The Irish standard., 1914-12-12

simply because there were women and
children on board. Or can it be called
neutrality possibly, when Belgium in
sists upon her neutrality as regards
Germany only, but in regard to France
and England appears as an ally? Be-
lieve this: il the French instead of
the Germans had been the first to
reach Liege, no one, either in France
or in England, would have taken the
faintest notice of it. That the French
did not get there first was only owing
to the excellence of the German rail-
way service, which accomplished the
mobilization with such extraordinary
celebrity and accuracy, and not in the
least to Frances respect for Belgian
neutrality.
When, however, we Rhinelanders
read of the atrocities committed by
the Germans in Belgium, we ask our.
selves whether the world has turned
suddenly topsy-turvy. You, over there,
get news by way of England and
France. We, close to the border, hear
with our own ears, and see with our
own eyes. 1t is most certain that
atrocities have been committed in
Belgium, most horrible barbarities,
atrocities that the Belgian government
has every reason to conceal, atrocities
that remind one of the 3O-years' war,
or of bloody stories of savage North
American Indians. But these horrors
TOOK place before a single German
soldier had had chance to do harm
In any Belgian city. They were com
mitted upon unarmed and HELPLESS
fugitive German women and children,
Thousands of Germans were settled in
Antwerp and Brussels, many had been
there for years and all were quiet
and industrious permanent citizens.
They were left no time to secure their
possessions, in many cases they were
not even permitted to use the railway,
but hundreds and thousands of these
helpless and harmless unfortunates
were given over to the fury of de.
luded mobs. Their houses were plum.
dered and destroyed before a German
soldier had even set foot in any Bel
glan city; abused, bleeding, torn, plum.
dered, sometimes their children even
dying, so they came across the border.
Have we Rhinelanders no eyes, have
we no ears? Have we not read in
the papers for weeks the long lists of
missing, those who have disappeared
during this disgraceful mobbing? Have
not these men, peaceful and law-abid-
ing citizens, been searching for weeks
for relatives, wives, children, sisters,
VINO have been prosecuted and abused
most cruelty long before German sol.
diers entered Belgium? Where was
the voice of civilization? Was it 81.
lent when the women and children
were German?
And our wounded. Have we not
seen in our hospitals helpless, wound.
ed soldiers with their eyes gouged out
by Belgian fiends? And our surgeons.
whose threats have been treacherous.
~ cut as they leaned over the wound.
ed? Heaven knows we are ready
enough to acknowledge the valor Of
the Belgian troops, but these hideous
cruelttes Of the rabble against HELPLESS
women and children and dying and
wounded men show sorry kind of
courage.
l have read an indignant protest
against the burning of Louvain. The
Belgian rabble which drove our well.
disciplined troops to such severe meas.
ures cannot regret this last necessity
as keenly as do we German citizens
and soldiers. That it should have
been Louvain, of all cities, must be q
matter of regret to all cultivated ma.
lions, although it has long since been
proved that the reports of the total
destruction" of the city have been
greatly exaggerated. But why this
double-faced assumption of virtue?
How would it have been had the p]an
OF the Anglo-French invasion succeed.
ed, IT Germany with its rich treasures
OF art and architecture had been over.
whelmed by the triple attack? Would
that have been SO very different!
Many Americans know the Rhine
know Cologne with it's beautiful
churches. A fortnight after the decla
ration of war, I read in the heart Of
quietly busy Cologne the follewine
English report: Cologne is com
pletely destroyed. The inhabitants are
fleeing towards Dusseldorf in wild
panic" Such news is ludicrous when
one happens to be in the very place
and In a province where the only for
eign uniforms visible are those worn
by the unwounded prisoners, French
Belgians. Zouaves and English, tina,
are passing through. But If the burn
ing of Louvain is, according to Eng
lish opinion, crime against civiliza
ton, why then celebrate the presumed
destruction of Cologne, equally antiqu.
and venerated, as glorious deed Of
arms? Is that SO entirely different?
We Germans know and venerata I'll.