THE ESCAPEES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17664, 17 December 1917, Page 4

THE ESCAPEES.

As 'the circumstances of the escape of eleven German prisoners of war from Motuihi Island are to bo investigated by a Court of Inquiry we do not propose to comment on the extraordinary story related in a message from Auckland this morning. In due course, no doubt, an official report will be forthcoming, and it will be time enough then to enter into the details. There are certain broad aspects of the incident, however, that otight to be discussed. The escape, whether it was due to the carelessness of officers or to the ingenuity of the prisoners, giver, point to the persistent, complaint that the authorities quito failed to appreciate their responsibility in regard to prisoners of war and interned German civilians. Our first-hand information on this subject is necessarily limited, but curious stories have been published and other stories, amazing rather than curious, aro in circulation. We an given to understand that the policy of the Government is to allow interned aliens reasonable liberty, on the ground that they are not criminals and are entitled to the treatment that British subjects interned in Germany or Austria would expect. "With that view, broadly, we d» not quarrel But the purpose of interning alien civilians Is to prevent them from entering on activities that would be of advantago to the enemy, and tho measure is primarily a precautionary one. Tho supaivision, therefore, has to be strict, or it is useless. As for prisoners of war. their treatment is provided for by international convention. They " may be interned in a town, fortress, camp or other place, and are bound not to go beyond certain fixed limits; but they cannot bo placed in confinement except as an indispensable measure of safety, and only while the circumstances which necessitate the measure continue to exist." They may be employed, if they are not officers, on work that has no connection with warlike operations, and their work will be paid for. Their treatment as regards rations, -quarters and clothing must he on the same footing as that of tho troops which captured them. ' If they escape they are liable to disciplinary punishment when recaptured, and insubordination may render measures of severity necessary. The tendency >n the earlier stages of a war is generally tn make the conditions either too severe or too lenient, with the result that insubordination on the one hand may be provoked, while en the other escape is facilitated. The complaint in this country from tho beginning of the war has been that the conditions in ; regard to the internment of enemy subjects have been too lenient, and, as we have said, the Motuihi incident

lends point to the assertion. W T e trust, that the lesson of the escape will not bo lost on the authorities and that they will take the necessary steps to make internment, whether of civilians or of prisoners of war, effective.