The Sentinel=record., 1914-08-02
SAYS my VILLAGE"
WAS PUBLIC LIBEL
CARRICATURlST IN BERLIN SEN
FENCED TO ONE YEAR
IMPRISONMENT
Cheers for the Emperor, Says the
Writer, Are Feigned in Some In
stances, and Like the Cry Of Beasts
In Others.

Berlin, Aug Johann JakOb Waltz
an artist and caricaturist, has just
been sentenced to one years impris-
onment by the Imperial Supreme
Court for melting class hatred and
libelng public officials, particularly
the gendarmes and school teachers
of AlsaceI1 orraine. The offen5es
were contained in a book entitled MY
Village" which was published some
months ago in France, but has been
sold extensively in the Reichsland
and other portions of Germany.
The case throws some light upon
the existence among a part of the po-
pulation of Alsace4Iarraine of hatred
for Germany and to their ardent hope
some day to be reunited TO France.
1t also aids one to comprehend some
of the administrative difficulties with
which the government of the province
has to contend, for Waltz, who writes
under the pen name of Hansi, has
been a mouthpiece of the Nationalist
Of the Reichsland, and there are many
others of his stamp. Waltz had al
ready published one book whose sale
in AsaceI orraine was made penal
offense because of it's anti-German
tendency, and he is the author of
hundreds of caricatures of Germans,
German officials and institutions.
, Withal he is. as the name indicates,
born German, and he declared upon
trial that he was not inimical to Ger
many. 1t was, he declared, merely
the manner in which the Reichs.and
was administered THAT he was op.
posing
Striking passages from the book,
MY Village" which is written in
French, were read before the court.
Some of them follow:
Even though we were humbled by
the brutal law of the conquerors, it
seems as if the acts of injustice
against us are too heavy, that our
sorrows are too great to make it pos
sible that they should endure for
ever. In our ears ring ever the sa-
cred charges of our fathers to demand
our rights as Alsatians and Lorrain-
ers and to remain members of the
/ French nation. The gendarme makes
an excursion with his family. The
babe in the babe-wagon wears a spiked
Prussian helmet. Wherever the gen
darme shows himself the children and
the birds stop singing. The most
beautiful festal day for the Alsatians
| If Ernnph
Then they all make a trip to Nancy,
and at night, when the gendarme
sleeps, they return home. Their wa
CONS bear French flags. The Asa
tian village lies peaceful in the night
Far off one hears the cannons OF a
German fortress. 1t is the cannons of
Bitsch. Our oppressors know that on
" steel can hold what they have
won with steel. but the Alsatian,
full of faith in France, hears also the
echo of a French cannon, and says
to himself: cover the border too, they
are keeping watch
J THE German tourists go arrogant
: ly through the village like parvens
their noses high in the air, in order
to make us forget whence they came.
They complain increasingly and are
satisfied with nothing. They destroy
the harmony of the landscape with
their lack of taste"
Other passages praise the French
tourists and declare that the Alsatian
children instinctively love them. The
children pledge each other not to join
: in cheers for the German Emperor
but only to open their mouths, so as
} to make the authorities think they are
cheering. When loyal Germans, COM
ing from some celebration in honor of
the Emperor, go through the village
cheering, the real Alsatians have diff
, ficulty in preserving their eqoanimity.
/ Until late in the night these cheers
! for the Emperor are heard, sounding
= like the bowls of wild beasts"
) The court at Colmar. before which
; the prosecution of Waltz was begun,
declared that my Village" afforded
! sufficient basis for a prosecution for
} high treason. Therefore the case was
sent to the Supreme Court, which
/ alone has jurisdiction in such pro-
: ceedings. The states attorney at
+ 14eipsic allowed the charge of high
5 treason to fall and the prosecution
| was had only for libel and Indictment
= to class hatred.
3 The court granted Waltz three
+ days in which to take farewell of his
r relatives. He promptly took farewell
8 | of GERMANY and IL is probable that
t he will not return. Doubtless this is
exactly what the prosecution was hop
g ing for, as it means the forfeiture of
z Waltz bail of $6,250 and that Ger
+ many will henceforth be rid of him.
: