“In the fifth of these memoranda,” says Reuter’s correspondent, “the German allegation that the civilian population had taken part in the war was strongly denied, and was declared to be nothing but a pretext put forward by the German troops to give them the appearance of reprisals. From the beginning of the war the Germans had made a practice of burning undefended villages and of assassinating the inhabitants, and evidence of this was to be found in letters and notebooks which had been taken from Germans, dead or prisoners.” A notebook found on a corpse of a German lieutenant contained the following remark:--“We have fired the church of Villerupt and shot the inhabitants. We pretended that scouts had taken refuge in the tower of the church and had fired on us from there. The fact was, it was not the inhabitants of Villerupt, but Customs officers and forest guards who fired on us.” The sixth memorandum gave detailed evidence in support of the charge that a systematic devastation of the country had been ordered by the German leaders. Letters found on German soldiers made it clear that the burning of villages and the shooting of the inhabitants were general measures, and that the orders were given by superior officers. Attention was called to this violation of The Hague Convention, and it was pointed out that it was on the proposal of the German delegates at the second Hague Conference that an article was inserted declaring that the belligerent guilty of such violation should be liable to pay an indemnity. In the remaining memoranda information was given as to the destruction of villages in the region of Paris, and the burning of Affleville, under circumstances of particular brutality. The statement concluded: “The Government of the Republic, respecting International conventions which it has ratified, protests against those violations of International law, and holds up to reprobation before the opinion of the world the behaviour of an enemy who respects no rule and goes back on his signature affixed to International agreements.” The Red Hand of Destruction. Upon the Franco-German frontier the red hand of destruction was indeed laid heavily, and it seemed incredible that a civilised nation should resort to the methods of savages. Yet it was, alas, true, as was proved in hundreds of cases. Atrocities were committed everywhere; civilians, women, and children were shot down in blind rage. A German officer captured by the French near Blamont admitted that the Germans wanted no prisoners, and that the wholesale massacre of peaceful villagers was according to orders.