ves in the boats. The submarine
towed the two boats for a quarter of an hour and then left the occupants
to their fate.

The German Government considered that the Declaration of London gave it
the right to sink neutral prizes laden with contraband. The Dutch
Government held firmly to its standpoint that the destruction of a
neutral prize was in all circumstances an illegal act and that the
prescription of the Declaration of London allowing, by way of exception,
destruction of neutral prizes, could not be regarded as established
international law.

Its offer to submit the case to international arbitration was rejected
by the German Government.

_Times History of the War._

[Illustration]

"_IRON CROSSES_"

"_You laugh, Muller! but there are still people who like them, and
besides it gives me exercise_"

From the very beginning there was a wholesale distribution of Iron
Crosses. Before the war the possession of an Iron Cross was a rare
distinction and a cherished memory of the war of 1870. Iron Crosses soon
became as plentiful as blackberries. According to official statistics
there had up to the end of March, 1915, been distributed five Grand
Crosses, 6,488 Iron Crosses of the First Class, and 338,261 Iron Crosses
of the Second Class. During the whole of the war of 1870 only 1,304 Iron
Crosses of the First Class and 45,791 Iron Crosses of the Second Class
had been distributed.

_Times History of the War._

[Illustration]

_BETHMANN-HOLLWEG AND TRUTH_

"_Truth is on the path and nothing will stay her_"

A German has written this book. No Frenchman, no Russian, no Englishman.

A German who is unbribed and unbribable, not bought and not for sale.

A German who loves his Fatherland as much as any man; but just because
he loves it, he has written this book.

_Opening lines of "J'accuse"--a German to Germans--published in
Switzerland, April, 1915._

The book sets out to prove that the war had long been planned and
prepared by Germany and Austria, not only from the military but from the
political point of view.

That it had long been determined to represent this aggressive war to the
German people as a war of liberation, since it was known that only thus
could the needful enthusiasm be aroused.

That the object of this war is the establishment of German hegemony on
the Continent, and in due course the conquest of England's position as a
world power on the principle "_Ote-toi d