WHO ARE THE HUNS?

212 The Triple Entente's

212 The Triple Entente's Vendetta of Lies. of 20 years, and kept her a prisoner in a castle in the neighborhood of Nuremberg. The army of Luxemburg consists of 200 volunteers; the mighty German army deprived this body of its leader, despite its complete insignificance. The Commandant, Major van Dyck, and the officers, io in all, were shot and the soldiers transported as prisoners to Germany." This nonsense was even denied officially by the Germans. And yet another leading Italian journal repeated this impossible rubbish! It was the same system by means of which the Italian people were hounded into the war. The English press, to be sure, used methods that were still more unspeakable. x I wish to emphasize this fact : I am in no sense an Anglophobe. On the contrary—quite apart from many intimate personal relationships—I was, up to the 4th of August, a most unqualified admirer of English colonial work and English political systems. It is still painful for me to think to-day that the people of Shakespeare and Byron could sink so abysmally low as now to warrant only the hatred and contempt of all Germans. The English incendiary gutter press is chiefly responsible for this, and it is upon its head and those of the few well-known leading demagogues that the blood-guilt for this horrible war must fall. Where hatred such as this is sown, a dragon's brood of inhuman barbarisms is sure to arise. The state of mind in England to-day is no whit better than that of France in its extreme fanatic excitation. This is shown by such verses as the following which appeared in the "Daily Graphic" of London on August 20th. This is a paper which is one of the favorite sheets of Christian England. The doggerel jingle reads: "Down with the Germans, down with them all! O Army and Navy, be sure of their fall ! Spare not one of them, those deceitful spies, Cut out their tongues, pull out their eyes! Down, down with them all!" The consequences of such vicious agitation are merely an increased hate on the other side, and the firm resolve not to rest until the enemy is crushed to earth. Thus, in maniacal 1 Sven Hedin, for instance, says: "The English press is one systematic Lie," and establishes this annihilating judgment beyond all refutation.

The Triple Entente's Vendetta of Lies. 213 blindness arid fury, the civilized nations of western Europe lacerate one another in their rage, until—too late—they will see that only criminal ignorance, lust for power, and the egotism of a few men have brought this unspeakable misery upon the peoples. And the fanaticism of this lust for lying infects one people after another, like some foul and contagious disease. Italy, a soil which offers a particularly good nourishment for the noxious weed, now leads this delirium of foaming calumny. It is characteristic that even "L'Humanité" uttered a protest at the beginning of October against the shameful campaign of falsehood carried on by the "Matin" and the "Temps," and quoted several concrete examples. "Spare us!" this paper cries;—"the families of our workmen are already suffering far too much. . . We would not add to their fears by creating new fears nor plunge them into the abyss of hatred and revenge. Now, in the hour when our comrades go forth to death in defense of the Fatherland, have at least the decency not to utter all these shameless lies. . . ." IV. Extraordinarily significant, in fact, typical, is the following occurrence. Lord Selborne, the Colonial Secretary in the last Conservative Ministry, published the following letter in the London "Times" under the date of September 12, 1914: "On page 6 of your issue of to-day I read the following in a letter to the son of a London vicar from an officer now serving with our army in France: 'We have three girls here in our communication trenches who sought protection at our hands. One was naked, and all three had been outraged by the Germans.' And in another place: 'A poor girl has just arrived here both of whose breasts had been cut off. Fortunately I caught the officer of Uhlans in the act, and shot him with my rifle at a distance of 300 yards.' "Permit me to remark that such statements as these cannot possibly be permitted to remain resting upon anonymous authority. The civilized world has the right to demand that names and all details be given. If the assertions are untrue, I am convinced that you will deeply regret having given them publicity in any form, and that you will partake of the feeling that our just cause has been seriously injured by such vilifi-