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Press, Volume LV, Issue 16434, 30 January 1919, Page 6

I Whoever else may be disposed to j allow German cruelties inflicted on j our own flosh and blood to go unpun- < ished, tho British, seamen are determined that the Huns shall bo brought to book for their foul crimes against tho i "brotherhood of the sea." A great 1 mass meeting is to be held in London on February 24th, under tho auspices of the Seamen's Union, to demand that the ex-Kaiser be turned over to an international tribunal on a charge of piracy on the high soas. "If this is not granted," says tho international organiser for the Union, "you may look out for a general walk out on the seven seas." • The British Government aro already pledged to endeavour to secure retributive justice in tho case of the archcriminals in tho lato war. Tho Attor-ney-General referred the question to some of the greatost jurists in England, who reported unanimously that, in their judgment, the Kaiser was guilty of an indictable offence, for which he ought to be held responsible. "I do not want when the wax is over," said Mr Lloyd George, speaking at Now-castle-on-Tyne, "to pursue any policy of vengoanco, but we have got so to act that men in future who feel tempted to follow the examples of the rulers who plunged the world into this war, will know what is waiting them-at the end of it." Mr "Winston Churchill was equally emphatic that mere whining must not enable these criminals to escape. He added:—"What about reparation for tho vile outrages to our mercantile marine? In one form or another we must have ton for ton, and individuals against whom definite breaches of the laws of war and humanity could be brought, particularly those who had been giulty of cruelty to helpless prisoners, must be brought to trial, and if convicted must be punished as they deserved, no matter how highly . placed." • Incredible as it may sound, it appears that Admiral von Reuter, after the surrender of the German fleet, had the. audacity to protest against Admiral Beatty's order to haul down , tho German, flag at sundown, on the ground that such order was not only unjustifiable and contradictory to international custom, but also on the grounds that "the Germans ships have flown their flags honourably," and the order was "not in keeping with the idea of chivalry between honourable opponents (?)" "Chivalry," "honourable opponents!" For very shame, no Gennan sailor ought to mention these words for a century at least. Admiral Beatty wasted no words in arguing the matter. His reply was stern and to tho point From the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, To Rear-Admiral von Reuter, 23rd November, 1918. |Your protest against my order regarding the flying of German colours is noted. , , I would draw your attention te..the fact that an armistice suspends hostilities, and that a state of war still exists between Germany and the Allies. , Under the circumstances no enemy vessel can be permitted to fly the National Ensign in British ports whilst under custody. David Beatty. Admiral, Com-mander-in-Chief. The epitaph of the Germany navy has been written by the English naval offii cor, who said: — 'If only they ha<l not been such - swine!" -* The "new version" of the murder of the ex-Czar and his family, given to the German papers by Count Tolstoi, d,oes not differ in essential details from that furnished at the beginning of December by one of the Czarina's servants, and the later one told to an interviewer by Prince Lvoff, ex-Prime Minister of Russia, on his arrival in • London about Christmas time. Each narrator mentioned that the murders i were executed hurriedly, Count Tol- . stoi's statement that they were decided j upon because of a rumour that the , Czecho-Slovaks were coming to liberate tho royal prisoners receiving some con-. 1 firmation from the fact that tho Czecho- ' Slovaks shortly afterwards captured ' Ekaterinburg, tho scene of the crime. • In each story the murders took place . in a cellar, under circumstances of fero- [ cious cruelty, and the bodies were afterwards burned. Count Tolstoi, it is true, makes Prince Dolgorouky one of • the victims, whereas Prince Lvoff, a • fellow-prisoner with Dolgorouky. de- ■ clared that the latter escaped. But s that difference is slight compared with - tlie contradiction of the three stories . wo have mentioned, by that of an offii cial of tho ox-Czar's court, who, as cabled the other day, asserted in . Copenhagen that the ox-Czarina and the were alive and safe. The r exact truth is probably known to very > few, and in deciding which version to . believe, it is well to remember that j news from Russia comes from tainted 5 sources. But the weight of evidence certainly rests with the tale told by ' Prince Lvoff, who, at the time when 1 the crime is said to have been commit--3 ted, was imprisoned iu Ekaterinburg, in • a house opposite that in which the exf Czar and his family wore confined.