CAVELL, THE MARTYR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 48, 26 October 1915, Page 8

CAVELL, THE MARTYR.

THE OFFICIAL DEFENCE. LUnited I'hksb Association.] Amsterdam, October 24. All that official Germany can say in defence of Miss Cavell's execution is i an article in the North German Gaz-j ette, which makes mention of a British officer's letter to the Manchester' Guardian of October 18th, concerning a French girl for shooting two snipers. l The article continues: "When such 1 deeds, which, are a mockery of all the, usages of war, receive homage theyj must not be astonished if guilty persons are treated according to the laws of war. Had this French girl been! seized by us and shot dead, as she deserved, the British press could not loudly enough have deplored the Ger-j man methods of warfare. The same press is now trying to set the whole world against us, because in Belgium a sentence of death according to the laws of war has been carried out an English woman who was found guilty of treachery in war. The Telegraaf comments that the Germans' defence of the execution could not be weaker, and is rather a self-accusation, because it proves that the Germans are strangers to all human feeling and every sentiment of mercy. The Handelsblad makes a compari-' son of the French girl's act and Miss Cavell's conduct, and says that the horrible punishment inflicted by the German Government is completely unjust.

AN ENGLISHMAN'S COMMENT. London, October 25. Sir John Simon, in an interview, said that Miss Cavell's trial had no parallel in Britain's treatment of persons accused of military offences. No woman spy had been shot in England. What struck Englishmen as incredible was the calculated indifference wherewith the American and Spanish Ministers' inquiries were treated, and the excuse suggested that wartime calls for severe measures. Our own experience shows that it is possible to combine a regard for the rights of the accused with respect for humane considerations. AUSTRALIAN TRIBUTES. (Received 8.40 a.m.) Sydney, October 20. A monster recruiting meeting opened with bared heads in honor of martyred Nurse Cavell, the band playing "The Dead March." The Lyceum Club has opened a Cavell Memorial Fund.