The Washington times., 1918-04-19
By'BLANCHE sLoCUM.

AZ OLON OMs
ming that stories Of German atrocities
In Belgium were got up By the British
In order to make America join the
allies have lived 10 see America do
just that. and TO feel that while Bel
Eium was by no means the chief cause
of Americas action, It was neVerthe-
less one OF many contributing causes.
! And not Of Anerica's action alone
The whole world over. Germany's
treatment OF Belgium stimulated anti
| Germanism. when nation after ma
stion took up arms against Germany.
| Germany heard repeated the same
charges OF Brutality toward Belgium.
In each instance they appeared. to
some degree. the explanation q hos
! tile sentiment Germany had got Ant.
werp, but not Paris, and had lost her
good name.
| TRey Were warned.
when = German submarine sank
the Lusintania It was at hrst reported
that the vessel had struck q mine.
Then came official admissions along
with the now familiar excuses. "They
were warned" "The Lusltania was q
BritIsh warshlp armed with cannon. >"
''shs carried passengers as . protee-
tion for enough shells to kill 5000
lGermans." I'VE never expected her 70
so down 80 quickly; IL was explod
ing ammunition that sent her to thu
bottom before the. passengers had .
chance to escape"
/ At that stage no one seemed to
reckon with the consequences. When
Presidsnt wilson's note arrived Ger
mans thought he was biufhng. They
continued 90 to think when note fol-
ing happened. They have got their
eyes open now.
And their eonsciencss are, troubled.
| not only a. concerns the Lusitania.
tbut as concerns submarine warfare
IN general. To be sure. they still give
papier maehe U-boats to their chill
dren and call submarine warfare
wonderful" yet always they say:
'Its an awful thing. but what else
can we DOT"
They begin to question: however, 50
there IL not another motive for Ger.
many's undersea warfare besides ne
eessity. would sometimes corner .
German and say: "You Germans mean
TO keep up this until only German
ships are ahoat. Your object II TO
seize the worlds maritime carrying
trade when the war comes 70 an end
and monopolize Il ever after" At that
my German would look surprised, but
{ thought that what surprised him
was less the idea itself than tha dis
covery that q foreigner had detected
II. I got the Impression that IL was en-
idea already in HIS mind. At any
rate, he failed to deny 1t.
Always en- Defensive.
This was Significant. for Germans
are always on the defsnsive-some-
times cleverly-as regards undsrsea
warfare. II they talked about II less.
I should have had more faith in the
sincerity Of their arguments. And II
they talked about Belgium less. !
should have had more faith in their
arguments about Belgium. This stsr-
nal I'VE had to DO It" has . false
ring. especially when they keep bring
ing up the subject without pFovoca-
tion. II haunts them. They can't let
Il alone.
Living in Germany and talking with |
all classes, from servants up to the
very rich, and quitting German soil |
only an January, 1915, saw the popu- |
lar attitude toward the Invasion OF
Belgium and the sinking OF the LuSi-
tania change little by little till Wit
messed a complete rlEhtabout face. |
what brought this about? Judgment |
soberSd by time? Conscience, slow to |
act At hrst, but tremendously active |
Gt the iaSt7 Such was not my i'm
prOSsion. I thought the change |
brought about not by an increase OF |
enlightenment within the German
head or by a new tenderness in the |
German heart, but rather by q huge |
vacuum in the German stomach.
The Belgium outrage. committed \
in order 70 shorten the war. pro
lonEed the war. The Lusltania out
rage, committed to shorten the war, /
helped bring America in, and now the |
war must continue still longer. What
gigantic, what stupendous blunders!
How cruel In their eject on the Ger
man masses! For the German i'm
perial government WAS right at one
point: unless the war was quickly /
ended. Germans would 60 hungry.
The German masses want peace.
The hungrier and TaEEsder and more
wretched they grow the more desper-
Rtsly they want Il. As they look /
back, they tell themselves: Except
for Belgium and the Lusitania we
might have peace today"