The Dermott news., 1919-08-07
PUNISH OFFICERS
 WHO WERE CRUEL
CASES OF BRUTALITY FEW IN PROPORTION TO NUMBER OF
 MEN IN ARMY.
"A. w. 0. L." SERIOUS DEFENSE
Tendency Among People of United States to Beltte Charge, Because They Do Not Realize What otfense Really Means in Time of Battle.
By EDWARD B. CLARK.


 of the house of representatives k in vestEating tile charges of cruelty 10 American soldiers in France who were confined to the guardhousc on various charges of hnd conduct. Six American soldiers. now discharged from the service, have testified that they were brutally treated while under arrest.
 Ii appeared at the hearings that several officers who were accused of cruelty to prisoners have been con victed and that others are awaiting trial. of course the statement that American soldiers who were prisoners in our guardhouSeS were cruelty treat ed Is one to arouse the anger of the American people. but il ought to be remembered thnt the cases of alleged brutality are few aud that 2e00. .ooQ men were serving the eolorS in France
 Army officials believe that the moth CTS and fathers of the soldiers should know that these cases are isolated ones; that every charge of iIl-treat-
 
 those proved to he guilty of cruelty to the men have been brought 10 justice. or are about To be so brought.
 There are two sides to every army question. as there are to every dnes- ton in civil life. hut the tendency of the American people aS shown by the Washington records, is to believe everything i'll that is spoken of the army There are many guardhouses in France. There had to he places where the unruiy, the mutinoaS the shirks and others charged with mili- tary ofrenSes could be confined
 Small in Proportion.
 The number of prisoners charged with otfenscs was large, but it was very small in proportion to the number of men in the army.
 There has been Il tendency among the people of the United States to be little the charge known in the army as "A. N. Q. l...a otherwise "ahSent with ou, leave. \ good many of the guard house caseS were men charged with this otreuSe. Onc hearS frequently in Washington, aS apparently elsewhere, how shameful thing il k te lock Il man up simply because he has taken Il duy or two day leave without per mission Doubtless fathers and moth CTS of many American soldiers feel this way
 How would the fathers aud mothers of some of the soldiers killed on the battlefield feel today OH this subject if they knew that perhaps their sons lives were lost because the sons of oth. er fathers and mothers had shirked their duty and had gone "A. W. o. l..' at critical times, thus necessitating service in the first line for men who already had served there and were in rest hillet>?
 So il k that "A. W. q. L. on occa- sion means much more jhau people think II means Crueitles to prisoners, whether they ahScnted themselves from their commands al a critical time or not. is something that the American people will not stand for. hut the eN- pressions of sympathy for well-treated prisoners simply because they are pris- oncrs Is sometimes misplaced. II Is no lie to Suy that some American soldiers lost their lives while doing the work which II was the duty of other soldiers to do.
 The special committee of the house of representatives K Investigating charges of cruelties to euardhouSe prisoners in France. Any officer ar uoneomm.sSinned officer who k cruel Ia a prisoner, no matter what his of- fenSe. will he punished fer such al ways has been the way ef the military authorities in the field. hut So far as sentiment and sympathy concern them selves with legal puuiShmentS for men who Shirked their dutN that others might do it, the American people in many cases. perhaps, justly might stop seutimentaliaing and sympathizing.
 Senate Debate Not Convincing
 The senate of the United States these days k literally an international debating society with Il national set iliA Af Ait'AtNt tf sA tsNA'AA are discussing proposed relations with virtually all the other nations on the face of the earth The senate k an in- teresting place. but admittedly it k place where one cannot get the full light of conviction.
 The man with m open mind on the subject of the League of Nations who goes into the senate galleries to get the illumination of conviction has his troubles. Within an hour the League of Nations covenant first will he pro- nounced the worlds greatest document. marking the beginning of new and better order in worlds affairs and then denounced as "a pact which If given the life of law will undermine destroy nationalism and bring war and tumult into the world"
 Men have come to Washington to listen 10 the debates of the League of Nations and gone away saying: "We must make up our minds for our selves" II is huge subject. this League of Nations, and no one knows