America's War for Humanity Part 50

"I have just visited such a field hospital," said a correspondent with the right wing of the German army in France, writing on September 28.

"It was in a little whitewashed village church heated by a stove.

Everywhere were white beds made of straw and covered with sheets.

Perhaps twenty wounded were here, including two captured Irishmen. They lay quite still when the army doctor ushered us in, for they were too seriously wounded to pay much attention to anything.

"Near this hospital was another in a town hall. While we were there a consulting surgeon arrived to investigate the condition of a seriously wounded lieutenant, whose leg might need amputation. Two orderlies put the patient on a stretcher, and he was taken into the next room for examination. Later in the day the amputation was performed.

MOVED TO HOSPITALS IN CITIES

"From these little field hospitals, as soon as the men can be moved, they are taken to some general hospital in the nearest large city, where several thousands can be cared for. Such a hospital exists in this neighborhood in the building of a normal college, where every corner is used in housing wounded men.

"I made a quick trip through this building and the memory of it is one of the most heartrending pictures I have of the war. Room after room was filled with the victims of the conflict. Every man was seriously wounded. Some had suffered amputations and the heads of others were so bandaged that no feature could be seen, only a tube to the nose permitting breathing.

HORROR IN HOSPITAL SIGHTS

"In one room a surgeon had a soldier on the operating table and was pulling pieces of sh.e.l.l from a huge hole in the inner side of one of his legs. On a stretcher on the floor, waiting for his turn to come under the surgeon's care, was an officer. His face was covered with blood, he was waving his arms wildly and gasping for air. This scene left an impression of the utmost horror upon me.

"Slightly wounded soldiers, whom it is not necessary to leave for a while in the field hospitals, are sent directly to these larger hospitals and thence, after a short convalescence, are loaded into Red Cross trains and sent home for recovery. Later they return to take their places in the regiments. Such trains can be seen daily along any main line of railroad. In some cases freight cars with straw bedding are used.

"One of the finest examples of charity given during the war is a splendid Red Cross train entirely equipped as a modern hospital, even having a first cla.s.s operating room. This was given to the German army by the citizens of Wilmersdorff, who also employed an excellent surgeon.

Scores of lives will be saved through a small outlay of money.

GRAVEYARDS ON BATTLEFIELDS

"Near the large hospital I visited was a graveyard where there were scores of neatly marked fresh graves, each bearing a cross or tablet with the name of the soldier and his regiment, division and corps marked on it. In some cases comrades had added a word or two of scripture. The deaths are too numerous for an imposing ceremony at each burial, but for every one an army chaplain reads scripture and offers a short prayer, while a few comrades stand by with bared heads.

"The ident.i.ty of each soldier is easily determined from the name plate which he wears in a little leather purse suspended from around the neck.

After a battle these plates are gathered from the dead and from these the death lists are made out. [It was said that after the battle of the Marne no fewer than 68,000 of these name plates or tags were found collected in one place.--Ed.]

"After a battle where the deaths mount into the thousands some field will be shut off for a cemetery and there the bodies are buried, each grave receiving some kind of a cross wherever it is possible, but here no names can be attached. There will be many homes in which there will be vacant places and where it will not even be known where the absent ones are buried.

KAISER INSISTS ON ENTERING

"While here I heard a touching story about a lieutenant who was dying in the hospital, while the Kaiser was inspecting it. The Kaiser came to the room where the officer lay and the attendants asked him not to enter, as a man was dying. The Kaiser immediately pushed his way in, went up to the lieutenant, put his hand on the officer's shoulder, and said in German: 'h.e.l.lo, here I am!'

"The lieutenant began murmuring with his eyes closed.

"'I have been dreaming and I dreamed that my Kaiser came to me, put his hand on my shoulder and spoke to me.'

"'Open your eyes,' said the Kaiser.

"The lieutenant obeyed, smiled a smile of recognition, and then closed his eyes in the final sleep.

SURGEONS WIN IRON CROSSES

"So far, according to official announcement, there have been between 50,000 and 60,000 wounded and immediately after a great battle the sanitary corps has been unable to cope quickly enough with the work, but under ordinary circ.u.mstances the provision made has been ample. The number of the sanitary corps was determined upon the experience in the Russo-j.a.panese war, in which the losses were by no means so heavy as they have been in this war, but where in a few cases numbers have been lacking the surgeons and their a.s.sistants have put forth herculean efforts. Many surgeons are now wearing the iron cross for bravery, winning the insignia by dragging out wounded from the rain of bullets.

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR

The prisoner of war has been a conspicuous figure in the news that has come from the seething caldron of Europe. Many thousands of prisoners have been taken from the contending armies by their adversaries. For them the average American reader, perusing "war news" in the comfort of his security from the great conflict, has felt perhaps a grain of sorrow and wondered vaguely what horrors befell them after capture.

Early in September the German war department sent broadcast a statement that 30,000 Russians had been taken prisoners by the German soldiers after heavy battles in East Prussia, particularly around Ortelsburg, Hohenstein and Tannenburg. The statement mentioned the fact that among the prisoners were many Russian officers of high rank.

