The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-02-22

ment in any Allied country. Some of like to play with words We may say that punishment is an old fashioned idea and that what propose is sort of sanitary measure. We mean to abate the kind of crime Hitler and his colleagues and sbordinaes have committed by eliminating the cause We to eliminate the in such way that sources of contagion will be established Whether put the matter in this way or in some other way the con- clusion is the same Axis leaders must be removed from circulation, which means that they must be removed from this earth They must be removed precisely because they leaders and have led They need not be convicted, unless deliberately choose to make drama of it, of the murder of any one specific person Below certain level of authority come on new category of crime-the designated off, fense against designated victim victims. In such cases we may find desirable to hold court and bring in witnesses.
 The question has been brought into the open by the resignation of Herbert Claiborne Pell American representative on the War Crimes Commission in London has not been brought fully into the open, for all that the Acting Secretary of State Joseph c. has to say that "it is the policy of this Gov ernment that the Axis leaders and their henchmen who are guilty of crimes shall be brought to the bar of justice" What crimes? Is the making of unprovoked and undeclared war a crime? Must we prove that Adolf Hitler had foreknowledge of what was done at Ldice and that he personally ordered the creation of the many Nazi murder camps? Shall we attempt to bring the Nazs to trial for all of the crimes they have committed in the Reich itself, as well as in the countries they conquered? Or shall settle accounts with them for their crimes against the United Nations and leave the punishment of crimes committed German soil to the reckoning of the German people?
 Dr. Sheldon Glueck has ably discussed the whole subject recently published book, War Criminals Their Prosecution and Punishment" As he summar ized his conclusions in letter to this newspaper he holds that such criminals must be tried by the ili tary and civil courts and under the laws of each of the injured States with certain exceptional and large scale to be prosecuted ill international crim ina to be set up by the United Nations and to apply the common Cunwritten) well as the con- ventional (written law of nations" As an injured State" Russia has already held trials and inflicted punshments-pernaps in more instances than she has yet made public. Whether anything would be gained by full dress trial of such creatures Hitler Goeb bels Goering and Himner may be questioned Each of these men has already made full confession which would doom him in any courtand the fact that the confessions otherwise labeled by those who made them is of consequence. Moreover these felons may die at the hands of their own countrymen before we can get at them
 When we come down to simple terms there seems to be but three necessities One is to get rid of whose continued life and freedom endanger civ ilization The second is to do this in such way that present and future generations, including such Ger mans have remained sane and such Germans as will like members of other races, be born sane, will recognize that justice has been done The third is to make it clear to the Germans that punishment will not be indiscriminate and that those who have not shown themselves criminals will gain rather than lose by surrender.
 The Allied heads o1 state have many important subjects to take up at their pending meeting They would do well make clear statement on this one It is not enough to say that policy exists decent respect the opinions of mankind requires that the policy and the reasons for it be stated.