The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-06-20

France could wait blu" we could not,
The wrong-I speak frankly--that
we are committing we Will endeavor
to make good as soon as our military
goal has been reached"
Again, / am compelled to wonder
whether any of you gentlemen are
aware of the fact that your Imperial
Chancellor himself made an appeal
for the good opinion of the American
people. which was published in the
American newspapers on August 18th,
in which he again acknowledges this
crime against Belgium in the fol-
lowing words:
Necessity forced us to violate the
neutrality forced us to violate the
promised emphatically to compensate
that country for all damage inflicted.
What will the good conscience OF
the German people say when, in spite
of it's passion in the rage of war,
it grasps the awful significance OF
the confession of its Imperial Chan
celIor. What necessity? Who would
ever have attacked you IL your EN-
nernr had not marched his troops
across the frontiers of his peaceful
neighbors? THE wrong that We are
committing" The wreck and ruin of
country that has done you no in
! jury, the slaughter of her sons. the
| expulsion of her King and govern
| ment, the blackmail of her substance.
| the destruction of her cities. with
| their happy homes, their beautiful
monuments Of historic times, and the
priceless works of human genius!
| An Open Confession.
I THE wrong that we are commit
/ ting" Worst of all, when the des-
/ perate and maddened populace. see
i ing their sons slain and their homes
! in flames. fired from their windows In
/ the last instinct of nature, your
/ troops, with barbaric ferocity. put
them to the sword without distinc-
| ton of age or sex! The wrong! Why
do you deny 1t against the shameful
acknowledgment of the official voice
of Germany? Oh, Doctor Sharper
4 if these conditions should ever be
reversed and these foreign soldiers
| should march through the streets Of
Berlin, would not you. would not al
of my ninety-three correspondents. Il
they saw their homes battered in ruin.
\ and their sons dead in the streets
| would not they too, fire from thefi
i windows upon the merciless invaders
III am sure / would do so! Wher
u our American troops were recentl,
dispatched to Mexico not to conquer
not make war, but to restore peact
L and good Order ana the authority %
law some OF the people of Vera CRU
fired at them from their windows, and
twenty-three of our young soldier
were killed. At last they fired bacl
at the sharpshooters, but they dix
/ not destroy the city. nor kill the In
I nocent and even those among TIT
sharpshooters who were captured wer'
not executed, but were admonishes
to good behavior. and set free.
4 almost wish that America had thu
II power and the will a 60 into Bel
giurn and France to thrust back thes'
wicked invaders and restore peAcs
1 and good order and the authority o.
law there. Such a power Is snrel,
going to be organized, one OF thes,
days, by the humane people Of al
1 the world and after that nation
which undertakes to prepare dealt
l and he'll for ali mankind as your m
tion has done during these past TWEEN
/ ty-five years. viii be restrained as Z
public enemy. Yet the gross savager,
4 that took us to Mexico Is mild indeed
when we compare It with the barbaris
/ destruction and murder that Is be-
Ing pursued by your troops In those
two countries.
Tesrihlce Indictment nj Germany.
/ If Germany liz not guilty. then. Doc.
j tor Schaper. In Gods name, why arr
| your armies IN belgium? Why ars
l they In France n you had waited
! until you ftad been attacked, yor