HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1917-12-06, Page 15THE M
DE
EDITH CAELL
VD BALLOTSAGAINST GERMAN`
Official Story of Crime That
Shocked the Wold
It is to Save Our Own Women From Those
Murderers That Canada Fights and
Votes - Today
it was on October twenty:.eecond,
1915, that the world, still stole and
shudder►ng from the Lusitanla horror
awoke to the realization that once
again Germany had deliberately set
aside all lawn of peaoo or war, all
considerations not only • of chivalry,
but of mere humanity, had in n
word, again stepped beyond the pale
of civilization, On that day the. Brit-
ish., Foreign Office made public the
report of Brand Whitlock, United
' States Ambassador to Belgium on the
"trial" and "execution" • oe Edith
' Cavell.
For days the world had waited for.
-news of her. It had become generally
lanown that a form of trial of aomo
sort had either taken place or was
about to take place, In some quarters
feh:rs were expressed as to 'her fate—
some quarters, `but not :in .:many,.
.:'The idea that she would actually be
, : put to death does not seem seriously
to have occurred toanybody Dither
in England or America. This is not
surprising, for, as we shall see, even
neutral representatives within sight
of the prison in which she lay did not
conceive it possible that a prisoner—
teast of all a woman—accused of the
..military "crime" che,rged against
Ndith Cavell would suffer the ex-
treme penalty.
What was the story of this wo-
man's death that aroused the world
to a white heat of righteous indigna-
tion? There have been many military
executions of women before and some
since which while generally known
'have caused no comment. What were
lethe circumstances surrounding.thlo,
case which made the .names of the
men responsible for her death ring
round the world in a chorus of uni-
versal execration? It will be best to
give them in the order of their occur-
rence.
WOULD NOT ESCAPE.
Edith Cavell was an Englishwoman,
who for some time before the out-
, e brealcnof the:war was - tire .triad , of -a
-big nursing institution in Brussels.
Before the Germans entered the city,
she had plenty of time to -escape, but
she chose rather to remain at bey
post of duty. Therewas plenty for,
her to do. 'Wounded soldiers, Froneb,
, Germans, and Belgians flooded the
city and French, Germans and Bel-
glans alike were received and cared
''for tenderly and imparttgllyeby ricer
',Wild by her assistants. Mier, her
death when the Germans, thoroughly
startled by the general denunciations
of their notion sought by every pos-
sible means to belittle the name of.
the woman they had killed, the then
Gorman Foreign Secretary .then de-
clared that site gave her services oily
at a price beyond the reach of all
s.
save the rich. That warte•-and ''n
ivory cheap Ile even for the All High-,
est's official moutepiece as the evi-
dence of many of the former's men
can prove.
HER ARREST.
It was on Auguat.12th that. Edith
Cavell was ctuietly, unmated; so
quietly. tbe,t; news of the arrest did
not leak out till the last day Of -the
-.month. Then Mr, Whitionk. writ: was
looking after the interests of British
subjects in Brussels, received'a cem-
inunication froth tiro -British Foreign
OMee asking him to loolc into her
caec. He wrote on that day to Baron
von der Lancicen, civil governor of
Brussels, asking whether -she was
ender merest. The Governor did not
even deign toreply, in itself a suf
riiilently serious breach'. of interna._
.:rtonal'ettquette. On Septerebet•.t,0 Mr,.
Whitlock wrote again asking pernris
cion to take up the defence of Miss
Cavell -with the least possible delay.
To this von der Lancicen, replied that
the prisoner had admitted having
Concealed in her ]rouse various Eng-
lash and 'French soldiers as well as
• Belgians of military age, having pro-
vided them with funds and having
facilitated their departure from Bel -
:glum, • He `added that her :defence
had been Intrusted to an advocate, by
the name of Breen "who ie in touch
with the proper German authorities"
and concluded that those German
authorities refused to allow inter-
views of any. kind with the accused
person. Maitre Gaston do Laval,,
counsel for the American Legation,
... was therefore never permitted to.see
i •• :Ie did ho t tit •e.t et ,n
1, wevot, Hai 8 o g i a
interview with iiraun, only to learn
that the lather had dropped out or
the case and was vepleeed by ono
ICirsohen. Hirschen in turn disclosed
the appalling fact that lawyers do-
- fending prisoners before German
military courts are not allotted to
see their clients before the trtal''and
.iYYY ^ are shown 110110 of the doetltnehte of
the prosecution. 01 wee , therefore
Manifestly h
osaible to Prepare
any
eiefenGe save in thepreeenco of the
,,,`curt and during the trial. Maitre
ale L Val p
tlren,expi'es ed hi intentie.
d t
had had experience of German milt-
tary cout'ts in operation, confirmed
this alptost unbelievable fact. ICIr-
schen solemnly promised do Laval
to keep him most fully posted in all
the developments-ef the 0505.
