The Washington times., 1915-04-28
GERMAN SOLDIER IS
L|KENED TO DERV|SH
Kitchener Tells Lords British
Prisoners Are MaItreated.
Shot by Captors.

LONDON. April 2-Earl Kitchener,
war secretary, in a speech In the house
OF lords, declared that Germany in her
treatment Of prisoners had stopped to
acts of wanton cruelty.1
Germany has for many years posed
before the civilized world as great
military nation" said Earl Kitchener.
She has abundantly proved her mill
tary skill and courage But surely II
was also for her to set up a standard OF
military honor which would gain the
respect II not the friendship of nations'
Instead, she has stopped to acts that will
surely stain indelibly her military his
tory. and which would vie with the bar
barous savagery Of the dervishes Of the
Soudan."
He continued:
Il have been forced. with reluctance,
to accept as indisputably true the mall
treatment by the Germany army Of
British prisoners. The Hague conven-
ton has been fiagrantly disregarded by
German officers. Our prisoners have
been stripped and maltreated in various
goes to prove that they have been shot
in cold blood. Our officers, even when
wounded. have been wantonly insulted
and frequently struck"
Proof of Inhumanity.
Earl Kitchener said that, as a soldier.
he hitherto always had held officers Of
the German army in respect. but "con-
stant testimony that has come in, not
only from our own escaped prisoners.
but from French, Russian, Belgian, and
American sources. has brought 1t home
to all who have sifted the evidence that
the inhumanity displayed by the Ger
man authorities, toward British pris-
oners especially, Is beyond doubt
The secretary quoted articles from the
conventions adopted at The Hague re.
lating to the treatment of prisoners or
war and asserted that they had been
disregarded f1agrantly by German ofh-
GERS. He added:
Il think it only fair and right to say
excepted in any charges of deliberate
inhumanity. There have been indica-
tions of lamentable lack of medical
Skill and, in individual cases of neglect
and of indifference to suffering on the
part of hospital orderlies. On the other
hand, there are statements from prison.
ers who have been released as incapacl-
tated that their experience In the hos
pitfalls did not form any ground for spe-
cial complaint.
Suffered Want of Food.
Treatment Of prisoners in the de-
tention camps In Germany varies con-
siderably according to locality Our
men in most cases suffered from the
want Of food, and have received diff
ferential treatment as compared with
their French and Russian comrades,
and many acts Of violence have been
complained Of. Latterly. however there
does appear to be slight improve
ment in some respects. due perhaps to
visits Of inspection made through the
American ambassador.
Recently some Of our officers have
been subjected to solitary confinement
in retaliation for the supposed treat
ment of Germans in this country. The
Hague convention does not admit OF
except as an Indispensable measure of
safety
Asquith Wants ReparatiOn.
Speaking in commons Premier Asquith
said:
ut is a horrible story from every
point of view-one Of the blacklist
spots on even German methods of war
My object in rising is to say with all
emphasis and all deliberation, that We
shall not forget that we ought not to
forget, this horrible record Of calcu-
lated cruelty.
I'VE shall. at the end of this war,
hold it to be our duty to exact such
proved to be guilty agents in this mat
ter as it may be possible for us to
intiict. l do not think we would be
doing our duty. either to those brave,
unfortunate men, or to the honor of
our country, or to the plain dictates
Of humanity. If we should be content
with anything less than that"