“During the transport of French prisoners of war a portion of the populace has given expression to a feeling of sympathy for these prisoners and for France.  This is to inform all whom it may concern that such expressions of sympathy are criminal and punishable, and that, should they again, take place, the persons taking part in them will be proceeded against by court-martial, and the rest of the inhabitants will be summarily deprived of the privileges they now enjoy.

“All crowding around prisoners of war, conversations with them, cries of welcome and demonstrations of sympathy of all kinds, as well as the supply of gifts, is strictly prohibited.  It is also forbidden to remain standing while prisoners are being conducted or to follow the transport.”

The result of the persecution of the French-speaking portion of the population has been a boomerang for Prussia.  The Germans of the region, most of whom never cared much for Prussia, are now bitterly hostile to her, and thus it is that all citizens of Alsace, whether French or German, who go into other parts of Germany are under the same police regulations as alien enemies.

In order to permit military relentlessness to proceed smoothly without any opposition, the very members of the local Parliament, the Strassburg Diet, are absolutely muzzled.  They have been compelled to promise not to criticise at any time, or in any way, the military control; otherwise their Parliament will be closed.  As for the local Councils, they are not allowed to discuss any political questions whatsoever.  A representative of the police is present at every meeting to enforce this rule to the letter.

The people do not even get the sugared Reichstag reports, as does the rest of Germany.  These are specially re-censored at Mulhouse.  The official reports of the General Staff are often days late, and sometimes do not appear at all.  In no part of the war zone is there so much ignorance about what is happening at the various fronts as in the two “lost provinces.”

Those who do not sympathise with Germany in her career of conquest upon which she so joyfully and ruthlessly embarked in August, 1914, may well point to Alsace-Lorraine as an argument against the probability of other peoples delighting in the rule which she would force upon them.

She has become more intolerant, not less, in the old French provinces.  It will be recalled that by the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed in March, 1871, they became a “Reichsland,” that is, an Imperial Land, not a self-governing State like Bavaria, Saxony, or Wurttemberg.  As Bismarck bluntly and truly said to the Alsatian deputies in the Reichstag:  “It is not for your sakes nor in your interests that we conquered you, but in the interests of the Empire.”