BRITISH PRISONERS STRIPPED AND MALTREATED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2448, 29 April 1915, Page 5

BRITISH PRISONERS STRIPPED AND MALTREATED

SOME SHOT IN COLD GERMANY INDICTED BY LORD KITCHENER London, April 27. Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, speaking, in tie House of Lords, in reply to a question regarding the treatment of prisoners, said that hitherto he Had always held German, officers in respect, but now, with the greatest reluctance, he was forced to accept as incontestable true the reports of maltreatment by the German Army of British prisoners. Constant testimony had been received, not only from British escapees, but from French, Russian, Belgian, and American sources, that the inhumanity towards the British was beyond doubt. Hague Convention Violated. The Hague Convention, continued His Lordship, had laid down sufficient rules for the treatment of prisoners, and these, if observed by. the belligerents, could not reasonably have left room for complaint. But Articles "4 ,and 7 had been flagrantly disregarded. Prisoners had been stripped and maltreated. and the evidence proved that'some had been shot in cold blood. Wounded officers had been wantonly, insulted, and frequently struck. Even the Germans had testified that British prisoners liad been ill-treated and injured. •' It was only right, continued Lord Kitchener, to exempt German hospitals from the charges of deliberate inhumanity, although there were indications of a lamentable lack of medical skill, while, the Hospital orderlies 'had shown' neglect and indifference. Some of the prisoners who had been released from hospital, however, had stated that their experience did' not' give .grounds for special complaint. treatment of prisoners in the detention camps varied considerably, according to locality. , \ " "Our men have mostly suffered from.want of food," said Lord Kitchener. '"They have been differentially treated as compared with the French and Russians. Many, acts of violence haver been complained of, but latterly there has been a slight improvement, due perhaps to the visit of the American Ambassador." Stain on Cermariy's Military Honour. Some officers, he added, were lately subjected^to solitary confinement in retaliation for the supposed trcatmentof Germans in this country. He hoped shortly to receive .evidence on . the point. Germany for many years had posed to the civilised world as a great military nation. She had abundantly proved her skill and courage, surely she should set a standard of military honour Which would gaiu the respect, if not the friendship, of the nations; instead, she had stooped to- acts which -would indelibly stain her military history, vier ing with the barbarous savagery of the Sudan dervishes. He did not think there could bo a soldier of any nationality, even amongst the Germans themselves, who was not heartily ashamed of the slur on the profession of arms. The usages of war had not only been outraged by cruelties, but the Germans introduced a method of placing their opponents hors de combat by asphyxiating gases, when, according to the rules of. war, their attack might otherwise have failed. Germany,, said Lord Kitchener in conclusion, had signed the article in The Hague Convention prohibiting such methods.

Admiralty Criticised For Its Proposals. Lord Lnnsdowne (Unionist) said that he greatly regretted ■ the reprisals policy, which a Christian country could not deliberately adopt. lie deplored tho Admiralty's action towards the captured crews of submarines. The real ' cijlprit was the Gorinan There were other forms of retaliation. He suggested Mmpensating ithe victims out of fluids levied upon German property in Britain. Lord Cromer said there was a, strong feeling in the Army against the Admiralty's policy in regard to the submarine crews. Lord Lucas (President <jf the Board of Agriculture) said that Germany had now given Mr. J- W. Gerard (American Ambassador to Germany) and nine of his staff permission to visit the camps, and had also agreed to the distribute ef that SfltMi wmy wWrft hat? hw placed in Mr..Gor. artl's hands,-and the Bwdißg of fifflgle tc pri.wJißrsi,

STATEMENTS IN THE HOUSE OF'COMMONS HORRIBLE RECORD OF CALCULATED"OEUEOTS] 'AND ORIME, . .. - London,' April 27. Mr. AsquitJi, Prime Minister, speaking in tho House of the Germans from the beginning had treated British prisoners with indiscriminate harshness. At tlio end of the war the British Government would not forget the horrible Tecord of calculated cruelty and orime, but would exact such reparation against the guilty as it might he possible to inflict. ■ The Case of the Submarine Pirates. Mr. Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty), .in reply to a.question, said that no special conditions had been applied to German prisoners, because they had fought in submarines, but speoial conditions had been applied to prisoners for wantonly killing non-combatants, neutrals, and women on the high seas. They could not recognise persons who had been systematically employed in the sinking of merchant ships and fishing vessels "without warning and regardless of loss of life as on the same footing as honourable soldiers. Tlie sinking of the Oriole, the i''alalia, and fishing vessels had caused the Government to place all German submarine prisoners after February 18, and aB long as the present system continued, in a distinct, separate ctaegory. He could not at present'tell how far it was possible to bring home to a belligerent nation at the end of a war the result of their action, nor what form of 'reparation of a special character could he exacted. British treatment of submarine prisoners was humane. An American representative had been offered facilities to make a report, provided reciprocal facilities were accorded by Germany. Thirty-nine members of the crews of German-submarines were thus interned. Germany's reprisals could not be allowed to influence any action the British Government regarded as necessary.