The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-04-22
GERMAN MlLlTARISM IN ACTION
10y Irwin S. Cobb Of the Visiiantes.)

tI'y Courtesy OF the Saturday Evening Post.)
When read the differences Of those conscientious
gentlemen who could not be brought to bear the
idea Of going with any nation for any
l wished with all my soul they might have stood
with mo in Belgium on that August day. when and
the rest Of the party to which belonged saw the
German legions come pouring down. n cloud OF
smoke ny day and a pillar Of fire by night. with ter
riding before them their herald and death and
destruction and devastation in the tracks their
shod feet lett smiling and fecund little land
AS though it happened yesterday, instead Of 80
months ago, can rccrcatc in my mind the physical
and the mental stage settings of that moment.
can shut my eyes and the German firing squad
shooting two Belgian civilians against brick wall.
| can smell the odors of the burning houses. Yes,
and the smell of the burning flesh OF tho dead men
who were in those houses. ! can hear the sound of
the footsteps of the fleeing villagers and tho rumble
of the tread Of the invaders going by conntlcssy
so confidently. triumphantly.> magnificcntly
| disciplined and so faucssly equipped.
Most OF all see the eyes and the faces OF
| snndry German officers with whom spoke And
| when do this soc their eyes shining with JOY and
their faces transfgurcd though by splendid
| vision; and can hear thcn,-not proclamng the
justice of their cause; not seeking excuse for the
| rcprisals they had ordered not. save for few OK
ccptions among them. dcploring the unutcrablc mis-
cry and suffering their invasion Of Belgium had
wrought, not concerned with the ethical regrets of
and swollen with the thought that, at every onward
step, ruthlcssncss and determination and being
ready had brought to them victory. Conquests spells
of war. Why, these men were like beings from an
| other world-a world Of whose existence We. this
| side Of the water, had never dreamed.
| The German did not make crucl--it already
| was this: but he has kept it cruel. War with him
is not emotional pastimc not a time for hystcri
| cal lip service to his flag: not time for fuss and
feathers. And most of all. 1t is to him not time
for any display Of mawkish maudn forbcarancc to
his foe, but instead. it is deadly serious, deadly
terrible business, to the successful prosecution OF
which he and his rulers and his government, and
his whole system of life have been earnestly and
sincerely dedicated through generation of prcra-
| ration, mental as well as physical.
| Given similar conditions and similar opportunities,
and can Hoyokc. Massachusetts, or Charles
ton. South Carolina RACED in smoking ruins as Lou
| vain Dinnnt can see the mayor Of Bal
timorc being put to death by drumhcad court mar
tia because inflamcd civilian of his town fired
from cottage window at Pomcranian Grcnndicr
can see in Pennsylvania. congressman and judges
and G.. \. r. veterans held as hostages and as pO-
tcntia victims Of the firing squad in case some sou
or some grandson of old John Burns of Gettysburg
not regularly enrolled takes up his shotgun in de
Tense of his homestead. ! n price put on the
head of some modern Molly pitcher. and a militar,
prison waiting for some latter day barbara Frctche
For VIC must remember that what VIC Americans cal
PATRIOTS the nnontcd war lord calls franc trcurs
meaning bushwhackcrs
! eyewitness to crimes which. measure,
by the standards of humanity and civza ton. i'm
pressed me worse than any individual excess
any individual outrage. could have been
e ever be; because these crimes Individually were in
| sgatcd a wholesale basis by order of officers 0
rank. and must have been carried under thci
personal supervision, direction and approval. Brief
; ly. what saw was this: | wide areas OF Bel
d GUM and Franco in which not n pcnny's worth 0
wanton destruction has been permitted occur. II
which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the gar
den walls: and saw other wide where sea rec
~ stone had been left to stand upon another
= where the fields were ravagcd: where the male vii
layers had been shot in Squads where the miscra
bic survivors had been left die in holes like viii
beasts.
Taking the physical evidence offered before on
own eyes and buttressing it with the statement
made to us not only by natives but by German sol
II diers and German officers could reach but on
= conclusion which that here. In such and such
Al place. those in command had said to the troops
d Spare this town and this people," And there the
n had said: Waste this town and shoot these PEG
+, pie" And here, the troops had discriminate