THE TRIAL,
We come now to Thursday, October
7. The trial began that day and
ended on the next. As to what evi-
dence was brought out at the trial,
or how the trial. was conducted, we
know nothing and probably never
shall.' We know, however, that she
wan amused of having sheltered and
aided soldiers to escape. This she
admitted very frankly, as did other
persons tried with her. There was
never any mention of espionage—it
was not till many months -afterwards
and for, the. same reason which
prompted the Iaieer's sneer noted
above that Germans began to speak
of the "Spy Cavell," She was a
British subject and could not he
tried by a German court on the
charge of treason. As has been said,
Mise Cavell 'admitted her "crime"
and even volunteered the information
that some of the men so aided had
written her from England thanking
her for . her. assistance. This made
the past worse for her, It laid hot
open to the "criminal" charge (in the
military sense) of having aided sol-
diers to reach a country at w'ar will)
Germany instead merely of a viola-
tion of the passport regulations into
Flatland. It would be interesting to
know why her "counsel" Herr Kir-
schen, did not prevent her from pre-
judlping her case 1n this way.
" Tito ,.prpseeutee asked that the
death, sentence, be passed under
paragraph' `90 of theGorman Mili-
tary Code, which condemns to death
those guilty of "conducting soldiers
to the enemy." Obviously only the
most strained reading of the para-
graph could- make it apply to the
prisoner's case, All this de Laval
gathered only at second hand, and
this 'brings- us to Sunday night,
October -tefrthi: '- `
-REFUSED HER CLERGYMAN.
On October twelfth de Laval made
two requests, one 'that he bo allowed
to. see Miss Cavell, the other that
she might have the services of Mr.
Gallen, the English chaplain, Both
of these requests were flatly refused,
Word coming that she might see any
Dnaeore the Mime, Protestant German
cdraplaiee instead. I)e Laval was fur-
ther tall that even if sentence of
death were passed it could be Cone
firmed only by the Military Gover-
nor; who was away -from -Berlin for
two or throe days. But sentence.had
not yet been pronounced it was most
categorically elated, and probably
no decislbn 'Would be arrived at for
tete days. ' •Once hgain a promise was
prep. tp'de ,:L.'aval and the United
States Embassy- and repeated half
a dozen times that day that every
move would be immediately reported.
At 8180 that night de Laval got
word that Edith Cavell was tb be
shot during the night, : The Spanish
Minister was hurriedly sought out
arid he, de Laval and Hugh Gibson;
secretary of thie.Amelican Legation,
t.ushod .to. von., der Lancicen. , He was
speiiding the evening at a disrepu
table theatre and there was much,
difficulty in getting an orderly to
disclose his whereabouts. It -was not
till 10:30 that the Civil Governor
deigned to return accompanied' by
leve members of his staff. ' Then be,
gen a night of earnest pleading and
striving for the • life' of the little
`tvoritnn 'in p'ri'son: • L anakon over and
Over agate; Protested his ignorance,
hogged • his callers to go home and
sleep "reasonably" over the matter
and come again in the morning. It
Was only when the .,callers booame
"rather. insistent" (In the diplomatic
language of ,Gibson), that , the irri-
tated Governor agreed to .telephone
to the pr000ding judge of the court -
Martial. He 'Came back with the
news that . Miss Cavell was' to be
shot; during tl1o; night. There fol -
!Owed two hours oil the most earnest
entreaty and persuc.sion. •Lancicen
Could probably have' done nothing
hitnself, but , ,he flatly refused to
aoinrnunicate with those who could.
The arguments used bi' the callers
were sufflelentiy bhint: They'called
Fr,• spade a spade more than once.
