GERMANS AND ENGLISH PRISONERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 69, 22 March 1915, Page 3

GERMANS AND ENGLISH PRISONERS.

A SINISTER HINT.

"PUT THEM AGAINST A WALL."

(From Our Special Correspondent.) _

LONDON, February 5.

In the-early days of the war a very large number of Englishmen. firmly declined to believe the "tales of German atrocities which were appearing in the papers, and it took quite a long time to convince them that the "Huns" could be as black as they were painted. To-day nobody seems .to think of- protesting against the acceptance of any tale of German villainy that may be told, and the attempt to torpedo the hospital ship Asturias last Monday has convinced everybody that there is no crime under the sun that will not be indulged in by our enemy if its commission seems likelyto further his ends, or gratify his lust of hate against England. By no possible stretch of imagination can we entertain the notion that the captain of the submarine mistook the hospital ship for any other class of vessel. It was broad daylight at the time of the attack, and the huge red crosses painted on the hull of the Asturias must have been visible to the Germans. Those who were aboard the hospital ship when the dastardly attempt to torpedo her were made are not at all communicative, but a few of the circumstances attending the incident have been described. At the time the Asturias was making for Havre there were on board, in addition to tbe crew, tlie full hospital staff of doctors and nurses. A submarine was sighted just before five o'clock, and it was 'decided to hurry into port without waiting for a pilot. Suddenly the white mass of a torpedo was seen making a straight course for the. liner. The officer on the bridge acted with great promptitude and coolness, and it was due to him that a disaster was averted. He swung the Asturias round immediately, and she was still in the act of turning when the torpedo dashed past, missing the stern by a few yards only. WHAT ABOUT ENGLISH PRISONERS? The attack on the Asturias has nature ally increased the uneasiness of people in this country concerning English prisoners of war in Germany. From time to time we have beard stories concerning their treatment which- have made one's blood boil, and now along comes "Eye-witness" with a reference to this matter which tends to confirm our belief that if German sailors can be guilty of deliberately aiming torpedoes at hospital ships, the German military element is. not likely to hesitate at > committing any devilry— cold-blooded murder included—upon the unfortunate soldiers who fall into their hands. "Eye-witness" is, as everybody is aware, the official narrator of events in the war at the headquarters of Sir John French. We may take it, therefore, that" his statements have every mark of authenticity, and are published under the direct sanction of the Government. Note what he says. In speaking of the intense hatred entertained for the English by their German foes, he has occasion to quote from a letter found on a dead German on the field of battle. A COUNSEL; OF 2MURDER. The 'long-legged Englishmen," who are held responsible for the war, are said to be "transported in closed cattle wagons," but this treatment is declared to be much too good for them. "They should be put against a wall. Make them all into minced meat. They have earned nothing better." Here, too, is a passage of still more sinister meaning. "The damned English! What are they doing with our prisoners? And we treat the swine dogs so well! -But soon it will be different. A train was to have come here with 340 English. The train arrived. The commander brought out 40- English. When he was asked where the 300 were he did not know where they had remained. I know better. That is what all should do."

What is the conclusion to he drawn from this? The only one possible is that a large number of Germans are filled with such an insane hatred for the English as to impel theni to actions which outrage all tbe ordinary dictates of humanity. So long as our information was% derived from private sources —in letters from the front or from the narratives of escaped prisoners—we fondly hoped that there was some exaggeration, or that after all we had only to deal with isolated, and, perhaps, exceptional cases. But the letters cited by "Eye-witness" are published with official sanction, and definite reports come from too many -different quarters for us to be able to find comfort in the belief that they deal with solitary instances. It appears," indeed, to be an established fact that many German officers are habitually brutal to Eng-r lish prisoners, not only keeping them without food or drink for many weary hours on end, and offering them all manner of insults, but vent their spite in acts of physical brutality. If the hint supplied in the "Eye-witness', extract has any justification, some of them have now reached' a stage of anti-English hatred at which they do not shrink from the wholesale murder of prisoners of war. A CONTRAST. Another document quoted by "Eyewitness" is a postcard written home by a wounded German prisoner. It serves as an interesting commentary on the dead German's remarks, and, incidentally, replies to the query as to what the English are doing with their prisoners.-' "I was wounded this morning in an attack, and was captured by the English. Those of the company who are not dead are prisoners. Am treated very well, so don't worry at all." As regards the treatment meted out to German prisoners in England, tlie reports made by neutral invests gators from time to 'time assure us that our unwilling guests are as well treated as they could possibly expect to be even by a nation that.prides itself on its justice and humanity, and many German prisoners have voluntarily testified to the humane and considerate way in which they have been treated during their captivity. Some people, indeed, are inclined to think that we overdo matters in this respect. Only the other day was published an account of how German officers, on the occasion of the Kaiser's birthday, were permitted to hold a festival; supplied with every luxury they wanted, and were allowed to toast their ruler and drink to the German cause without any interference from the camp authorities!