OCR Text |
Show OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF DEPRAVITY. . ! 00 J No one can read the stories of the mistreatment of the French and Bel- gian woraon during the German occu- pancy of the cities and towns, of Bel- 0 gium and northern France without feeling that the authors of the horrible 1 crimes against virtuo and decency : should be searched for and caught even though apother 'whole year of a j fearful war must be fought in order to attain that purpose. '1 Whrn nnr nf tlm n r- -n-.- nmrt,l S ents rode into tille he heard reports i of outrages which brought him deep sorrow in the midst of all the rejoic- ing over the liberation of an afflicted 5 people. 3 We quote from Philip Gibbs, who is fi a reputable correspondent, and this is what he says: '" w "At Lille I was toid by distin- j gulshed citizens that spven out of eve- ry ten men had been In prison at some g time or other for refusing to pay fines I or for other crimes, against German ffl oppression. In Tourcoing it was a M bad and a manufacturer was actually &j taken as a hostage and imprisoned six 1 weeks In Germany because of all fan- ffi tastic reasons, the French had shelled Alexandretta. For that reason also noubaix had to pay 'a fine of 150,000 gj francs. a "The same tragic-scenes as in Lille jl happened when the Germans made a k conscription of women in Tourcoing d and Poubalx with machine guns post- 1 ed in tlx? streets and German officers j making arbitrary choice of young women and girls for forced labor in the fields far from their homes. This seizing of girls was done at night without with-out previous warning, and the dark-horror dark-horror of it made the girls go mad and their shrieks ran down tho streets and even those who had most courage wept bitterly, and a great wailing J arose from mothers and fathers and ; sisters and children, who feared the worst for those who were taken. "Even some of the German officers i revolted from this ordeal and said: 5 s "'We will not do this filthy work,' and some of them then and more lat- or, when despair took hold of them, committed suicide." I The German people will not in a s century escape from the odium of J these horrible acts. They may try to ' excuse and explain, but their denials jj will only emphasize how completely' lost they are to the higher sensibili- k ties which would condemn instead of jjj exculpate the beasts of the German p army. -oo |