The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-02-28

man. The great good in war is
that it should be ended quickly. In
view of this, every means, except
those which are positively condemn
able, must be permitted. | can not,
in any way, agree with the declara-
tion of St. Petersburg when it pre-
tends that the weakening of the
military forces of the enemy con-
stitutes the only legitimate method
of procedure in war. No! One must
attack all the resources of the enc
my government, his finances, his
railroads, his stock of provisions
and even his prestige. *"
Many other examples might be cit
ed from the writings of German gen.
erals. The very best illustration of
this attitude, however, is to be found
in the emperor's various speeches,
and especially in his speech to his SOL
diers on the eve of their departure
for China in 1900. On July 27 the
Kaiser went to Bremer-haven to
bid farewell to the German troops.
AS they were drawn up, ready to
embark for China, he addressed to
them a last official message from the
fatherland. The local newspaper re-
ported his speech in full. In it ap-
peared this advice and admonitlon
from the emperor, the commander in
chief of the army, the head of all
Germany:
LAS soon as you come to blows
with the enemy he will be beaten.
No mercy will be shown! No prison
ers will be taken! AS the Huns,
under King Attila, made a name for
themselves, which is stillf mighty in
traditions and legends today, may
the name of German be so fixed in
China by your deeds, that no Chi
nese shall ever again dare even to
Open the way for Kultur once for
ALL"
Opposition in Reichstag.
Even the imperial councillors
seem to have been shocked at the
Emperor's speech, and efforts were
promptly made to suppress the cir
culation of his exact words. The
efforts were only partly successful.
A few weeks later, when the letters
from the German soldiers in China
! were being published, in local Ger
man papers, the leading socialist
newspaper, Vorwarts, excepted from
them reports of atrocities under the
title Letters of the Huns Many
of the leaders in the Reichstag felt
very keenly the brutality Of the en-
peror's speech. The obnoxious word
Huns had excited almost universal
condemnation. When the Reichstag
met, in November, the speech was
openly, discussed. Herr Lieber, of
the Center (the Catholic party, af-
ter quoting the mo mercy portion
of the speech, added, "There are,
alas, in Germany groups enough who
have regarded the atrocities told in
the letters which have been published
as the dutiful response of soldiers so
addressed and encouraged. The
leader of the Social Democrats, Herr
Bebel, spoke even more po-ntedly.
Toward the end Of a two-hour ad-
dress on the atrocities committed by
the German soldiers in China and on
the speech of the emperor, he said:
eff Germany wishes to be the bear
er of civilization to the world, we will
follow without contradiction. But
the ways and means in which this
world policy has been carried on thus
far, in which it has been defined by
the emperor are not, in our
opinion, the way to preserve the
world position of Germany, to gain
for Germany the respect of the
world"
The consequences of the Emperor's
speech Bebel aptly described:
''By it signal was given, garbed
in the highest authority of the Ger
man empire, which must have most
weighty consequences, not only for
the troops who went to China but
also for those who stayed home" "
can expedition of revenge so barba-
rous as this has never occurred in
the last hundred years and not often
in history; at least, nothing worse
than this has happened in history,
either done by the Huns, by the
Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tam
erlane, or even by Tilly when he
sacked Magdeburg.'