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"My beloved mother and sister, passengers on the Laconia, have been foully murdered on the high seas.

"As an American citizen outraged—and as such fully within my rights as an American son and brother, bereaved, I call upon my Government to preserve its citizens' self-respect and save others of my countrymen from such deep grief as I now feel.

"I am of military age, able to fight.

"If my country can use me against these brutal assassins I am at its call.

"If it stultifies my manhood and my nation's by remaining passive under outrage, I shall seek a man's chance under another flag.

"London, Feb. 27.

And here is the Sargeant story:

AUSTIN Y. Hoy."

"The first to die in our boat was W. Irvine Robinson of Toronto. After his body had been consigned to the sea we tossed about for an hour, getting more and more water, until the gunwales were almost level with the sea. Then Mr. Ivatt, who was not physically strong, succumbed in the arms of his fiancée, who was close beside him, trying in vain to keep him warm by throwing her wealth of hair about his neck. Even after he died she refused to give him up, and although the additional weight made the situation more dangerous for us all, we yielded to her pitiful pleading and allowed her to keep, the body.

"Mrs. Hoy died in the arms of her daughter. Her body slipped off into the sea out of her daughter's weakened arms. The heartbroken daughter succumbed a few minutes afterward and her body fell over the side of the boat as we were tossed. by the huge waves.

"In icy water up to her knees for two hours, the daughter all the time bravely supported her aged mother, uttering words of encouragement to her. From the start both were violently seasick, which, coupled with the cold and exposure, gradually wore down their courage."

(Commerce and Finance, Mar. 7, 1917.)

H. [$217] GENERAL VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND HUMANITY.

1. Specific References to the Section.

See $898, 115-117, 121-128 above.

Stowell and Munroe. Cases, II, 117-126.

Roberts, A. A. The Poison War. (London, Heinemann, 1915.)
Smith, Munroe. "Mine Planting," in Pol. Sci. Quart., XXXI, 488.
Collier's. Story of the War, III. 560.

Garner, Jas. W. "Some Questions of International Law in the

European War," in Am. Jour. Internat. Law, IX. 72.

1915).

(Jan.,

Anon. "Zeppelin Raids on London," in N. Y. Times Current
History, II. 46-48 (April, 1915), III, 374-396 (Dec., 1915).
Anon. "Atrocities of the War," ibid, I, 374-396 (Dec., 1914).
Bedier, Joseph. "What the Germans Say About Their Own
Methods of Warfare," ibid, II. 259-274 (May, 1915).

§§216-217]

GERMAN OUTRAGES

157

Doyle, A. Conan. "A Policy of Murder," ibid, II, 546-548 (June,
1915).

Artists, Writers, etc., of France. "The German Destroyers of
Cathedrals," ibid, II, 1004-1013 (Aug., 1915).

Loti, Pierre. "Rheims Cathedral," ibid, II 987-989 (Aug., 1915).
Loti, Pierre. "Horrors of Gas Attacks," ibid, III 1149 (Mar.,
1916).

Haldane, Dr. J. S., and "Eyewitness." "War with Poisonous
Gases," ibid, II. 458-478 (June, 1915).

Anon. "Prisoners of War and Their Treatment," ibid, V 345, 349,
351, 355 (Nov., 1916).

Bryce, Viscount. Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages; reprinted in N. Y. Times Current History, II, 551591 (June, 1915).

Stowell and Munro. Cases, II 119.

Parliamentary Papers, Miscellaneous, No. 31 (1916).

"French Official Report on German Atrocities," in N. Y. Times Current History, I 1132-1163 (Mar., 1915).

Bryce, Viscount. "Report on Turkish Atrocities in Armenia,"
ibid, V 321 (Nov., 1916).

Cecil, Lord Robert, O'Connor, T. P., etc. "History's Greatest
Massacre" (Armenian), ibid, V 719-724 (Jan., 1916).
Mirman, L. "Kultur a Nightmare in Lorraine," in Atlantic
Monthly, vol. 116, pp. 706-711 (Nov., 1915).

