Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-12-21

riors. Irwin Cobb. Speaking of Prus~
slams, New York, 1917, PIP. 1924.
The military authorities and those
in sympathy with them have done al
in their power to stimulate a hatred Of
other peoples in the minds Of the Ger
mans. A campaign or education be-
fore the war was carried on with the
object of impressing upon the minds
of the Germans the tr6acherous nature
of the peoples against whom the mill
tary leaders were anxious to wage
war. Not only were the Germans grad
ually led to believe that it was neces-
sary to fight a defensive war against
unScrupulous foes, but also that these
foes would violate every precept of hu-
manity, and consequently must be
crushed without mercy rs a measure
of self-defenSe. The fruits of this
campaign of suspicion and hatred be-
came evident when almost at the out
break of the war many Germans be-
came possessed with the belief that
the whole population of Belgium, the
first country to be invaded, had vio-
lated every rule of honorable warfare,
that the francs-tireurs (guerrillas)
were everywhere present doing their
deadly work in secrecy or under the
cover of darkness; that women and
even children were mutilating and kill
ing the wounded or helpless prisoners.
The effect, Of the fables upon the
popular mind may be seen in the fol
lowing extracts from German letters
Extract from a letter written by
German soldier to his brother. (This
letter, now in the possession of the
United States government, was obtain
ed for this pamphlet from Mr.. J. c.
Grew, formerly secretary to the United
States embassy at Berlin.)
November 4, 1914.
'The battles are everywhere ex,
tremely tenacious and bloody. Thu
Englishmen we hate most and we wam
to get even with them for once. While
one now and then sees French prison
ers, one hardly ever beholds French
black troops or Englishmen. These
good people are not overlooked by ouI
infantrymen; that sort of people is
moved down without mercy. The
losses of the Englishmen must be enor
nous. There is desire to wipe them
out, root and all"
The emperor gave his sanction to
the reports Of the brutal acts of the
Belgians in a telegram to President
Wilson.
Berlin, via Copenhagen, Sept. Z, 1914.
Secretary of State, Washington.
Number 90. September Z, am re-
quested to forward the following tele-
gram from the emperor to the press-
dent:
"T feel it my duty, Mfr. President
to inform you as the most prominent
representative Of principles Of human
| fly, that after taking the French fort
ress of Longwy, my troops discovered
| there thousands of dumdum cartridges
made by special government machin
cry. The same kind of ammunition
was found on killed and wounded
troops and prisoners, also on the Brit
| iSh troops. You know what terrible
wounds and suffering these bullets in
flict and that their use is strictly for
hidden by the established rules of in
| ternational law. I therefore address
a solemn protest to you against this
kind of warfare, which, owing to the
methods of our adversaries, has be
come one of the most barbarous knowr
in history. Not only have they EN-
ployed these atrOcious weapons, bu
the Belgian government has openly en-
couraged and long since carefully pre-
| pared the participation of the Belgian
civil population in the fighting. Th
atrocities committed even by womel
and priests in this guerrilla warfare
also on wounded soldiers, medical stat
and nurses, doctors killed, hospital
attacked by rife fire, were such tha
my generals finally were compelled t
take the most drastic measures in OF
der to punish the guilty and to fright
en- the bloodthirsty population fror
continuing their work Of vile murde
and horror. Some villages and eve
the old town of Loewen Oouvain)
excepting the fine hotel de Vile ha
to be destroyed in self-defense, an
for the protection Of my troops. NJ
heart bleeds when I see that sue
measures have become unavoidabl
and when I think of the numerous il
nocent people who lose their home an
property as a consequence of the bal
barous behavior of those criminals
t"GERARD, Berlin
Lorenz Muller in the German Catl
olic Review, Der Feis, February, 191
made the following statement in r.
gard to the emperor's telegram:
"Oficially no instance has bee
proven of persons having fred wit
the help of priests from the towers {
churches. All that has been mad
known up to the present, and that hf
been made the object of inquiry col
cerning alleged atrocities attributed
Catholic priests during this war, hs
! been shown to be false and altogetht
imaginary, without any exception. o.
emperor telegraphed to the presidel
Of the United States Of America th'
. even women and priests had cOmmi
, ted atrocities during this guerrilla wa
fare on wounded soldiers, doctors al
| nurses attached to the field amb
lances. How this telegram can be re
onciled with the fact stated above v
: shall not be able to learn until aft
the war"
'While was in England" he sal
81 had interviews with A. Bonar La
and Walter Long of the British go