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Show Conditions in Belgium Had Their Counterpart in Rome a Century Ago Germans Tortured Prelates, Defiled Altars and Committed Most Awful Outrages on Roman Catholic Priests. "Face to Face With Kaiserism" By JAMES W. GERARD, American Ambassador at the German Imperial Court, July 23, 1913, to February 4, 1917. Author of "My Four Tears la Germany." Copyright, 1018, by l'ublic Ledger Company. Copyright Canada, 191S, by l'ubhe Ledger CompaDy. CHAPTER XII. An Unpublished Diary. January. 1917. Germany wants a pcare cw.irrenee In ordur to niitke a M.tjiirate Ira'c on rog4 t;rins to them with France ai.d Kufcsla. then ho;-es to finish Kniand by BubmurlnrN, then Inter take the Halp of Japan, Ituia and France Beiiurately. The allies ounht to remcinher what Hen Franklin tald ahout harming tether or f : anilely. I Ket the above scheme from very Kood authority. The weather is moM dpresslnc; dark. anil rain every day. All hands seem cross. Zimmerman. I think, finds It 1 firwt than the criticizing second. It is not so easy as It looked to him. The kajs'T staled tho other day that he did not expect peace now, that the Knk'llsh would try a prt-at offensive in the spring ar.d would fail-Herbert fail-Herbert Hoover writes me that the Germans are violating all their pledges In IJelrilum. He expects a jra&'of great difficulties. I hear this confirmed on btjtt authority and that even the German Ger-man official who is supposed to see that food is n'.t e-nt from Be.um to Germany Ger-many in viola t Ion of Germany's pledges pends out butter to his family; that there Is an absolute reign of terror in Belgium, sudden and arbitrary arrests, etc. I think the Germans want to see all foreign dip- lomata out of Bucharest and Brussels and the charges n gainst Wpicka should , be considered in that light. The greate-st danger from submarine war is that unthinking p.-r.ons In the United Slates may &tart a crusade a a Hi st the president's policy, encourage the Germans In the belief that we are divided and lead them to resume reckless a.ts in tiuit belief. The continuance of a strong front Is the very best way to keep the pi ace. Both Zimmermajin and the chancellor asked me about Bernstorff, and returning return-ing gf'Od for evil, I said that he was O. K., on very gocnl terms with the government, govern-ment, well liked tsic) and truit no one could do better! A friend Just returned from a week's visit In Hungary reports a great desire fur peace. Fersons who', a year ago, said that the president could have nothing noth-ing to do with peace or negotiations, now say he Is the only possible mediator. Mr. Gerard's second book, written since hl3 departure from Berlin upon the severing of diplomatic relations with Imperial Germany, has been secured se-cured by the Public Ledger for exclusive ex-clusive newspaper publication In the United States and Canada. It will appear simultaneously In daily Installments In-stallments In this and other newspapers news-papers licenced by the Public Ledger. Any Infringement of the Public Ledger's copyright will be prosecuted. This comes from high government circles cir-cles thre. The historic crown of Bt. Stephen was much tou large for the king, but the little lit-tle crown prince made a great hit with the popuiace. Heartrending Cruelty. An Armenian woman came through here the other day. Her husband had beer, captured or killed and her tale of treatment treat-ment of the Armenians by the Turks was heatrendirg. Everything points to a coming crisis In the matter of food; how serious it wdll be even the officials themselves do ont know, as there is much concealed food and much smuggling over the various borders. In some parts of Germany the country coun-try police or gendarmes are searching the farmhouses thrice weekly. I have secured permission to visit and Inspect the enslaved Belgians, have named as Inspectors all members of our staff speaking French, but as yet fcave not received passes. Here Is a copy of a letter I have just received from a German: The hypocrisy of the German government govern-ment Is really disgusting: It is a well-known well-known matter of fact that hints and arprobation. nay, even by express orders of the Germaa military authorities, the troops in France and Belgium have been stimulated to give no quarter at all in the case of British adversaries, and that in Russia even vhole regiments and brigades have been annihilated by grape-shot, grape-shot, although