The following are the sentences which Garman courts-martial- have been
ordered to pass upon Alsatians tried before them :— " For enlisting or procuring enlistments in military service against the German Army, 20 years' hard labour and a fine of £1,500 if under extenuating circumstances, imprisonment without hard. labour and a fine of 1150. For defaming the King of Prussia or- any of the allied German Princes, not less than two months' imprisonment or internment in a fortress for any term not exceed- ing five years. For obstructing any official or soldier in the execution of his duty, two or five years' imprisonment for active,. and a fine of .£30 or a year's imprisonment for passive, obstruction." These are not cruel sentences, as the prisoners would, of course, be released on the termination of the war ; but they are, in one respect, harsh. Only a German would punish a people under- invasion, but not yet conquered, for forming or expressing a bad opinion of the principal invader. Imagine what they would have said if Napoleon had imprisoned a burgomaster on such ground L The Alsatian revenge is an apt one. The citizens who before spoke- a patois now speak French.
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