THE KING’S BUSINESS 945 We have received a number of protests against our Were German Missionaries passing reference, in the June number, to mistreat- Maltreated by British ment of German missionaries by British troops. Officers and Men? Of course it is impossible to print all the letters we receive on this or other subjects. It seems only fair to print the following letter to the editor, from Rev. Charles Edward Wilson of London, Secretary of the Foreign Department of the Baptist Mis sionary Society, which states, the case from the British side, by one who has personal knowledge of the facts of the case. Those who wish the German side can refer for themselves to the missionary periodical to which reference was previously made. Secretary Wilson’s letter follows in full: I do n o t rem em b er ev er h av in g ad d ressed a le tte r to you before, alth o u g h p erh ap s you are still able to recall th e fa c t th a t w e w ere to g eth er a t th e E v a n g elistic M ission in th e city of M adras, a good m an y y e a rs ago, an d w ere g u ests of th e P o stm aster-G en eral. I h av e now been se c re ta ry of o u r m ission fo r m o re th a n te n y ears, an d la s t y ear, w h en rev isitin g M adras, Í recalled v ery vividly th e occasion to w hich I h av e ju s t referred . I am w ritin g to d ay in referen ce to a p ara g ra p h w hich h a s ju s t ap p eared in y o u r m agazine, T h e K in g ’s Business^ fo r Ju n e 1915, p ag e 462. T h is m agazine h a s been so w idely circu lated am ong E n g lish -sp eak in g m in isters an d ev an g elists th a t th e influence of its ed ito rial n o tes an d com m ents is likely to be v ery extensively felt. S ev eral copies "of th e m ag azin e h av e been se n t to our M ission H ouse, calling a tte n tio n to th e p ara g ra p h in w hich you re fe r to th e alleged a tro citie s com m itted by E n g lish soldiers an d E n g lish officers a g ain st G erm an m issio n aries an d Am erican m issio n aries of G erm an boards. R eferrin g to “a m issio n ary periodical” a s th e source from w hich th e in fo r m atio n is obtained, th e ed ito rial com m en t is: “T h ere seem s to be no possibility of doubting its tr u th .” I can only co n jectu re w h a t is th e. m issio n ary periodical refe rred to, b u t I im agine th e sto ry o rig in ates from th e sam e source a s th e p a ra g rap h w hich ap p eared in “T he M issio n ary R eview of th e W orld” in May, p ag e 382. I w ro te to Dr. D elavan L. P ierso n ab o u t th a t, ex p ressin g m y re g re t th a t h e should publish such a p ara g ra p h w ith o u t n o te or comm ent, am ong th e n ew s ite'ms, as th o u g h it w ere u nchallenged tru th , a n d I am still m o re so rry to observe, in y o u r m agazine, T he K in g ’s B usiness, th a t you s ta te em p h atically y o u r belief in 't h e tr u th of th e allegation, b ecause from th e ex ten siv e en quiry m y colleague an d I h av e m ad e here, w e a re convinced th a t th e G erm an sto ry of alleged b ru ta l tr e a t m en t of th e G erm an m issio n aries a t C am eroons is seriously ex ag g erated an d m is leading. My ow n Society form erly carried on m issio n ary w o rk in C am eroons, an d h ad to w ith d raw a fte r th e G erm an occupation th irty y e a rs ago. T h ere w as no B a p tist M ission th e re a t th a t tim e th a t could ta k e up o u r w ork, b u t w e m ade th e b est a rra n g em en ts w e could w ith th e B asel M ission, u n d er v ery g re a t difficulty. L a te r on, w hen o u r G erm an B a p tist b re th re n s ta rte d foreign m issio n ary w o rk a n d m ade C am eroons th e ir field of operations, w e w ere rejoiced, a n d h av e k e p t in friendly to u ch w ith th em ever since. Two of th e m em b ers of th e G erm an B a p tist M ission, w ho w ere in th e p a rty of dep o rted m issio n aries from C am eroons, cam e to see m e h ere in L ondon, an d w e w ere able to help them . O ne w as an A m erican su b ject, a n d th e o th e r w as A u stralian born, th o u g h both w ere G erm an in p a re n ta g e an d speech. T hey h a d -'been se t a t lib erty in th is co u n try , an d w ere in need of help to reach th e ir hom es an d relativ es, an d in th is w e w ere h ap p y to serv e them . F rom th em I learn ed a g re a t deal of w h a t h ad transpired,, an d th e real fa c ts of th e case th ro w an en tirely d ifferen t lig h t upon th e w hole episode. Som e of th e G erm an m issio n aries in D u ala took up a rm s an d fo u g h t w ith th e G erm an forces a g a in st th e B ritish an d F ren ch . O ne of th e m issionaries—a lay b ro th er of th e C atholic M ission—w as ca u g h t in a n a tte m p t to blow up th e B ritish gu n b o at, an d th e m ilita ry a u th o ritie s w ho a t first conceded privileges to th e m is sionaries, a fte rw a rd s decided th a t, on acco u n t of> the u se w hich som e of th e m issio n aries m ad e of th e ir liberty, th e w hole m issio n ary p a rty m u st be _de- porteck F rom w h a t w e know of th e n o rm al conditions prev ailin g on th e W est co ast of A frica, w e can n o t see th a t o u r G erm an m issio n ary b re th re n h av e cau se to com plain of h a rsh n e ss of tre a tm e n t, in th e m an n er of th e ir tran sp o rtatio n . W e h av e th e evidence of th e m edical officer on bo ard th e sh ip by w hich th e y trav eled —a C h ristian m ail w ith stro n g m issio n ary sym p ath ies—w ho in d ig n an tly rep u d i a te d th e sta te m e n t th a t th e y w ere unkindly tre a te d in an y w ay. T he d eath of M rs. M a rten s in a B ritish h o sp ital a t ¡Accra, w h ere sh e w as u n d er th e care of ph y sician s an d n u rses, w as a n u n fo rtu n a te event. H e r h u sb an d v isited h e r from th e p riso n ers’ cam p. She w as once d isch arg ed from th e h ospital, an d h ad to be ta k e n b ack again. W hen she g rew w'bfse, an d w as n e a r d eath , h e r h u sb an d w as sum m oned an d sp e n t th e w hole n ig h t w ith h er, an d w as w ith h e r u n til h e r d eath d u rin g th e follow ing day. M rs. M a rten s’ illness laste d a consid erab le tim e,' an d so fa r a s w e a re ab le to learn , it w as th e only casu alty th a t oc cu rred in th e m issio n ary p a rty , a n d th e highly-colored rh eto ric w hich h a s been em ployed in G erm an m agazines, an d by P ro fesso r D eissm ann in A m erica, con-
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