THE GERMAN MIND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1351, 23 January 1915, Page 4

THE GERMAN MIND.

AN ILLUMINATING LETTER. A Salford correspondent writes to an English paper : “Enclosed I beg to hand a letter 1 received from a German whom I have known tor some time past—another proof of the amount of truth that is to be had in Germany ; “Lear Mr , —ln this hard time it give me the greatest satisfaction to be in a position in sending across you these lines to inform yon about the true facts of Germany’s situation, to the actual war. Mr , we had been here in Berlin always the best friends, and you must know me now too good to doubt the sincerity I write you the following lines. For it is a disgrace, indeed, so near, how

you are poured over with lies by English newspapers, and hear nothing about the true facts. But how one cau see so far, the truth oozes through already a little, and it will come also a time, where England it will regret to have deceived itself. “Our Kaiser was troubled till the last moment to keep the peace. There it became highest time to take up to arms, because the Russians and the French were fallen in already in Germany. French armies stood already in Belgium. 1 here the pacific passing of our troops was refused, so we must open the way ourselves. Then ‘to he or not to be,’ that was now the question Germany’s (one to seven, must and shall be victorious). “But since civil peopling participated in the battles in Belgium and shot down onr troops from behind, so it is only Belgium’s fault that the war there had taken such a bloody turn. For to show you that the Belgian had behaved like beasts be following quoted as a case in point: They put the helpless wounded soldiers’ eyes out who lay on the battlefields. They fired upon Red Cross- hospitals and cut across the throats to poor woundeds in night. Women, even children, sniped at our troops. The officers and nay the physicians were asked to dinner and then shot from behind. “This all led up to energetic steps m the vvarlare. But our brave troops have fought way through and are now, five weeks after the mobilisation, at the gates of Paris. “We have nearly 500,000 prisoners till now (French, Belgian, Russian and English). “As far as the treatment concerned to the foreigners in Ger many so they are dealed very gently, and protest energetically against the lies which are spread in their country about bad treatment to the foreigners in Germany. “For to-day I will close my letter, and give you the assurance that we don’t know here such ‘Lies Factories’ as they exist iu England.’’