the poor wretch.es delivered deliv-ered themselves on mercy and raided their (Continued on Page Two.) GERK TORTURED PRIESTS IB ROME (Continued from Page One.) hands to prove their submission. Both the Prussian and the Bavarian crown princes have expressly ordered to make no prisoners, to spare ammunition and to dispatch the surviving by steel and bayonet. Has the order been forgotten, issued by the kaiser tn the beginning of the German-China expedition, to deal with the Chinese like the Hung, to destroy de-stroy and annihilate every human creature, crea-ture, both men and women and even Innocent In-nocent children? "Quis aulerit Gracchos de seditione quaerentes? Unus pro multis." "P. S, The war would be decided and peace restored as soon as the U. S. A. government would Intervene in favor of humanity, liberty and civilization. Down with the Prussian tyranny!" The Germans will do nothing about Belgium. Bel-gium. The deportations were a military measure, demanded by Iudendorff, who constantly fears a British landing on the Belgian coast. A man who called on Von Tirpltz recently re-cently was told by Von Tirpitz that he, Von Tirpitz, was watched like a spy and all his letters opened. Von Tirpitz said that Hindenburg was the real ruler of Germany, that anything Bethmann said was censored by Hindenburg. and that Hindenburg was now against reckless submarine war, but that any substantial defeats in the field would make him change his mind. Von Tirpitz said that the kaiser was losing his mind and spent all his time praying and learning Hebrew. The food situation grows worse. Potato Po-tato cards must now be presented in res-, taurants and hotels. I doubt if potatoes can last beyond April. There is food in Rumania, but much will go to the troops, Austrians and Turks; the railways are so used by troops, etc., that it is doubtful if any food from there can reach Germany for months. Heatless Days in Berlin. All apartment houses in Berlin are closed at 9, and lights in halls extinguished. extin-guished. Theaters close at 10 and movies also. There Is want of coal due to lack of transportation. The president's address to the senate yesterday (January 22, 1917) is splendid. I don't know yet how it will be taken here. If it is published, it will give the German people something to consider. Postcards showing Zeppelins In the act of murdering the sleeping babies of an enemy city are distributed here with pride. All Germans of my acquaintance have impressed on me lately the renewed danger of submarine warfare. The American Amer-ican correspondents are not allowed to send out the hate of America speeches and articles. Cyril Brown of the World says that last week 60 per cent of the matter he sent was cut out by the censor here. The new U-boat campaign will go along the armed merchantman lines and an endeavor en-deavor will be made to force or get us in some way to recognize that an armed merchantman is the same as a warship, and. therefore, may be fired on without notice. It Is the old story, but more subtly presenred. Food situation more and more serious, riots lately in two markets in Berlin. Have not yet received passes to see the Belgians. Cndoubtedly Ludendorff is the real dictator dic-tator of Germany today. What he thinks about Amerira may be judged from the circumstances before Colonel Kuhn'B recall. re-call. The nearer I get to the situation the more I consider the president's peace note an. exceedingly wise move. It has made it verv difficult for the terrorists here to start anything which will nrinfc Germany Ger-many in conflict with the United States-The States-The chancellor, Zimmermann, Ptumm, have all ridiculed the idea that Germany will go bnck on her "Sussex" pledges; but if she does, then the peace note makes it easier for America to enter the war on the allies' side with a clear conscience and the knowledge on the part of the people at home that the president did everything possible to keep us out of the mess. (End of Mr.Gerard's Unpublished Diary.) Kultur of Kaiserdom. The older I grow the more It seems to me that all men are alike and that they have been alike at all periods of history, capable of the same development and differing onlv In environment. I do not believe, for example, that any mystery is concealed behind the faces of the peoples of the east. Once I asked Souehinmoura. my colleague In Berlin, ambassador of Japan, whether the Japanese Japa-nese were as much subject to nerves as western