American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-11-01

sci, who was captured after he had
rammed a German U-bOat. l don't
know to what extent the kaiser was
directly responsible for that dastardly
crime, but from what he said regard
ing the capture Of another British cap
tain, the commander Of the BaralOng,
it was quite evident that he was In
entire sympathy with acts Of that
character.
A German U-boat had sunk a Brit
ism vessel upon which were some Of
the relatives Of the crew Of the Bara-
long. The crew Of this U-boat was
subsequently captured by the Bara-
long, and according to reports in Ger
man, they were harshly treated. Then
it was reported that the Baralong had
been captured and that her captain
and the crew would be summariiy
dealt with.
81 hear We have captured the cap
tain Of the Baralong," the kaiser de-
clared TO me at that time. IF we can
prove that he's the man we'll fix him.
The manner in which the kaiser
spoke left no doubt in my mind that
the dlrest punishment would be meted
out TO the unfortunate British captain.
Booty is undoubtedly a legitimate
incident Of war, but it is Legitimate
only as an incident. Otherwise booty
becomes loot. In any event, when in
vading troops seize private property it
is customary to pay for it, That the
Germans were good takers but poor
payers is revealed by two incidents
which the kaiser narrated to me, and
the keen enjoyment he derived from
them a be fully understood only by
those who know how much the kaiser
appreciates getting something for
nothing.
"Roumania wanted our gold for food
products he told me. They demand
ed pure gold and they set enormous
prices on their wares bur we needed
what they had TO sell and we were
ready to pay even the outrageous
prices they demanded. And then they
foolishly declared war against US and
we got it all for nothing. When
spoke to Hindenburg about the con.
templated campaign against Rouma-
mia he said, This viii be a very inter
esting campaign 1t was. We got all
we wanted and didn't have to pay a
penny for it."
The kaiser beamed all over as he
contemplated the results Of Rouma
MAS entry in the a
When the German troops entered
Tarnapol. Russia, at a later time they
captured vast quantities Of American
made hospital supplies.
1--WE were just figuring what thii
seizure amounted 10. and my arm.
! doctors were strutting around as i
they owned the world" declared tn
J kaiser. when n Of my officers wa
, approached by a group Of long-haired
! greasy Jews, who claimed that thes
{ supplies belonged TO them. They ar
our private property We bought then
l and we should be compensated If yo1
E seize them they c%ontended. Did yor
i pay for themY my officer asked. Nc
+ we didn't pay for them. but we CAV
: our notes. they replied. Then sal
: my officers. when you take up thos
notes Wen pay for these stores; i
5 the meanwhile we'll just take them
g We secured bandages. serums-everl
' thing. in fact, that we needed so yer
badly. and We got them all for mott
e ing 2"
$ 1 did not know at that time that IN
p German army lacked medical supple
Ie but later l saw paper bandages in us.
e I have previously referred 10 III
5. kaiser's defense Of the use Of Zepp.
IS Inns against Paris, London and oth'
II nonmilitary cities. He claimed that
i was proper to make wal on civilian
? because England was ~endeayoring
re starve Germany. On n occasion
lg pointed out 10 him that in 1870 Il
r Germans had besieged Paris and ha
Is starved its population.
THE cases are entirely different
r be answered hastily. Then we we.
rs besieging a city and the civilian 20
= ulation had plenty Of opportunity
evacuate it before the siege bega
England is besieging a whole natl,
and trying to starve my women al
children, who have nothing to do wi
war;
l couldn't help thinking of Il
whole nations" which had been q
solutely crushed under the kaiseI
heel-of Belgium. Servia and Polar
The kaiser never admitted that [
destruction of the Lusitania was a
suit of special instructions from b
TO the U-boat commander, but in d
cussing the general subject Of subn
rine warfare he asked:
What right have Americans to Ia
passage on these vessels, anyway?
they came onto the battlefield n
would not expect US 10 stop iriI
would they? Why should they exp'
n greater protection when they
ter the war zone at sea?
Don't ever forget" he went on,
bullet from a pistol would be enou