Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-09-27

At q subsequent interview we re-
ferred to Belgium again, and the kali
ser alleged that Japan had violated
the neutrality of China when she sent
troops through Chinese territory to
seize Kiao-Chau.
ut is all right for the allies to do
these things" he commented sarcas-
tically, "but when Germany does them
England rises up in righteous indig-
nation. The hypocrites! Why, we
found papers in Brussels which
showed conclusively that England and
Belgium had a secret agreement by
which In the event of war with Ger
many England was to be permitted to
occupy Belgium! We've got those pa
pers In Berlin. We could have no
more positive>proof against them. The
Belgians were simply England's tools!"
Some of the arguments the kaiser
raised in his discussions with me re-
garding the war were so weak and
untenable that one might well doubt
his sincerity in urging them, but /
shall give them for what they are
worth.
"They refer to US as the Huns |" the
kaiser observed bitterly. IF your
people could see what the Russians
have done in the Bukowina and east
ern Prussia they would know then
who are the real Huns! They de-
stroyed everything they could lay
thar hands IN Tn opo nf INV shoot.
ing lodges which the Cossacks entered
they even knocked out the teeth Of the
bears heads which hung on the walls !!
With knives they cut out the covers of
my chairs. They had special FIRE
bombs which they threw on peaceful
villages. These bombs had been con-
structed in peace times and were de-
signed solely for pillage and destruc-
ton.
Instead Of treating their soldiers
as prisoners of war we should have
strung them up by the neck-every
one Of them!"
Several prominent Poles, who were
patients of mine and whose fine es-
tates in Poland were looted and de-
molished, told me positively that the
destruction and depredations were
committed entirely by German troops.
The Russians had. occupied the houses
when they were in possession of that
section of the country, but it was not
until they were driven out by the Ger
mans that the acts of vandalism were
committed and they had convincing
evidence that in every case the Gee
were responsible.
The outrages committed by the Ger
mans In their treatment OF prisoners
of war will probably never be known
il their entirety. We do know thai
they executed Captain Fryatt, the
commander of a British merchant yes
sci. who was captured after he hat
rammed a German U-boat. / dom
know to what extent the kaiser was
directly responsible for~that dastardl.
crime, but from what he said regard
ing the capture Of another British cap
tain, the commander of the Baralong
1t was quite evident that he was il
entire sympathy with acts Of tina
: character.
A German U-boat had sunk Brit
ish vessel upon which were some o
the relatives of the crew of the Bara
long. The crew of this U-boat wa
subsequently captured by the Bara
long, and according to reports in Ger
many they were harshly treated. Thel
1t was reported that the Baralong hal
been captured and that her captain
and the crew would be summarize
dealt with.
II hear we have captured the CAP
tain of the Baralong," the kaiser dc
clared to me at that time. IF we cal
prove that he's the man we'll Ak him !!
The manner in which the kalse
spoke left no doubt In my mind tim
the direst punishment would he mete
out to the unfortunate British captain
Booty Is undoubtedly a legitimat
incident Of war, but II Is legitimat
only as an incident. Otherwise boot
becomes loot. In any event, when II
vading troops seize private property
is customary to pay for 1t. That tn
Germans were good takers but poe
payers is revealed by two incident
which the kaiser narrated to me, an
the keen enjoyment he derived frol
them can be fully understood only b
those who know how much the kaist
appreciates getting some ing Il
nothing.
'Roumania wanted our gold for foo
products" he told me. "They demam
ed pure gold and they set enormor
prices on their wares; but we needle
what they had to sell and we we,
ready to pay even the outrageot
prices they demanded. And then the
foolishly declared war against us an
we got 1t all for nothing! When
spoke to Hindenburg about the COZ
templated campaign against Roum
nia he said, This will be very int
esting campaign 1t was. We got a
we wanted and didn't have to pay
penny for It."
The kaiser beamed all over as
contemplated the results of Roum
MAS entry in thSsSsar.
When the German troops entert
TarnaDOl. RUSSIA. Mt later time thu