Lancicen Swaliovvect it. Ono rnom-
ber of his stair regretted' openly '
haC
there were noir two or three old
English'womon to Shoot." T1na11y,
long 'atter midnight, when it became
apparent that nothing could he dot°,
the three men left to break the news
to the little knot of women who had
Worked with the prisoner and loved
her. C4lbson tramped the streets all
night unable•, to ,gloep,
HER LAST MOMENTS.
:boaniitne Reverend Alt', Gahan
had gained permissiot 10 sae the
cohdemeed woman. She was, cairn
and faced the ordeal' without a
tremor,—"ctrethor,-"ct tiny, tiring that looked as
though she ceiticl be blawn away bY.
g1Y,e haiC no complaint to
•
IN THE TRAIL OF THE ZEPPELINS
v \�t�\\�''\t\�� ��:.�\p l \tin\ , ' Vv,\ t to v111t\A\ 1`\tt. .. i,.
1\`��1�t,a\ 1,161 t \\\\iU t\\\\ �\ 't\? 1 \t r�1, �1\
������\�. t\„
"But mother has done nothing, has she, Daddy?"
Dt%triatisni'.is..;.,tt.ot :.attpugh. , I . must
haveanyonnoe," hatred or bitterness towards
They shot her just before- ` day- I
break. She was denied the support
of her own clergymen at the end.
The German chaplain who was with 1
her then did not attempt to conceal?
his admiration. "She was courage- i•
oils to the end. She said she was
glad to die for her country. Site ;
died..like, a .hero" he .said. They re-
fused to give het body to her friends.
She 9a bnlried wrthitr:, the prison walls
or St ( Iles.
ALL RIGHTS DENIED
These .are the bold facts of her
trial and death. A greater; and
more studied outrage in the name
of justice 'was never perpetrated,
Everyfundamentalright of the in-
dividual was denied her. There was
in the first place no reason for a
court-martiat for the German civil
tribunals til Brussels were all in
operatrorr,' Weedo pot compel any-
oneto testify against himself. We
inform a prisoner in advance of his
trial of the charge on which he is
held. We allow communication' be-
tween prisoner and counsel, our
trials are public and open. Most
nauseating. of all :perhaps, Edith
Cavell's judgesdid not pass sentence
on her in court. At dead of night
they stepped quietly, -into _ her cell
and told her, of her doom behind
looked deers,., At the supreme ino-
ment:she was defied the simple ,prly-
liege of :one kiiidly "fvoe, one `sup-;
porting friendly hand.- •-
Later on when Germany realized
that this shooting' of one old Englieb-
woman had ,stirred the world as no
other single artene- in a century,
there was a frantic seeking of.'-ex-
ouses, . Herr Zimmermann, . the
Foreign Secretary- himself led the
van of the seekers. His discovery
wasthat the judges had no dlscre-
tion.hr.the matter; that the military
Bode' boli te' be observed. But he
made -the bad mistake- of admitting
in the nett breath that women who
expooted to, be mothers were never
subiectedto the extreme penalty.
Now the German military code makes
no such exception. - Evidently .then -
the plea of no discretion was worth
nothing at all. Not even the,Maiser
himself could' have pardoned Miss
Cavell sald von, Laanoken. When
the Maiser 'heard tile von Laneken
was called on for air explanation and
Was hi very hot ,water for some days:
As a: matter of' tact and as aeon as
he realiged:the very serious harm the
shooting, of. Miss Cavell had done to
the Gersnan'cause ire' made haste to
pardon every woman Who had been
tried with her and advertised tho
fact to the greatest possible entent,
through the Meg of Spain. Ere "no.
doubt realized that in this case: as
in the niurdmi of the :Due 'cl'E+ nghlen
by Napoleon a century earlier what' -
had happened war; "worse than a
crime, it was a blunder."
WHAT END -SERVED?•
'What'end 'ivta served. by this kill-
ing f ll
o ilii Cavett?' t
g Why was it
neeeseary to rush through a farcical
trial impose sentence in a cell with
Incited doors and hurry the friend-
less prisoner to death all within a few
hours. Why was it necessaryto
add lying to.nturdel` in order, if pos-
sible to saran the.. whole bloody
business 000111 11)0 eyes of a handful
of helpless tept'eeentantivas of friendly
powers Why, :ivhoe a German woman
was -caught 'sed bended in actual
esptonago- lit lilegleedsome tune bo-
bore was she given public trial be-
fore 'eiy11 °cen'ts with every obser-
enneellf T3rtt101t law? ;Why did, she
rsoape with et light prison sentence?