Eaton, W. W. "Diary of Conditions in Serbia," ibid, vol. 117,
pp. 709-716 (May, 1916).

"Austro-Hungarian Atrocities in Serbia," in N. Y. Times Current History, V 339 (Nov., 1916).

Piotrowski, N. L. "Poles Under German Rule," ibid, V 473 (Dec., 1916).

Briand, A. "Deportations of Civilians in Occupied French Ter-
ritory," ibid, V 127-133 (Oct., 1916).

Whiteley, J. G. "Belgium's Agony," ibid, V 674-680 (Jan., 1917).
Stowell and Munro. Cases, II 124, "The Fryatt Case."

Anon. "The Fryatt Case," in N. Y. Times Current History, IV
1017 (Sept., 1916).

Beck, Jas. M. "The Case of Edith Cavell," ibid, III 482 (Dec.,
1915).

"Execution of Edith Cavell." (Official American reports and a
German official defence), ibid, III. 476 (Dec., 1915).
Toynbee, A. J. The German Terror in Belgium.

1917.)

(N. Y., Doran,

Anon. The Murder of Captain Fryatt. (London, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1916.)

2. Unauthorized Methods of Warfare.

(a) Zeppelins and wholesale destruction of noncombatants.

(b)

Gas and liquid fire.

(c) No quarter in the field.

(d) Treatment of prisoners.

(e) Submarine warfare.

3. Frightfulness in Occupied Territory.

(a) Cruelties: Belgium, Northern France, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro, Armenians.

(b) Ravaging a country before retreating from it.

4. Specially Barbarous and Illegal Practices.

(a) Taking and shooting hostages.

(b)

Destroying towns for acts of irresponsible persons.

(c) Injuries to women and children.

(d)

(e)

Forces labor against compatriots of the laborers.
Deportation and slavery of men.

(f) Seizure and deportation of women.

(g) Fryatt and Cavell cases.

5. Documents and Extracts on the Section.

(a) [§218] The Law and Usage of War.

BY THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF.

A war conducted with energy cannot be directed merely against the combatants of the Enemy State and the position they occupy, but it will and must in like manner seek to destroy the total intellectual and material resources of the latter. Humanitarian claims such as the protection of men and their goods can only be taken into consideration in so far as the nature and object of the war permit.

Consequently the "argument of war" permits every belligerent state to have recourse to all means which enable it to attain the object of the war; still practice has taught the advisability of allowing in one's own interest the introduction of a limitation in the use of certain methods of war and a total renunciation of the use of others. Chivalrous feelings, Christian thoughts, higher civilization and, by no means least of all, the recognition of one's own advantage, have led to a voluntary and self-imposed limitation, the necessity of which is to-day tacitly recognized by all states and their armies.

But since the tendency of thought of the last century was dominated essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion there have not been wanting attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition in some provisions of the Geneva Constitution and the Brussels and Hague Conferences.

Moreover, the officer is a child of his time. He is subject to the intellectual tendencies which influence his own nation; the more educated he is the more will this be the case. The danger that, in this way, he will arrive at false views about the essential character of war must not be lost sight of. The danger can only be met by a thorough study of war itself. By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions, it will teach him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, the only true humanity very often lies, in a ruthless application of them. It will also teach him how the rules of belligent intercourse in war have developed, how in the course of time they have solidified into general usages of war, and finally it will teach him whether the governing usages of war are justified or not, whether they are to be modified or whether they are to be observed.

. .

Bribery of the enemy's subjects with the object of obtaining military advantages, acceptance of offers of treachery, reception of deserters, utilization of the discontented elements in the population, support of pretenders and the like, are permissible, indeed international law is in no way opposed to the exploitation of the crimes of third parties (assassination, incendiarism, robbery, and the like), to the prejudice of the enemy.

Considerations of chivalry, generosity, and honor may de

$$218-219]

GERMAN WAR PRINCIPLES

159

nounce in such cases a hasty and unsparing exploitation of such advantages as indecent and dishonorable, but law which is less touchy allows it. "The ugly and inherently immoral aspect of such methods cannot affect the recognition of their lawfulness. The necessary aim of war gives the belligerent the right and imposes upon him, according to circumstances, the duty not to let slip the important, it may be the decisive, advantages to be gained by such means.

