PRISONERS IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 5, 1 October 1917, Page 5

PRISONERS IN GERMANY

FAVOURABLE AGREEMENT REACHED AT THE HAGUE '' AN EXTENSIVE EXCHANGE / .. ! As briefly announced by cablegram ti/o . 'Anglo-German agreement negotiated l>y Lord Newton, Sir Herbert Belfield, and Sir R. Younger at The Hague, for the exchange and better treatment of prison- • ere, has now been ratified by both countries. It contains 22 paragraphs, some ' of which are 'highly technical. The prin- " cipal provisions are as follows:— '< h All existing agreements for direct repatriation shall ba resumed. f 2 - T he qualifications on medical.grounds* 1 both for repatriation and internment in a, neutral country of combatautpriaoners shall be made more lenient, and shall. ! be based for the time being on the arrangements already in force between France and Germany. . 3. The more severely wounded and seriously ill among the prisoners in Switzer- ' land shall, be. sent back to their own 'countries in order to make room for others who may now become qualified. 4. In addition to the last-named and " such further number as the' Swiss Gov- . ernment may be able to accommodate, ' there shall be selected in all for internment in Holland 7500 sick or wounded, combatant prisoners of all ranks. "£ho figure of 7500 is the total number of :! places available'- for British and German • prisoners. There are not 7500 available for each. 5. All officers and nun-commissioned • officers, whether in health or not, who ■have been in.captivity for 18 months or more shall be eligible for internment in •a neutral country, and shall be so interned so far as accommodation can bo. provided. Precedence 6hall be according to length of captivity.;■ Tho Dutch Government will provide places for 6500 of this class. 6. The Dutoh Government will further "provide for 2000 civilian prisoners, invalids being given, a .preference. 7. If tho number of combatant' prisoners ' eligibly for internment (whether on grounds of health or time) outruns the . accommodation a division shall be made between the British and German prison- ' ers of each olass in proportion to tha , ' number' of eligible men of the two nationalitiito. In the caso of civilian ■ however,/where a strict proportion might give the Germans seven or eight prisoners to one British it has been " agreed that tho internment shall pioceed on a basis of four to ono. 8. Tho punishment for attempting to'es- • cape in both countries 6hall' be reduced >to 14 days' special, confinement for a simple offence, or two . months' nonfinc- ' ment if aggravated I>y an offence against property. All combatant prisoners now undergoing punishment for such attempts shall be released' to ordinary captivity at latest by' August 1. 9. All reprisals against'lffilividuuls snnll - be. at once', cancelled. , No further, repris-. : nls. shall take r place except on four weeks' nohco, and'the-execution of all sentences 1 tor offences committed by combatants or civilians between the date of capture and .August 1 shall stand over until the conclusion of peace.'- I : -! ~ _Y"'d Newton, Minister in Charge''if tho-. Prisoners of IVar Department, in' ex- ■ plaining Tho Hague Agreement, 'said that only a few .hundreds of men will be ac-commodated-in Switzerland. Germany is suspending'excessivo punishments for British prisoners who have tried to escape. i -all punishments imposed-prior'to Augustl'-- wrll. be■■ ■ remitted till the endi of ■ tho war—which la niost'satisfactory, Bine© inany British! prispners, extremely 'iiy sentenced, will non be liberated. Re- ; pnsals will be avoided where possible, . and, four weeks notice. will be givem Parcels will be delivered more otieedily, - and, in reply • to British complaints, Gen- . : era!;. Frederick, • the principal German delegate, answered-that delays in censorship .were due. to the inclusion in parcels • of. "instruments-of sabotage." -Both Goverhments will issue a notice- doprecating :any such practice. When tho words are agreed, the German censorship "••til be ir.Jargelj: relaxed;. ;.AtiouTer complaint rais■ved by.tte British'delegate was that .of. the.delay .which .frequently .occurred in • prisoners .to trial--in. Geii'inanvv Tho German delegates said that such practice ; was quite irrCgni-ar.and -contrary to, German custom, und*tnat steps wtmld ' "o t®ken to prevent any're'eurreneo of it. C llio mostimportant agreement was that relatmg_,to the internmeut of- a lar»e number of miliary and civil' prisoners i in Holland; .The Netherlands Govern-" mentwere good, enough to make tho offer,' . and it .was gratefully accepted br all the delegates; to-place-16,000. plac'es at E l i P os ,°f the two Governments. ' ?°7 T ere „ 0 to invalid com- . . batants, > 6500 to oflicers and non-commie-eioned officers who'had been for 18 months in captivity, and 2000' to civilian invalids I 1600 of'whom would bo German and 400 ' The British delegates asked - tj^t'Pfivates..should.bo included amongst these interned by virtu© of'having bien 18 months in captivity, but it was perfectly obvious the request could not be complied with. It . would be difficult to -make a selection amongst those eligiblo, .'and,-further, the real reason was that it was quite, clear'the .Germans did not intend to part with anyone who could work. It would be grossly unfair to say'that the privates-had been neglected, Lord Newton, went on: - Nearly all of the 7500 . combatants to be exchanged would be privates. The proportion of civilians - worked out to our advantage, hiving regard/to the number of civilian prisoners in England and Germany. He expected to be inundated with letters from relatives of prisoners in Germany asking him to look after particular prisoners. 'I'he arrangements could not be made at once, and it was useless to expect, that jrisoners were going to arrive by tHe next train ._ He was doing all lie could to : ■ expedite the aiTangements that had been made in Holland and Switzerland," and the Netherlands Government-had already begun to make preparations to receive the men. ; The Germans wanted to. Southwold as the,place of exohange, whilst tho British delegates endeavoured without success to the Germans to exchango at a port in the Thames. Sir E. Carson had now offered Hull as a'port of exchangee, and as that was very convenient he hoped that evon German ingenuity would be at t loss,to discover a reason -why Hull should not bo -used. .The discussions were very full and frank:; and the chief German delegate admitted quite oandidly that the treatment of prisoners in this country was distinctly suporior to what it was. in any other country.