Evening star., 1920-02-15
DEMAND FOR GERMAN q
LEADERS HELD ERROR
Restoration of Peace, Not Desire of Pun
ishment, Should Be Allies Motive, = :
Mr.. Simonds Says.

mistaken desire to conciliate the Gers
man people. it still remains true thaA
| there are questions which may be aps
preached with a certain degree -
moderation. The allied governments
and peoples must consider in what
direction their ultimate interests lie.
1t seems to me that the question sf
! the black list" is one x
| What will be the effect of insistine
upon the delivery of the proscribed,
/ the properly prescribed? ObviousIe
| this: The Germans will not now or
! hereafter accept the view that theie
national heroes. Hindenburg. Luden-
dorff. even old Kluck. whose ma
neuver at the Ourcq called forth
, praise from Jofrre. should be punished.
! Eject ON German People.
No matter what guilt is lscribeA
pie will see them being punished be-,
cause they fought the enemy in the
struggle. which was war. because
they were the conspicuous soldiers Of
| Germany. The course of the allies in
| 1915 in insisting upon the execution
of Marshal Ney was one Of the his
! torical circumstances Of the over
throw of Napoleon which has re-
mained unfOrgiven by the French
people TO be sure Ney was shot be-,
after accepting Louis XVIII but them
! now and forever. Ney is the hero of a
thousand battlefields the "bravest o.
the brave. and even betrayal Of
fault in a noble hero. 1 am not CONS
pairing Ney to kluck. which would
be an unforgivable offense: I am
merely trying to point out that the
German people think OF Kluck. think
Of their other prescribed generals, as
France thought and thinks of Ney. ~
! Now to demand that these heroes.
whatever their sins. be sent to a
/ hostile court and. as must be dones
if the action is in accordance with
the evidence. thereafter be sent to
an enemy firing squad. is thing
/, forever intolerable to the Germans.
Even if the sentence is rema nded, "
will merely be accepted as an elev>
part; the desire will be disclosed fs
the decision. only lack of courage
will explain the failure to carry out
the sentence. y
! And what will be the result. An
intensification of the German hatred
of France and Great Britain. who
will be held responsible, of France
primarily. and the inception OF p
new bitterness. or il she please. an
intensification of the old. No mat
read. Germans will believe that Lu-
dendorff was punished for his VIC
tories in the great battles Of the
spring of 1918. HindenburE because.
| Ol Ills pdtTlOttC ScTVlCc6 ne luIn8
| is inevitable "vae victis." the Gert
! mans will say. and turn to the con-,
struction of a new army which shan
not fail in the end.
And the kaiser and the kinglets,.
what difference. save only that in"
their cases the allies are insisting.
upon what amounts to violation
| of the neutrality OF Holland to pun
ish the kaiser for his crime against,
/ civilization in invading Belgium. TO
I, hn =
go to the point of attacking Holland,
| of blockading her ports. but with the
demand for the kaiser have gone
many threats in all the allied press
let US agree. but to the German mind.
which knows only a press directed by
the government. actual and omcia1
| threats.
almost deeper. We are not going to
get the kaiser we are not going to
get Hindenburg and Ludendor6 alA
Kluck. because no government in Gdf,s
many hwich agreed to surrender them
and undertook to arrest them and az:
live an hour. Since no German goY-
eminent will surrender them, neither
the British mr. the French nor the
American pub les will tolerate another
gain possession of these distinguished
culprits. Yet This is what will be re-
ouired, an Invasion Of Germany.
march to Berlin. with the moral GER
tainty that how,ver futile German re-
! sistance. the consequences VIII be the
! collapse of such order as survives IN
Germany and a rush either to bolshe-
vism or to kaiserism.
suEkestie. to Allies.
! Now that the W.r Is over. In my
! Judgment wise allied policy lies In the
/, direction OF taking from Germany only
| that which is essential to allied re-
! cuperation and essential because 81
German devastation. Locking up Or
hanging the men guilty OF the hideoue
| crimes which were committed In Bel
gium. in France and on the high seas
| will not contribute one least measure
to this recuperation. but viii actually
contribute to postpone IL. both by
leading the Germans to decline TO
mako payments and to chsrish new
| convictions of allied crimes ana crimi-
nal purposes.
| But il the other view prevail. then
il is time the allies decided to show
the same obstinacy in the pefformauee
of a duty which they continue TO fe-
veal in the discussion of II. stupid or
wise. the policy OF pursuing the w.
criminals is supreme stupidity. u tAp
pursuit Is to be by ultfmatums alone.
each ultimatum couched In more vf0r
| orous and hatred-breedfng language
and followed by q more humilatfHe
! and contempt xciting surrender. e,
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