The view that no inhabitant of occupied territory can be compelled to participate directly in the struggle against his own country is subject to an exception by the general usages of war which must be recorded here: the calling up and employment of the inhabitants as guides on unfamiliar ground. However much it may ruffle human feeling, to compel a man to do harm to his own Fatherland, and indirectly to fight his own troops, none the less no army operating in an enemy's country will altogether renounce this expedient.

But a still more severe measure is the compulsion of the inhabitants to furnish information about their own army, its strategy, its resources, and its military secrets. The majority of writers of all nations are unanimous in their condemnation of this measure. Nevertheless it cannot be entirely dispensed with; doubtless it will be applied with regret, but the argument of war will frequently make it necessary.

A new application of "hostage-right" was practised by the German Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were without any fault on their part thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer outside Germany has stigmatized this measure as contrary to the law of nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country. As against this unfavorable criticism it must be pointed out that this measure, which was also recognized on the German side as harsh and cruel, was only resorted to after declarations and instructions of the occupying authorities had proved ineffective, and that in the particular circumstance it was the only method which promised to be effective against the doubtless unauthorized, indeed the criminal, behavior of a fanatical population.

Herein lies its justification under the laws of war, but still more in the fact that it proved completely successful, and that wherever citizens were thus carried on the trains (whether result was due to the increased watchfulness of the communes or to the immediate influence on the population), the security of traffic was restored.

(Some Extracts from War Book of German General Staff, 68-157 passim.)

(b) [$219] Object of the German Atrocities.

BY WALTER BLOEM (Feb. 10, 1915).

We have adopted it as a principle that the wrong-doing of an individual must be expiated by the entire community to which he belongs. The village in which our troops are fired

upon will be burned. If the guilty one is not found, substitutes will be chosen from the population at large, and will be executed under martial law. . . . The innocent must suffer with the guilty, and, if the latter are not caught, must receive punishment in their place, not because a crime has been committed, but to prevent the commission of a future crime. Every case in which a village is burned down, or hostages are executed, or the inhabitants of a village which has taken arms against our invading forces are killed, is a warning to the inhabitants of the territory not yet occupied. There can be no doubt that the destruction of Battice, Herve, Lourain and Dinant has served as warning. The devastation and bloodshed of the opening days of the war have prevented the larger Belgian cities from attempting any attacks upon the weak contingents with which it was necessary for us to hold them. (Kölnische Zeitung, Feb. 10, 1915.)

(c) [$220] Forced Labor and Deportation Imposed on the Belgian Population.

BY THE BELGIAN GOVERNMENT.

The Belgian Government have already on several occasions denounced to neutral powers the violations of international law and of the principles of humanity, of which the German authorities in Belgium have been guilty.

The latest information from the occupied districts of Belgium confirms certain fresh facts which the Belgian Government had been unwilling to credit. These facts will revolt public conscience in all countries where the principles of justice are held in

esteem

DEPORTATION.

A decree from German general headquarters dated the 3d October imposes forced labor upon all Belgians capable of work, who, in consequence of lack of employment or other causes, have become dependent upon outside assistance. Individuals to whom this order applies can be forced to work away from their place of residence-in other words, deported to Germany in a condition of semi-slavery.

The great difficulty of communication with the occupied portion of Belgium has prevented the Belgian Government from receiving all the information which they were anxious to obtain as to the manner in which the decree of 3d October is being carried out.

They learn, however, from a reliable source that the wholesale deportation of the able-bodied population is proceeding. Rich and poor, if unoccupied or without work, are taken without mercy. On the 24th October last more than 15,000 men had already been removed from Flanders alone. Trains entirely filled with these unfortunate people were seen proceeding to Germany. Others were sent to the invaded departments of France. The men were crowded into open trucks exposed to all weathers, in the most miserable conditions. Their spirit, in spite of cold and privation, was in no way daunted, and they

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