Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-13

is dened. Obedience to the state ind
its war lord leaves no room for any
other duty or feeling. Cruelty becomes
legitimate when 1t promises victory
Proclaimed by tho hands of the army
this doctrine would seem to have per-
mcated the officers. and affected even
the private soldiers, leading them to
justify the killing of noncombatants
as an act OF war. and so accustoming
them to slaughter that even women
and children become at last the vic
! Tins. 1t cannot he supposed to be n
national doctrine. for 1t neither springs
from nor reflects the mind and feelings
OF the German people as they have hero
tofore been known to other nations. II
Is specifically military doctrine. tho
outcome OF theory held by a ruling
caste who have brooded and thought
war until they have fallen under it's
obsession and been hypnotized by it's
spirit.
, The doctrine is plainly set forth in
the German Official Monograph on tho
usages OF war on land. issued under the
direction OF the German stan. This
book Is pervaded throughout by the
View that whatever military needs
suggest becomes thereby lawful, and
upon this principle. as the diaries show,
the German officers acted.
IF this explanation be the true one,
the mystery is solved. and that which
seemed scarcely credible becomes moro
Ineligible. though not less pernicious
This is not the only case that history
records In which a false theory, dis
. guising itself as loyalty to state or.
TO church, has perverted the concep-
ton OF duty and becomes a source Of
danger to the world"
Another division OF the report Is on
tho killing of noncombatants in
France. This Is not as detailed as the
case or Belgium. as tire committee
states that the French official report
gives the most complete account as
| TO the invaded districts in France 1t
adds:
The evidence before us proves that
In the parts Of France referred to muir
der OF unoffending civilians and other
acts OF cruelty. including aggravated
cases OF rape. carried out under threat
or death. and sometimes actually fol-
| lowed by murder of the victim, were
committed by some Of the German
| troops"
CHAPTER on TREATMENT
OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
special chapter Is given to the
treatment OF women and children
| The latter. 1t Is said, frequently re-
ceived milder treatment than the men.
But many instances are given of cal
culated cruelty. often going the length
of murder. towards the women and
u,
and children were herded into the
church which had recently been used
as stable, detained for forty-eight
hours with no food other than course
bread. and denied the common decen-
cies OF life. I'm other cases women and
children were marched for long dis
tances. the laggards being pricked by
the uhlans. A lady complains of hay-
ing been brutally kicked by a private
others were struck with the butt end
OF rifles. AT Liege women and
children were chased about the streets
by soldiers. witness gives story,
very circumstantial in Its details, of
| how women were publicly assaulted in
the market place of the city. five young
German officers assisting" Another
witness tells of a carousel Of officers.
at which the woman of the house was
shot dead and her husband then COM
| PEELED to dig grave In the garden
and there bury his wife. The report
| goes on:
I'm the evidence before us there are
cases tending to show that aggravated
crimes against women were sometimes
severely punished. One witness report,
that a young girl who was being pur-
sued by drunken soldier at Louvain
appealed to German officer. and that
| the offender was then and there shot.
| another described how an officer of the
Thirty-second Regiment of the line wa.
led out to execution for the violation
OF two young girls. but reprieved at
| the request or with the consent of the
! girls mothers. These instances are
sufficient to show that the maltreat-
ment of women was no part Of the
military scheme OF the invaders, how
ever much 1t may appear to have been
the inevitable result of the system OF
terror deliberately adopted in certain
regions
I'm this tale OF horrors hid locus forms
| or mutilation occur with some fro
quency In the dispositions. two of which
| may be connected in some instances
| with a perverted form of sexual in
stinct.
We find many well-established cases
or the slaughter GOTTEN accompanicd
| by mutilation) of whole families, in
Guiding not infrequcntly that of quite
SINAI children In two cases II seems
TO be clear that preparations were
maze 10 burn family alive These
crimes were committed over period
or many weeks and simultaneously in
many places. and the authorities must
nave known or ought to have known
that cruelties OF this character were
oelng perpetrated. nor can any one
doubt that they could have been STONED
by swift and decisive action on the
part OF the heads Of the German
CHILDREN USED AS SCREEN
., AGAINST THE ENEMY
1T Is clearly shown that MANY
onenses were committed against infants