War--so certain of their own prophets have said--is a "national industry
of Germany." Here we see a German _chevalier d' industrie_ attempting to
escape with his swag. Never in modern times has a nation gone to war
with a more cynical and shameless determination to make the campaign pay
for itself by the plunder of private property. Quite recently an order
was found on the body of a German, enjoining all officers to assist in
the "patriotic duty" of "draining financially the occupied territories."
We are dealing, not with an honourable and civilized nation, but with a
band of murdering brigands. The keepers of the national conscience have
devised a monstrous and barbarous code of ethics, in which "patriotism"
is the sole duty, and the tribal god the only arbiter of right and
wrong. As in Roman law, the property of an enemy is for a German _res
nullius_--it has no owner. And now the prospect of any further loot on a
large scale seems remote. The speculation has turned out badly, and the
robber would be glad to cut his losses. The guardians of the law are at
his heels, and do not mean to let him escape. But will they be able to
make him disgorge? That will not be easy; and what atonement can be made
for the innocent blood which drops from those pitiful spoils?