BRUTALITY TO PRISONERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 November 1918, Page 4

BRUTALITY TO PRISONERS.

i\ T o-,v that British prisoners of war in Germany are returning, we are learning tlia truth about the horrible brutalities to which they have been subjected. Not only do they carry the marks of cruelty and torture on tiieir bodies, but the condition in which they arrived at the Allies' lines was such as to leave no room for doubt that the Germans had purposely and maliciously set at defiance all the recognised conventions relating to prisoners of war, and maintained a policy of inhumanity that has evoked a, veritable storm of anger. It is as well that the full extent of the Ifiui atrocities c;i prisoners should he conclusively proved before peace terms are arranged, for it should be a matter of imperative necessity that t"nose who are responsible for the-se barbaric tactics should be made to suffer punishment thai will fit Ilia crime, also that compensation should be paid to the sufferers and to tjie dependents of those who have been done to death by savage hatred r.r-.d fiendish malevolence. The pen pictures drawn of the reeer.t arrivals have aroused i)'e.o deepest resentment. So far ac Turkey is concerned inhumanity is not. surprising, bv.t wo were not prepared for the revolting details that have just come to hand. Out of lfl,fJS3 prisoners, who had to mar* five hundred miles over the Syrian desert, no less than 3200 succumbed, while 2!?-?,?, who are untraeed, are assumed to have periled. Thjs, horrible as it is, may have been unavoidable, but the use of a cowhide whip on the bare backs 01 (lie men calls for similar punishment Htn fee Turkish naval officer;; who administered the casligafion. With Germany tha ease is altogether different, and the revelations of the llryee Commission branded the Huns as absolute barbarian-. Tha final act of brutality in finding Use prisoners adrift on foot, miserably clad, foodless, and without escort or guides was the r.e:ne of inhumanity, and it is marvellous that the death rate was not far greater than recorded. A strong protest has been 3cnt to. Germany, with an intimation that such abominable treatment will not be

tolerated, but far more drastic steps are needed thr.n a mere verbal com-im-r.icatin::, Tin fii assess Gonforcuee

"I' iS7-i provided that prisoners of rear Were to be treated as regards food and cioihk.g on the same footing ii 1 the troops of the Government vS'lO made (hem prisoners, and these prisoners iViiy],t. be employed on certain, public works which had no immediate coar.e.e----tio!! r. iih bee operations of war, due regard being given io their selective ranles and social positions, their pay for such employment to be available for viia enhancement of their comfort. X-Jo-iklr.g could be more tsur.iW.iiir.rian and j;:;.-, but iiie tkrma.is pay no regard to an,v thing but force, so that force should be. applied to living them to reason. Germany's calculated brutality to prisoners is on a par with her ofiher r.lroeiiics during the war. She i.-.ss we'll aware of the humane treatment of Rus-

sian, prisoners by Japan, and or the llocr prisoners by the British, but her is.igovernabio hatred and her barbaric instincts were allowed fail play on iiie defenceless prisoner;. Hence there are verkkd instances of captured men being horribly mutilated on the battlefield; wounded prisoners kicked to death, by German officers, orders given to slaughter ail prisoners "whether wounded or not," unnecessary amputations by German doctors so that "there will be men tine less in the next war : ' The evidence of these hideously black crimes is ~0 conclusive that 1:0 denial is acceptable. Tlie German officials stand convicted of iiie grossest inhumanity and most deliberate cruelty, and unless the perpetrators of these atrocities arc fittingly punished the Allies will fail in one of the most important duties which civilisation demands.