German Chivalry to Wounded Officers
They do these things differently in France. While in France in
May and June, I saw many squads of German prisoners working
at the railroad stations, on the roads and in the factories. Of the
several thousands I saw, not one looked underfed, ill clothed or abused.
While their barracks did not have steam heat, electricity and all the comforts
of home, the board and lodging they received compared favorably
with that of the average French soldiers, and the franc a day thrown in
as wages could all go for extras if desired. I was told that they all preferred
to be prisoners in France rather than to return to the "freedom" of
Germany while the war lasts.
Once I obtained permission to question a gang of Prussians working in France on an American road under a British guard. This is what they said to me: "We believe America intends to conquer France. Certainly you will never leave this country after having spent so much money on docks and wharves and warehouses and railroads."
Evidently the common German mind cannot conceive of a people going to another's territory and spending money there unless with some sinister, ulterior, selfish, political motive behind it.
As Irving Cobb says, we must extract the mania from Germania.
HAMILTON HOLT.
