The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-02-26

fireman, Twentieth january, 1915.
Editor Of Hawaiian Gazette and
n Pacific Commercial Advertiser,
Honolulu 1880 ~, &
Dear STR iV
n IN the fssus % the Hawaiian Ga
zette', dated December 18th, 1914, you
have published letter addressed by
a Belgian woman 70 a friend IN Ho-
n6st1u IN rekard 70 the European war,
which contains SO many false accusa-
tiuns, against the German army, that I
cannot let. the sams pass without con-
tfadiction, more especially as you HAYS
seen ut to provide the letter with q
nuiibef of very sensational headlines.
In the first instance the lady left
Rrugcs,- city Of about $4,000 inhabit-
ants, situated not far from the Belgian
coast, IN the beginning Of October, and
has come IN no contact with any Ger
man troops whatever. AL her state
ments are therefore based on hearsay
and repafts from pahiesstricken people
or publications in Belgian Newspapers,
which have shown an utter disregard
Tor truth when dealing with the Ger
man army. 81 -, s
Statement Preposterous
rHer statement, that 'the Germans
have plundered Belgium in most ,aw-
/, fRi Nayy so stkad there are ow m
tcfties and even fewer villages, that all
have been bombarded,l a,nI, pliaagSu,
/ thatl thot&nRls Sdf inhabitdnts have
Heen ,inass4oieA aud women and child
Z rem INITIATED us simply pfeposterous.
! War, of course; is terrible thing and
Riany no1-combAtaRts are bound to snf.
; fer from lit, but the German troops are
too well known for their discipline to
be guilty Of snch conduct II must
be born, in mind, that the German
troops have been attacked by Belgian
inhabitants from ambush and in any
other conceivable manner, as soon as
I. they crossed the Belgian frontier;
kwouHdea German soldiers have been
| tortured and mutilated and other most
atfoeious eruelties have been perpet-
rated, not TO speak of the awful treat
ment accorded to defenceless German
women and children at Brussels and
Antwerp before the beginning Of the
war. 1t can therefore cause no sur.
prise if the German military authorities
felt constrained TO punish in d very
severe manner all those Belgiahs, who
failed 20 observe. the rules OF civilized
warfare. Wherever the Belgian inhab.
.itants behaved in peaceable and pre-
. per manner, no harm was done to them,
as confirmed by the American war-cOr.
respondent j. o. Dohnel Bennett, and
others. @ - g. .',. " -
Little Damage Done 49,
Brussels, Bruges, Gent, and many
other cities have practically remained
intact, and Antwerp would have suf,
fered little by the siege, if at the Last
moment the English commander had
Enot prevented the civil authorities
from surrendering, before the lombard,
ment of the city was TO commence, in
order to get time FOR the hasty retreat
fof the English and Belgian troops, As
Is was, very little damage was done
bowever.N Several other places have
Suffered during the course of the wal
by the commandment of the Belgian
and English troops as Wen as German
artillery. f.
HIt Is very unfortnate, that so many
Belgian non-eombatants had been sup
piled with arms, and that these had
been instigated by the authorities to
attack the German soldiers as soon a
10 fayorable opportunity should Offer
Furthermore and this point CANNOT
be brought out strongly enoush-that
the Belgian authorities and newspapers
II spread the-report all over the country
\ (alsO confirmed by the Belgian lady
in her letter above referred tel that al
4 the people would be killed by the Ger
nah soldiers, as this is largely re
sponsible for the great panic showr
by the population upon the approach OF
the German troops, causing the people
to commit crimes against the GeFmar
soldiers, or TO, flee from their house,
in great distress, ard to submit them
selves unnecessarily to great sufferings
Thus hundreds of thousands of thes,
poor deluded people have fled to IioI
land, France and England, from Ant
\ werp and other cities, and have now t;
be supported by charity ..
ain this cohnertion ] he" ~ MON
ton, tlIat, according to the Testimony
given by French, Russian and lndiaI
prisoners, and otherwise obtained
these soldiers had been informed before
going into battle, that they would b.
executed If falling irto the hands o.
the Germans. which may possible hav'
Increased their fighting quality, bu
can hardly be conducive TO human
warfare. '#s e.. ~
n "The German authorities Ia Relgfun
are doing everything in their power t,
T., ~ uutht 81 litH Ftl