Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-05-13

tween civilized powers but they differ
rather in extent than In kind from what
had happened in previous. though not
recent. years.
Many German soldiers Intoxicated.
In all wars many shocking and out
rageous acts Of men Of criminal instincts
whose worst passions were Embossed by
the immunity witch the conditions Of
warfare afford. Drunkenness. moreover,
may turn even soldier who has no Grim
inal habits into a brute. who may COM
init outragcs at which ne would himself
be shocked in his sober moments, and
there is evidence that intoNicatiOn was
extremely prevalent among the German
army. both in Belgium and in France.
for plenty of wine was to be found In
the VILLAGES and country houses which
were PLACED Many Of the worst out
/ RACES appear TO have been pcrpetrated
/ by men under the influence Of drink.
Unfortunately. little seems to have been
done to repress this source Of danger.
killing OF civilians Deliberate.
In the present wa-. hovever-and this
l is the Eravcst charge against the German
army-the evidence shows that the kill
ing OF non-combatants was carried out TO
an extent for which nc previous war be
tween nations claiming to be civilized
/ (ror such cases as the atrocities perpc-
tratcd by the Turks on the Bulgarian
/ Christians in 1876. and on the Armenian
] Christians i'm 1895 and 1895. do not belong
TO that category furnishes any prece-
cent That this killing was done as part
OF a deliberate plan is clear from the
facts hereinbefore set forth regarding
( Louvain. Aerschct. 1pinant and other
. q, III
ders in each place. 1t began at Ger
tain fixed date. Some of the officers who
carried out the work did II reluctantly.
and said they were obeying directions
/ from their chiefs The same remarks APP
ply to the destruction OF property. House
/ burning was part Of the program, and
I villages. even large parts OF a city, were
gwen TO the flames as part of the ter
Iorizing policy.
/ Citizens of neutral states who visited
/ Belgium in December and January report
that the German authorities do not deny
/ that non-combatants were Systematically
killed in large numbers during the first
weeks of the invasion, and this. so far as
we know. has never been Officially de-
| MED If II were denied, the flight and
continued voluntary exile OF thousands
! Of Belgian refugees would go far to con-
/ tradiCt a denial, for there is no historical
parallel in modern times for tho flight
of a large part of a nation before an
invader.
Defense by Germany.
The German government has, how
ever sought to Justify their seventies on
the grounds of military necessity and
nave excused them as retaliation for
cases in which civilians fired on German
troops. There may nave been cases in
which such firing occurred, but no proof
has ever been given, or, TO our knowl-
edge. attempted to be given, Of such
cases nor Of the stories of shocking out
RACES perpetrated by Belgian men and
women on German soldiers"
Referring to a statement by the cham
cellor of the German empire on Septem-
Der 10. last. that Belgians had committed
| outraRes on the German soldiers, the
| committee says:
| mo evidence whatever seems to have
been adduced to prove this, and though
there may be cases in which individual
Belgians fired on the Germans, the state
ment that the whole civilian population
of Belgian was called out is utterly OPP
posed to the fact.
AN invading army may be entitled to
shoot at sight a civilian caught red
handed, or anyone who. though not
caught red-handed. is proved guilty on
inquiry But this was not the practice
followed by the German troops They do
not seem to have made any inquiry. They
seized the civilians of the village indis-
criminately and killed them. or such as
they selected from among them without
the least regard to guilt or innocence.
II. Anh
! chosen, was enough to hand over a
whole village or district. and even out
lying places, to ruthless slaughter.
I'VE gladly record the instances where
the evidence shows that humanity has
not wholly disappeared from some mem
bers OF the German army and that they
realized that the responsible heads of
that organization were employing them,
not in war. but in butchery; I am merely
executing orders, and should be shot II
I did not execute them. said an officer
to a witness at Louvain. At Brussels an
other officer said: I have not done one
hundredth part of what we have been
ordered to do by the high German mill
tary authorities
Committee at First IncreduIOus.
That these acts should have been
an unoffendng country which was not
at war with it's invaders, but merely de-
Tending its own neutrality. guaranteed
by the invading power, may excite amaze
ment and even incredibly 1t was with
amazement and almost with incredulity
that the committee first read the deposi.
lions relating TO such acts. But when
the evidence regarding Aerschot, Lou
vain, Andenne, Dinant and the other
towns and villages, the cumulative effect
Of such II mass of concurrent testimony
became irresistible, and we were driven
to the conclusion that the things de
scribed had really happened. The ques'
ton then arose how they could have hap
pened. Not mere military license, fol-
the discipline of the German army II
proverbially stringent, and its obedience
explicit. Not from any special feroclty
Of the troops, for whoever has Travelled
among the German peasantry knows thai
they are as kindly and good-natured al
any people in Europe, and those who
can recall the war or 1870 will remember
that no charges resembling those proved
by these dispositions were then estab-
lished. The excuses recently com
mitted in Belgium were, moreover, toe
widespread and too uniform in their
character 10 be mere sporadic outburstl
of passion or rapacity.