The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1915-08-20

lest. For should Verdun fall into the
hands Of the German army, the road
to Paris would lead the victorious
army to the capital city in very few
days, and the beautiful suburbs of
Paris would be once again in the hands
Of the enemies of France.
/ shudder when i think of the de-
stluction wrough in the Fouburgs of
that great city by the brutal forces of
! William w Of Prussia in 1870. Not only
were the priceless art treasures de-
stroyed or carried away by vandal
hands, but palaces, rich with the glory
of past centuries, were transformed in
to stables by the crude troopers Of the
East Prussian provinces; cathedrais
the pride of the whole world, around
which clustered memories of the Re-
formation, were destroyed and the
torch applied indiscriminately.
It was Sherman who said, when up
raided about the wanton destruction
Of property in the south land war,
"War Is He'll" and wonder if the
English language has words that
would describe the wanton destruction
of property at the siege of Paris. Thus
the people of the French metropolis
saw their fine suburbs crumble day
by day, their homes pillaged and their
womanhood insulted by so-called Ger
man "Kultur."
Similar outrages on a vastly larger
scale are charged to the Kaiser's
troops in the present campaign. Let
us hope that they will prove without
foundation after a careful, unbiased in
vestigation. Still, no one can success
fully defend the atrocious treatment
meted out to Belgium and Eastern
France, treatment which crowds the
boasted "Kultur" back into the crude
barbarism of the middle ages. It
will never be forgotten by fair-minded
critics, that a German official state
ment attempted to cover up the mex
cusable brutal treatment, of a neutral
nation. by saying that "the only means
of preventing surprise attacks from
the civil population is to interfere with
relentless severity, and to create ex-
amples which by their frightfulness
would be warning to the whole coun-
try" 1t was this spirit of revenge
that led to the destruction of Belgian
cities, similar to the devastation that
was wrought in France in 1870; and
whether the civil population fired up
on the Germans or not, the whole
world stands awe-struck before the
shocking spectacle Of ruined Belgium.
No other nation laying claim to high
civilization has been guilty of similar
outrages, and the dreadful calamity
which has befallen that little kingdom
can only be duplicated in history by
the pillage and destruction of Mode
burg, in 1881, at the hands of the in
famous Tillv the greatest outlaw in
his day.
The only excuse offered by German
'apologists for her unprecedented cruel
ty in the present war, and her destruc-
tion of unfortifed cities, spoilation of
famous cathedrals, the taking of in
nocent lives of women and children, is
that the other nations would have done
the same if the fortune of war had
opened way into Germany.
! read an article not long ago by |
such an apologist, in which he stated
that Germany is only revenging her
self for the injury wrought when
Louis XIV assaulted Heidelberg and
Nuremberg in the war Of the 18th
century. Should we allow this to
stand as the view of the German ma
tion, her boasted culture will fall into |
decay and oblivion.
1t is farce to call Germany the
preserver of the European peace, for
it is evident by their unpreparedness
that no nation in Europe had any de-
sire to attack the dear Fatherland. |
That the Kaiser wanted this war, plan
ned for it, there can be no doubt for |
the man who has studied anti-bellum
history. 1t must be remembered that |
when the Kaiser applied for a war
loan to the bankers of Germany a few
years ago, for the purpose of building
a navy which would command the |
respect of the world, a protest was
made, backed by he statement that the
finances of Germany were in no shape
to admit of such move; to which his |
Imperial highness replied, "The next |
time shall call, want you to be |
ready to grant my request" Does |
such statement crown him with the /
laurel wreath as the preserver and ad-
vocate Of universal peace?
It will be easily seen that the boast-1
ed German "Kultur" has sadly depart
ed from her former idealism to mere |
militarism, based upon the Darwinian
theory of evolution; the destruction of |
the weaker by the stronger, or in very
plain English-Germany, the World
Judging from the history of the past,
such theory would have for it's con-
sequences the abolishing of all moral
obligations to mankind, changing the
text of the Sermon on the Mount into
a farcical comedy. The great war
lord of Europe and his advisers. for |
can not believe that the masses are in
sympathy with the military machine,
would teach us a new translation of |,
the beatitudes:
Blessed are the strong in military
genius, for they shall inherit the
earth! n
Blessed are the naughty in spirit,
for theirs shall be the kingdom!