peoples. He answered In the affirmative af-firmative but said they were taught from Iffanr-v to control their nerves. I asked him how, and he said the principle of the system was deep abdominal breathing with a slow release of the breath as soon its nervousness came on. Japanese wrestlers practiced this, he added, and when a man tool; deep breaths it was almost al-most Impossible to throw him. Of course, soclnl life and customs change with climate. But education Is the most powerful factor of all. The Aztecs nf Mexico offered human sacrifices. but the" letter of the Aztec mother to her (i iughter. giving advice and counsel, mentioned men-tioned hv Prescolt in his history, might have been written by a New England mother todav. Somewhere In the world, moreover, is savage eating human flesh, persuaded that In so doing he Is acting in accordance with the tenets of his velUion. TItpsp are the extremes. lint the German, or rather the Prussian Prus-sian has been molded Into the extraordinary extraor-dinary person that he Is today by a slow process of education, extending through' ievei-il generations. At Mnrlcnhurg. on I lie Baltic uliore nf Germany, stands the ancient castle of the Teutonic knights, re-i-ontely restored by the German kaiser. The knights at one time conquered and orernlod much of the territory that Is now 'modern Prussia. A military religious order thev attracted adventurers from -ill la'nd and their descendants constitute consti-tute mnnv of the noMe families of Prussia Prus-sia It Is this tradition of conquest for K'iln that still animates the ruling class of Prussia nnd therefore all Germany. Germans Mercenaries of Europe. T.aler, through the middle ages and as the central power of the emperor grew weaker and weaker, what is today Ger-nuinv Ger-nuinv heenme a nest of dukedoms nnd principalities. Before tho French revolu-lion revolu-lion these numbered hundreds. After the Ihlrty years' war, which ravaged Germany Ger-many from 1S1R to 1645, extreme poverty wiis' often conspicuous at these petty courts War was an Industry nnd tho poor 'German peasants were frequently bartered an slaves to the war-god, as the Hessians were sold by their ruler to tho Hrlllsh in our war of the revolution. Tho r,orninnn were then the mercenaries of Furore savages skilled In war. without in ere v 'toward the towns unfortunate ,.Kh to be given to their pillage. No ,,,,- horrible account In nil history is there than the sack of Hour by the German Ger-man mercenaries In the year ir', when, under General George von Frumlshorg, who lolned forces villi the recreant Con-stable Con-stable Hourhon of Franco and the Span-linls Span-linls these lawless Germans Invaded the fertile plains of Italy and took Homo buy assault. The niost nwful outrages were perpetrated perpe-trated Prelates were tortured after Peine Pe-ine paraded through tho streets of (ho Klernal -llv, dressed In their sacrerl poiiHt'leals and mounted on donkeys. Al-,,,s Al-,,,s were defiled, sacred Images broken, vestments and services and works of sit taken from the plundered churches nnd sacred relies Insulted, broken and scattered scat-tered For nine months the nrv continued contin-ued the Inhabitants Indng tortured lv ,ese German soldiers In their etTort to find hidden treasure. In fact conditions In llelgium of today had their Counterpart Counter-part centuries ago tn the treatment or Komnii Catholic priests and the people pt' Konie. The Kl'ent change In the feeling of tho country toward Prussia since the letter's conquest ol' the rest of Germany tn ISi'a;. Is still exemplified by one quotation from " Goethe. He said, "The Prussian was horn a brute and civilization will mrtke him ferocious." We ft 11 have seen how prophetic pro-phetic " was this Bentence. Skilled in chemistry, in science, well educated, made rich by manufacturing: and foreign commerce," com-merce," the Prussians of todav have shown themselves far more bloody, far more cruel than the German Lansquenet of the middle acres who sold himself, his two-handed sword, his military experience experi-ence and his long lance to the highest bidder. Tacitus tells of how the ancient Germans Ger-mans when drawn up in battle array used to sltiff a sort of war song to terrify their enemies. It was Goethe incidentally who remarked re-marked "Amerlka, du hast es besscr." (America, you are better off.) The poet, who died in 1932, foresaw, indeed, the coming power of the free democracy across the seas. (Continued Tomorrow." |