The German Note went on to " protest against the
charge of illegal and inhuman practices that is made against the German land and sea forces, and thereby against the German people." Destruc- tions were necessary to cover a retreat, but " the German troops have the strictest instructions to respect private property and to care for the population according to their ability." This is, of oourse, a deliberate lie, as the people of Lille, Bruges, and Courtrai can testify. The German Government, in face of Count Luxburg's intercepted despatch and horrible episodes like the murder of the crew of the ' Belgian Prince,' " also denied that in sinking ships the German Navy has purposely destroyed lifeboats together with their occupants," and suggested that a neutral Commission might " clear up " the facts, which are unhappily on record. It added that the ' '-boat commanders had been ordered not to torpedo passenger-ships, " in order to avoid everything that might render peace work more difficult." The German Government does not realize that a promise not to commit a peculiarly odious crime only makes it more contemptible in the eyes of civilized men, and that in any case its promises find no credence now.
