<h2><SPAN name="X" id="X"></SPAN>X</h2>
<h3>GERMANY'S CYNICAL DEFENCE</h3>
<p><span class="sc">Germany</span> speedily found it wise to attempt to justify the execution of
Miss Cavell in order to moderate the storm of indignation that had been
aroused in neutral countries. To that end Dr. Zimmermann,
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, set forth the German defence in an
interview granted to a United States correspondent in Berlin.</p>
<blockquote><p>'It was a pity,' said Dr. Zimmermann, 'that Miss Cavell had to be
executed, but it was necessary. She was judged justly. We hope it
will not be necessary to have any more executions.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>'I see from the English and American press that the shooting of an
Englishwoman and the condemnation of several other women in
Brussels for treason has caused a sensation, and capital against us
is being made out of the fact. It is undoubtedly a terrible thing
that the woman has been executed; but consider what would happen to
a State, particularly in war, if it left crimes aimed at the safety
of its armies to go unpunished because committed by women. No
criminal code in the world—least of all the laws of war—makes
such a distinction; and the feminine sex has but one preference,
according to legal usages, namely, that women in a delicate
condition may not be executed. Otherwise men and women are equal
before the law, and only the degree of guilt makes a difference in
the sentence for the crime and its consequences.</p>
<p>'I have before me the court's verdict in the Cavell case, and can
assure you that it was gone into with the utmost thoroughness, and
was investigated and cleared up<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</SPAN></span> to the smallest details. The
result was so convincing, and the circumstances were so clear, that
no war court in the world could have given any other verdict, for
it was not concerned with a single emotional deed of one person,
but a well-thought-out plot, with many far-reaching ramifications,
which for nine months succeeded in doing valuable service to our
enemies and great detriment to our armies. Countless Belgian,
French, and English soldiers are again fighting in the ranks of the
Allies who owe their escape to the band now found guilty, whose
head was the Cavell woman. Only the utmost sternness could do away
with such activities under the very nose of our authorities, and a
Government which in such case does not resort to the sternest
measures sins against its most elementary duties toward the safety
of its own army.</p>
<p>'All those convicted were thoroughly aware of the nature of their
acts. The court particularly weighed this point with care, letting
off several of the accused because they were in doubt as to
whether<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</SPAN></span> they knew that their actions were punishable. Those
condemned knew what they were doing, for numerous public
proclamations had pointed out the fact that aiding enemies' armies
was punishable with death.</p>
<p>'I know that the motives of the condemned were not base; that they
acted from patriotism; but in war one must be prepared to seal
one's patriotism with blood, whether one faces the enemy in battle,
or otherwise in the interest of one's cause does deeds which justly
bring after them the death penalty. Among our Russian prisoners are
several young girls who fought against us in soldiers' uniforms.
Had one of these girls fallen, no one would have accused us of
barbarity against women. Why now, when another woman has met the
death to which she knowingly exposed herself, as did her comrades
in battle?</p>
<p>'There are moments in the life of nations where consideration for
the existence of the individual is a crime against all. Such<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</SPAN></span> a
moment was here. It was necessary once for all to put an end to the
activity of our enemies, regardless of their motives; therefore the
death penalty was executed so as to frighten off all those who,
counting on preferential treatment for their sex, take part in
undertakings punishable by death.</p>
<p>'It was proved after a long trial of the sentenced persons that
they for some months past had been engaged in assisting Belgians of
military age to enlist in hostile armies, and in enabling French
and English deserters to escape the country. They had many helpers,
and had organized branches.</p>
<p>'The Governor-General had repeatedly issued warnings against such
activity, pointing out that severe punishment for such action was
unavoidable.</p>
<p>'The guilty persons were sentenced in a public sitting according to
the law based on the provisions of the imperial penal code and the
military penal code for war treason and espionage. No special law
exists for Belgium, and no so-called "usage<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</SPAN></span> of war" influenced the
verdict of the court.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dr. Zimmermann maintained that the execution was carried out in
accordance with the established regulations, death occurring immediately
after the first volley, as attested by the physician who was present.</p>
<p>The greater part of Dr. Zimmermann's futile reasoning is not worth
discussion in detail. The one outstanding fact is the common belief that
no military authorities in Europe, other than German, would have
executed Miss Cavell for an offence actuated by purest motives of
patriotism, and in which there was not the faintest suspicion of
espionage. It may be remarked, too, that in America Judge Lynch never
executed a woman. The attempt to draw a parallel case between Nurse
Cavell and Russian women who have fought as soldiers is puerile in the
extreme. In the case of the Russian, she is dressed in male uniform, and
the German who shoots her in action does so in ignorance of her sex;
Miss Cavell was a Red Cross nurse whose services to<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</SPAN></span> German wounded
alone should have struck a spark of compassion.</p>
<hr style="width: 45%;" />
<p>Later, an inspired telegram was issued from Berlin to counteract the
'incorrect and exaggerated' discussions in the foreign press. It was
stated that Miss Cavell was sentenced in a public sitting, although it
is an incontrovertible fact that the American Legation could not get
permission to be represented. It is laid to Miss Cavell's charge that
she 'nursed only rich people for heavy fees.' Even if it were true, it
would not palliate the German offence of hurried and clandestine murder;
but we know, and the Germans know, that her whole life was spent in
doing good for others. Finally is repeated the old statement that
cruelties were committed by Lord Kitchener during the Boer War on women
and children. This oft-repeated libel needs no refutation of ours,
because it was demolished years ago by the German official history of
the Boer War.</p>
<p>The next step in German impudence was<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</SPAN></span> an attempt to make believe that
in the documents exchanged between the American Legation in Brussels and
the German authorities as published by the British Government, some
circumstances of the utmost importance are inaccurately reported by the
Belgian lawyer who acts as legal adviser to the Legation. To this Sir
Edward Grey informed the press that the papers relating to the case of
Miss Cavell were published exactly as they were received from the
American Embassy and with the American Embassy's consent.</p>
<p>On November 20, however, nearly a month later, the British Foreign
Office did make public one correction:</p>
<blockquote><p>'The letter addressed by the United States Minister at Brussels to
the Ambassador in London, under date October 14, to the effect that
the German prosecutor had asked for a sentence of death against
Miss Edith Cavell <i>and eight other persons implicated by her
testimony</i> was due to erroneous information furnished<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</SPAN></span> to the
United States Legation, and, so far as it has been possible to
discover, no other person has been directly implicated by any
testimony on the part of Miss Cavell.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The acknowledgement of this mistake, however, could have afforded the
Germans but little satisfaction, because its only effect was the removal
of a slur on the loyalty of Miss Cavell to her friends.</p>
<p>In the clumsy attempt to justify their savagery the Germans have done
nothing to prevent judgement going by default in the heart of all
civilized nations. They omit all reference to their inhuman haste and
calculated trickery, and their venomous refusal to allow exhumation and
proper burial. No laws of war permit such outrages, no military
necessities can excuse and no pedantic partisan can vindicate them.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</SPAN></span></p>
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