THE LUSITANIA MURDERER

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1508, 10 February 1916, Page 4

THE LUSITANIA MURDERER

REPORTED' TO BE INSANE. AN OBJECT OF OPPROBRIUM. That the commander of the German submarine which said; the Lusitania is at present a physical wreck muter treatment in a sanatorium at Kiel, and the object of opprobrium of the entire German Navy is the statement made by Mr A. de Smit, a Dutch journalist, who has completed a trip through Germany, and publishes his findings in tin l Petit Parisian, lie had occasion to discuss the situation with men in different walks of life, whom he had known intimately before the war, and who spoke freely with him. unaware that there was any probability of publicity being given to their statements, as Mr de Smit had been known to them for many years as a business man. Among others whom he saw, and from whom he received confidences was one who, as a newspaper man before the* war, had figured prominently in socialist circles, and, indeed, was regarded as a rabid opponent of nionarchinl systems of government. This man is now the editor of an English publication printed in Germany, and circulated in the United Slates and other neutral countries for the purpose of interesting popular sentiment on the side of Germany, the entire work being carried on at Government expense. Mr dc Smit learned that there is no harmony of settlement between army and navy in Germany regarding the sinking of I lie Lusitania, and the murder of women and children. The navy condemns the act. and the Dutch journalist quotes (he typical sentiment of a naval officer who said that “(he army had the good fortune to s ee the war. to take part in it. to live in it. to be doing something ; had an interest in sight; whereas the Gorman navy”—the officer shrugged his shoulders witli a gesture that, revealed a tired and disabused disposition. HAUNTED BY SIGHT OF DYING. As for the sinking of the Lusitania, this officer said the naval officers xtisapproved the act. than “it was u crime, an abominable crime.” for which its perpetrators already had been punished by uie Sovereign Being wiio must judge ail men. H" added that when the Lusitania sank and the submarine commander saw the men, the women, the little girls, and tile little boys drowning without help, and witnessed their agony and their hands outstretched in vain, it seemed to him that those hands crushed ium mid gradually he became insane; dreadful nightmares now haunted his sleep and bus victims lea\e iiim no rest. On tile other hand, the same writer quotes a German army ollieer as justifying I lie sinking of the Lusitania as part of (he policy of the German military authorities to wage war by every means, material and moral, in order to crush the spirit ot the enemy and force him to seek peace. With regard to the Lusitania sinking and the murder of women and children in Belgium, this ollieer said;, — “Man muss diese gauze Bande aiisrotteu. ’ (“Wo must exterminate the entire band.”) This word “exterminate” seems to have been drilled into the minds of the military forces,' ami has been constantly used; the necessity for an extermination of tin; enemy is considered one of the impelling loreos ot tiie war. It is the typical expression of the citizens who are adherents ot the von Tirpitz policy. The same officer deeply regretted that the exterminating capacity of the troops had so greatly diminished, and that the men in the ranks were not now what they were during the drive on Paris in August: and September, 1914, but, lie added, bitterly, the troops of von Kluek and von Bulow are no more. The ollieer, however, would not, admit what other Germans had said, that there is a feeling of general lassitude and a desire to be done with the war as quickly us possible, and that the feeling is manifested largely in impathvice with the inactivity of the commanders and in demand for energetic action.