. The village of F—— will be destroyed immediately by fire, with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the troops."

These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.

"The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.

"The Governor of Brussels, "Baron von Luettwitz.

"November 1, 1914."

Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German authorities:

"Notice to the People.

"Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on the German columns and wagons (trains). The same day [some of the] inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German ambulance were fired upon.

"Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914, at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No delay will be granted.

"If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of 650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.

"In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city, he will be shot.

"The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.

"The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the Commune.

"Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914.

"The General in Chief, "von Fasbender."

The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State Department on September 12, 1917, writes:

"The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate translations in German and French of such sentences as:

"'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)

"'Carry out all the furniture.

"'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.

"'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.

"'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.

"'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders to requisition several barrels of wine.

"'Show us the way to ——. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"

The system of frightfulness.

The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail worked out in advance. The German War Book with its "cold-blooded doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted in an interview in the Neue Freie Presse of Vienna, as follows:

"One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as possible."

This interview was reproduced in the Berliner Tageblatt of November 20, 1914.

Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the Geographical Magazine for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:

Interview with Bernhardi.

"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, Germany and the Next War.

"I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What did you think of it?'

"I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general looked actually pleased."

Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:

Statement by von Bissing.

"The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses, flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated, that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as the life of a single one of our brave soldiers—the rigorous accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high Kultur, and in that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from our army."

Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium, repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The interview is published in the Düsseldorfer Anzeiger of December 8, 1914.

Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the higher German command for the atrocities:

"But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be; because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to den in holes, like wild beasts.

"Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.' And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.' And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, Speaking of Prussians, New York, 1917, pp. 32-34.

These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult, for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See War Information Series, No. 3, The Government of Germany; see also Gerard's My Four Years in Germany, Chap. II.)

The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious Hatred against Belgians. to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes, but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity, and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium, the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable warfare, that the francs-tireurs (guerillas) were everywhere present doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or helpless prisoners.

The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the following extracts from German letters:

Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to the United States Embassy at Berlin.)

"November 4, 1914.

"The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once. While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is a desire to wipe them out, root and all."

Extract from another letter to a brother:

"Schleswig, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914].

"Dear Brother, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these Civilians, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them come near you. Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes too near. They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians; even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. The newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our soldiers whilst they were drinking. You soldiers must spread around so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near you. Remain always in the company of others. I hope that you have read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet. * * *

"Your brother, "Willi."

The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.

"Berlin, via Copenhagen, Sept. 7, 1914. "Secretary of State, "Washington.

"Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following telegram from the Emperor to the President:

"'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands Emperor's telegram. of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which, owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers, medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain], excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor and King.'

"Gerard. Berlin."

Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, Der Fels, February, 1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:

Refutation by a German.

"Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary, without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the United States of America that even women and priests had committed atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn until after the war."

The Vorwärts, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:

Refutation by Vorwärts.

"We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great number of assertions which have been made with great precision and published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position to silence two others of these fantastic stories.

"The War Correspondent of the Berliner Tageblatt spoke a few weeks ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention. Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been demonstrated.

"It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs. Already the Volkszeitung of Cologne has been able, contrary to the very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:

"'Sir,

'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.

'Yours obediently, 'Professor Rautenberg.'"

German soldiers protest against atrocities.

Thus the teachings of the German War Book and of the German apostles of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation. The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the horror of it, which the writers felt.

Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:

"It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians! O Prussians!'—but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only beasts. Down with militarism.

"This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded; Berlin, October 22, 1914.

"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a common Prussian soldier."

Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.

"Russian Poland, December 18, '14.

"In the name of Christianity I send you these words.

"My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you of these lines.

"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.

"And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.

"In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will protest against this, I sign myself,

"A German Soldier and Christian.

"I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me court-martialed for divulging military secrets."

The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the system of which the writer was a witness.

"To the "American Government, "Washington, U.S.A.

"Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people; one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is right? Might is right.

"A Soldier and Man Who Is No Barbarian."

Socialists oppose system.

Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The Vorwärts, the leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial, entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:

"We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them. * * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being barbarous. * * *

"What should one say when even such an organ as the Deutsches Offizier-Blatt expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help impossible?' Or what should we say when the Deutsches Offizier-Blatt states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot 'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class associates on the other side of the border."

On the following day, August 24, 1914, the Vorwärts returned to the attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."

Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."

* * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages] emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole groups among certain classes who represent German Kultur want to indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'

"What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'. Thus in a leading article of the Berliner Neueste Nachrichten, the demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels—one, the second Burgomaster, is generously excepted—should be immediately seized and subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a single penny for them."

Three years later, August 26, 1917, the Vorwärts quoted the following passage from the Deutsche Tagezeitung:

Still hold same opinions.

"We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right (Machtpolitiker) who despise the forces of the inner life and believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."

Belgian warning of danger.

Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a terrible character (grausamen Charakter) caused grave anxiety among the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in large print:

"TO CIVILIANS.

"The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy should show himself in their district:

"Not to fight;

"To utter no insulting or threatening words;

"To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;

"To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged that civilians have fired;

"An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the innocent population with the women and children."

