The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1917-11-08


VI ,'d NOT keep out. We tried. What
cou.' ,n.y have been our record in the
soSt IT can never be said Of US that
POI o broyellt this war on ourselves or
w.t. we failed TO use every honorable
49," ia keep out of the death grip
~ E,,rone. If we were long in coming
W our decision, it was because we re-
Ooino5 iucredulOuS. We were asked
- bnlipve something that was hard to
believe.
ovprv polY1t Of international law to the
Srooti,r uOint because Of this thing
wa wouId not believe. We were a
noon md humane people. We can I'M
dorstand individual cruelty. We have
nod s0d experiences of the hysteria of
crowds. But we cannot understand,
and today we hardly credit, the cruelty
Of government.
We have ourselves constructed a
government that is dignif1ed, just, slow
to wrath, and humane.
Rut for three years conviction has
been growing among US that one Of the
nations In the world war is none Of
these things-not dignified, not just,
not humane, Had Germany's cruelties
ceased with Belgium, she might In time
have made her case before the world.
For three years in that wretched cOun-
try she has been covering her tracks.
But Germany has bungled. She has
d,ecsained frightfuiness In Belgium
Only to bring it home to the world at
large, She has introduced into war
fare such crueltles Of killing, such In
human methods, such destruction, such
contempt of the laws OF war as have
set the world pale with horror. She
has added hate to the vocabulary of
war, and hatred Is q contagiOn.
Yes, persIstently AID in the face OF
the evidence, she has disclaimea the
atrocities in Belgium. She has been
willing 10 shoulder the sinking Of
women and children in unarmed ships.
She is proud of the invention oT poison
gases and Of Hq1id fire. She believes
that the shelIiRg Of unfOrdfed cities
and the use Of the submarine against
helpless fishing boats will, on her in
ttiative, be accepted by the next Hague
convention as ethical and legal.
But she continues to 'disclafm the
atrocities in Belgium. Why should she
not? The thousands who died in pro-
tecting the advance Of her army, the
other thousands who were shot with
out inquiry against the brick walls OF
captured towns, those men who were
bayoneted while trying to protect their
women from the assaults Of drunken
soldiers, the little children whose bod
les lay unburied by the rOadside-none
Of them will ever tell the story.
ATROCITIES ON RECORD. -
The atrocities in Belgium are true.
They are matters Of record. German
soldiers themselves have set down the
details In the diaries their government
gave them. have read some OF those
diaries. Not all German soldiers
turned into beasts in Belgium. There
are some who record that the horrors
sickened them. It is not true that the
German government ordered assaults
on women. But it did order footing
and arson and wholesale murder.
The result Of that order for 'loOting
was mob Of drunken men, whose vie
Tins today FIJI great graves.
This Is a terrible accusation to bring
against people. Yet 1 know the
thing 0f which I speak. During the
first year of the war I went to that
portion Of Belgium which remained IN
conquered. There saw naen, officers
nigh in the Belgian army, who had
themselves seen that infamous advance
protected by their own peOple-olO
men, women carrying children, 'small
girls, sturdy boys, with death behind
and death ahead.
1t was impossible not to believe. Inc
accumulation Of evidence was toC
great The German army. had: come
into Belgium prepared for Oppositlon
They brought fire confetti, which they
hung into the houses while tkey were
occupied. More than one German
mary !ells of the shooting OF the IN
Aabitaits as they tried to escape
Drunken German soldiers firing fhe1i
guns led sober ones to believe phe
oVli population was rising, atfh0hgA
" "aS known they had no weapons
AAd ~ or more leading citizens were
sho1 without hearing. Women "et'
attacked In public places.
Bur even here there was chance
1or Germany. She could say-ane
she has said-she did not order thest
things. although she did : order tht
shooting of hostages without inquiry
ahd she did order the footing Wnlcf
resulted in drunkenness and its thou
SAND resulting brutal crimes.
CONVICTED ON ONE COUNT.
But on one count Germany mus
tace the world must be tried and sen
fenced. with no possibility Of acqult
'dl' She protected her advance VIII
noncombatants.
have before me on my desk tn
original copy Of an interview VIII
Aloert king of the Belgians. durlnt