The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-24

tS%V%AS NGAAs S4F ffllAAEtb Thtb@I tbof4 hh
OF the Haugs rules relating 20 land
warfare
Twelfth. the wholesale looting Of
the funds and property Of banks, bust
ness houses and private persons in
violation of Article SO OF the same
chapter. It may be said I'm passing
that these acts also violate Article
At of the same chapter which declares
| that 'PillaRe is formally forbidden
| Thirteenth. tho carrying on OF plots
and conspiracies by their diplomatic
and consular agents In this country
while still at peace with us; such con-
spiracies and plots being directed not
only against foreign countries, but
against our own country as well.
Seems Ample"
This list Of violations of interna~
tionai law Is by no means com piete,
| but IL seems ample for present pur-
poses. They are all explained when
! we fully understand the one Underly-
ing and unchsuging principle upon
which Prussian military autocracy
makes war and has made war since
the days Of Frederick the Great
Article / 3 OF the Hague code rexu-
iating land warfare expressly declares
that the right OF belligerents 10 adopt
means of tn1uring the enemy is not un-
/ limited To this statement the Ger
man war book (Vol /. page IS, Nor
gan's translationl answers thus What
La permissible includes every means of
war without which the object of the
war can not be obtained All
means which modern invention affords
including the most dangerous and m ost
massive means of destruction may be
utilized Bribery OF snsm%s
subjects. acceptance of offers of
/ treaohery, utilization of discontented
elements In the population. support of
! pretenders and the like. are permBa-
stble. indeed international law In in
mo way opposed TO the exploitation Of
the crimes OF third partiss.' This ia
brutally frank. but very illuminating
II clears away all the clouds and
makes 1t very plain that Germany's
violations of international law are the
deliberate and premedItated acts Of
the Pruasian war oilgarchy which
rules her. Along the same general
lines General Carl Won Clausewitz in
his book ON War CSI2) says. War
lie an act OF violence intended to COM
pc. our enemy to fulfill our will
&c In such dangerous things as
war the errors which proceed from
spirit OF benevolence are the worst
,ingly must obtain q superior
tty IL his adversary uses less vtgor in
SITS applications To introduce
into the philosophy OF war itself a
principle of moderation would be an
abSurdity.' Another German military
authority writing in 1877, General
Julius Won Hartman, says, Military &C
ton must be determined soiey in ac-
Ecordancs with those conditions which
usually prevail In war: In this sense
| II is completely ruthless. n
would he yielding to voluntary self
deception not to recognize that at the
present time war uugt be conducted
much more ruthiessly and much more
violently, and that It must come much
nearer to affecting the entire popuia-
tion than has previously been tho case
TN these extracts we have the ex-
PLANTATION of Germany's wholesale VIC
lAtion of international law In "a nut
shell. Her philosophy OF war Ia alb
solutsly at variance with all intsrna-
ton law and she does not hesitate to
proclaim the fact and glory In It,
Constant Menace"
This attitude on the part Of any
great nation would be a constant mem
ace to the peace OF the world. but
there la another consideration which
makes xuch an attitude by the Ger
man people doubiy significant and
/ dangerous That considera has
been we'll stated by an eminent Eng
Z ltsh juriwe as foliows-Sir Frederick
Pollock. in introduction to 18th Ed.
/ VIII eaton's international law by Phil-'
Npson.
( I'VE are In the midst Of a general
war in which the validity of all rule,
convention. and usage appears. at first
sight to be shaken TO its foundation.
/ The rulers OF the central empires and
the leaders OF their armies has not only
{acted as IL the laws and customs Of
civilized warfare, thu faith of treaties,
| and the dictates OF the communest
humanity were subordinate TO military
convenience, but they have not been
ashamed TO assert this damnable doc
trine as principle OF deli
herate conduct. True, they talk of
necessity, but in the sense that the
iconvenience OF military advantage
amounts tc necessity whenever the Of
I ffcer commanding on the spot is of
that opinion. Yet these Same tnnova-
tors are eager to seize any pretext for
/ charging their adversaries with some
breach, as often as not purely fictiti-
Gus. OF the rules from which they
claim unlimited dispensing power for
themselves. We have not learnt the
simple ana cofnprenehstVe reason Tor
this attitude. II would seem incredi-
Bile II It were not established by abund-
ant Germany testimony. In tho fixed
belief OF the German leaders and most
OF their people, Germany is not coun-
try having equal rights among equals.
but the home of O. superior race, en-
titled to impose it's own policy, and
methods on the rest of the world by
the use of any requisite degree OF force,
and not bound to treat men of inferior
races as human beings unless and un-
til they behave as docile subjects Ger
many has rights. in yirture of para
mount mission to 9russianize the
world. Germanys allies have rights
because they are her allies. Neturals
have just what Germany chooses to
allow them. and enemies have none
This tells rhs whole ASTOUNDING