PLIGHT OF DENMARK.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1916, Page 12

PLIGHT OF DENMARK.

UNDER THE HEEL OF PRUSSIA. THE TRAGEDY OF SCHLESWIG. The horror is nowhere felt no acutely as in Schleswig, or Sr.derjylland, as we Danes still prefer to call the ancient home of the Angles, writes a Danish journalist. No fewer 'than. 25,000 of the Danishspeaking population have left their homes in this old Danish Crownland to fight for that Prussia which they loathe and liate more than anybody else. And in a few days' time the remainder of the Danish manhood between 18 and 45 are to follow. These are the men who, before the war, were declared absolutely unfit for military service—young mrsri with weak hearts, varicose veins, lu'.i" trouble, or kidnev disease

Now these "unfit'' will do all The German authorities probably think that chronic invalids are exactly those most fit to be used as "cannon fodder.'' And they will probably he given a chance of distinguishing''' themselves at the front, as their sturdier and fitter brothers were given at the beginning of the war. In an assault the front line was never denied them. ■ That explains why more Danes have been killed in this war than in 1884, when Denmark tried single-handed to keep back the invading forces of Germany and Austria. These Danes are sent against a foe that is nob their foe. On 1 the contrary, they love and worthip France and England. and most deeply felt is their sympathy with Belgium and the Belgian's. They know from bitter experience what it means to writhe under the Prussian iron heel,

TRAGIC MOCKERY OF WAS. _War a! its l>C3t is a gruesome affair. L'veu fiery patriotism in a gallant soldier cannot prevent his shuddering'at the sanguinary bestiality cf battle. ' He feels, however, the glory and satisfaction of killing or being killed for the greatness and safety of the country lie loves. Cut for the Danish soldiers iii the German army the war is nothing but a tragic mockery. They entirely iaek that national enthusiasm which excuses and justifies the killing of fellow-beings. And they have not lived sufficiently long under the Prussian yoke to appease their consciences by the typical German excuse that their authorities have compelled them to murder. Though German citizens by the injustice of might, their hearts and minds remain Danish, and in their veins runs the blood of forefathers who changed their laws.but not their convictions, free men who never dream, cd of silencing their conscience to suit the whims or crimes of a tyrant. While' these Danes from Schleswig have to fight the battles of their tormentors, and are fighting for Prussia, the Prussian authorities are more brutal than ever towards their non-combatant relatives in Schleswig. From the very moment that war was declared Schleswig was placed under martial law. Military dictatorship replaced civil government. The highest authority was no longer invested with the Lord Lieutenant of Schleswig, but was transferred to the commanding officer of the Altona garrison, whose rule is one of bloed and iron. N'o othor opinion is t?!?vM"d than that of !lie military ctv-l?. The cdiinv.; of, the r>----h r.c.sinprs in Schlcuig v-v fl.mg into prT-'on or despatched to the front, and their papers are now written with a German sword. These papers must be better edited now than before the war—at any rate the German press never quoted them before, except in fits of Teutonic wrath; now it finds many proofs of the love of everything German by the Danish population! The province swarms with spies, and denunciators flourish as in Belgium. No one feels safe. Innocent people are kept in prison for months without trial, and then released without any explanation or excuse. Minor offences are punished with incredible severity, the judges publicly justifying their savage sentences by pointing out that the transgressors are known to harbor Danish sympathies! On the night following the outbreak of the war the military authorities arrested in the most brutal way no fewer than 300 prominent Danes in Schleswig. The men and women were dragged half-dress-ed through the streets, and freely insulted by the German rabble. Most of them were kept in prison for weeks. None were prosecuted, for even the German spies failed to trump up charges against any of these highly respected citizens. This wholesale arrest was only undertaken with the object of frightening the population into submission. In fact, this was the first example of that German "fri«h-;fuluoss" which has placed the German nation outside the pale of civilisation.

Many fisher folk were put in prison fov no oilier reason than tliat they possessed boats, and might help conscripts to ("seapc from their military duties. Anions ■ilicso wore many old men between 70 ami ISO years of age. While one of them, a 72-ycar-old invalid, was hauled to prison, his four sons and three sons-in-law were marched nil' to the Belgian front Itn br used in (lint desperate attempt of the capturing the fort of Liege without siege guns. In prison this old man was (mated in the most fiendish way. His bed was a hare wooden bench, and every ni'Jit he was aroused several times to stand to attention for some inspecting brute of a Gorman Unroroffieiere. After a mouth's time his prison door was opened, and ho was told to clear out cs -Slickly as possible.

EOYCOTTTXf! THE GOOD SAMARITAN. Several camps for Russian prisoners of wnr have been established in Sehleswig. The arrival of the first batch of these prisoners was a pitiful sight. For four days these poor follows had been enIrained without receiving a morsel of food. Tliey were packed into a cattle truck without any sanitation or wafer. Several of them had died from their privations. The kind-hearted Danes succeeded in distributing food among the suffering Russians. This was, however, considered grocer unfug, and the more prominent of the good Samaritans were arrested, Some . were heavily fined, and warned that a repetition of this offence would spell imprisonment. And all of them had tlieiv unpatriotic names published in the German paper, and have sincp. been victims of a vigorous boycott

from the hands of all true Germans. Nevertheless, the Russians still receive through mysterious channels Licbcsgaben from the 'Danes of Schlcswig. Their humanity is; stronger than the fear of German /rightfulness.

A couple of weeks ago a simple Danish peasant woman was given six months' hard labor by her military judges. In a. letter to a friend in }'ten murk she mentioned casually that the poor Kussian prisoners were not treated well, and she wrote that 'they got nothing else to eat but turnip and potato peelings. This letter never reached its 'destination. Put into the hands of the judge advocate, 'the answer to it was a sentence of six months' hard labor. The poor woman was enceinte, and the authorities decreed that the sentence should be deferred mitil eight days after the birth of her child. Nothing better, crow the German papers, how hiimane and considerate we Germans are in the treatment of our criminals. Danes in Schleswig, however, fail to discover any humanity or consideration in this or any other doing's of their German oppressors.