Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-03-06

Staff CORRESPONDENT in Europe of The Chicago Tribune

Why not think, IN this connection.
Of the three parlementaires which the
Germans sent to the French. request
ing them not to use the towers of the
cathedral as q point OF signaling to
the French batteries the effect OF
their fire? One OF these parlemen-
taires never came back. As final
warning the Germans blew down q
smokestack near the cathedral. and
when they finally opened on the tow
ers. so as to drive away the men who
were signaling. they used very thin
lshrapnel. Days later | saw the tow
ers still standing, and the statement
as to the parlementaires had from
German officers or high rank, In
whose speech found nothing to war
rant me In calling them liars offhand.
Why not think OF the art commits
sion headed by German priyy coun-
eilor and head OF on imperial museum
in Berlin, which Germany sent
through Belgium from Liege to Mons
to tabulate works OF art in churches
and converts within the zone of dan
ger and to remove them to places OF
safety not places Of safety In Ger
many, but places of safety In the Rue
Royale in BRUSSELS? And these
treasures when delivered there were
placed under the control not OF Ger
man but of Belgian cnrators.
Why not think Of the fact that. al.
most without exception, burgomasters,
cnrators OF museums, bishops and
priests worked Loyalty and frankly in
the cause OF art with the German
commissfon2
Why not think OF the fact that one
of the treasures they removed from
possible peril was Van Dyck's st
Martin Dividing His Cleak." q master
piece which, merely on the hasest
grounds, Is calculated to make an APP
peal to the cupidity OF an invader, for
its money value. so experts Say. lis not
less than ESQ 900.
AIRCRAFT PHASE or aNEW WAR"
At the opening OF the fourth para
graph OF yolirAS article yon ask the
question: Can any possible term
save q policy OF murder be applied
TO the, use OF aircraft by the Ger
mans p
You are speaking more especially
now of the dropping pf bombs on I'M
fortified cities by German aifmen, aud
you say that occasionally these men
have been 0bliging enough to drop
their cards as well as their bombs
And you add:
Il. see no reason why these .fcards)s
should not be used ii evidence against
them, or why they should not be hing
ed as murderers when they fan INTO
the hands Of the allies. I"
u am glad sir, that yotkAa re mot -.
British general, for 1t Is my cow Il tion
that II you gave orders Is you write
articles Won would add fresh horrors
to war. And also ii seems strange to
me that a publicist who so passionate.
" extenuates the Belgian franctireurs'
mad defiance of the laws Of war
should be so keen for reprisals against
German airmen who have done only
what English airmen have done. For.
sir, English airmen did drop bombs on
the unfortifed city Of Dusseldorf in
an attempt to destroy balloon sheds.
That attempt was only partially sue.
cessful, but the next morning the
Cologne Gazette described the long
night and the dropping ef the bombs
as "a brilliant feat and Said that Ger
man airmen would hope soon or late
to return the compli1hent of the visit
to Dusseldorf As q sporting pr0posi-
ton the incident made an Impression
which was not lost on the German
mind, and hearty recognition Of the
fact was made.
The truth is that aircraft are, like
automobiles, q phase Of the new VAT
and the world must Aeoei,t them II
the world is to continue Waffilig. The
principle OF war Is, as We all know,
to strike terror, physical and spiritu-
al, into your enemy. This the airmen
do with superlatiVe success. There
is, too, an ancient saying that war Is
most merciful when it IS Quickest, and
the operations Of airmen certainly ex-
pedite disaster and destruction.
TREATMENT or eELGiANs.
In your fifth paragraph you say:
AS to the treatment Of Belgium,
what has it been but murder, murder
all the way p and you add that 1T is
said that more civilians than soldiers
have fallen In Belgium.
/ should not be surprised IL that Sec
ond statement were true, There is a
reason why 1t should be. It would not
have been so. am confident, had the
populations of Ldege, of LOuyaiH, and
OF towns and villages lying between
Liege and Louvain kept their Obliga-
tiens as civilians, or, DOMINIC uni
forms, gone into the army as soldiers.
My observations in September and
again IN October in northern France
convinced me that the civil population
OF Belgium and not the Belgian army
was the principal cause Of Belgium's
woes.
For in France the German army en-
countered very few franctireurs, with
the result that there we're few in
stances of reprisal against citizens.
Village after village passed through
in the track OF the German army, and
nothing at all was destroyed. In
scores of inn parlors have sat while
German officers and priyates ate. The
fandlady and her daughters would go |
busily and politely about the serving
of food. and at the eld Of the meal
not only was the food sctupulbusly |
raid for hI1f fho 0frlaE yunafi6 sraraiva /