THE GERMAN MILITARY CODE.


They do not seem to have needed anything to facilitate them
in their work of massacre.
These forms are found in a book published at Berlin by Bath,
in 1906, entitled "The Military Interpreter," destined for the
use
of German officers "in the enemy's country," which seems to be
a
French speaking country such as Belgium or France, as the forms
are drawn up in French. The book contains, to quote its introduc-
tion, "the French text of the majority of the documents, letters,
proclamations and other forms which may be needed in time of
war."
Among these interesting documents we find the following form
to be used by officers when wishing to rob a whole city at once. It
will be observed that the pretended excuse for the robbery is sup-
plied. The document is as follows:
"A fine of 600,000 marks, on account of the at-
tempted assassination of a German soldier by a
.....................-, has been imposed upon the City of
O .........   by order of    -
"Fruitless efforts have been made to secure the re-
mittance or reduction of this fine.
"'The limit of time fixed for the payment of the fine
expires tomorrow, Saturday, December 17th, at noon.
"Bank Notes, Coin, or Silverware will be accepted."
The general outline of this useful form was followed by Gen-
eral Baron von Leutwitz when on November 1st, 1914, he imposed
upon the City of Brussels "an additional fine of Five Million Francs"
on account of an alleged altercation between a Belgian policeman,
named De Ryckere, and a German soldier.
Here is another form, intended to give an air of justification to
an act of robbery:
"The German authorities, having demanded a war
contribution of two million francs from the city of
M-....... ,because its inhabitants fired upon
the German troops when entering the city, and the
municipality having declared that it has not the nec-
essary funds and that it cannot find such funds among
the citizens, the German authorities demand a settle-
ment by bills of exchange."
If the above demand failed to produce the desired results, the
German Commanders were provided with another form to be used