Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1918-01-24
AIMED TO MAKE
POLAND DESERT
German System Reckoned on
Starvation Of People to Pro-
/ mote Imperial Ends.
Won kR,Es REVEALED PLOT
Country, After Population Had Been
z systematically Done to Death, Was
% Be Restoeked by Settlers
From Germany.

The ertent of human misery IN
Poland caused BY the German oc-
cupation was as great as that IN Bel
.giuns and France. The entire heart
lessness phich characterized the kai-
ser's high officers is ,vell shoapn in a
statement by Mr.. Vernon Kellogg,
prepared for a pamphlet issued by
the committee on public infornsa-
ton, which aue copy.
The systematic exploitation of hui
man misery by the German authorities
In Poland followed the general plan
laid down ny the kaiser's orders. In
order to prove the identity of proceed
ure 1t will be enough to present the
detailed report prepared specially for a
pamphlet issued by the committee on
public information antf-written by Mr..
Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in
some ways more touching treatment
Is given in his article, devastated
Poland" in the National Geographic
Magazine for May, 1917,
September, 1917.
.POland-Russian Poland-is per-
fishing. And the German high COM
mand, imbued with the Prussian sys-
tenn. is coolly reckoning on the neces-
sities of n starving people to. promote
Its imperial ends.
'West Poland, which has been Prus-
: sian territory more than hundred
years, Is disappointment to Ger
many; its people obstinately remain
Poles. This time they propose swifter
measures. In two or three years, by
grace of starvation and frightfulness,
they calculate East Poland will be
thoroughly made over into u German
province.
I'm the great Hindenburg drive one
year ago. the country was completely
devastated by the retreating Russinn'
nrlnspAnd the 6Sncomifg teiqiians.a A
million people We're driven from their
homes. Half Of them perished by the
roadside. For miles and miles, when
saw the country, the way was Uttered
with mudsoaked garments and bones
picked clean by. the crows-though the
larger bones had been gathered by the
thrifty Germans to be ground into fer
tillzer. Wicker baskets-the little bas-
ket In which the baby swings from the
rafters In every peasant home-were
scattered along, the way, hundreds and
hundreds, until one could not count
<hav,n no. NJ, nv,n %aJ1lpu Ionth
Deliberate Policy Of Starvation.
Warsaw, which had not been de.
stroyed-once proud city of a million
peOple-was utterly stricken. Poor
: folks by thousands lined the streets,
leaning against the buildings, shivering
IN snow and rain. too weak to lift a
hand, dying of cold and hunger Though
the rich gave all they had. and the
poor shared their last crust. they We're
starving there in the streets in drovcs.
"Inthe stricken city, the German gov
ern0r Of Warsaw issued proclama-
tion. All able-bodied Poles were bid
den to go to Germany to work. If any
refused. let no other Pole give him to
eat not so much as mouthful, under
penalty Of German military law.
1t was more than the mind could
grasp. To the husband and father Of
broken families, the high command
gave this decree: Leave your families
to starve; IL you stay, we shall see that
You do starve--this to high-strung,
sensitive, highly organized people, this
frOmthe authorities of a nation pro-
Tossing civilization and religion to mill
lions of fellow Christians captive and
s starving.
General Won Kries, the governor,
( was kind enough to explain. Cundidly,
they preferred not quite so much star
yatiOn; it might get on the nerves of
the German soldiers. But, starvation
being present, 1t must work for Ger
man purpose. Taking advantage of
this wretchedness, the working men of
Poland were to be removed; the coun-
try was to be restOcked with Germans.
II was country Germany needed-rich
alluvial soil--better suited to German
expansion than distant possessions. If
/ the Poland that was had to perish, so
fAes VIII LIE ,OCStCA i1OI
To Make Poland German Province.
Remove the men, let the young and
weak die. graft German stock on the
women. See how simple it is: with a
crafty smile, General Won Kries con-
cluded, BY and by we must give back
freedom to Poland. Very good; 1t will
feappear as German province
Slowly, came to realize that this
monstrous, incredible thing was the
Pfussian system, deliberately chosen
BY the circle around the all-highest,
and kneaded into the German people
till 1t became part Of their mind.
German people are material for
building the state of no other account.
Other people are for Germany's will to
work upon. Humanity, liberty, equality,
the rights of others-all foolish talk.
Democracy, an idle dream. The true
Prussian lives only for this, that the
German state may be mighty and great.
All the woes In the long count
A0einst Germany are part of the Prus-
Nm system. The invasion Of Belgium,
49, tks staTyine of ~