The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-13

ed men. Assisted by her Belgian friends. she succeeded in conveying many of them to Holland, and undoubtedly took prominent share also in helping the escape of Belgian civilians of military age. For this act, by the operation of any reasonable military law, she was punishable by imprisonment. That she should be shot on the false charge of
 being spy, charge first heard of after her death, was a crime which the
 lapse of centuries will not obliterate
 from the blood-stained records of the
 great power which we once knew as
 the German empire.
 WORKED FOR A YEAR
 She worked for a year, giving the long
 days to the hospital and few anxious
 moments at irregular intervals to the
 dangerous undertaking for which her life
 would be held forfeit. At last some
 definite fact, perhaps the babbling of a
 fool, perhaps the testimony of another
 Judas Iscariot, led the German adminis
 tration in Belgium to suspect her. On
 August 5 1915, she was arrested and
 lodged in prison at St. Giles. For three
 weeks thereafter nothing was heard of
 her The chance arrival of a refugee
 brought the news to her family, and they
 communicated it to the foreign office
 Action was taken lmmeQldle1y Dy DIT
 Edward Grey. When the Germans oc-
 cupied Brussels, the American minister
 assumed charge of British interests in the
 occupied territory. The chief of these
 interests was, of course, the protection
 of any British subjects who remained
 there from wrongful treatment at the
 invaders hands. And Sir Edward Grey accordingly sent a note on August 26 to
 Mir Page the United States ambassador i,Y him n inClira of the United States minister at Brussels,
 by telegraph, whether the report of Miss Cavell's arrest were correct, and, if It were, what reason had been alleged in explanation.
 No words of mine can do justice to the magnificent loyalty with which the American legation at Brussels, and all those connected With it, @exerted them selves from first to last in their volun-
 tarily accepted trust on Edith CavelP s behalf.
 The zeal and spirit of the American officials became apparent as soon as the can was made. On receiving Sir Edward Grey's note, MT. Page acted as promptly as Sir Edward himself He telegraphed to his colleague at Brussels, MT. Whit lock- next morning; and four days, later, on August 31, MT. Whitlock addressed an l inquiry on the subject to Baron Von Der l Lancken, the chief of the political de- partment" (poltische abteilung) of the German military government in the con- quered territory. Here is MT. Whitlock' note:
 Brussels. August 31, 1sl5 Your Excellency: My legation has just been informed that Miss Edith Cavell, a British subject residing in the Rue de la Culture, Brus- sells, is said to have been arrested. q should be greatly obliged If your excellency would be good enough 10 ie1 me know whether this report IS true and, if so the reasons for her arrest should also be grateful in that case II your excellency would furnish this iega- 1 ton with the necessary authorization from the German judicial authorities, so 1 that M De Leval may consult with Miss 1 Cavell, and eventually entrust someone with her defense. I avail, etc,
 BRAND WHITLOCk." I After waiting 10 days without being vouchsafed an aswer, MT. Whitlock wrote again, this time more pressingly- Al l last Baron Won Der Lacken broke si- I lence He stated the charge, which l have described already, refused permis- sion to M. De Laval Ca Belgian lawyer l legal counsellor for the United States llegation) to visit the prisoner, and an nounced that she would be defended by Advocate Braun, who was already Tn 1 touch with the competent German au- thorities.n Never was truer word spoken I He was in touch with the judges. not with the client! He may have acted for 1 the best, but his best was a very poor l performance, since we next find him l transferring the case to MT. 'Kirschen, another member of the Brussels bar. l There began a series of evasions. of actual lies, of more subtle concealment | of the truth, on the part of every Ger man official in Brussels who took part and parcel in Miss Cavell's trial. Others were implicated with her, but she stands | first in this company of martyrs in the eyes of the world. She knew she was l running a great risk. She thought she was doing her duty to her country. She never demeaned herself by excuses or pleas of ignorance. She told the court martial the complete truth, and, con- trary to German law. was convicted by her own testimony. Edith Cavelrs posi- l tion is simple and heroic. The position of the German authorities is very diff l ferent indeed.
 In defending their conduct, the Ger mans lay great stress on the fact that their victim had acted knowingly. Here l for instance, is a quotation from a state I ment vouchsafed to an American jour nalist by Herr Zimmerman, the inn perial German under-secretary of state for foreign affairs:
 1 All those convicted were fully cog 1 nizant of the significance of their ac- 'tions. The court went into just this point with particular care, and acquitted several co-defenda.nts because 1t be- l lieved doubt existed regarding their knowledge of the penalties of their ac- ! tions."
 | That might conceivably settle the issue between the executioners and the dead