M. FERDINAND I.
The New King of Rumania, in succession to his uncle the late King
Charles I.
_(Photo from P.S. Rogers.)_]
Can any one think that such acts as these, committed by women in the
circumstances created by the invasion of Belgium, were deserving of the
extreme form of vengeance attested by these and other depositions?
In considering the question of provocation it is pertinent to take into
account the numerous cases in which old women and very small children
have been shot, bayoneted, and even mutilated. Whatever excuse may be
offered by the Germans for the killing of grown-up women, there can be
no possible defense for the murder of children, and if it can be shown
that infants and small children were not infrequently bayoneted and shot
it is a fair inference that many of the offenses against women require
no explanation more recondite than the unbridled violence of brutal or
drunken criminals.
It is clearly shown that many offenses were committed against infants
and quite young children. On one occasion children were even roped
together and used as a military screen against the enemy; on another
three soldiers went into action carrying small children to protect
themselves from flank fire.
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