In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges they make against the Germans:

"1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and children, were murdered by the Germans.

"2. That women had been outraged.

"3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and madden themselves with drink.

"4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities, sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.

"5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by bestial and sacrilegious practices.

"6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were destroyed.

"7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt alive.

"8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for the alleged wrongdoings of others.

"9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.

"10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian over the German soldiers.

"11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly destroyed by the invaders.

"12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans, and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men, women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the allied soldiers."

The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of testimony was published in a German White Book with the title Die völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs.

The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published, show the reverse to be true.

German White Book reveals atrocities.

It has been well said that the publication of this German White Book was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the other hand, this White Book, published by the German Government, will be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and "frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."

Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the German White Book, it is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September 19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman practices in the conduct of a war"):

"The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the world."

CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET.

German sources.

In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers. The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The Rules for Field Service of the German Army advises each soldier to keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known collection was made by Bédier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bédier of the Collège de France." Of Bédier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the University of Copenhagen, says:

"He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here, accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bédier accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity. Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own violent acts are horror-striking."

Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I accept this without further comment for all those which are provided with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case be established after the war."

American sources.

The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given. Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.

Frightfulness as a system.

The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite policy of the German Government, against which more humane German soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages, presided over by the former British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as "the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian Commission d'Enquête; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications, and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official German White Book cited above. The last, published by the German Government, is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.

TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS

I. MASSACRES.

Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.

In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves; that their property would be taken and that their lands would be devastated. "Vae victis!—woe to the conquered!" For two centuries or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in But her military leaders did not acquiesce. common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was still continuing in January, 1871, said:

Bismarck's idea in 1871.

"If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn. After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come to their senses."

The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the individual German soldiers.

EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.

"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr—— gave the alarm in the town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops." (From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)

"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)

"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)

"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant. A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)

"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.

"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge). At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were shot and the village was burnt—artillery is continuously shooting—the village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages, châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.

"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger Battalion, Marburg.)

"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children, utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry, Thirty-third Reserve Division.)

Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at the foul deeds.

"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see; three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle, with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt! Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed. I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)

* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The sights here make you cry.

"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants returning to Liége.

"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)

"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy—magnificent furniture, silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."

"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole lot—16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did for three at a time.

"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *

"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed. We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows; and we burnt it afterwards.

"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the guilty and paying 15,000 francs.

"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot. The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.

"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as to their guilt instead of shooting them.

"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having our meal the alarm was sounded—everyone is very jumpy.

"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken, mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.

"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works of art, everything was smashed to bits.

"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * * * One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)

But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in chief, as is evident from the following:

"ORDER.

"To the People of Liége.

"The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.

"I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar attitude.

"Liége, 22nd August, 1914.

"General von Bülow."

The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded. It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when commanded by the officers.

"Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.

"The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.

"It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.

"I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian population.

"I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.

"The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.

"The Commanding Officer, "Major von Bassewitz."

In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The following passages refer to the subject of massacres:

"Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown. Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant; Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17; Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions. before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her husband's life was spared."

"On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day. They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens, who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks.

"On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women, children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."

"One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants, mostly all poor laborers.

Massacres in Tamines.

"The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the sinister date of August 22d, 1914."

"But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:

Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.

"One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes, especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of families, even old men.

"It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:

"The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old. "Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old. "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old. "Gilda Genon, 18 months old. "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old. "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.

"The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years. Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one survivor. Those men that escaped death—and many of whom were riddled with bullets—were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to Cassel [Prussia]."

Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In A Journal from our Legation in Belgium, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he relates what the German officers told him:

"It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free application of the torch—the whole story enough to make one see red. And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."

German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:

Pastor defends frightfulness.

"We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."

"The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for the individual, but not too hard for this political structure (Staatsgebilde), for the destinies of the immortal great nations stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in Süddeutsche Monatsheft, "South German Monthly."

Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent eloquence?

This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:

PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.

Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us. St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us. Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.

After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words as these:

"The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the greatest institute for moral education in the world."

"The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston Stewart Chamberlain, in Kriegsaufsätze, "War Essays", 1914.

"We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."

II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.

The massacres described above were a part of the German system of frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians as hostages and for screens.

In discussing the use of hostages the German War Book (Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege) says:

Views of the German General Staff.

"By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *

"A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country."

Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In L'Interprète Militaire the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from these will illustrate the system which was employed.

A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are presented:

FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914.

"4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnée, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition.

Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.

"5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnée must immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fléron. September 6th, 1914, for the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until September 7th at midday.

"The life of these hostages depends on the population of the above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances.

"During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German time).

"6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear.

"7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to be taken first as hostages.

"8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * * show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats, or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by every means."

A PROCLAMATION BY VON BÜLOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914.

"1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany.

"The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every soldier found will be immediately shot.

"2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty, being shot.

"Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life.

Von Bülow takes hostages in every street.

"3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot.

"4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must be lights at three windows in every house.

"5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the life of its citizens by risings against the German Army.

"The Commander of the Town, "von Bülow. "Namur, 25th August, 1914. (Printed by Chantraine)."

PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914.

