Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-02-15

right TO demand Of him anything super
human" "The great good I'm war Is
that II should be ended quickly. In
view of this, every means, except those
which are positively condemnable,
must be permitted. cannot. in any
/ way, agree with the declaration of st.
Petersburg when II pretends that the
/ weakening of the military forces of the
/ enemy constitutes the only legitimate
method of procedure in war. MOI One
must attack all the resources of the
/ enemy government, his finances. his
railroads, his stock Of provisions and
even his prestige. :"
Many other examples might be cited
from the writings Of German generals
The very best illustration OF this atti-
tude. however, Is To be found I'm the
emperor's various speeches, and espe-
cinlly in his speech to his soldiers on
the eve of their departure for China in
1900. on July 81 the kaiser went to
Bremerhnven to bid farewell to the
/ German troops. AS they were drawn
up, ready to embark for China, he nd
dressed to them last official message
from the .fntherland. The local news
paper reported his speech In full. In
1t appeared this advice and admontion
from the emperor the commander In
chief Of the army, the head of all Ger
many:
Soldiers Told to BE Merciiess.
"As soon MS you come to blows with
the enemy he will he beaten. No mercy
VIII be shown No prisoners will be
takenl AS the Huns, under King At
tia, made Il name for themselves,
which Is still mighty in traditions and
legends today. may the name of Ger
man be so fixed i'm China by your deeds,
that no Chinese shall ever again dare
even 10 look mt II German askancc. E.
Open the way for Kultur once for ALL"
Even the imperial councillors seem to
have been shocked Mt the emperors
speech, and efforts We're promptly
made TO suppress the circulation of his
exact words. The efforts were only
partly successful. A few weeks later
when the letters from the German sol
dlers in China We're being published,
in local German papers, the leading
socialist newspaper, Vorwaerts, ex-
cerpted from them reports Of atroci-
ties under the title Letters OF the
Huns" Many of the leaders In the
reichstag felt very keenly the brutality
of the emperor's speech. The obnox-
ious word "Huns" had excited almost
universal condemnation. When the
reichstag met, in November the speech
was openly discussed. Herr Lieber of
the center Catholic party, after quot
Ing the 'no mercy" portion OF the
speech, added. "There are, alas, In Ger
many groups enough who have regard
ed the atrocities told In the letters
which have been published as the duti-
full response of soldiers so addressed
and encouraged" The leader of the
social democrats. Herr Bebel, spoke
Of two-hour address on the atrocities
committed by the German soldiers in
China and on the speech of the en-
peror. he said:
''If Germany wishes to be the bearer
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 IL has been defined by the en-
peror are not, in our opinion,
! the way tn preserve the world position
I of Germany, to gain for Germany the
respect of the world"
The consequences of the emperor's
/ speech Bebel aptly described:
"By IL the signal was given, CARRIED
/ In the highest authority of the German
empire, which must have most wetghty
consequences, not only for the troops
/ who went 10 China but also for those
who stayed at home. An expedition
of revenge so barbarous as this has
never occurred In the last hundred
years and not often in history; ut
least. nothing worse than this has hap
pened In history. either done by the
Huns, by the Vandals, by Genghis
Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly
when he sacked Magdeburg."
Atrocities in China.
These atrocities In China or Letters
of the Huns" continued to be published
in the Vorwaerts for several years and
appeared internationally In the debates
of the reichstag as late MS 1906 Al
that time the socialist, Herr Kunert
reviewing the procedure in trial OF
which he had been the victim In the
previous summer, stated that he had
offered TO prove that German soldiers
in China had engaged i'm wanton and
brutal rayaging; that plumber, pillage
extorton, robbery, as we'll as rape anc
sexual abuses of the worst kind haC
occurred on very large scale and that
German soldiers had participated IL
them" He had not been given an op
portunity to prove his allegations hut
had been sentenced to prison for three
months for assailing the honor of the
''whole German army" The out
/, rageousnesS of this sentence was made
, clear by the revelations, made in thu
relchstag shortly afterwards, of siml
|, lar atrocities committed by German
officials and soldiers In Africa in thu
/ campaign against the Hereros.
/ For the guidance of the officers II
} case the inhabitants Of conquered ter