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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d24518 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55442 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55442) diff --git a/old/55442-8.txt b/old/55442-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0191a28..0000000 --- a/old/55442-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4815 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of -Civilians, Edited by Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) -Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians - - -Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August -C. (August Charles) Krey - -Release Date: August 27, 2017 [eBook #55442] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1: -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS*** - - -E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala - - - - - -GERMAN WAR PRACTICES - -PART I - -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS - -Edited by - -DANA C. MUNRO -Princeton University - -GEORGE C. SELLERY and AUGUST C. KREY -University of Wisconsin University of Minnesota - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -Issued by -The Committee on Public Information - The Secretary of State - The Secretary of War - The Secretary of the Navy - George Creel - -November 15, 1917 - - - - -EXECUTIVE ORDER. - - -I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of -the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the -Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction -of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr. -George Creel. - -The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the -Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work -of the Committee. - - WOODROW WILSON. - -April 14, 1917. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -[Sidenote: Germany pledged to Hague regulations.] - -For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to -make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the -Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care -of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first -meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war -it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and -nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy. -The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules -to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants -and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings -and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the -rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article -44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give -information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the -most binding manner. - -[Sidenote: German policy of frightfulness.] - -But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn -promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading -generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In -the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as -the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated -were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871. -Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von -Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven. - -Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war -involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of -his master work, _Vom Kriege_ (_On War_), he says: - - "Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * * - Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth - mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without - essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls - might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or - subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this - is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may - appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such - dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of - 'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical - force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the - intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without - regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not - so use it." - -In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military -necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as -von Clausewitz: - -[Sidenote: Frightfulness advocated by German generals.] - - "The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of - war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and - subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with - when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * * - * Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary - military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that - modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence, - and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When - international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle - made necessary by military considerations." - -In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian -army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared: - - "Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is - an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the - most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation, - fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice--the soldier gives his - life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in - materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and - fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the - resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his - existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman." - "The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of - this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable, - must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration - of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military - forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of - procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy - government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and - even his prestige. * * *" - -[Sidenote: Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.] - -Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German -generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is -to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his -speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in -1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to -the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China, -he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The -local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice -and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army, -the head of all Germany. - - "As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No - mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under - King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in - traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in - China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look - at a German askance. * * * Open the way for _Kultur_ once for all." - -[Sidenote: Opposition in Reichstag.] - -Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the -Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the -circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly -successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers -in China were being published in local German papers, the leading -socialist newspaper, _Vorwärts_, excerpted from them reports of -atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders -in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's -speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal -condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was -openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party), -after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There -are, alas, in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities -told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response -of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social -Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a -two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in -China and on the speech of the Emperor he said: - - "If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we - will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which - this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has - been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way - to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the - respect of the world." - -The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described: - - "By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the - German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for - the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home." - "An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in - the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing - worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by - the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he - sacked Magdeburg." - -[Sidenote: Atrocities in China.] - -These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued -to be published in the _Vorwärts_ for several years and appeared -intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that -time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial -of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that -he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in -wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery, -as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a -very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them." -He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had -been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of -the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made -clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of -similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa -in the campaign against the Hereros. - -The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence -upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of -the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from -those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and -of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press -with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and -political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of -volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the -vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated -the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke. - -These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military -class, are best shown in the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im -Landkriege_), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book -may be judged from the following extracts: - -[Sidenote: Teachings of the German War Book.] - - "But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated - essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently - degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (_Sentimentalität - und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei_), there have not been wanting - attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way - which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its - object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, - the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition - in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague - Conferences." - - "By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to - guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach - him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that - the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of - them." - -For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered -territory should take up arms against the German Army, the _German War -Book_ quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother -Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against -him: - - "The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the - conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to - submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them; - my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty. - Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the - revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the - clergy.] - -[Sidenote: German war proclamations in French translations.] - -Some of the rules laid down in the _German War Book_ are illustrated -and their spirit made more definite in _L'Interprète Militaire_. _Zum -Gebrauch im Feindesland_ (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's -Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains," -says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of -the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which -it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years -before this war began, the German military authorities were not only -preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the -Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these -proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready -for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following: - - "A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by ---- to - assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of - ----. - - "Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of - the fine. - - "The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17, - at noon ----. - - "Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted." - - * * * * * - - "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this - month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you - expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret - the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this - subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so - clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the - matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R---- is - not paid the town will be burned down without pity!" - - * * * * * - - "On account of the destruction of the bridge of F----, I order: The - district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by - way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are - informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and - that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost - severity. The village of F---- will be destroyed immediately by fire, - with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the - troops." - -These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium -and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed -in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by -reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which -are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet. - - "The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by - an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made - upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials. - - "The Governor of Brussels, - "BARON VON LUETTWITZ. - - "_November 1, 1914._" - -Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German -authorities: - - "Notice to the People. - - "Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on - the German columns and wagons (_trains_). The same day [some of the] - inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In - addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German - ambulance were fired upon. - - "Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is - imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay - this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914, - at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German - military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No - delay will be granted. - - "If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of - 650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized. - - "In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made - and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has - concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure - by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city, - he will be shot. - - "The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be - held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders. - - "The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the - Commune. - - "Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914. - - "The General in Chief, - - "VON FASBENDER." - -The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in -terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided -with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the -terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State -Department on September 12, 1917, writes: - - "The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate - translations in German and French of such sentences as: - - "'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.) - - "'Carry out all the furniture. - - "'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum. - - "'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer. - - "'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately. - - "'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders - to requisition several barrels of wine. - - "'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'" - -[Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.] - -The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the -attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of -frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail -worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded -doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed -in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military -officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in -the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately -formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their -sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted -in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows: - - "One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the - conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run - its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must - be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as - possible." - -This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November -20, 1914. - -Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the -_Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi: - -[Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.] - - "As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert - artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the - next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the - Next War_. - - "I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of - the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the - bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What - did you think of it?' - - "I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but - I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general - looked actually pleased." - -Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which -the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of -Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said: - -[Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.] - - "The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression - of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses, - flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated, - that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed - sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as - the life of a single one of our brave soldiers--the rigorous - accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high _Kultur_, and in - that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from - our army." - -Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium, -repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The -interview is published in the _Düsseldorfer Anzeiger_ of December 8, -1914. - -Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the -higher German command for the atrocities: - - "But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of - humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual - excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be; - because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis - by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under - their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I - saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a - penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in - which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw - other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon - another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had - been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to - den in holes, like wild beasts. - - "Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and - buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives - but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one - conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in - command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.' - And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.' - And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had - indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their - superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, _Speaking of Prussians_, New York, 1917, - pp. 32-34. - -These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and -official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of -the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman -policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult, -for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public -opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which -was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give -ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have -been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See -War Information Series, No. 3, _The Government of Germany_; see also -Gerard's _My Four Years in Germany_, Chap. II.) - -[Sidenote: Hatred against Belgians.] - -The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all -in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of -the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with -the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous -nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious -to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that -it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes, -but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity, -and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of -self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred -became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans -became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium, -the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable -warfare, that the _francs-tireurs_ (guerillas) were everywhere present -doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that -women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or -helpless prisoners. - -The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the -following extracts from German letters: - -Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This -letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was -obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to -the United States Embassy at Berlin.) - - "NOVEMBER 4, 1914. - - "The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The - Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once. - While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever - beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not - overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down - without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is - a desire to wipe them out, root and all." - -Extract from another letter to a brother: - - "SCHLESWIG, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914]. - - "DEAR BROTHER, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your - regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these - _Civilians_, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them - come near you. _Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes - too near._ They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians; - even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go - inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make - the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. _The - newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our - soldiers whilst they were drinking._ You soldiers must spread around - so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near - you. Remain always in the company of others. _I hope that you have - read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no - compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the - butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet._ * * * - - "Your brother, - - "WILLI." - -The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the -Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson. - -[Sidenote: Emperor's telegram.] - - "BERLIN, VIA COPENHAGEN, _Sept. 7, 1914_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - - "_Washington_. - - "Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following - telegram from the Emperor to the President: - - "'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most - prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking - the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands - of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The - same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and - prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds - and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly - forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore - address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which, - owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most - barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these - atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged - and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian - civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by - women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers, - medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle - fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the - most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten - the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder - and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain], - excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense - and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that - such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous - innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of - the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor - and King.' - - "GERARD. _Berlin._" - -Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, _Der Fels_, February, -1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram: - -[Sidenote: Refutation by a German.] - - "Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with - the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been - made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of - inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests - during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary, - without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the - United States of America that even women and priests had committed - atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors - and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be - reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn - until after the war." - -The _Vorwärts_, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said: - -[Sidenote: Refutation by Vorwärts.] - - "We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great - number of assertions which have been made with great precision and - published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties - committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is - at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position - to silence two others of these fantastic stories. - - "The War Correspondent of the _Berliner Tageblatt_ spoke a few weeks - ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have - been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He - even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this - kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this - story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention. - Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out - by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single - case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance - where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been - demonstrated. - - "It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance - of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The - desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error - play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every - nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately - transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs. - Already the _Volkszeitung_ of Cologne has been able, contrary to the - very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there - was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this - town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under - treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have - been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been - demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross - Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated - in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the - Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only - slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a - request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written - reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned - field hospital, dated the 18th of the month: - - "'SIR, - - 'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories. - - 'Yours obediently, - - 'PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG.'" - -[Sidenote: German soldiers protest against atrocities.] - -Thus the teachings of the _German War Book_ and of the German apostles -of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their -natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A -considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by -the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was -the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation. -The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the -American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this -pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the -horror of it, which the writers felt. - -Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter -of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps: - - "It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings - were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon - could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians! - O Prussians!'--but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The - whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one - officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most - of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless - Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the - swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For - days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not - think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality - and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only - beasts. Down with militarism. - - "This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded; - Berlin, October 22, 1914. - - "If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a - common Prussian soldier." - -Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front. - - "RUSSIAN POLAND, _December 18, '14_. - - "In the name of Christianity I send you these words. - - "My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you - of these lines. - - "Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders. - - "And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses - according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers. - - "In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will - protest against this, I sign myself, - - "A GERMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN. - - "I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me - court-martialed for divulging military secrets." - - * * * * * - -The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the -system of which the writer was a witness. - - "To the - "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, - "_Washington, U.S.A._ - - "Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With - the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves - be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is - that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people; - one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down - in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary - mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no - judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to - these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is - right? Might is right. - - "A SOLDIER AND MAN WHO IS NO BARBARIAN." - -[Sidenote: Socialists oppose system.] - -Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe -the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and -refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The _Vorwärts_, the -leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has -opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have -so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial, -entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows: - - "We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the - fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish - also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them. - * * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being - barbarous. * * * - - "What should one say when even such an organ as the _Deutsches - Offizier-Blatt_ expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the - beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only - wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help - impossible?' Or what should we say when the _Deutsches Offizier-Blatt_ - states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot - 'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian - grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we - are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that - there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in - themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our - fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show - knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such - pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not - be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class - associates on the other side of the border." - -On the following day, August 24, 1914, the _Vorwärts_ returned to the -attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism." - -[Sidenote: Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."] - - * * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a - demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages] - emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole - groups among certain classes who represent German _Kultur_ want to - indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the - purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.' - - "What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'. - Thus in a leading article of the _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, the - demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels--one, the second - Burgomaster, is generously excepted--should be immediately seized and - subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according - to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been - committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should - immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the - conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a - single penny for them." - -Three years later, August 26, 1917, the _Vorwärts_ quoted the following -passage from the _Deutsche Tagezeitung_: - -[Sidenote: Still hold same opinions.] - - "We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right - (_Machtpolitiker_) who despise the forces of the inner life and - believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from - foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of - the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins - and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals - is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of - consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality." - -[Sidenote: Belgian warning of danger.] - -Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and -the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a -terrible character (_grausamen Charakter_) caused grave anxiety among -the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian -Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian -newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in -large print: - - "TO CIVILIANS. - - "The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy - should show himself in their district: - - "Not to fight; - - "To utter no insulting or threatening words; - - "To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will - be impossible to allege that there was any provocation; - - "To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may - occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged - that civilians have fired; - - "An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime - for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more - reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of - oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the - innocent population with the women and