The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-10-13
GERMANY OPPOSED
To- EXCHANGE OF
WAC PRISONERS
BY HAROLD e. RECHTOL.
Manager Of the Newspaper
Enterprise AsSociation)


London, England, Oct. i2.-The Ger
man rulers do not want to exchange
prisoners with the British, because the
German rulers know:
That the returned German prisoners
would carry the truth to all parts o.
Germany;
That they would scatter throughout
the empire stories of the kind, consid-
crate treatment they received:
That they would expose German lies
and schemes. and tell the Germans at
home how the kaiser and his cohorts
have fooled them;
That they would tell their friends
and relatives that England has plenty
of food; plenty OF everything; that the
U-boat is a failure.
That they would show the Ger
man people that the kaiser and the
militarist are leading them to certain.
crushing defeat: that the longer they
pin their faith to these rulers the far
Their they will be led down the black
valley.
The above is not conjecture. 1t is
the inside story of the reason behind
the German delay" in ratifying the
agreement reached with the British at
The Hague few months ago for the
Excuse Of Germany.
Several months ago the British
sought an agreement on the exchange
OF able-bodied men. A meeting at
The Hague was arranged and an agree
ment full Of conditions OF exchange was
drawn up. But the expected ratiflca-
ton from Germany did not arrive.
Questions We're asked. And it de-
veioped that the German government
had put forward a demand that, be-
fore it would ratify the agreement.
Britain must pledge its word that GER
tain German subjects in China-Chinal
mark you-should not be expelled or
informed.
China had announced that she in |
Tended to intern or .'xpel certain Ger
man subjects. And that is just why |
The Germans used it.
How tolerantly the German prison.
Frs are treated is best illustrated by |
The recent report OF commander OF
/ camp in the west Of England: that
1 party Of German prisoners went on
strike because they were asked to
work on farms with British conscien-
Lious directors. or course the 'strike"
was quickly ended, but the strikers
were not abused.
Can you imagine any prisoner in
Germany mentioning strike for any
cause and living to tell about 1t:
And Berlin Is taking a hand in tho
exchange agreement for British and
Turkish prisoners! Austria has guar
anteed such exchange and ships safe
conduct, but Germany refuse. which,
of course. makes the paper agreement
worthless.
Treatment by Austria.
The twenty-flfth train OF repatriated
Italian war prisoners, ince exchange
began with Austria, arrived in Rome
recently. All Of the 300 prisoners mad
their eyes were dilated;
their clothes hung like bags; their
hands were just bones covered by
skin; their daily fare in the camp in
Bohemia was one loaf OF chestnut
bread for is prisoners; the death rate
in this one camp was 60 day; many
we're kept alive by food parcels mat
arrived for comrades already dead
In one instance 10 Americans and t4O
British were compelled to work on
railways, carrying heavy rails and
pushing trucks from 6 a. m. to p.
n. Their food was the ordinary Ger
nan soup and one slice of bread a
neal. These men became weaker and
weaker, and on Aug. "a arrived IN urus-
sen camp. almost tarved.
l talked with a prominent London
surgeon who is devoting most of his
time to the disabled British who have
1een returned.
THE treatment all Of these men re-
,eived." he said, was rotten! They
ire all starved: many of them have
gone mad from their sufferings. and
many others have been terribly mutt
amateur
skilled surgeons in the German camps