New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-22
Germany Continues to Violate the
Humanities as Well as the
Rules of War.


the spirit of savagery in war The ruin of that
beautiful monument Of mediava art is piece oil
vandalism which reduces German military methods
10 the level of those of the GOths and the Huns
Tho cathedral stood for seven centuries unmoles;d
nv the many armies which have made Northeastern
France their battle ground. To destroy it wan
tonly would have seemed sacrilege to the ora'aI
soldiery of the dark ages, when war was at IT'S
worst The crime of battering it to pieces was left
10 nation which boasts that it has mission to
impose its culture" on the rest of the world and
which describes the present war as war on rs
part for the protection of Western European civil
cation against 1.-THE semi-barbarous Muscoyite
In view of the storm of criticism aroused by the
destruction of Louvain, the German military au-
thorities might have been expected to deal gently
with Rheims. Wireless dispatches received yes
terday from Berlin say that orders were issued
to save the cathedral and such orders would have
been in harmony with the expressions OF regret
aver the Louvain outrages contained in the Kaisers
letter of September to President Wilson. 1t is
good to know that some real Germans over in Ger
many appreciate the enormity of the shock to civil
Ted sentiment involved in layin waste buildings
Of priceless value, which are, besides, specifically
listed for protection by.the rules of war Some Of
our own neutral commandments seem to re
gard the Kaiser's annoyance at the vandalism
practised by his soldiers as Over-squeamish and
.o-tL,, oe a roal "NYor ord From the columns
of the New Yorker Herod" of Yesterday we clip
this curt. unsympathetic comment on the destruc-
ton at Rheims: "The far-famed cathedral IN
Rheims has evidently suffered much through the
German bombardment but as the fortress and city
are essential to the success Of the German arms
tat least according to the view Of the German
General STAFF this reTettable event cannot be
considered in any other light but as one of the
unavoidable consequences of the present action"
When it comes to thick-and-thin militarism even
General Won Bernhard has nothing on some of our
ex-German fellow citizens.
The cannoneers at Rheims apparently followed
the theory of the New Yorker Herold' and disre
garded orders from Berlin. They must have made
a target of the cathedral, and in doing they
broke the rUes of war contained in the Hague
convention of October Is, 1907, just as hagrantly
as those coies were broken on various occasions
IN the earlier German operations in Belgium. It
is true thae Rheims is a fortified town, but it has
The recent n9ntng. The French did not try 10
defend it a couple of weeks ago when the German
forward movement was in progress. They are not
aow using its forts, for the simple that the
present German line runs inside the northern fort
dcations. Rheims itself has been an open city.
But even if it had remained fortified town in
the proper sense the Germans were bound under
Article XXVII of the rules of war to spare the
cathedral That article reads:
In sieges and bombardments all necessary step,
must be taken TO spare, far possible, buildings
dedicated to religion, art, science charitable pur
poses, historic monuments hospitals and places
where the sick and wounded collected, provided
that they are not being used at the time for military
purposes IL is the duty Of the besieged to indicate
the presence of such buildings places by dstinc
tive and visible signs which shall be notified to the
enemy beforehand
The Rheims Cathedral was being used as hos
pital and a place of detention for wounded Ger.
mau prisoners. 1t flew a Red Cross flag, which
must have been discernbe by the artillery officers
giving the range to the German batteries. 1t vas
also a famous Historic monument" and dedicated
to religion" If any building in a bombarded city
was ever entitled to immunity this cathedral was
1t stood out as a vast landmark and could not have
suffered materially unless the fire of the German
guns had been directed at it intentionally. Its
destruction cannot be regarded os 4 mischance, due
to ignorance Of its position and uses. 1t was, on
the contrary. direct violation of rules Of war laid
down in a general international treaty
The French protests cannot be dismissed as mere
lamentations over the inevitable ruin Of war They
rest ON legitimate grievance against Germany
We can imagine the Mortified protests which Ger.
mans would make if an allied army should wan.
tonly batter TO pieces the Cathedral of Cologne
The chief trouble with German militarsm has been
that II has never enteTtained the idea that Ger
many might have to suffer from the same terror