The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1915. THE PARIAH OF THE NATIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2494, 22 June 1915, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1915. THE PARIAH OF THE NATIONS

A cablegram which we publish in another column states that a neutral observer remarks in a letter to the London Times that some Germans a,re beginning to wonder what is tho matter with their country. They are asking why Germany has no friends; why everyone is trying to stab her to the heart; why she cannot keep peace with nations hitherto neutral, ' To everyone living outside Germany the answer to these questions is so obvious that it is surprising that the Kaiser's subjects are just waking up to the fact that their nation is looked upon with utter abhorrence. If the people who •aro wondering why Germany has no friends could only see their country as others see it they would not waste their time in wondering why the Allies are fighting her to a finish and why neutral nations are so eagerly longing for her downfall. Ifthey understood the feeling of burning indignation which the torpedoing of the Lusitania has aroused; if they had the opportunity of reading the report of Lord Bryoe's Committee on the terrible outrages committed by German troops on _ defenceless men, women, and also little children; if they had perused the pamphlet issued by the University of L'aris containing the accounts of German atrocities taken from the letters of German soldiers;_ if they knew the true facts regarding the destruction of the University of Louvain; if they were aware that piracy, pillage, and poison are regarded by the German authorities as legitimate weapons of war—if these and other similar facts were in their possession they would know why Germany has become a pariah among the nations. The New York Evening Post, one of tho leading newspapers of America, is certainly not a bitterly anti-German journal. In its comments on the war it has steered a very cautious course. _ But when the news came of the deliberate murder of tho passengers on the Lusitania—men, women, and children alike—the I'osl declared that nothing that tho memory can conjure up suggests even Temotely the moral isolation iu which Germany at this moment finds herself. Not only from every part of our land, but from Norway and Sweden, from Holland and Denmark, from Portugal, from Argentina, there rises up a chorus of amazed indignation, of reprobation almost too deep for words, at the savage crimo of tho sinking of tho Lusitania. And as though to add to the cup of Germany's bitterness, there comes the tnle of systematic butchery, of leniorsekss and' calculated terrorism in Belgium unfolded in the calm but relentless report of-the British Commission of Ir.quiry. It would be marvellous indeed if a nation with such a horrible record had any sympathisers. Even her Allies are not her friends. Austria has no cause to love her, and the "unspeakable Turk" is already cursing the evil fate that has made him the victim of German intrigue, We are told the German people are beginning to realise that the Teutonic idea of right is separated by a great gulf from the conception of right which prevails in other nations. The civilised world, for instance, looks upon the sinking of the Lusitania as a most ghastly crime, but in Germany the deed was acclaimed as an act of high heroism, and the event was celebrated with much jubilation. According to German ethics it was something to be proud of, whereas sane nations regard it as an indelible disgrace. And yet wo are told that some Germans arc wondering why decent people are treating them as outcasts. _ A Dutch newspaper states that "criminal" is too mild a- word to bo applied to the Lusitania outrage; "it is devilish." This journal goes on to say that if the Germans "had only sunk the lifeboats as well as the Lusitania herself, the triumph of culture would have been complete, and the German people coulil have looked upon their mariners with renewed pride." Another Dutch newspaper remarks: "The commander of the German submarine who performed this work cap look with pride on it. Is it not so, Satan f' These quotations show what neutral countries think of Germany and her war methods. They also indicate why it is that "she cannot keep peace with nations'hitherto neutral." Her mad "blockade" of the British coast cannot help her to win the war. It is neither starving nor terrifying Britain; but it is rousing the strongest feelings of resentment in I neutral countries like Norway and Sweden. In yesterday's issue of The Dominion it was announced that the Norwegian newspapers are calling upon the Government to make a definite statement as to its attitude regarding the sinking of Norwegian vessels by submarines, and the people of Sweden are vigorously protesting against the reckless manner in which their merchantmen are beiug attacked. Dutch and the Danish nowspapers are now outspokenly condemning Germany. The peculiar methods by which Germany "keeps peace" are evidently exasperating her neighbours. Before tho war began German writers openly declared that, the rest of the world was tho n-it:r:ni prey of the German eagle. Can the intended victims be expected to Jove their would-be slayer? During the progress of the struggle Germany has consistently displayed the most contemptuous disregard for the rights of neutrals, and has shown no respect to those mora! staudardswhich are accepted by all civilised peoples. She has turned the old morality i.p-.iide-riown. o'ic of her learned professors solemnly assures the world that Germany "is fighting for the knightly ana chivalrous European out.foofe and nsnuunr nf iho.iwfi'. which i& always beiuK threatened

cither by brutal power ur by wok it and enervating baseness." With the atrocities in Belgium and the story of (lie Lithuania fresh in oor min.is these words read like the ravings of a madman. Is it surprising that a nation that is too morally hiind to see the hideousncss of such crimcs has 110 friends? The surprising thing is that it should expect to have any.