Tho two cases ate as fat' asunder nee
tho.holes., lite else was justice
flavored by `nte ay, rho other" brittal
pie•.'a near z
ateei°' ' ge,--'rtr .7 .,,,.w,t01,44?a,.c"oQafitl.GP „i
iMsQi .
EDITH CAVELL MARTYR
FOOD. PROFITS CUT;
A GREAT BLOW FOR.
LOWER LIVING COSTS
The Union Government's action in taking control of -
the packing business is regarded as the hardest blow struck
yet at the costo f living. The official announcement, issued
at Ottawa on November 13, says:
"]al carrying out the policy'. of, the Union Government,
as announced by the Prime Minister short]Y
after its ts focn
a -
tion, it hag -been decided to establish effectivecontrol over
all packing houses' in Canada. ,
"The control of profits shall be as follows: •
"1. No packer 'shall 'be entitled to a profit of more than
two, per cent of his total annual turnover, that is, his total
sales during anyone yea'.' "
"2..,If•tbe twoer cent on- ,annual, turnover exceeds
p v e ds
seven per cent, of'the aotual -capital invested in the business
the profits shall bo further- restricted as follows:
"(a) () U p to SeVen per cent. en o spiral the' packer may
retain tate profits:.
"(b) 1f the h' Profits exceed xccedsevert per cent', and do not
'ekeeed fifteen 'or.cent., ne-hall of the profits in 'excess of
..
and tttre.tekif ;
WILL THE CANADIAN WOMEN GIVE THEIR
SOLDIERS COMFORTS --HUT NOT VICTORY?
There has been nothing inure beautiful since the war began than
the devotion of the women -folk of the soldiers to theirmen living in
discomfort and clanger. They have in the great majority of cases
abandoned every other interest in life and given themselves up entirely
to working for the boys at the front, They knit them warm socks
for the wet trenches—they send then heavy sweaters to keep out the
searching cold of a Flemish winter—they ship them all sorts of com-
fortable garments and familiar delicacies they equip the hospitals
in which they may ohanee any clay to lie with everything thinkable to
restore their strength and while away the tedious time.
Their minds clan dwell upon nothing but their best beloved on the
battlefront --how they can comfort them, sustain them, keep them
in good health and good heart, and enable them to press on like good
soldiers. Is it conceivable then that these same devoted women -folk
of our magnificent men in the array wiib deliberately deny: to these
men • the one thing they most covet? ; rZ.s it eonoeivabie41 at they will
work night and day to give thee°. eoldier.,ieya.of, theirs there bodily
comfort, and then will not spare half -an -hour to cast a•,vote:which will
give them what they value immeasurably more—the reinforcements
which will bring VICTORY?
.. - * .. s, . * .
Touch the elbow of any Canadian soldier at the front and ask him
what is the single, big', dazzling thing he wants out of all the best gifts
the world can offer! Will he say "another pair of cooks?" Will he say
"a jar of jam?" It' is too ridiculous to dwell on•these trivialities, no
'matter how grateful and necessary they ares The all -engrossing,
dominating, towering thought in the :soldier' -s mind, which dwarfs
everything else, is beating the Roches and saving civilization.
*. : *- * .. * - -
There ought to be no trouble in our visualizing this even'away over
here in peaceful Canada. Our boys are risking their lives in Europe;
and we may be very sure that' they are 'doing this for no slight object.
All the comfort -.bringing things we do for them only enable thorn to
"carry on" and take this deadly risk for a longer time. The big thing
is the risk—not the hardships or. the ,sufferings:' :The"big thing; in a
word, is their being there at alle rA11daevi 3>r'a're a thlT3t.:there?' To -Win
the war! :that and that' alone.., :.
