Weekly journal-miner., 1918-07-10
TALK OF REPRISALS
 GROWING STRONGER


 als against prisoners of war in the United States are threatened by Sec retary of State Lansing as a result of Rerlin's demand for the liberation of Franz von Rintelen, arch-spy.
 What will Americas reprisals mean?
 The treatment Germany has ac- corded her prisoners of war since the war began is notorious. It can be summed up in one brief sentence:
 Hundreds of them have died of starvation, deliberate torture and murder.
 On the other hand, what kind of treatment have German prisoners in America received?
 The general public is not permit ted to visit the internment camps, so the general public does not know. If it knew that America treats its priso- ners more as guests, that they are more comfortable, in fact, than our own soldiers in the cantonments and camps, it is likely the question would be raised:
 Why wait for Germany to murder American prisoners as she has mr- dered those of our allies.
 Why not begin policy of repri- sals now?
 "Reprisals" do not mean that America will torture, starve and mur- der her prisoners of war as Germany has done. Americans are not Huns.
 They do mean that the German prisoners in this country will be de- prived of the comforts and luxuries they have enjoyed in their idleness and will be made to go to work.
 A summary of the prisoner situa- ton shows the following facts:
 A total of 349 American prisoners have been located in German prison camps Of this number 133 are sol diers and PIG are civilians and sail ors taken from American merchant ships.
 About 5000 Germans are informed in this country, distributed as fol- lows:
 Fort McPherson, Ga, 1910 pris- oners of war.
 Fort Ogelthorpe. Ca. S39 alien enemies.
 Fort Douglas, Utah. 432 alien enc mics.
 Hot Springs, \. C., 25O0 prisoners of war taken off German merchant men.
 | Of this vast number, all but about 1000, who are being used in culti- vating gardens, are living in luxur- ious idleness.
 While Germany's citizens in this country arc living pleasant, easy lives, how are our men in Germany faring? Germany, of course, is not per-. hitting them to tell. But there is no guanantee that Americans will fare any better than British, French, Rus sian, Belgian and Servian prisoners who have been worked, starved and tortured to death, in many cases kill led by the shells and bullets of their comrades while working behind the German lines.
 At Fort MtPherson, Ga, where 13l German seamen are living in idleness, they are fed as well or bet than American soldiers are fed; as well or better than many family in the poorer classes of our cities.
 In Germany - recent dispatch from The Hague quotes British pris- oners who have been exchanged as follows: American prisoners natur. ally complain of the food given them, | which an American horse would re- fuse indignantly. It consists of the refuse of turnips dipped into hot dirty water and labeled soup
 At Fort McPherson the German prisoners are not compelled or even asked to do any work except in keep ing their own quarters clean and do- ing their own cooking, but several ways are open to them for earning money, such as the camp laundry tailor shop, barber shop, etc. The men have camp theater; they en- joy games and athletic diversions; they have a musical organizations; they have educational classes-even to the study of Sanskrit-and they have living quarters exactly the same as those in which our boys lived when they attended the officers training camps. Inside the camps they about live as they please.
 In Germany. British prisoners have been killed for not stopping conver- sation when ordered to, for resent ing insults by German officers, for , to load German guns to kill , comrades and for other brutal 2 causes. They have been beaten while ( wounded, operated on without anes- thetics, forced to the hardest kind of { manual labor without the proper I food or rest, and,in general, subject ' ed to inhuman treatment such as f