GERMAN INFAMIES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4010, 17 March 1917, Page 6

GERMAN INFAMIES

FOUL, TREATMENT OF PRISON Et

1 A CALCULATED POLICY

Wit.ii the arrival in this country oi the iirst Englishmen and English women who have been prisoners oi' the. Germans in East Africa since the outbreak of war, and who were released when the Belgians captured Tabora, a picture in proper perspective is Available of the foul treatment- meted oiu to thorn by the Germans (says the London "Times!") The record of the degradation to which English civil and mlitary prisoners were subjected, and of the horrible experiences of English ladies is as revolting as any in the history of Geivman Kultur. The specific purposes was to discredit British prestige in Africa, and to make the English appear before the natves as slaves of Germany. So strong is this felt that a formal petition, accompanied by sworn statements, has been sent to General Smuts to hold a commission of inquiry into a course of conduct many details of which are too loathsome to be made public, but the knowledge of when will at once show the impossibility of the Germans ever being allowed to return to their colony.

Among those who returned home a few days ago is the Rev. C. F. Spanton, who is -Principal of St. Andrew-Is College, Zanzibar,, who was on a tour of school inspection in tho German cc ony on the outbreak of war. In conversation with R outer's representative Mr Spaiiton said:—

Tho real point is that the Germans from the first did their best to destroy British prestige. They were brutal and ciuel in tho prosecution of a deliberate policy to this end. They made both civilnn and mltary prsqners do th lowest *knd of work in .order that the might lose caste before the Africans. For groat distances throughout Africa the news was passed that we wen Germans slaves. This was drummed into the people on every opportunty and by all kinds of propaganda,' and evon tho native German soldiers referred to us as slaves.

British prisoners in the scantiest of clothing were set to pull a lorry through the streets—work usually done. by oxen—in full view of the jeering natives. And one could see an English university graduate hoeing up a native garden patch or a wealthy rubber planter cleainng out native latrines. All this has made a great effect on the native mind, and the £ nc jws of the degradation of British and other European men and women. Hashed as it has been across Africa, is a source of wonder to ' tribes hundreds of miles distant. Selected For Brutality. The commandant at Tabora was a man who had been warned by the German Government on account of his brutality, of "which he had been officially convicted. He \yas once publicly horse-whipped by a German servant, yet he was appointed officer in charge of the prisoners' camp at Tabora. The same plan was followed in the case of the- ladies' camp at Kiboriani. The man placed in charge here bore such a character that the local chiefs sent their wives and daughters out of the country. His own wife had committed sui--1 cide as a result of his vile conduct, and he was deliberately chosen to take charge of ladies of gentle birth and education. ■■'-.-

,;, At Tabora 86 ,of us—men of all nationalities and- stations of life—were herded in a corrugated shed which was si> crowded that the beds touched.one another. Sanitation there was none, and as we were locked up at 7 at night until 6 the next morning tho conditions were awful. The Germans, made native soldiers with loaded rifles march up and down inside the shed all night. It is quite clear that from a mlitary point of view the sentries were useless—it was only meant as another degradation for us, for one could not imagine a greater outrage than to place a native guard in a white man's bedroom. The ladies wore required to do their own housework and also six hours work for the Government every da-y. They protested to being set to tasks wliich would .assist the enemy, and wore threatened with confinement with bread and water.

While being conveyed from one camp to another 30 English ladies, nine Englishmen, and about 40 native prisoners were shut.up in an .iron railway shed (again without the slghtest pretence of sanitation) for one w,hole night and the most of the next day. The natives wore not allowed to go out under any pretext, while for many! hours the Englishman and women . were refused facilities' for the ordinary decencies of life.

On another occasion/a caravan of men and women wore sent on a long march of 10 days undei\escort. It was pointed out that in tho'interests of decencyi tents must be- provided for the ladies. Although these were obtainable, the officer applied to refused permission, and feplied :—"What have ■ English women to do . with decency?" A Contrast. As soon as the Germans began to see that their colony was going grievances i-tvero redressed. When tho advancing j Belgians were 50 miles, from Tabora i the German attitude had completely I changed. The Belgians behaved splendidly" to the Germans on entering Ta- ' bora—a great contrast to the manner [in which the latter had behaved to • us. One Belgian officer said to me:—"J have seen my father, mother, and bio tliers massacred in Flanders, and my sister outraged." One can imagine the difficulties in which such a man would be placed under the circumstances iv repressing his natural feelings.