New-York tribune., 1921-04-04
Rhine "Horror''
Is Pure Myth,
Says Calbraith
Legion Head Cites Reports
by Ambassador Wallace.
Major General Allen.
Mrs. Gait and Others
He Calls 1t Propaganda
Answers Won Mach and the
Hyphenatcs With Facts
Gathered by Americans

There is no "horror on the Rhine"
save in the minds Of those duped by
German propagandsts. evidence made
public yesterday by +. ". Galbraith jr.,
national commander Of the American
Legion. proves.
Mr.. Galbraith adduces, in contradic-
tion Of Dr.. Edmund Karl Won Mach's
assertion that French negro troops
have terrorized the women Of occupied
German territory, statements by Hugh
{. Wallace, American Ambassador to
France; Bainbridgc Colby, ex-Secrc-
tary OF State; Major General Henry T.
Allen, commanding the American Army
of Occupation; Mrs. Carrie Chapman
Gait and Francis Il. Drake, commander
OF the American Legion in France. Mr..
Galbraith includes this evidence in a
letter to r. W Elven, editor of the
Cincinnati (Ohio) Freie Prosse, n Ger
man language newspaper.
Wants No Hyphen
The American Legion thicf concludes
his letter to the Cincinnati editor with
these words:
"Our position is that the evidence
shows there Is no horror on the Rhine,
that mass meetings to protest against
this shadowy nothing are screened at
tacks on nations friendly to America,
and that the hyphen must and shall
keep its ugly head out of American af-
fairs, internal and foreign as we'll"
Commander brakes report Of the in
vestigation Of the alleged assaults by
negro troops on German women, cabled
from Paris. said that there had been
in all only 12o accusations Of this
character, OF which forty-six had been
proved without foundation, ffty-one
were doubtful and twentv-cight had
more or less foundations"
Of these twenty eight, three negro
soldiers convicted OF assaults on women
more than five years, five We're SEN
fenced to terms OF five years or less;
one, whose oifense was unclassified,
was given term exceeding five years;
three unclassified offenders were sem
fenced to less than five years each,
one received suspended sentence and
seven We're disposed OF by judicial en-
forcement." Two were acquitted Of
assault and six Of attempted assault.
Many accusations were made after
a considerable lapse of time with no
complaint lodged with the French au-
thorities,' Commander brakes cable
gram read. "Others refer to trivial
incidents which could occur in any
garrison town and were not peculiar
to negro troops. Moreover, the Ger
man police often lodged complaints
based upon pure gossip AS an exam
pic. there was a case at I.udwigs shafen
where the rcputed victim had been un-
known in the region since 1876
Ambassadors Testimony
Ambassador Wallaces testimony fol
lows
"The total number Of troops Of the
French army Of occupation was $4,000
in December. OF this number 1886
were Moroccans and Algerians and
1924 were Magaches. The remainder
were white. The figures for January
were Approximately the same.
Properly speaking, there are no
black troops The Moroccans and Al
! eerians are Arabs Of the Mussulman
religion and entirely distinct from the
negro race. The Ma!gaches are Ma
lays from Madagascar.
incidents occurring between these
/ colored troops and the natives Of the
occupied district, which have been
investigated by the French military
authorities, have been in the proportion
OF one to 1854 men. About one-fourth
of such cases have resulted in con-
demnations of from thirty days to ten
years imprisonment, according to the
gravity Of the charge. The remaining
cases have been dismissed on account
Of inability to substantiate charges, or
because Of the lack of good faith on
the part of German authorities who
brought charges.
"The French government has made