The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-08-10
j. 5. WILL NOT BROOK
GERMAN ATROCITIES
London standard" Says Retribution
VIII FOLLOW Hun Acts of
Rgrbsrity.

London, Aug. s.-~-Taking as it's tex
the treachery of the Germans at tbs
( battle OF Sergy, when German ma,
I chine gunners fred upon America
troops from a church over which few
Red Cross nag, the Evening stand
ard publishes remarkable article en-
titled. The American Way OF Treat
ing Savages as Savages." The article
rid!cules The soft hearted. soft
handed English methods of dealing
WIN the Germans. which it declares
Is the result OF innate snobbery Of a
certain influential section of the
HrNish governing classes II predicts
America win exact the steruest re
prisSls for any German atrocity upon
americans and says.
Germans no doubt cannot help
acting as Germans hat is 10 say, as
p.4c kSuards---but II they have any
option IN the matter they Will be wise
10 refrain from definite acts OF black
gGardIsm against the American troops,
for Lhey VIII get at least as good as
they give. The average American is
chivalrous man and a thoroughly
clean fighter. but he is dangerous
person to play monkey tricks with
and when he gets real peeved the
other party is IN for an uncomfort
able time.
SO far the German has enjoyed
singular inlm unity. He has inflicted
on his enemies the extremity of
cruelty and barparism and has got
very little payment in the same coin.
France has indeed met deliberate in
Judgements Of the rules Of war in the
'.1ht spirit, but she has so much OF
Ter territory under the heel OF the
nun and SO many thousands of her
soldiers IN German military prisons
that she cannot afford TO go to full
length IN reprisals.
English Too Good Natured.
The same conditions applied to
Russia during her beHigerency Eng
land. suffering under no such dlsad-
vantage, has been dIsarmed IN other
ways. Our soldiers are too good
natured to exact fun vengeance, even
from treacherous foe The great
part Of our civilian population is too
soTt hearted. perhaps, 10 approve stern
measures
1t was hard enough to get a fabby
minority to agree even to air raids of
a strictly military character over Ger
man towns. bat the chief handicap in
dealing faithfully with the Hun has
BEEN ne attitude OF our leading men.
Iha- attitude has not been determined
oy anything so respectable as humani-
taitdn.stH IN It's silliest moods II
springs from SIMPLE snobbery our
statesmen. while hghtlnE the Ger
mans, have never ceased to reverence
them They believe in the superman.
they silll think of the kaiser as ii
great prince. That servlIe posture to-
ward men and things German which
had become habit with them remains.
1t rs instinct with them now.
caps She has 40 territory TO be raw
aged, or civilians to be tortured, nor
has she any mental prepossessions to
overcome. To the American the
kaiser is hedged about by no sort of
DIVINITY. Before the war Americans
looked upon him as something of "A
mailman Now they look upon him
as very much of criminal Few
Americans would see anything in
herently incongruous In tarring and
feathering the All Highest or riding
+ him on a rail
Americans Naturally Chivairous.
"Of course. they would do no such
thing If he and his men conducted
+ themselves as decent enemies to
American citizens, but if they act like
! savages Americans disposition will be
/ 10 treat them as savages American ms
have dealt with savages before now
Al American is no less ChiValrous
than an Englishman, but in differ
ent way We think chivalry chiefly
consists In being nice TO German
some bodies, even at the expense OF
our own vulgar nobodies 1t is a relic
OF times when the aristoCrat of any
! country was more kindly disposed to
a foreign arIstocrat than TO the
pleblan Of his own race.
Now in America there are no pie
/ blans, because there are no classes.
All American citizens have equal
value. and the value of any American
citizen Is higher than the value of any
foreigner. SO If the Germans start
monkeying with American citizens
there viii be trouble for the Germans
during The war and after the war as
we'll When the Princes OF Delhi were
: taken IN The Indian mutiny they were
not kowtoWed to They were lust
carefully shot through the head by a
simple British major. they being only
black men who had committed atroci-
/ ties. They We're unknown to London
society. Americans would be quite
equal in doing the same thing TO the
+ Princes of Potsdam If their blood Were
/ raised by atrocities committed aginst
American citizens. for an American is
n