ny Blue
Book. As regards British camps, the only evidence cited is the report
made by Mr. Chandler Hale of the U.S. Embassy after the riot at Douglas
in November, 1914.

I am fully aware that the sufferings of prisoners of war, as of soldiers
in the field, cannot be adequately presented in official reports, but
the sifting of more human and biased evidence is an extremely difficult
task, and it is sufficiently plain that we should not rely on official
evidence to exculpate ourselves, while using rumours and unofficial
information to condemn the enemy.

There are very many prison camps in Germany, and their individual tone
must depend enormously upon the aims and efforts of the commandant in
charge. A mistake of appointment, almost a slip of the pen, and a man
may be in charge who will make life unendurable as only unlimited
authority can.

The words used by Lord Newton in the House of Lords on July 31, 1917,
are noteworthy in this connection. One impression he derived from his
intercourse with the German delegates at the Hague was that "in spite of
the German power of centralisation, Berlin headquarters did not know a
great deal of what was going on. As the Germans had thirty times as many
prisoners as we had, it would be surprising if they did know what went
on." (_Daily News_, August 1, 1917.)

A PRISONER IN AUSTRIA.

Here is an account of a British member of Parliament, a prisoner in
Austria:

Captain A. Stanley Wilson, M.P., who is a prisoner of war in
Austria, has written the following letter to Colonel Duncombe,
chairman of the Holderness Conservative Association, here:

"I am a prisoner of war, and with only one hope--that the
war will be over soon. I was taken off a Greek steamer by a
submarine on December 6. After two nights and a day on board
I was brought here. I must not give any details. Colonel
Napier was also taken prisoner, and we are together.
Fortunately I have in him a capital companion who can speak
German very well.

I am afraid it will be a very long time before I see my
constituents. I wish them all a happy new year and hope that
during next year I may meet them again. The outlook for me
is not very bright, but I intend to do my best to be
cheerful. Up to the present we have been very well treated.
We had some most exciting experiences in the submarine. The
offi