"The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate translations in German and French of such sentences as: "'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.) "'Carry out all the furniture. "'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum. "'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer. "'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately. "'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders to requisition several barrels of wine. "'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'" [Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.] The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows: "One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as possible." This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November 20, 1914. Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the _Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi: [Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.] "As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the Next War_. "I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What did you think of it?' "I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general looked actually pleased." Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said: [Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.]