The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1917. CRIME AND ITS PENALTY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3041, 30 March 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1917. CRIME AND ITS PENALTY

The_ sinking oE the hospital sbip' Asturias_ is a late addition to a list of crimes committed by Germany since tho war began which in one sense leave her enemies and the worM hopelessly at a loss. As a rule it is impossible for oiviltsocl hations to retort in kind upon the criminal deeds .of a aation t=unk as Germany is. in the 'depths' of barbarity, and entirely laoking in moral sense, and it follows that by the very vileness of her degradation she earns a degree of immunity. We can' turn against her, as we have done with deadly effect, the new horrors of poison gas and other illegal weapons she has introduced upon_ the battlefield, but wo cannot retaliate against German ) women and children by practising on them the foul outrages and hideous brutalities of which German soldiers have been guilty in various conquered; territories, nor can we emulate Germany's atrocious violation of the Red Gross. From this standpoint, a very narrow standpoint, Germany in her criminality holds a position of advantage of which sho cannot bo wholly deprived. If this were tho beginning and end of tho matter some reason would appear for doubting whether the moral' law which other nations uphold is more than an idle dream. ■■ Criminality triumphant .would be a staggering negation of moral law. Only a brief examination of facts and a little reflection arc; needed, however, to show that Germany is as far as _ possible from being triumphant in her criminality, and' that although her crimes to a great extent defy set punishment, save in the case of individuals who will be called to account later, already weighing her down, and will do so increasingly as time goes on. Germany, as sho is at present ruled and organised, is above all things materialistic. Her crimes in the war have been committed from first to. last cold-bloodedly, with an eyo to profit and advantage. Yet it is well within the facts .to say that as a direct outcome of these crimes Germany is already crippled and hampered so far as the outcome of the war is concerned, in a degree far exceeding the material loss and damage they have inflicted upon her enemies. The truth of this observa-tion-is manifest in practically every section and division of tho war. It appears conspicuously in Germany's attempts to turn to full account the population and material resources of the territories she has invaded, and not least in the operation of the sea-blockade, which in itself ensures her ultimate defeat. It is impossible to set out in brief compass all that Germany has lost by her abominable departure from tbe laws of war and civilisation, but when tho record is fully mado out it will certainly appear that her renunciation, of tbe moral law is tho greatest of all tho blunders bj

wme.a Btio has- sacrificed whatever prospects she had when she entered tho war. Her administration of invaded territories is a remarkable examplo of villainy recoiling upon it* authors. Substituting outrage and brigandage upon the people of those territories for the humane procedure dictated by ; tho laws of war, she has incurred a maximum Burden in holding .them in subjection, and reduced to a minimum tho profits resulting ifrom their occupation. This is true of Belgium and the invaded departments of Northcrr France, where German methods, by their very ■ barbarity, have done .much to defeat the ends they were intended to servo. It is true in a ranch larger sense of tho occupiod Russian territory, and particularly of Russian Poland. Thore ib now not the slightest doubt that if Germany bad conducted her Eastern campaign and shaped her policy as .a civilised nation, and worked skilfully upon the known antagonism of tho Poles to. Russia and their leaning towards Austria, she would have found in Poland a reservoir of military and ' industrial strength which would have enabled hor to materially', augment her resources. Pursuing instead her customary methods she has antagonised the Poles and obtained by force and extortion at most a fraction of what she might have gained by a humane and conciliatory policy, Poland alone is an admirable object lesson of the {oily,- as well as the criminality of the policy which Germany has. in. fact pursued. • ' That Germany has worked to her own undoing in the matter of the sea blockade,' which is subjecting her to a process of slow strangulation, is ono of the best established facts of the- war. The British, Government is able to state to-day that tho tightening of the blockade has resulted in : the complete cessation .of oversea importations into enemy, countries, and the statement is one in which tho ultimate clefeafc of tho Central is plainly foreshadowed, oven, if the events now rapidly developing, on land are ignored. It is safe to Kay that the blockarje could never have been applied and developed in its prosent stringency but. for the German crime's of which ib represents tho direct punishment. The institution of the blockade in its present shape was' Britain's, reply to Germany's illegal use of submarines. It was instituted in'spite of neutral protests, which in other circumstances would have been exceedingly formidable and difficult to disregard, but in face of Germany's atrocious violations of international law and of the laws of humanity these protests have died away. There are, of,course, other directions in whicli Germany's crimes are earning their due reward, notably in the total laofc" of effective support by any. neutral nation of the efforts she is making to secure peace on her own, or even, terms. If she had fought as a civilised nation misfortune alono would;have enabled her to secure the. friendly offices of' neutral nations. Tin-suing instead her natural and criminal bent, she has not only outraged, and. antagonised neutral nations, but has presented tho merits of tho war with a clearness which admits of no mistake. This is at once a tremendous asset to the Allies, and in itself a punishment of Germany's orimes. The position of tho latter country to-day is not a negation, but a vindication, of moral law. The outlawry she has earned by a long array of abominable crimes ; confirms her doom in tne wai> and when tho war is over it will v continiio as a punishment mitigated only by.the incapacity of Eho German nature to understand and appreciate' moral degradation.