The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-05-09
CHAPTER XVIII,

Visit relatives, wearing civilian cloth
tag bought railroad ticket to kul.
.'.'ithirc3en. 4 me,i:umSiZpd town near
tn" Dutch border. During my trip to
H"idenki"cier bad plenty Of time to
review ell ;hai had hapijeiIrd
! How different everything WAS after
the first yea: ~ the var Ny home
A. now as calm as graveyard. IN
This town. which had population 90
fore the war TT ':.Gt}n souls, more thu;,
40 had been kiile,! and many others
crippled. Food was Very high with lit
tie to be had.
There was no enthusiasm for the war
manifest anywhere. The people We're
dOwnheartad, stunned
1t was the same In other cities Tie
longing for peace was universal get no
one talked of peace or expressed the
desire for it.
One word spoken, which displeased
the autocratic government, merited the
severest punishment. That is how it is
to be explained thar the German peO-
pie cannot force the Hoienzollerns into
peace because the government. with
assistance of the military, smothered
every expression of peace with blood.
ever, at that early date.
{ The present prussian government
Will slaughter any German citizen to
further its own interests in the same
way that it attacked tie innocent pop
uiation Of Belgium without regard
/ With clean Conscience and clean
hands,
Colt strafe England. Er Isl strufe
es!"
Going through the streets this WAS
heard right and left as q comment and
reply.
To me, fresh from the front, this
Kind of greeting was unknown.
Presently I learned the reason Of
this modern form Of salutation. The
hatred within the German nation WIS
not so great toward France and Rus
Sia.
The people quietly accepted the enor-
nous sacrifices which the war demand
ed from them in course Of time
But the government. which even
then. foresaw the unfavorable course
the war was taking conceived the idea
of setting England up as the arcl,-
enemy which intended to destroy Ger.
many entirely.
The German war machine made use
Of the blockade which England drew
around Germany to such an extent,
playing upon child murder. so-culled.
that the people developed an ever-in-
creasing hatred toward England.
The French language was no longer
spoken anywhere. A large part Of the
German people formerly used the
French word "adieu," as farewell ex-
preston but that was stopped. Care
had to be taken In the use Of this word
to avoid arrest on a charge OF high
treason.
I thought about these things as
neared my temporary destination.
was sufficiently acquainted with the
border so that when l arrived In Kali
denkirchen l was able to reach 1t With
out asking any questions. The spot
which l had selected for crossing lay
in forest. After a march Of two !
hours l arrived near the bora"r It /
was soon dark and decided 70 "lnain /
in the woods over night. !
The next morning az daylight | von-
tured on and without being seen by the |
guards I crossed into Dutch territory. /
With sigh Of relief l arrived at the .
next town. Veu in Holland
Everywhere was received in a
friendly manner l observed that the
Dutch people hated the German people
as much as l did.
After passing several months in
Holland, where tens Of thousands more /
German deserters lived, I made up my
mind to move farther away than that
from Germany for the arms Of the Ger
man government are long and its spies
are everywhere in most cases con-
scienceless criminals.
Some of my Dutch friends made me
acquainted with sailors and these con-
sented to smuggle me to America on
luelE snip. WHEN tIlc snip ucpuI teu
was placed in the coal bunkers and ar.
rived after IA days in New York, safe
and we'll.
The first thing that struck me on ar.
irving in the United States was the
wide latitude permitted German propa.
ganda.
Most OF the German papers pub
lished here were body and soul for the
kaiser and tried daily to justify the
German fight for the German cause.
In this respect the government in
Washington certainly went too far I'M
til it was realized that no concessions
could be made to the PruSsian govern
ment and that concessions made to
were nothing but deceitfW
talk, sustained only by action when 1t
served its interests Of Imperialism.
The promises which the German gov
eminent made to Washington concern
ing the Lusitania case, the Uboat war
fare and so forth, were nothing but de
ceit on the part Of the Berlin govern.
ment.