The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-02-08

PR0VE POLICY OF BRUTALITY.

ated notion OF oneself. Under the
snell Of this madness It has been easy
for him to weld the whole German
people into compact force. WITH the
conquest Of Europe, and the conquest
OF the world, as it's reasons for e1-
He has fooled them into belieyetng
that he IL The chosen OF Tho Al1ul9h4iy,
that in his hands, they too. are the
instrument Of The Almighty. and thai;
It IS for The good Of the world that an
creation should come under German
I'll" The German people beHe7e today
that Verdun was a German victory.
They believe that America IS inoepar
Bile Of effective effoFtap the war. Have
not the Kaiser and HindenbuTE told
them so2
ing the German people Is OF move
British prisoners from one camp to
another, parading towns enroute, and
making the popuIace believe that the
prisoners have been recently taken.
A British officer in an tnternment
camp in Switzerland told me that by
this system he had become familiar
with eight different prison camps IN
Germany.
Our group seemed to be the chosen
one for exhibition purposes" said he.
There were about a thousand OF US,
all taken in the latter part OF 1914
First we were held in a prison camp
in Westphalia. In 1915 they began to
move US. The moves always were
made after the people had been given
word of troop activity in the west.
Whenever the fighting went against
the Germans and was important
enough to get into the communfQues,
we were moved eastward notch. AT
the first town of any size we would
be taken off the train and paraded
through the streets.
"In this way they kept us moving
from camp to camp eastward, and
then southwestward, till finally we
reached Manneheim. which was the
last of the eight prisons I was in.
"0f course, it was only British who
thus paraded. The Germans seemed
to prize US as prisoners more highly
than the men OF other nationalities.
Besides, Germany knew she had Rus
STA on her knees. We were supposed
10 be the proof that the Germans were
making Roadway in the west.
Always our parades took place
through crowded streets. The whole
civilian population turned out to see
US. They would line the sidewalks al
most within touch Of US, calling us
pig.dogs, and yelling, Colt strafe Eng
land.'
Most OF us had been wounded. and
some of US were not very steady on
our pins. Sometimes when such
line by a swift kick. implanted by one
If tba mon from tho
The government fools the peo-
pie in regard to German losses in
the war. No one except the mill
tary bosses of Germany knows
what Germany'S losses are. The
newspapers are not permitted to
print the names of the killed and
wounded
After a battle the newspapers are
permitted TO tell what troops were
engaged. If anyone wishes to know
whether his father. brother or son
:"as killed or wounded. he must IN
CURE at the bureau established by
the government
Thus the cumulative effect OF the
losses never comes home TO the Ger
man people. Naturally each family
knows about its own men, but it has
40 Information as to what has hap
pS4leQ 70 CIneES, except as Such 1n1Or-
nation may come to it by chance
The women are not permitted to
wear black. so that not even in this
way may the people be reminded Of
their grief. or be given key to the
extent OF the losses. It is the crepe
bonnet and black dress one sees at
every turn in France that give that
country so depressing an aspect to
foreigners.
The German people have been fooled
about their food supply. In the days
when COW beets and straw bread were
the only fare for the poorest classes.
they were kept in heart by govern
ment promises OF food supplies from
conquered territory. east and west.
The German people have been fooled
into believing that Ensland's food
scarcity is greater than Germany. and
the suffering OF her people, therefore,
more terrible
The government keeps the people
in the dark concerning conditions in
Austria and Hungary, particularly
facts concerning strikes and peace
movements. Three newspapers were
suspended in Germany for daring to
print the fact that the general strike
in Vienna might develop into an open
revolution.
Newspapers are not permitted to
print anything about famine-drG(Jsv in
Austria. hunger-typhoid in Germany.
Or the tremendous increase IN tubercu-