PUNISHING ENEMY CHIMES

Evening Star, Issue 16907, 3 December 1918, Page 3

PUNISHING ENEMY CHIMES

POWER IN INTERNATIONAL LAW. The British Attorney-General, Sir Frederick 'Smith, speaking at Liverpool recently, dwelt on the possibility of punishing German crimes. “I have given close attention.” said the Attorney-General, “to tho subject of international law, and I tell you plainly that there is in international law abundant warrant for the punishment, both in their persons and in their purses, of proved and identified criminals. It lias not been becoming, until the hope of victory was recently formed upon tho events in tho’ilold, to talk of what we should do when victory came. That those persons who can be “identified with universally admitted acts of outrage are to escape with impunity is a view of the situation which 1 certainly should find it difficult to accept, “ We are told it will not be possible for Germany to pay although she herself is demanding £300,000,C00 from the Bolsheviks. There are great assets in Germany. It is a matter which is irrelevant from one point of view as to whetho; those assets are pledged by the German Government to the citizens of that country who have supplied the money for lh war to be carried on. The relevant answ; on tho subject to the German Government is: ‘You have pillaged and destroyed Be. gium and ravaged France, and your firs obligation is to compensate Belgium an then France, and then pay those who pu up the money to enable you to commi. those outrages.’ ”