What they want their women. folk to do for thejin,abave everything
else, is to help them with the war. They enjoy comforts, bid with
every drop of blood in their veins they' demand 'VICTORY. • They
will die willingly if they can be assured thatthose who come after them
will persevere until they have won VICTORY. They themselves
cannot win this VICTORY alone. They hoped to do so when they
enlisted, but the fates have been against them: Russia, has fallen into
disorder and Italy has suffer -41% 'telt able 'oheok 1Vloa and more
troops must now come if VICTORY ieto,:tae obtaift$dP''And that is
what they supremely desire to be assured of -=to -day.' -•
* * * *
They look back to their women -folk in Canada to Vote solidly"
for the steady stream of reinforcements which is to win the VICTORY,
whether they happily'live to see it or not. Their chances of living to
see it will be greatly increased with every new regiment' which the
Canadian• electors, men and, women, `voie'tp'sen'd=over: r Every new
regiment not only brings the VICTORYaiieat r, hitt feliev s the strain
on the men now under arma4 -lbbritigs•:tl eelh igi7relhef, hope and
VICTORY; -but the greatest of these is VICTORY. • .
•
It is impossible to believe that this appeal froth the fathers,
husbands, brothers and sons at the front will be disregarded by their
sincerely loving and enxiouslylistening'and devotedly laboring women-
folk at home. They will vote as they have been working and longing
and hoping. ' They will not gine: their 'beloved everythfii eI'se, `but
d'eay, them this one thing -most desperately desired.
.. _ ...vwrer,rw
us per:, a mom .nld.^ ..._
Borden's M l�tar Servicet
= ,'-Laurier ' ::Mihir
The Military Service Act of 1917 is ?much more lenient and sympa-
thetic in its provisions than was the Military Act of 1865, as amended
by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1004.
The old Act empowered the Government to send overseas when
necessary for the defence of Canada„ _all t3rrtiah eeehjeetee.In Canada
,teetween the ages of eighteen eenele.eietye reams, i)ere N1ijtw, service Act
calls for but 100,000 men, between the atee of 20 and 34, raised not by the
Government but by Parliament.
Injustice was inevitable under the old Militia Act, becatlte the men
were selected by the ballot, or blind chance. Under the new Act, the
men are selected intelligently and sympathetically by civilians tribunals.
Again, under• the old Militia'Act-as left" ion the statute' books'i1' Sir
Wilfrid Laurier, the first class included men eighteen year's of -age. The
present Aot leaves such youfig mei iftimtlneystartirie ere take soldiers
irrriy. ee the age of twenty
All made British snbjeots in Canada between the ages of eighteen artd
sixty were liable ,for service under the Militia Act. Under the Military
Act of 1017, only 100,000 of themon between, 20 and 60 years,of age'are
liable.
The old system enabled the ekisting Government to call out all,tliesemen
at its pleasure, whereas the 'present Government had adopted' the More de-
mooratic way of securing an Aot' of Parliament for each call,
The old MilitiaActempowered military officers, in an emergeneje to
alter or destroy all buildings, lands food,' aropo1 todfior,":'Stbrdt,"rote:; - in fact,
the possessions of the people; ''fits itavv lililIlary Servide Act gives
no such powers to the mtlltat'y, but puts the control of• the measure -in
civilian hands. Exemption beard's of private citizens, judges and the local
police administer the Act,
high
for the rank and file under the new. Act is more than twice as
high as was their pay ms lain down, by Sir Wiifrld Laurier 101 1004,' '
Berlin, ilk Pi
o». ';..
�' � � �'erIiians
Insult r
den .
TheyStand
on . the Laurier-
Bourassa
How Would The ool Whe Kaisex Vote
•
.1 i droner, Ontario, until. -a •,few=,months:_ago4 .,bore the; name of
Berlin. It is the centre of a, district mainly settled ,byGermans, When
the mune of the town was changed a large section, of• the, cdlnmunity
made a brazenly violent protest.
On at r : 'o howling ;� , u cls ow enol/ in I{ltelsele �f=�ei:]lu "sliott fl
,.y �:.. „fie ),,.3�
d wn the?remtex.of Canada and refused to'hearhtim d160U5t War. 10,041Xes.
]
ports, sit.:, that itbout.30per cent, of the tln l t ce"wee h. §tile
� ,.�' lar .x, o
„>Il , t'obert Borden Could asst £or,alo setter rete stlnendatioil; for
•