The frequency with which the Reich commits violations of international law is demonstrated not only by the conduct of the German naval and air arms at sea, but by the army on land. It is now reported that Polish prisoners of war are being formed to take up arms against the Allies, and the Hague Convention of 1907 specifically forbids belligerents to force prisoners into war against their own country. The German argument will undoubtedly be that as their armies have overrun and subdued Poland, that nation no longer exists and that Poles "have become German subjects,—the word is here used advisedly—by right of conquest. But the facts are that though the Polish Government has been forced to leave the country, it still exists and is represented by contributions to the naval and land forces of the Allies, and though it may for the time being be deprived of its territorial integrity, it nevertheless possesses all the other attributes of sovereignty. It is, therefore, merely another of the many breaches of undertakings given by the Reich with which the history of the past few years has been thickly cluttered. Another is the leaving of the crews of sunken Allied vessels to take their chances at sea in their comparatively small boats, and failure to give them adequate chances of being able to reach safety. Such a case is that of the crew of the Arlington left to drift for six days until they were picked up by a motor vessel. Seven survivors were thus rescued, while four are reported to be still missing. This is not the only case which has been made public. It has to be admitted that some of the German submarine commanders do act with consideration and chivalry, but it is an unfortunate fact that many of them do not. They appear to be behaving in complete agreement with the policies of their Government. That provides them with no excuse whatever, and there is plenty of evidence to show that many lives have been lost at sea which should not have been, had the Reich adhered to its own obligations, and obliged their officers to do the same thing.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.