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Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16289, 13 August 1918, Page 6

Not content with sinking hospital ihips and bombing Allied hospitals, there is no question that German doctors have been guilty of unspeakable barbarity to British and other Allied patients who have had the misfortune to fall into their hands. An issue of tho London "Times" to hand by the last mail, supplies a case in point, in a statement made by a prisoner returned from Germany and then in an English hospital. He was in Germany from August, 1917. until April, 1918, ancj never saw a nurse tho whole of the time. The doctor at Hamburg was really good to the Englishman. He was a civilian doctor. The food, too, was good. At Giistrow, however, the treatment of prisoner patients was so revolting that it is hardly possible to describe it in a newspaper read by all classes of tho community. TV© may, however, cite the following:—

A lance-corporal in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had had his right leg amputated. A few weeks after the amputation the flesh had shrivelled up and left a pjeco of bone protruding. They decidod to operate on him again. I was on tho operating table when they brought him in.' Thoy Eut him on a corner of tho table. I did him. They broke bits of the bono off —without an anzesthetic. I was there for an operation to . my hand. They didn't givo me an anajsthetic.

Another story is of a chaplain who used to come to the hospital twice a week:—

.One day a Russian, who was sitting by the stove and had his bach turned, did not notice the chaplain, and -so djdn't take his hat off and stand to attention. The chaplain was by the bedside of the Belgian when he sa w this Russian. He crossed himself, walked across the room, and struck the Russian a regular good, 'un right under the chin, knocking him into the coal' bucket. Then he walked back again to the. bedside, crossed himself again, and continued his prayers. Another. man who once forgot to salute the under-officer had his head covered with bandages, and the under-officer took «<>ld of ham by the bandages and! pulled him on to the floor. After those disclosures, one is not surprised to learn that hampers of medicines, bandages, extract of malt, etc sent from England for the British prisoners, doubtless by the Red Cross never reached those for whom they were intended. Even the bandages were taken away, but an Englishman was always forced to sign a receipt— usually by the senior sergeant in th© hospital.

Lord Lansdowne, in his recent letter, said that the war had already caused 30 million casualties, including 7 millions killed and 6 millions prisoners and missing. Such an estimate must be based to a very great extent on conjecture; we shall not know until after the war what the cost will be in killed and wounded, and perhaps we shall not be able to get close figures even then. A correspondent of the Manchester Guardi&n" recently attempted to compare the British and German casualties. The British figuies include all the men and officers reported killed, wounded, and missing, and ure a sum of the lists as publisned in the papers. Errors and aup.ications, thereiore, affect the total, but not very suostautmUy. The German figures are conjectural, au»i are put iorward in a tentative Bp.rit. The estimate, for tlie period from the btg.nmng of the war up to Muy Slat iust, is tiius: British casualties, 2,2oU,i>uU; German casua.ties, iO,WJO,uOO. Of the uerrnan casualties he puts down 2,000,000 as men killed, and 4,00u,0vJ0 as men put permanently out of action.

"What is the effect of this on Germany's present available man-power? lac population of Germany at uio beginning ot tiie war was suited' to Oo and tno aiiuy-po.ver as W per cent, of the total. .but, it is certain that Germany lias raised a tar larger lorce tnan tnat. The "Guardian ' su&gests iiSjOJUjuOU as tlio total nuniuer of men called to the colours in Germany from the beginning of tho war. If the earlier-given calculations are correct, thi3 would leave Germany with six million men still available. To put this strength out of action is, of course, no lignt matter, but, as the correspondent points out, there can be only one end to a war dominated, so far as the sheer military side of it is concerned, by two facts. The fhst is that Germany is fatally damaged and weakening, and the second is tnat the vast resources of an unscathed Power, America, are rapidly approaching overwhelming point.