THE TRUTH IN PRISONERS' LETTERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2419, 26 March 1915, Page 5

THE TRUTH IN PRISONERS' LETTERS

AMAZING CREDULITY. (Rec. March 25, 5.35 p.m.) London, March 25. "Eye-witness," with the British Headquarters Staff, quotes from letters whioh have been found on German prisoners, and says that they show astonishing credulity. One written from Magdeburg, dated. February 28, says:— "Several battalions of Suffragettes have landed at Havre, five hundred to each battalion. Don't let them scratch out your eyes, and above all don't let them capture you. That would shame you before the whole world. England can only last a month without imports, so the blockade will soon end the war." A great many, says "Eye-witness," describe the lack of necessaries, and express an earnest desire for peace. The general impression gained is that undoubted distress exists among the poorer classes. There are great expectations still of an early victory, but the situation has created some anxiety, and even a little doubt in some quarters. It is significant, however, that those most earnestly desiring peace do not appear to contemplate the possibility of purchasing it by an admission of defeat, which to the vast majority appears as remote and unthinkable as ever. A letter from Saxony says:—"lt is terribje to see old men, untrained, in the Landsturm, being commandeered." An officer writes:—"Though most of us agree that one Britisher is worth three Germans, what their staff doesn't know about war devices is not worth knowing. Their trench equipment is magnificent, and their methods are beyond praise. Their trench mortars are a wonderful piece of scientific work; they make no report, and the bombs are propelled by compressed air. Ours make a row like a thunderclap. The prisoners we have taken are well dressed, have plenty of rations, and they have boots which prevent frostbite. The prisoners are fine big men, quite young, mostly under twenty."