PAMPERED PRISONERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12536, 6 May 1915, Page 8

PAMPERED PRISONERS.

England is seething .-with-:indignation over what the .newspapers.., call the "pampering of prisoners - ' and the treatment of German captives in England is angrily, contrasted with- the storied hardships which English prisoners in Germany arc .said to endure. The London papers are full of letters of protest against the Government's purchase of a. mansion in Leicestershire called Donington HaJl. formerly thc- .seat of a British peer, which has been fitted up for the reception of captured German officers at; a cost of some £13,000. In the columns of the London Times we find the following reports of a discussion of the question in the House of Commons: "Mr Tennant (Under-Secretary for 'War) said he was now able to mention the main items'.of expenditure for fitting up Donington Hal! for German officer prisoners. Complete tests of the drainage were made by agents,- and their report revealed the fact that an entire overhaul was necessary.. No more was done than was necessary. As ; to' repairs to the- housv .it hail'been un- ' occupied for many years, and in somo places the" walls showed signs of decay. : No. decoration nor. unnecessary work i was done. Two baths were installed in 1 .one room, which" was at the rate of one . bath for fifty officers —not.an estraya- ' gant allowance., An . additional .boiler ' was put in for. supplying _the. baths. In regard to electric lighting that was necessary to illuminate the barbed-wire fence at night. As there was no artificial light" in the .house it was con- ':• sidered that'the" most economical, plan ' was to instal electric light in the house also. As the- large bedrooms "were distinctly "crowded. ' wooden huts were erected to •accommodate twelve officers : .each. Each officer had a camp-bed, a 1 plain' washstnnd, and a cheap chest_ of drawers, so. that the style of iurnishing corresponded with : thafc of servant'' bedrooms, and could nob be described as luxurious. - No billiard-tables had ] been provided. The majority, of the ! servants were housed in a large loft i over the coach-house. The estimated j cost of putting up the "huts for prison-' I ers of providing the fence and furnij tur'e. et£». was. over £20,000. The j number 'provided for now at Donington i Hall include 320 prisoner officers, 103 ! prisoner servants, and 160 staff and • truard: total. 585. By putting up extra huts for more persons a total of 7.00 could be accommodated. When the place was full.the rent would come out at about £1 per head per annum. : "Mr Hume-Williams asked the lui-cler-Secretarv for War 'whether as soon as the electric light had been suitably installed at Donington -Hall for the use lof Gerjnan officer's..and their servants, kit would, become possible; to extend; a similar convenience to the : English;officers and men iir the-Hyde Park, barracks at Knightsbridge -and why.itwas .riee'essarv to provide electric lighting for the Germans v.-henoneof our Principal barracks' for Englishmen had been so long without it." . -■ '•.-"■' • While-the official account of the quarters provided for the captured.officers does .not- suggest any epicurean luxuries, it is evident that public opinion thinks too much consideration.has'been shown.. As : .a sample :'of .the. ...feeling aroused in England we niay_.qu.ote.-two letters" appearing in the London. Morning Post. . Sir William Richmond;-' the eminent painter,.writes:—... •... . "The. action of the Government''in,_re-gard-to Donington Hall is weak,:foolish, and wrong, to use.no stronger expi'essioiK

.. ..''Weak,' because/it is 'an. attempt to curry favor among our enemies. Fcol- ! "isli. because they only laugh at the cffeminafe'sentiment of which it is an expression. Wrong,, because the nation's money spent upon granting luxuries _to our enemies in our. own land,., which they would devastate to-morrow if 'they eoukl. is money misspent and in an unpatriotic cause. •'People are asking, and no' wonder, whose friends in high places these pam-. pered German officers are. "A question which reflects dishonor arid implies mistrust. Honor, and absolutely unsullied, wc demand of the Government in n turn for Trust. ;

"Any deflection from a straight .and clear path of duty to the country will be visited on the Government by and by with rigid examination and stem resolve." An indignant letter comes from "The -Mother of a Private in. Kitchener's Armv," who says:—

"There are,many men who have given up comfortable, "j-efined homes, and sncriScerl innoli to-fight-f 04' their Kin"

and country, and their friends can not but feel intense indignation at such luxurious quarters being provided for German officer prisoners at Donington Hall, while leaking huts, no baths, and elementary sanitary arrangements, are considered good enough for the bravo fellows who have come forward ill their country's hour of need." . In the same issue the Morning Tost publishes a long account of life in the English Prisoners' Gamp at Ruhleben from the psn.of an exchanged prisoner who seems to write in a fair and unprejudiced way and absolves his German captors from the charge cf wilful mishandling which has been brought against them more than once in theEnglish press. At the same time,' he says, the German conception of the English appetite is not quite accurate, and the "food is not quite sufficient in quantity and quality."