THROUGH GERMAN SPECTACLES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue 13601, 4 November 1918, Page 1

THROUGH GERMAN SPECTACLES.

STILL ON TELE TRACK OF THE '"BLACKGUARDS." . BELGIAN CTJAOTTHATWAS -'ORDAINED ON HIGH.'/ Explanations of what the Cologne Gazette called! :v few days ago the "damnable" fact ■'that Germany is iegarded' throughout the world as a nation of blackguards" continue to be furnisiwd (though quite involuntarily on their part) by the German newspapers. In this respect the Berlin Vorwaerts, though still ostensibly under Government control, amiably conti 1butes its quota. SIHON, THE AMORITE. It exposes, in the first instance, a little bit of blasphemous propaganda work which is being carried on by the Pan-Gemaniacs: — _ • 4 'The means to "wliicli tlie Patriotic, party resorts so readily to make, propaganda for its annexationist aims are once again exposed in a charmingly piidturesque nxanner. in a.- jpamphlet winch the Rhenish-W.estphalian branch of the party at Dortmund is no,w circulating throughout the country. Therein we read: — " 'Gallons of ink have been wasted audi voices have talked themselves (hoarse about Belgium. Yet if » we search the annals of history we find that a similar case occurred already thousands of years ago, and as in that, particular case the will of TProvidtence is so beautifully and clearly set forth, we invite our. deal' readers to turn to the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 2. " 'Therein they will read that the Lord hardened' the spirit of Sihon, King of Heshbon, to cause- him to refuse'' permission to the Israelites tb pass through his land, notwithstanding the promise of the latter not to meddle with his people and to pay in readymoney for all that they should r''(juiro in the way of .food and. drink. '• 'Why, Mien, did.King Sihon.send .his armies against the children of Israel ? Because it was ordained on high that his land' and his people should fall into the hands of the Israelites, and because the' latter should have a good pretext- to destroy them all, even to the babe at the breast. Is not our position \as regards Belgium exactly the saiacP :: ' ■ '

BLACKGUARD "JUSTICE." After this it proceeds to illustrate the infamy of German "justice":— "The driver of a milk cart, had complained to his employer, the owner of a dairy faring that he provided him with insufficient food. His employer thereupon dismissed him and flung him out of a cowshed with such violence that lie broke his knee-cap, with the result that he is now permanently lame. "The man sued his employer for damages and for arrears of wages. The Imperial Penal Court in Berlin .then gave the extraordinary ruling that- although the infliction by .an employer of bodily injury on an employee d!id notcome under the head of the normal or his ordinary duties, such injuries were, nevertheless, to be regarded as the result of an accident connected with his occupation. "ft «as also decided that ill-treat-ment of an employee was a justifiable and authorised' means at the disposal of tlie employer to defend his rights and the respect due to him as a master, and to maintain due .order and decorum in his "The complainant was therefore nonsuited!

"We had always known in Germany there was equality of justice for all. Hence we do not- see why employees should not be equally entitled to assault their masters when it- is a question of the defence of their rights." THE STOLEN RATION -BOOK.

Then, by way of emphasising the fact that the poor" are still "scum" and '"dirty pigs" in Berlin. Vorwaeriy vouclies for -the truth of the following painful siory of official brutality:— "During a long wait outside a Berlin food-store the ration book of the mother of a large family was stolen. She hurried to the police station, but there the inspector only .abused her. The bread commissioner on whom she called next declined to furnish her with another card. The desperate woman ran backwards and forwards all the afternoon between the bread commission office, the food department, and the police station, where she was eventually ordered to 'pack hers a] f off.' and to 'boil some grass and eat it.' " . "The result is, that both she and the two youngest of her children are now in. the town infirmary suffering from starvation." PANIC-STRICKEN PRUSSIANS. A recent incident in Bavaria,. where an army of starving women, drove a horde of feasting Prussians from a fashionable hotel, is thus described, by the Frankische Volkstribune: — "At the Hotel Weber at Alexandersbad the 'guests were just seated at dinner when a procession of angry women -stormed the room. The Visitors, abandoning their precious delicacies, made a wild rush for the stairs, and, howling 'with fear, they; hid themselves in the cellar. "The women were not slow to,-do themselves well on the abandoned food, a-nd all around were heard the words, "Really splendid" and "Just like prewar days." "In the midst of their feasting the women caught sight of a visitor whose corpulence had prevented his flight, and who lay cowering under the table. His presence infuriated them to such a degree that, leaving 'their beautiful food, they hauled him forth 6ut of the concealment and set- about him with clubs until h e lay unconscious and bleeding /"from. Ma-ny wounds. • • " 'There,' they cried, amid tigrish ho.vh of rage, 'this will remove some of your superfluous fat, you guzzling swineliound!', Truly it was a scene to be immortalised on canvas!" CHOIRMASTER'S BLUDGEON. Here is another little instance of everyday Hunnishness which should not escape the notice of the future historian. It is from the Chemnitz Volksstimme: — "At Leisnig a choirboy who had failed to close the church door behind lirim was chastised with a club by Franciskus Nagler the choirmaster, who beat him so unmercifully that he lay for half-an hour unconscious in the churchyard, bleeding profusely. "To judge by his literary productions, Herr Nagler would appqpr to be an idealist of the purest water but the way in which he treats his choirboys hardly justifies that assumption. The choristers have to attend rehearsals during two liours daily. On Sundays they have to attend four services besides being obliged to sing at weddngs, funerals, and so forth. "Their wages are 10s for three months and if they are five minutes late at rehearsals Ss is dieducted from that sum. Moreover, they ar e co-n----stantlv beaten with a club or a walking stick, even if not quite .so severely as = the unhappy boy here referred to. "This is a case that demands, a rigorous inquiry on the part of the local judicial authorities.'' •

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