The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-27
A LETTER.
A "Tu Quoque' Defence Of German
Conduct in the War.

To THE EDITOR OF THE suN-Si-. The
anonymous assailant of Germany whose
contribution appeared In THE Sun of
July Is endeavors to have the last
word by the simple expedient of stat
Ing that he neither expects nor de-
sires a reply. II you will grant me
space in your columns I shall endeavor
to show TX. Y. a." that he has mis-
calculated.
1t must indeed be q simple mind who
accepts as gospel truth the evidence
submitted by Mr.. Bryce. England. the
accuser, proves its case by reiteration
OF Its accusation. Gcrmany's denial Of
the atrocities Of which she has been
accused Is dismissed in toto. Simple.
isn't III
But why does no one listen to the
words of neutral observers2 There were
enough Of them whose honesty Is un-
Improbable. Why is It necessary to
pay the slightest attention TO the report
Of a commission which made an 'in-
v~estigation" far removed from the scene
Of the alleged atrocities In Belgium. nine
months after the commlttal Of the al
legged crimes. when plenty OF time had
elapsed to cook up evidence? Why will
not the American people listen to the
testimony OF American citizens who were
on the ground. who followed In the
tracks of the armies accused OF these
atrocities? Why not listen to Mr..
Thompson. American Consul at AK
la-Chapelle. and the gentleman repre-
senting the Chicago Tribune, to Mr.. s.
II. Paradise OF the American Relief
Commission in Belgium and to Mr.. Irwin
Cobb. the eminent American writer and
speaker. whom / myself have heard,
on the lecture platform. say hat for
three weeks he had gone up and down
through Belgium and had not found one
OF the women who were violated, had
not seen one OF the children whose hands
were amputated. not one Of the wounded
soldiers who were robbed and mutilated.
When he was in Liege the atrocities
had happened in Namur. when In Namur
in Louvain. and in Louvain he found
the man whose cousin had heard that
terrible atrocities had been perpetrated
In Liege.
In fact. OF all the Americans who have
been In tho sphere OF German operations
in Belgium and who have had op-
portunities to gather accurate informa-
ton, there is not one who has reported
anything derogatory to the conduct OF
the German troops. anything which Is
not sanctioned By the common usages OF
war. The evidence OF the Hon. Bryce
Is about as valuable as the Information
6A''Ni ~ nv ~ AAHht " = Nv
English nobleman to an American
friend that late last summer he saw
with his own eyes the trains carrying
through England the 10000 Russian
troops Just LANDED from Archangel. OF
course he saw the trains. but rs yet
the Russians haven't materialized in
the western arena.
! do not say that all the millions Of
German soldiers under arms are angels.
h,tN Az fAAl GttNn shat ~, rpNx al
representing all classes OF n nation
Whose high moral standing has never
previously been assailed must necessar-
lily be OF "A higher standard than those
whose ranks are leavened by black and
brown savages.
In any war passions are aroused and
harsh measures follow. Wasn't 1t Eng
n that used dumdums against the
very people she Is now sending against
the Germans? Who has yet forgotten
the tales Of the South African conccntra-
ton camps What about the murderous
bands OF "franc-tireurs' idolized by the
French people in 1870? Wasn't 1t an
Englishman who reused the worlds IN
dignation with his exposures OF Bel
gian atrocities In the Congo? What
about the horrors OF Siberia and the
''pogrom" at Kishineff" All these have
been established as matters OF history
on n mucn nrmer DdslS IMAM the tNl-
dcnce supporting the accusations against
Germany. ! am not a lawyer, but II
seems to me ! hay heard IT said that
the accWer must come TO the bar with
clean hands.
True. civilians were killed In Scar
borough. but go were they in F~reiburg,
Schlettstadt and Karlsruhe. True. tho
Germans rejoiced when the first news
paper reports advised that the LUST
tania had been torpedoed and bcached
on the Irish coast. but | have we. to
see the German who rejoiced over the
horror that followed.
In spite OF the fac, that ~. Y. r."
tells us that he needs no further in
formation In regard to Germany. he
shows that he Is uniformed when he
translates "Kultur" into culture and
'weltmacht" into world dominion" or
It's equivalent. II Is indeed difficult 10
argue with him on his statement that
Germany has never yet produced a great
thought or invention, Not TO know nc
great minds of Germany Is indeed to
argue oneself unknown and u~nknowine
In fact, those OF us who are familiar
with mathematical symbols might in
deed sec something significant in his
signature. IL Won NIrriNGHoFF.
WINCHESTER. Mas, July "a