The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-07

such distribution shall be made for the benefit of the Belgian civil population. I believe the Germans would willingly con- sent to this, if they have not already con- sented, for it cannot be even to their own advantage that disease should be sown broadcast in Belgium and the entire in dustrial population decimated by famine.
 Germany Has a Heart Somewhere
 Indeed, as a matter of fact, MT. Whit lock, the American minister at Brussels, has made definite and official statement to the effect that he is satisfied by close Investigation on the spot that not an ounce of food sent in by the commission for relief is being appropriated by tho Germans It should. perhaps, be consid- cred that Germany has a heart some where. There are natural emotions in the mortal composition of a German as
 well as in a Frenchman or a Briton-dif- ferently strung, no doubt, and differently
 placed-but no man of any nationality
 whatsoever is made solely of blood and iron,' according to that hackneyed, catch
 penny phrase. which seems to have been coined by some tall-tallSing journalist. l am not one of the many who "thrilr' over the various sensational reports got ten up by the worlds press, whether such reports emanate from Great Britain or the Wolf Bureau I am as doubtful of statements circulated by British jour- nalism as of those which are unblushing- ly made in Germany
 Each newspaper proprietor has his own axe to grind, and not always does honesty or unsupplied patriotism have much to
 dc with the grinding. More mischief than can be easily calculated is caused by ir- responsible journalists who are allowed to print their wholly useless and unneces- sary personal opinion on this world , crisis Bismarck was wont to say: '"rhe ax f1A l.1
 have to pay for" and often such win dows are broken as can only be mended
 by bitter misunderstanding. When Ed ward the Seventh ascended the British throne he had something to say on one l occasion of 'the gentlemen of the press, ''
 and he expressed the hope that they would do their best to foster amity and good will between the British empire and other nations.'
 False Rumors Spread by the Press That the gentlemen" have not so ac- | quilted themselves is a sad and sober l fact, and in these very days of the most | terrific contest the world has ever seen, many of them show an unworthy eager
 ness to work up' suspicion and ill-feel-
 ing between the combating parties, rather
 than to hold the balance equably and
 with dignity. Insult, cheap sneers and vulgar testing are all out of place in the
 present tremendous clash of conflicting
 rowers. When the gods grasp their thun-
 derbolts 1t Is no time to listen to the chat terlng of apes.
 1 And when we are told by the irresponsi- blC journalist of more bottle horrors and
 outrages than seem humanly possible of
 occurrence, 1t does us good to learn, through plain, unvarnished fact conveyed
 in simply written, straightforward let I ters from brave men at the front and In | the firing iine," that, left to themselves | the Germans and their allied foes would
 be glad enough to play football together,
 if allowed, like healthy school boys, and l that even as it is they give each other cigarettes across the trenches-proof posi- | tive that when not acting under orders'' I they are human. normal and friendly and have no thirst for each others blood
 | l quote the following from letter of a l brave young Englishrnan serving in the | Third battalion of the Rifle brigade:
 "On Christmas morning some of us went out in front of the German trenches ard shook hands with them, and they gsve us cigars, cigarettes and money as l souvenirs. We helped them to bury theii | dead, who had been lying in the fields | for two months. It was a strange sight tn see English and Germen soldiers as well as officers shaking hands and chat. ting together. We asked them to play u. at football, but they had no time. I go into conversation with one who worked al 1 Selfridge's Tn London, and he said he wal very sorry to have to fight against us." | Reading this and various other letter: | of similar tone from men Ill the yer, thick of battle, all bearing ample testi mony to the same truth, I cannot believ, that the foe is so utterly a monster al to wish to see six million innocent peopl
 slowly starved to death, for such a dir business would serve his purpose little ct int sifyipp his iyv1u1 To f unpopularity.
 Privilege of SOftening War HorrOri 1 War Is war; and if. after all, civilization
 is so poorly advanced that war must stil play It's barbarous part in the world policy, then, O. course, there must b.
 exigencies of war which can neither b.
 ameliorated or minimized But the delib crate starvation of six million innocen human beings, more or less useful t,
 their klnd does not and cannot com under the head of military necessity. Therefore. 1t should be the proud privileg and duty of "neutrals' to do all that | possible to soften and mitigate the fear fu' conditions of life as at present live, in unhappy but undaunted Belgium.
 The commission for relief, acting fl London and comprising representative
 of the Spanish, Dutch and Italian em bassies as we'll as the American. has un dertaken a task which is almost hercu lean. Work as they willard there 1 no pause and no shirking-it Is like cop ing with the waves of an engulfing sea The needs of the people become nor
 urgent every< day that the fierce tug-of
 war grows closer and more insistent Great Britain has found 1t imperative t stop the importation of grain into Bel girm. and all this is coupled with the fac that under The Hague convention tn German army has. the right to requisitio
 food supplies And is not boond (sav
 morally) to feed the enemy's population
 Nevertheless common sense and diplo macy. as well hs mercy and justice, ma
 here step in an1 show that starvation an'