EXPOSE THE BRUTE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 266, 13 April 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

EXPOSE THE BRUTE.

The dastardly sinking of the hospital ship Asturias, which took place at midnight on the 20th, was an act of savagery deliberately perpetrated in accordance with the threat published by the Gorman Government early in February. This threat to sink British hospital ships, on the plea that they are misused for tlw transport of munitions and soldiers, afforded another glaring example of the utter loss ot the sonsy of shame whicn has been manifested in a succession of diabolical outrages against decency and humanity since tlw day when Belgium was invaded. The allegation that Great Britain had violated the Hague Convention was repudiated by the Foreign Office with not unnatural warmth and emphasis. But the British Government did not rest content with a mere denial. It requested the United States Government to warn the Kaiser that immediate reprisals would be taken if harm befell a British hospital ship, at the same time intimating that every British hospital ship was employed solely for the purpose of succouring and transporting the sick and wounded. That is the only kind of argument the exponents of Kultur can understand, and it is not surprising to hear that the sinking of the Asturias has been followed by a popular clamour for the promised reprisals. The sinking of the hospital ship, coupled with the diabolical destruction and bestial outrages with which the German troops have marked their retreat in Northern France, makes it increasingly apparent that German anger is finding expression in a new campaign of ferocity, intended to be more horrible than any that has preceded it. It will, of course, have as little effect in arresting the impending doom of Germany as any of its predecessors, but it would be a satisfaction to the peoples of the Allied countries to have tho assurance that henceforth every crimo such as the sinking of the Asturias will entail upon the perpetrators fhe certainty of fitting and adequate punishment. Meantime we heartily concur in the suggestion of a London contemporary that it would be a good thing for the British Government to buy space in every neutral newspaper in the world, and to reprint the terrible story of tho German oppression o? the Poles, which recently appeared in the Amsterdam "Telegraaf." "The real meaning of German Kultur can only bo completely understood by the unlucky peoples who are temporarily under tlic Teuton's heel. To neutra's Cermany.poses as humanitarian and peace-loving. She does not bother to pretend in Poland and Belgium. There she rollicks in beastly brutality. Thousands of Poles are hurried from thfir homes into slavery in Central Germany. Young girls are torn from their mothers to be forced into shameful relations with German officers. Firing parties are always ready to murder the obstinate and independent. The tyranny is thorough, calculated, and quite unsuccessful. The spirit of these unhappy people is unbroken. The German is ridiculous even when he is most murderous, and the quick-witted Pole, like the Brussels gamin, laughs at him as he swaggers and bullies. Re sings " Dcutschland übor Alle.s" to Polish words which mean "Germany! Germany! Ferocious Beast!" and the Germans, not understanding, smile :.s they listen. Mrs. Beecher Stowe's Simon Lcgrce stirred the conscience o; tlio United States into fighting a bitter war to rescue the negro from slavery. There are hundreds of Legrecs in Poland, in Belgium, and Northern France, and it is the business of Great Britain to induce the whole world to learn the full horror of their deeds. Tho story of Poland should bo distributed broadcast in the United States, in Denmark, in Sweden, in Holland, m Norway, in Switzerland, and in Spain. Neutrals, from President Wilson in America to the peasant working in the vineyards of Spain, would then realise what the Allies are fighting for, and what their own fate, will be if the Allies are beaten and Germany is allowed to force its Kultur on other nations."