Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-01-03
BY Major General William Crozier in the
New York Times

New York Times
In preparing to mete out just PUNISH
ment to the kaiser for his crimes care
Should be taken that his prosecution be not
instituted in such way as to incur tne
danger of at least partial failure. In
statement of policy issued by Mr.. Lloyd
George on Dec 5 there occur the Hollow
ing passages
The kaiser must be prosecuted. The war
was a crime Who doubts that? 1t was
a frightful, terrible crime. 1t was crime
in the May-in which i Wa 2!annea ap3 n
| the deliberate Wantonness with which it was
provoked. 1t was also crime in the in
vasion of helpless little state and in the
| wicked and most brutal treatment of that
| little state. Remember the treaty of neu-
trality, the scrap of paper!
| Surely the war was crime. The fact
that all these iniquitous things were done
in the name of war and under the i'm
perial edict of an autocrat does not change
their nature. The war was a hideaus,
abominable crime, crime which has sent
millions of the best young men Of Europe
to death and mutilation and has plunged
myriads of homes into desolation.
In these passages there are two arraign-
ments-One for bringing on the war, the
other for the manner of conducting it. Now
the making of war is, by the law Of ma
tions, a prerogative of sovereignty, and
sovereign government is the sole judge of
the cause which may impel it or induce it
to this extreme act. If, as in the present
instance, war is undertaken for bad
cause, the act does not constitute an Offense
against international law, nor one which is
properly cognizable by court of justice,
either national or international. This does
not mean that no consequence can be visited
upon those responsible for unjustiied
and Ubiquitous war, but it must be done as
a matter of policy by administrative au-
thOrity and not as a result of judicial pro-
oSrrIo4
council of representatives of a government,
or of allied governments, would conclude
20 or more persons whom a victorious
- h2d placed within their power were too
dangerous to the peace of the world to be
allowed to remain at large, or even alive,
and might order their confinement, as in
the case of Napoleon I, or their execution;
but such proceeding would rest upon con-
science, upon public opinion, and upon
higher and unformulated law, and not upon
that established law and precedent which it
is the province of courts to pronounce upon.
Not so with the violation of the laws of
war itself, or of those laws made and &C
cepted with special reference to a state of
war. TransgressiOn of these brings the
transgressor directly within the jurisdiction
of courts, if the power exists to bring him
to the bar, and he can be tried and punish
ed in strict accordance with the principles
and practices which have characterized the
administration of justice in civilized
countries since the beginning of the reign
of law. If in the conduct of a righteous or
an unr1ghteOus war persons, of whatever
standing, are guilty of the unnecessary kill
ing of military prisoners or civilians of
rape, or other acts which are forbidden
by the recognized international code of
which prominent parts are contained in the
two conventions for the laws Of war on
land adopted at The Hague conferences of
1899 and 1907, they render themselves dis
tlnctly liable to trial and punishment by
court-martial or military commission, which
is species of court, or by a specially con-
stltuted judicial tribunal, without any vio-
lence being done to the best traditions of
civilization or to the most technical legal
requirements. The history of war is full
OF instances of such punishment of war
CRIMINALS and nowhere is there to be found
any reason, or even excuse for distinction
based on the rank of the offender to whom
ofense can be brought home
The invasion of Belgium by the German
Army was in direct controversion of the
first article, adopted unanimously, of the
convention concerning the rights and duties
of neutrals Of the second peace conference
at The Hague in 1907, which states that
the territory of neutral countries shall be
nviolate. The character of Germany's act
was not changed by her declaration of war
against Belgium, after the iatter's refusal
to accede to her request for the passage
of her troops across Belgiums territory.
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