The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-12-02
Shall we feed Germany?

German harvest fed the German pop
lation throughout the war and only q
few weeks ago she harvested her 1918
crop. She also stripped northern
France and Belgium of their last har-
vest and received supplies from Rou-
mania and the Ukraine so famine in
Germany would be phenomenon. Yet
Germany raises the cry to the world
that she must have food because she
is starving. She is directing her cry
mostly at America because she knows
that we ara the store house of the
world at present, and she knows her
cries to Belgium, France. England.
! Italy and many of the other Of the
allies would go UNDECIDED and she also
hopes by appealing to us that she
can cause dissatisfaction between
the allies and US.
Shall we send her food when the
scarcity here causes the rise in prices
making it doubly hard on the Ameri-
can poor and the workers facing
unemployment the coming winter?
No doubt they will get some, but
not until first our own home, our al
lies and the other starving nations
of the world are supplied. When there
! Is shortage, who should be fed first,
the Belgian women and children or
the snivling Hun?
Germany has the nature Of a pirate;
she raises the cry of hunger after
robbing the French and Belgians.
Did not the bold German officer take
the last morsel of food from the Bel
gian babe and then murder it in its
hunger? Did not the Hun see the
people Of Poland drop dead of star
walton in the streets during the long
years of war agony? Did not they
witness the Armenians die as flies
from mere thirst while German guards
kept the Moslem Turks from giving
water to them? Germany said this
was fair in war, but since the armis-
tice has been signed not one word of
pity has come from Germany for those
! whom she oppressed; the only word
then Is a cry for food for themselves
or they will have revolution and be
worse than they were. If this is the
case we should not give them food,
but put a garrison around her and
see that she is not worse than she
was.
The ones who are holding out the
empty dinner plate as they claim, are
the savages who bayonetted little
children: rung the church bells of their
cities when the women and children
sank to a watery grave on the Lusi-
tania; gave holidays to their school
children when schoolchildren of Lon
don and Paris were mangled by air
raiders; gave medals to their soldiers
for the destruction of beautiful cities
and records Of France; knew of their
ambassador, Won Bernstorff, ejoying
the hospitality of America, at the same
time planning its destruction. We do
not wish to add to the hardships of
the common people Of Germany, but
we are perfectly willing that they
should suffer enough to bring them to
a realization of their sins.
1t is is true that the end Of hos
tilities finds Germany in state of
revolution and unrest and will need
the help of the outside world; but to
Receive it, she will have to show that
she is deserving. But concerning the
food and all necessities, she will have
to wait until we, ourselves, our allies
and all who were oppressed by Ger
many are taken care of, and then, if
there be anything left, she can have
it: we will give it for humanity's
sake, because we do not want to stoop
to the level which Germany has.
R. H. BRYSON.
Hagerstown. Ind.