The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1918-01-18
Murder, Pillage and Arson Part
of Deliberate Scheme of
Warfare.
HIGH OFFICERS GO ON RECORD
No Possible Evasion of Responsibility
tor Bestial Acts Which for Centu-
ries Have Had No PARALLEL
Officially Endorsed.

corning the conduct of the war By
Germany. Proof is offered that Ger
man officials deliberately lied IN
their statements concerning atroci-
ties committed by the Bezgians and
allies. That their own soldiers were
Disguised By the cruelties practiced
at the order Of high officers Of the
kaiser IS shoavm. Extracts taken
from pamphlets issued follow:
The Vorwaerts Of Berlin, October q,
1914, said:
1--WE have already been able to es-
tablish the falseness Of a great number
of assertions which have been made
with great precision and published
everywhere in the press, concerning al
legged cruelties committed, by the popu-
lat1Ons Of the countries with which
Germany is at war, upon German SOL
diers and civilians. We are now in po-
sitiOn to silence two others of these
fantastic stories.
1.-THE war correspondent of the Ber-
liner Tageblatt spoke a few weeks
powder alleged to have been given out
or sold to our soldiers with diabolical
intent. He even pretended that he had
seen with his own eyes hundreds of
this kind Of cigarettes. We learn from
an authentic source that this story of
cigars and cigarettes is nothing but
brazen invention. Stories of soldiers
whose eyes are alleged to have been
torn out by francs-tireurs are circulat-
ed throughout Germany. Not single
case of this kind has been officially es-
tablished.
cit matters little that reports Of this
nature bear an appearance Of positive
gertrude, or are even vouched for by
eye-witnesses. The desire for notoriety,
the absence of criticism, and personal
error play an unfortunate part in the
days in which we are living. Every
nose shot off or simply bound up,
every eye removed, is Immediately
transformed into nose or eye torn
away Ly the francs-tireurs. Already the
Volkszeitung of Cologne has been able,
contrary to the very categorical asser-
lions from Aix-la- Chapelle, to prove
torn out in the field ambulance of this
town. It was said, also, that people
wounded in this way were under treat
ment in the neighborhood Of Berlin,
but whenever inquiries have been made
in regard to these reports, their abso-
lutte falsity has been demonstrated. At
length these reports were concentrated
at Gross Lichterfelde. A newspaper
published at noon and widely circu-
lated in Berlin printed few days ago
in large type the news that at the
Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there
were ten German soldiers, only slight
ly wounded, whose eyes had been wick
eddy torn out But to request for
information by Camrade Liebknecht
the following written reply was sent
by the chief medical officer of the
aforementioned field hospital, dated
the eighteenth of the month:
"'Sir: Happily there is no truth
whatever in these stories.
Yours ebedfently,
PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG,
German Soldiers Protested.
Thus the teachings Of the German
War Book and of the German apostles
of frightfulness, suspicion and hatred,
had now begun to bear their natural
fruit. But the voice Of protest was
not entirely silent. A considerable
number Of letters by German soldiers
who were shocked by the German
atrocities were sent to Ambassador
Gerard, because he was the representa-
tive of the United States, the leading
neutral nation. The three letters
which follow, in translation, we're re-
ceived by the American ambassador
from German soldiers.
Here is the protest of German SOL
der, an eyewitness of the slaughter Of
Russian soldiers In the Masurian lakes
and swamps:
ut was frightful, heart-rending, as
these masses of human beings were
driven to destruction. Above the ter
rfble thunder of the cannon could be
heard the heart-rending cries of the
Russians: % Prussians! o Prussians =
but there was no mercy. Our captain
had ordered: The whole lot must die ;
so rapid fire. AS have heard, five
men and one officer on our side went
mao from IneSG NcdFt-FeuuluS CRIES.
But most of my comrades and the Off
GERS joked as the unarmed and helpless
Russians shrieked for mercy while
they were being suffocated In the
swamps and shot down. The order
was: Close up and at 1t harder! For
DAYS afterwards those heart-rending
E wells followed me and dare not think
Of them or I shall go mad. There is no
God. there is no morality and no ethics
any more. There are no human beings
any more, but only beasts. Down with
militarfSm.
eff you are truth-loving man,
please receive these lines from COM
mon prussian soldier
Following IS the testimony OF another