THE HEEL OF THE HUN.

Bruce Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 52, 11 July 1918, Page 5

THE HEEL OF THE HUN.

HOW THE GERMANS PRESERVE ORDER. The latest reports from Russia show that the German troops in that unhappy country are indulging in precisely the same sort of outrage as that Which drew the pity of tho world upon Belgium in the early days of the war. Tho explanation of those atrocities usually was that the Germans wished to ensure..the safety of their communications by, striking terror into the heart of every s citizen in Belgium, and to thiat end deliberately made a ferocious display of ruthlessness. It is not so easy to see why they should adopt the same "brutal measures in Russia, a country with which they are now supposed to be at peace. The | only plausible explanation is that th.iy know themselves to be -universally loathed, and arc determined that they shall at any rate he equally universal'/ dreaded. The only other possible reason for this conduct is motiveless malignity., ibut though that may well inspire such of the German army as yst remains in the East, it would hardly be allowed free play unless German discipline has 'grown remarkably had. Hero are two incidents of the kind roferred to, both the subject of complaints from the Moscow Government to Berlin. In the neighbourhood of the town of Lepel (between Vilna and Smolensk) s. band of guerrillas had been operating and causing not a little inconvenience to the German troops who had taken upon themselves to 'preserve order' in these parts. The German is a devout believer in the old doctrine of an eye

for an eye, tut -unfortunately t<i<* guerrillas themselves wore not to be laid hold of. The Germans, however, were not to bo- baulked of their re vongo by such a trifle. They gave out that :an absentee member of a cer tain family in Lepel was one of band, seized all the alleged culprit's relatives, old men, women, and children, and slew them without more ado.

On another occasion a Gorman officer ran short of oats for his horse. discovered that certain inhabitants of tho village of Novossclki, in tho government of Mohilev, had a small quantity, but as they needed them for then own use .they were unwilling to part with them. The German officer, there fore, accompanied by two soldiers of tho 34th Regiment, seized the oats and walked off with them without making any payment. The owner and his friends thereupon attacked the robber, killed their leader, and tho other two fled. But a German officer, even if he be a robber, may not be killed with impunity. German troops wero despatched, who surrounded the village and covered alj the exits with machine guns. Were the culprits arrested • and tried? Not a bit of it. Tho village was fired, and as the luckless inhabitants tried to escape from -their burning homes they were shot down, the entire population being exterminated.

Even tho German authorities seeme.l to consider this exploit not quite comme il faut, although quite prepared to uphold this method of administering German 'justice.' So they sent u note to tho Russian military authorities next day, saying that on account of tho murder of an officer the inhabitants of the village of Novosselki had ■been 'evacuated' and the village set on fire. There' is nothing like machine guns for, evacuating ia village!