The Cairo bulletin., 1912-05-08
KAISER FORCES
Army OFFICERS
TO FIGHT DUFLS
"Fish. or Resign is Unwriltcn
Law Of German Army
Officers

t1'is bit or resign Tie urwrit.c1
law OF the Kaiser compelling as
ericved Officers to defend themselves
in q duel, has sent two men il the
German army to their death within
the last fortnight This, TOO, jast
as tho heated eithstag debates.
which bitterly denounced the cuctom
upheld ty the Kaiser. had closed
Duell.ng must go, Is the cry of the
people; duelliag must stay, Is the r.,
ply OF their ruler, Once more, then,
Germany is at odds with It's Kaiser,
at odds over question that Ger
many has debated for centuries.
Famous as is France for its hlstorl-
cal 'eombats Of honr. France paias
in the light OF the Teuton's rnt ord ,
Daellinc as duclling is today u1-
| dcrstood. was born with the Ccr-
mans. History is replcta with the
ducts Of the Romans: but the con
tests Of the Roman sladiator8 Wee
| not like the dlcls of today. Romans
| fought not as a rcans Of dc,e1se
but to afford bloody spcctlclcs to au
! eliminate, degenerate and blood
thirsty people
Germans FRS Duellists
| DuelliQg was unknown to tie civ
| ilized races of antiquity, but was
prevalent among the Germans and
Gauls, as the historical romaDccs re.
late, in the earliest ages Germany
was not civil aed then, but 80 firmly
rooted had the custom become that
the Germans retained it after the l
conversion. The law OF the Ger.
mans permitted the duel and with
very few exceptions the old German
laws mention the judicial duel as ;
LEGAL ordeal THIS followed a two
fold conviC ton 1t believed, first
that God could not allow the limo
cents 70 be defeated in a duel
hence it was held that the guilt,
party would not dare primarily t,
appeal to the judgment of God il
proof Of his innocence and then en-
ter the field under the weight Of per
jury; secondly, the fear Of the ri
vine wrath would discourage bin
and make victory impossible. A.
early as the fifth century the churcI
took earnest appeal against tn
above mentioned laws, and in Franc
where the custom was spreading
the state denounced duclling as a.
unnecessary evil
Edict of 1908.
In 1908 an edict against duellint
vas issued by Henry ". of France
Whoever killed his opponent in
duel was to be punished with death
severe penalties were also enacte
against the sending OF a challeng
and the acceptance of the same. In
fortunately, transgressors agains
this law were generally pardoned
IN 1926, during the reign of Henry
successor. Louis XIII the law
against duelIing were made NOR
stringent, and were strictly carrie
out. notwithstanding these meas
ures the custom of dueling increas
ed aiarmingly in France. The grea
number of French noblemen who fe
in duels about the middle of the seV
anteenth century is shown by tn
statement of the contemporar
writer, Theopile Raynaud, that with
IN thirty years more men OF ran
r had been killed in duels than woul
have been needed to make up an en-
! tire army.
II Fall Into Disuse.
The more the judicial combat fe
II into disuse, the more the old lnstlnC
, of the Germanic and Gallo people
by which each man sought to gal
his rights with weapon in hand
| showed itself in personal contest
and at tournaments. From the mid
die Of the fifteenth century duellin
over questions of honor increase
90 greatly. especially in the Re
nance countries, that the Counc
r Of Trent was obliged TO enact tn
severest penalties against It, 1t dc
! creed that "the detestable custom c
! Iuelling which the Devil had orig
mated, in order to bring about at tn
same time the ruin OF the soul an
The violent death Of the body, sha
be entirely uprooted from Christ'a
ioil. !" 1t pronounced the severeS
i, ecclesiastical penalties against thos
princes who should permit duellln
between Christians in their terri
tory.
Severely Criticized.
In other countries, too. sever
| measures wore taken against the cor