NONE IS WITHOUT SHAME

A Plea for Proportion in the Judgment of Atrocities

OCTOBER 8, 1915
New York, Oct. 6, 1915

To the Editor of The New York Times.

In view of the fact that have been treated for the last few weeks with
almost
daily tales of atrocities among the Armenians, it is interesting to
quote from a
letter by Freiherr Fr. W. von Bissing son of the Governor General of
Belgium
written more than two months ago. He refers to an article in the
Journal de
Geneva of July 10 in which mention is made of the persecution of the
Armenians.
He writes: "I have always waited for him, for he belongs to the
necessary
armaments of the enemies of the Turks. At last he is there the poor ! *
* *
Three Jews so an oriental proverb says, are as slick as one Greek, but
three
Greeks are only equal to one Armenian. It is worth while to remember
this saying
at the present time when a new ally of the Entente has made its
appearance--the
poor Armenian. I am waiting impatiently for the moment when other
billons will
follow, and I am curious to see successfully be switched from Russian
pogroms
and Galician cruelties to the poor Armenian."

In the first few months of the European cataclysm newspaper reports and
more or
less unconnected articles were widely circulated which told of the
cruelties of
warfare against combatants and noncombatants. Occasionally one or the
other of
the belligerent Governments took official notice of such alleged
cruelties, but
only in special instances into a more permanent form. Belgium, of
course, has
been the hotbed of contentions, although in France a book has been
edited by
Professor Bedier containing documents strongly anti-German. Probably no
publication has been as frequently commented upon as the so-called
"Belgian
Atrocity Report," sponsored by Viscount Bryce. The German Government
has delayed
publications of a similar nature. But recently a report was published
on the
conduct of the Russians in East Prussia and now elaborate documents
have
appeared bearing on the Belgian situation. These documents chiefly deal
with
Franco-Tireur war in Belgium. In these papers many of the German
actions in
Belgium which have brought about strong resentment in this country are
directly
traced to the Franco-Tireur war. In the completeness and in the
character of the
affidavits, the German publication exhibits the same thoroughness which
has
proved its effectiveness in many other directions. The bulk of the
affidavits
have apparently been taken within a short time after the occurrence and
certainly a long time before the Bryce report was published. The
neutral
observer, as a consequence, would be inclined to balance these two
reports
against each other.

It is not our intention to decry or to commend the publication of such

reports.
They are there for everybody to read who cares to do so, and they are
recognized
as expertpresentations of occurrences that everybody is unquestionably
sorry
for. When this German report reached us, we thought that it might be
discussed
in somewhat the same form as the Bedier and Bryce pamphlets have
recently been
commented upon. But on second thought we are persuaded that it can
serve no
purpose to meet accusation with accusation, or denial with denial, or
assertion
with assertion. We have rather concluded that the interest of our
common
humanity would better be served by not spreading the charges made from
every
side.

May we therefore be permitted to say that we do not believe that at

this time
one should single out any of the belligerent nations for accusations of
atrocities and excesses, unfortunately always incidental to considering
that
nearly 12,000,000 men are now active on various battlefields, that we
have heard
so little about outrages. In times of peace, when no accessible and
when
passions are largely controlled, the yearly cases of lawless conduct
amount,
according to generally accepted statistical figures, to about 3 1/2 per
cent. of
the total population. It appears, at least to us, that the sense of
responsibility constantly impressed upon their soldiers by the leaders
of all
modern armies had decreased or lessened even that percentage of
excesses which
we, of necessity, should have to reckon with is armies so vast in
numbers.
O.J.MERKEL
Executive Secretary German University League.