THE SILENT DUCHY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3976, 8 July 1915, Page 6

THE SILENT DUCHY.

LUXEMBURG UNDER GERMAN RULE. THE CROWN PRINCE DISCUSSED Sinco tho Germans swarmed over tho frontier at the. beginning of the ■war Luxemburg has been a closed book to tho world. Your "Man in the Street” is exceedingly well-informed about the different phases of the war. He can trace in a masterly fashion the various moves and counter-moves of tho Russians ,in the eastern theatre; no instance of "kultur” and "frighv fulness” in Belgium has escaped his censure, and he is even au courant with the more obscure events m Egypt and the Near iy.ist, but ask him what is happening in Luxemburg and ho will be at a loss for an answer.

A recent yisit to that unfortunate Duchy by a correspondent of the "Chronicle,” has revealed tho fact that, although not conquered and annexed ;(S Belgium, or invaded in tho sense that tho North of France Ims been, it is, nevertheless, absolutely under German control. That means to say that the Germans Have not merely utilised the territory, as they allege, for the passage of their armies to the seat of war, a convenience for which due payment "will” be made, but they are actually ruling the country through their military authorities. There is no real difference between Belgium and the French territory occupied by tho enemy and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. There arc always from 10,000 to 12,000 Prussians in occupation, and all tne stations, viaducts, tunnels, etc., an; guarded by their sentries, whilst the post and telegraph services are also under Prussian control, all letters and telegrams being censored at Treves. GERMAN OFFICERS SHOT BY MEN. If public resentment cannot find adequate expression in Parliament, it acquires greater force on that account in private, and most interesting conversations may be heard nightly in the cafes. Curiously enough, tho private soldiers as a whole appear to be in sympathy with the natives and impart a good deal of military knowledge to them. In this way it has become general knowledge in Luxemburg that the Germans lost upwards of GO,OOO men in the battle of Sedan on September 1-2. and over 40,000 at Longwv, where the Crown Prince, to put A charitably, suffered a "serious nervous breakdown,” and was only rescued alive at the sacrifice of an enormous number of men. Ho is spoKeu of in terms of the greatest possible contempt by the soldiers, and bis military exploits are a standing joke among the natives. Since he acquired this distinction, tho Crown Prince has spent tlie major portion of his time recuperating in safety and riotous dissipation in Luxemburg. Conversation with German soldiers bore out to the fullest degree the statements recently made by "EyeWitness” regarding the exceedingly brutal treatment of German privates by their officers. Even on the parade grounds in Luxemburg the soldiers are booted, fisted, and generally maltreated worse than animals for the

slightest inefficiency, and these same men openly swear that they will seek tiie first opportunity on the battlefield to exact their revenge for this cruelty. They say that the actual lists oi losses among officers are enormous and never recorded, and estimate that at least 50 per cent of these losses are at the hands of their own men. and soldiers returning to Luxemburg from the front have even boasted of what they have done in -that direction.