What is done with these prisoners, how they are handled and treated and whether high officials are punished more severely than mere privates, are questions frequently asked and seldom answered, for the procedure followed in such matters is but little known.

REGULATIONS ARE HUMANE TO ALL

The international laws of warfare, embodied in The Hague conventions, the Geneva convention and the declaration of London, contain provisions that provide expressly what manner of treatment shall be accorded prisoners of hostile nations who are taken in battle. If these provisions of international law are lived up to, the lot of the prisoner of war is not so hard as many people have been led to believe.

After the first year of the war, however, stories of ill-treatment of prisoners in German prison camps began to be told, and before long there were many well-authenticated cases of the kind. Inhuman treatment was reported by English and Canadian prisoners, and protests were duly made by the British government through neutral channels. The growing shortage of food in Germany was alleged as the cause of some of the complaints, but cases of actual brutality, involving cowardly physical abuse and even killing were also reported. The nation which captures its enemy's soldiers and makes prisoners of them is held entirely responsible for whatever happens and shoulders at once a responsibility that is commensurate with the number of prisoners who are taken and detained.

The law of warfare says that a prisoner must be as fair with his captors as they are with him. He must be "humanely treated," so it is prescribed, and when he is questioned by his captors he must give his true name and the rank he holds in the army which has been defeated and of which he was once a part. Contrary to general belief, he is not stripped of "everything" and thrown into a dungeon and fed on a crust of bread and a mug of stale water. His captors do not deprive him of his personal possessions, except weapons, horses and military papers.

Furthermore, they must give him complete religious liberty, and it is specifically decreed that he must be given opportunity to attend a church of the denomination to which he belongs. And there he may pray as much for the success of his own nation or the much-desired relief from detention as the state of his mind dictates.

PRISONERS MAY BE CONFINED

The prisoner of war may be interned in a town or a fort, or even a camp, according to the convenience of his captors, but the enemy may not confine him, except, the law says, as "an indispensable measure of safety," and then only as long as the circ.u.mstances make it necessary.

Of course the law gives the commanding officer considerable leeway in such matters, for he is left to determine when the "indispensable"

occasion arises.

At other times when the prisoner is at liberty, he is subject to all the rules and regulations of the army of the government that captured him, and if he refuses to obey the rules or acts in an insubordinate manner toward the officers in command, he may be punished and disciplined according to his offense. And here it is again left to the discretion of his captors as to what measure of punishment shall be inflicted upon him.

ATTEMPTS AT ESCAPE

If a prisoner of war attempts to escape and his captors are vigilant to the extent of retaking him before he leaves the territory they occupy, or before he has a chance to rejoin his own army, he may be severely punished. On the other hand, if he eludes his captors and makes a clean getaway and his army is again unfortunate, and he is captured the second time, the perfectly good escape from previous captivity must go unpunished and he must be treated as a prisoner of war, just as though he had not made the successful dash for liberty and further glory.

The government that holds prisoners of war is chargeable with their maintenance and must provide them with food, clothing and shelter as good as that provided for its own troops. The officers of the captors are required to keep records of all the prisoners under their charge, and if relief societies, which have been extensively formed by the women of Europe and many American women as well, wish to minister to their needs and comforts, the officers in command must afford them every possible facility. And if the friends of prisoners or the welfare societies see fit to send them presents and clothing, medicine and other necessities, such goods must be admitted to them free of any war duty that might be imposed by the nation holding them, and the railroads owned by the government are bound to carry such supplies free of transportation charges.

CAPTIVES MUST BE PAID FOR WORK

Prisoners of war may be put to work by the government that captures them and the duties must be a.s.signed with a view to their apt.i.tude, fitness and rank. The tasks must not be unduly severe, so as to border on cruelty, and they must have no bearing whatever on the operations of the war. The prisoners must be paid for the work they do, moreover, at a rate equal to that being paid to the soldiers of the national army, and prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, for private persons or on their own account.

The wages of these prisoners, the law says, must go toward improving their condition, and the balance must be paid them after their release, with the proper deduction for their board and keep. When officers of hostile armies who are captured are put to work they must get the same wage rate as is paid to the corresponding officers of the government whose captives they are. All these moneys must be ultimately refunded by their own governments to their captors after the war is over, peace is declared and the intricate problems of indemnities come up for solution.

A prisoner of war may even be paroled by his captors, and this is done sometimes when he is disabled or there are circ.u.mstances that prompt his enemies to let him go to those who are near and dear to him. When parole is granted to a prisoner he makes a solemn pledge and promise that he will live up to the terms under which he is released, and even his own nation may not ask him to perform a service that is inconsistent with that pledge.

BREAKER OF A PAROLE

It goes hard with the prisoner on parole who is caught fighting against the nation that released him, for he is not ent.i.tled to be treated as a prisoner of war, and the judgment meted out to him is as terrible as it is sure. Certain codes of honor are supposed to be observed even in international warfare, and a soldier who breaks his word of honor is considered the most despicable of men.

CHAPTER XXI

HORRORS OF THE WAR

_American Relief for War-Stricken Peoples of Europe_--_Millions of Dollars Contributed in Cash and Gifts_--Canada Aids the Belgians_--Devastation of Poland Even Greater and More Terrible them that of Belgium_.