Evening star., 1917-11-25

science that has held men to prohibitions
against firing upon the Red Cross Tor TOUR
generations. 1t was German vanity and
the materialistic philosophy that might
makes right To say it was blood lust or
vengeance or national peevishness Is silly.
! Germany does nothing for such senti-
Attempt to Kill Doctors.
During recent months reports have
been coming in rather regularly that
German ofTicers-always officers, mind
you-have been killing doctors VINO
, We're attending these German officers
/ after they were taken prisoners. One
! instance may be verified. At base hos
pital Nc. le-the Cleveland unit. then
under the British service--a doctor
came III one night during the early
/ par; Of September with wounded
hand. He explained that the stretcher
bearers were busy bringing in the
wounded after the lines had moved
! across German trench and that the
J doctor felt that in the name OF hu-
manity he should go out into the cap
tured trenches and help to bring In
| the wounded. of course, most OF the
| wounded were English. But Few
! Germans were there. He found Ger
man officer. wounded in the leg. The,
/ doctor helped the German officer to
| his feet and was half carrying him.
!, half supporting him as they walked
! back to the first casualty station. They
y
4 the conversation stopped. the doctor
| looked up and saw the Germans pistol
| at the doctors head. He threw up his
/ hand and knocked the gun away just
1 as the German fired. But the ball
| went through the doctors hand. The
| night before in the same sector Ger
! man officer on stretcher had tried 10
! kill a doctor with a knife who was
| bending over the patient dressing his
| wound.
| The American ambulance drivers tell
+. of scores of similar attempts OF the
| German officers to kill doctors anc
| nurses. Now that seems savage and
senseless. But when you remember
/ that every time a doctor or nurse is
killed a hundred men must suffer. It
| has its scientific reason. Moreover.
! airmen had a fine reaction-from a
! German viewpoint During the moon
| light nights when the Germans were
| coming to bomb the hospitals the
j to the Alps could not sleep. Their
work suffered in the daytime. The
nurses had to be replaced by fresh
nurses oftener and oftener. and the
i whole hospital service was more or
less disorganized. The result was
easily foreseen by the Germans. But
| they did not foresee the splendid
| morale these atrocities pumped INTO
! the hearts of the allied soldiers. The
/ German always discounts the courage
! and conscience of his enemies. He can
| not see that so low civilization as
1 that of his enemies can produce any
! thing but towards and clods. He has
/ never allowed for the stimulation of the
| morale of his enemies by German SCI
entific conduct under military necessity.
Raids Over London.
| The air raids over London were not
planned and executed by a cruel people.
but by a scientific national mind. These
I adr1t IN
army on English soil and out Of France.
and also to keep English fighting
planes out of Flanders. To keep Eng
lish soldiers and English planes at
the war And no sentimental nonsense
about women and children being
slaughtered by the bombs will stop the
Germans from their scientific program
only civilization. 1t is a righteous act
to spread 1t. and to smear 1t on in the
blood of non-combatants. whether OF
nurses or doctors, or women and chill
dren-makes no difference. The world,
il it is saved from its highest efficiency.
] must have Germany uber alles." and
| there is no other thought in the German
mind.
One day in September Of this year
two Kansas pilgrims at the war front
saw a long stream of little carts NOV
| ing out of the French town Of Com
mercy. 1t was fair. little French town.
little valley. But the carts. ten miles
from the firing line. contained sad lit
tie piles of household goods. 1t was an
evacuaAion of the population. We ask
! ed why. THE Germans have begun to
throw bombs into their homes from
| their big guns far back Of the lines"
This was the answer. Why they were
bombing Commercy one did not know.
They had no hope Of taking it. The
German line back of the town had been
| blocked to Germans for three years.
But they had battered up all the other
French towns back Of the lines except
Ing Commercy. and very likely their
airmen had told them that 1t was Com
mercy's time. so, in the war game, Com
mercy was getting her frightfulness.
1t was part of the thorough. careful,
scientific German way of making war
Five days later the same Kansas pill
grims were standing on the Italian
Alps overlooking the prettiest little Aus
trian town you ever saw. 1t was 5000
feet below the italian lines. and they
could have wiped it out merely by
throwing stones into 1t. Their guns,
ipoor as the italian guns were. could
ihave blistered that little Austrian town
in ten minutes. Across the guIch 5000
feet above the town were the Austrian
trenches. And the Italians were slam
ming them with such artillery as they
had You could smash that little town
Ieasily." observed the Kansas men. "Oh,
lyes-but why? It's a beautiful little
ltown-why destroy it?"
Capture Trenches.
Their theory was. of course, that II
they captured the Austrian trenches
the town would go with the trenches,
land they would want the inhabitants
lof the little town as Italians, and to
have them as Italian subjects they
lwould be easier to handle IL they loved
and respected Italy. And also they
reasoned: If we don't take the Austrian
trenches why smash the little town?
It will do US no good. And there is
the whole difference between the Ger
man civilization and the civilization
which Is making this war upon Ger
many world wide. The civilization of
the allies Is based essentially upon fel-
lowship. humanity, brotherhood. The
IGerman civilization is based essentially
upon a materialistic philosophy which
holds that might makes right, and has no
other tenet modifying that conclusion.
And TIE awful vanity of Germany hold
ing that philosophy in it's heart and push
ing that philosophy upon humanity ruth
lessy with scientific frightfulness is tho
whole reason for the war.
We are dealing with new kind of
creature The Germany which turned its
back upon Heine. and Schiller, and Goethe,
and Beethoven, and followed the Prus.
SLAMS to the logical end Of the material-
istic philosophy Of force. stands with ft1
back to the wall and will live or die for