arrest
by the German military authorities must have been known, but the place
of her imprisonment and the nature of the charges against her were
apparently withheld.

This feature of the case and the manner in which Mr. Brand Whitlock, the
American Minister, was prevented from rendering any effective aid to
Miss Cavell, presents one aspect of the tragedy which especially
concerns the honor and dignity of the United States and should receive
its swift and effectual recognition.

Her secret trial and hurried execution was a studied affront to the
American Minister at Brussels, and therefore to the American nation. It
is true that in all he did to save her life he was acting in behalf of
and for the benefit of Great Britain, whose interests the United States
Government has taken over in Belgium; but this cannot affect the fact
that when Brand Whitlock intervened in behalf of the prisoner, sought to
secure her a fair trial, and prevent her execution, and especially when
he asked her life as a favor in return for the services our country had
rendered Germany and German subjects in the earlier days of the war, _he
spoke as an American and as the diplomatic representative of the United
States_.

So secret was Miss Cavell's arrest and so sinister the methods whereby
her end was compassed, that the American Minister in Belgium was obliged
to write on August 31st to Baron von der Lancken, the German Civil
Governor of Belgium, and ask whether it was true that she was under
arrest. _To this the German Military Governor did not even deign to make
a reply, although it was clearly a matter of life and death._

The discourtesy of such silence to a great and friendly nation needs no
comment, and will simply serve to remind the American people that
Germany has never yet replied to another request of the United States
that Germany disavows the massacre of nearly 200 American men, women,
and children on the Lusitania.

Not hearing from Baron von der Lancken, our Minister on September 10th
again wrote to him and again asked for a reply. He asked for the
opportunity "_to take up the defense of Miss Cavell with the least
possible delay_." To this, Baron Lancken deigned to reply by an ex parte
statement that Miss Cavell had admitted

"having concealed in her house various English and French soldiers,
as well as Belgians of military age, all anxious to proceed to the
front. She also acknowledged having supplied these sold