Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-08-06
German Atrocities
Detailed By Clergyman
After Full Investigation

without restraint. This is the way il
which Germany carries on war every
where. But Germany has issued a de-
Tense or explanation of the atrocities
ard horrors which are now established
beyond doubt before the whole civil.
lied world. The German white book
narrates the slaughter of civilians I'M
der military orders, and in every case
defends and justifies these orders. The
following are examples:
A deposition by Staff Surgeon DR.
Petrenz:
"On the bank of the Meuse between
the river and garden wall directly to
the left of the pontoon bridge lay a
heap of civilians who had been shot
| do mot know how many l estimate
about 30 to 40. l do not know who
had shot them. l have heard that the
Grenadier Regiment No. 1O1 carried
out an execution there. Among the
people who were shot were some wo-
men, but by far the greater number
were young lads"
And again, in the story of the sack
LOT Aerschot:
1T is admitted that the burgomas-
ter and his son, a lad of Is, and the
brother of the burgomaster were shot
by order in Aerschot."
Everywhere the German authorities
have assumed the right to shoot down
civilians of every age and both sexes,
with the design of supplying a deter
rent for the future. The defense set up
is that the civilians fired upon German
troops. This defense, however, has
been thoroughly and systematically eX,
amined by an eminent neutral jurist,
Professor Struycken, who reaches the
conclusion that tie sack of Belgian
towns and villages was a system of
terrorism, slaughter and destruction
of both the guilty and innocent on a
large scale utterly disproportionate to
the measure of guilt found or thought
to be found" Professor Struycken
ends the examination of the evidence
with the words: 1--WE desire that the
Germans may bring forward evidence
which will stand the test of criticism
and will, in fact, prove that which it is
desired to prove, instead Of proving
the exact opposite"
I cannot conceive, however, that any
one outside the central empires or Tur-
key would attempt to question that
Germany has flung aside ali restric-
tions of humanity and civilization, not
to say Christianity 1t is not without
reason that our under-secretary of
state for foreign affairs, Lord Robert
Cecil, said in the house of commons on
April 30: Il confess that 1 am not
able to attach very great importance
to any statement made by the German
government"
Such a serious comment by Brit
ish minister of state upon the govern
ment of a great European power was
not made lightly or without very con-
vincing evidence that the word of a
German statesman is not to be beliey-
ed My experience has been that the
statements of the German government
or military authorities which / have
been able to check from personal
knowledge are generally false, and I,
therefore, infer that their statements
which l am unable to check are OF
the same description.
But no one disputes the greatest
crime of modern history-the sinking
of the Lusitania and of the Sussex, the
repeated sinking of hospital ships, the
deportations of Belgian and French
civilians, the barbarOus treatment OF
prisoners of war, and the inhuman ex-
termination of the Armenian peoples
by the Turks, which the kaiser could
have prevented by a word. At the
present moment we are seeing the Ger
man military methods in operation
through the bombarding of undefen d
crowded districts of London and Ae
slaughter of women and little child
rem. We know now that there is no
hope for civilization or humanity I'M
less the ideal which President Wilson
has set before himself is realized IN
the destruction of Prussianism. Yours
very faithfully
]. H. SHAKESPEARE.