The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1915. A LOW MORAL STANDARD

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 58, 6 November 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1915. A LOW MORAL STANDARD

I Possibly it may assist recruiting tc emphasise the Tact Hint the Geiinai i race, considered from the stamlpmit of morality, is shockingly had, say.the Lytetltoii Times. The depraved character of the German has been revealed in Belgium and France hy atrocities too disgusting to discuss in decent society, and Ids complete disregard of laws usually observed even in war is notorious. Some people have not unnaturally attributed this partly to the desperate case of the enemy. It was certainly a compliment to the British Navy when the Kaiser sent his submarines out to murder and destroy, while the use of gas against the British and French soldiers would scarcely have been necessary il the I opposition had been less lormidable. I But it appears that not only in war (time is the German standard of morj ality low. Since the war commenced Germany and the Germans have been placed under close examination, and some remarkable facts have emerged. Dr. Thomas Smith has written a hook, “The Soul of Germany,” from winch the “Scottish Chronicle” produces some illuminating figures. They show that the German has a had criminal record. From particulars that seem quite reliable—they arc those ol the Imperial Statistics Cilice, Berlin, and of the British Home Cilice respectively the following comparison is made ol the average annual convictions ol G 7.000,000, and in Great Britain, with a population of -18,000,000, over a period of ten years;— German. British. Malicious and felonious wounding ... 172,153 1.20 t? Murder 350 07 Rape - ),(i Malicious damage to property ... 25,7. u 35 s Illegitimate births ... I <8.115 37,0-11 Divorce petitions ... 20,310 OGS

Reduced to a common basis of ten millions of population, the proportions work out as under:— German. British. .Malicious damage to property ... .‘IS I 74 Murder ' ... ... 51 2U Malicious and felonious wourniiiig ... 25.694 263 Malicious and felonious rape ... 1100 _46 Illegitimate births ... 26,584 772 Divorce petitions ... 3,036 201 The Times concludes: These figures are not at all inconsistent with the distressing revelations of the last lilteen months. They help to convict the enemy of a looseness in morals of which any nation may well be heartily ashamed. It is doubtful, however, if the Germans are capable of shame. Certainly they have demonstrated their unfitness for the place in the world which is their ambition, and they have justified the crushing defeat which the Allies hope to inflict.