"September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * *

Hostages are made responsible for railroads.

"Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events take place—it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or not—will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway, telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot.

"Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph or telephone lines in a suspicious manner.

"The Governor General of Belgium,

"Baron von der Goltz, "Field-Marshal."

PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS.

"In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army.

"The General Commanding. "Rheims, 12th September, 1914."

Over 80 hostages in Rheims.

Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the least disorder," in the proclamation.

Hugh Gibson, in A Journal from our Legation in Belgium, page 184, explains what was likely to happen:

"Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster, the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a bit on account of the hostages."

STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL.

"Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages.

"Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and then we again set fire to the village.

"On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought to the village of Ste. Marie.

Hostages at Willekamm.

"Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut. Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners (tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they were to be killed.

"Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery, First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.)

The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans. This usage is illustrated in the following:

LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN.

"October 7, 1914.

Civilians used as screens.

"But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was immediately effective.

"The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot. The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when, toward 7 o'clock in the evening, the brigade advanced to the assault to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Dié had been cleared of the enemy.

"Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint Dié further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the middle of the street near the hospital."

"A. Eberlein, "First-Lieutenant."

Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten.

Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of seeking protection.

"No respect to the cassock."

"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men, burned 50 houses, and looted 100."

Hugh Gibson, in A Journal from our Legation in Belgium, page 155, gives another incident:

"Two old priests have staggered into the —— legation more dead than alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through."

STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS.

"At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German regiments or to make a screen before them.

Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.

"The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty. The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'

"An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.'

"These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer, burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent deputy and sheriff of Liége."

The above quotation is taken from An Appeal to Truth, addressed Nov. 24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.

"Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one, witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for life." Will Irwin, in Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.

III. FINES.

The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves to the following:

Germany's promises in Hague conventions.

"Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally responsible."

"Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the obligation of taking part in military operations against their own country."

German violations of Hague conventions.

The German authorities have violated these articles from the very beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In An Appeal to Truth Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases:

"Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of 20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact, upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes. The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had given way through wear."

In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914, the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid by the Belgian Provinces jointly.

Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the Appeal to Truth:

"The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear relation to the resources of the country, article 52.

Cardinal Mercier's comments.

"Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all law, being freely commandeered.

"It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed."

The crushing fine is increased.

The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy. In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of 40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month, in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.)

The German military rulers have also made the families responsible for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the following examples, which are quoted from the Appeal to Truth, cited above.

Family made responsible.

"The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * In case of disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally responsible."

"A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders the members of the family responsible if a Belgian fit for military service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland."

The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a proclamation declaring:

Villages made responsible.

"The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the inhabitants against our troops will be burned.

"For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., the villages in the neighborhood of the destruction will be held responsible.

"The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and without mercy. The whole community will be held responsible. Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will be levied."

At the end of the Appeal to Truth Cardinal Mercier says:

"But we can not say all here, nor quote all.

Cardinal Mercier has proofs.

"If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * * we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in the four annexes [to the Appeal to Truth], one allegation of which we have not the proofs in our records."

A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State Department archives tell the story. They need no comments.

"Paris, Oct. 27, 1914. "Secretary of State, "Washington.

"Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following case be submitted to the President:

The case of Sissonne.

"Prince states that General von Bülow for weeks has been inhabiting Prince's ancestral château near Rheims, historical monument, containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Bülow has imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne some miles distant from château, because broken glass found on road near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand francs but von Bülow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the château and adjoining village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first. Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because of refusal to pay.

"I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's threatened property is in France.

"Herrick."

"Army Headquarters, "Warmériville, Sept. 19th, 1914. "To the Mayor of the Commune of Sissonne, "Sissonne.

Von Bülow's levy on Sissonne.

"It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50 metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic.

"I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred thousand francs).

"This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by October 15th.

"The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to enforce execution of this order.

"The General Commander in Chief of the Army.

"Von Bülow."

LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR.

"Monaco, Oct. 22nd, 1914. "Sire:

"I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave and urgent matter.

Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.

"The General von Bülow has caused to be occupied since one month and a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of October.

"That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45 years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work.

"In reply to the summons of the General von Bülow I have given my word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Château de Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction.

"I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin,

"Albert, Prince of Monaco."

LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BÜLOW.

"Monaco, Oct. 22nd, 1914. "General:

"To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne.

"As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle.

Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.

"My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Château de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims—when no reprehensible action has been committed there—the whole world will judge between you and myself.

"I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard.

"Albert, Sovereign Prince of Monaco."

IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR.

Advance in humanity—until August, 1914.

Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as 1863, in the Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field the United States declared:

United States treatment of civilians, 1863.

"22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms. The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the exigencies of war will admit.

"23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war.

"24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and still is with uncivilized people, the exception."

German Government's reversion to barbarism.

These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War—one of the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than 50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies and their own flesh and blood.

No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been broken up. Girls have been carried off to work—or worse—in a strange land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or what their fate has been.

This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France.

The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the reader easily to grasp the connection of events.

BELGIUM.

"The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing, single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium." Vernon Kellogg, in Atlantic Monthly, October, 1917.

A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum of repetition.