children." - -In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the -neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to -ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected -by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their -reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to -include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges -they make against the Germans: - - "1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and - children, were murdered by the Germans. - - "2. That women had been outraged. - - "3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a - town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and - madden themselves with drink. - - "4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and - systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities, - sent back a large part of the booty to Germany. - - "5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by - bestial and sacrilegious practices. - - "6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were - destroyed. - - "7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt - alive. - - "8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby - rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for - the alleged wrongdoings of others. - - "9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually - enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for - the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into - Germany, where all trace of them had been lost. - - "10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their - inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian - over the German soldiers. - - "11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly - destroyed by the invaders. - - "12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and - the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans, - and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the - Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men, - women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the - allied soldiers." - -The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the -terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government -and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of -materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts -of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of -testimony was published in a _German White Book_ with the title _Die -völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs_. - -The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers -had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the -sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published, -show the reverse to be true. - -[Sidenote: German White Book reveals atrocities.] - -It has been well said that the publication of this _German White Book_ -was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good -opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had -committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the -other hand, this _White Book_, published by the German Government, will -be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and -other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders -of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German -officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and -"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and -callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain -upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface." - -Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the _German White Book_, it -is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken -of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September -19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman -practices in the conduct of a war"): - - "The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the - truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those - responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if - such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their - adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the - world." - - - - -CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET. - - -[Sidenote: German sources.] - -In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence -is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources -include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters -and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers. -The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The -_Rules for Field Service_ of the German Army advises each soldier to -keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers -who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been -confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with -facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known -collection was made by Bédier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University -of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bédier -of the Collège de France." Of Bédier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the -University of Copenhagen, says: - - "He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one - does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone - may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied - the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here, - accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has - employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts - are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They - tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bédier - accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not - only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins - have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity. - Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details - which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own - violent acts are horror-striking." - -Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in -translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of -the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I -accept this without further comment for all those which are provided -with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case -be established after the war." - -[Sidenote: American sources.] - -The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives -of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors -and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given. -Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially -for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony -of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the -United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well -authenticated facts from foreign sources are used. - -[Sidenote: Frightfulness as a system.] - -The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of -frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite -policy of the German Government, against which more humane German -soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not -seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such -acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone -who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the _Report of -the Committee on Alleged German Outrages_, presided over by the former -British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as -"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian _Commission -d'Enquête_; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices -of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications, -and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official _German -White Book_ cited above. The last, published by the German Government, -is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness. - - -I. MASSACRES. - -[Sidenote: Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.] - -[Sidenote: But her military leaders did not acquiesce.] - -In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that -conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves; -that their property would be taken and that their lands would be -devastated. "_Vae victis!_--woe to the conquered!" For two centuries -or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of -humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the -combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established -as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it -sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of -the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and -private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must -be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in -common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this -article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They -had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years -ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful -to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had -been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's -biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was -still continuing in January, 1871, said: - -[Sidenote: Bismarck's idea in 1871.] - - "If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for - our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the - localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn. - After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come - to their senses." - -The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway -in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the -individual German soldiers. - - -EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES. - -"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr---- gave the alarm in the -town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were -burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops." -(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second -Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown -into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of -Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished -for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by -the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The -village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so -that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by -house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater -part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone -who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the -village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl -Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.) - - * * * * * - -"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched -down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant. -A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village -lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops -from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so -that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced -to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst -of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched -the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain -Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary -of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of -Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and -give us many things. There is no difference noticeable. - -"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge). -At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has -thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry -Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the -latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were -shot and the village was burnt--artillery is continuously shooting--the -village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, -the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages, -châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a -beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance. - -"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many -dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger -Battalion, Marburg.) - - * * * * * - -"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very -severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of -the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the -population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German -troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who -resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses -which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our -own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced -to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children, -utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From -the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry, -Thirty-third Reserve Division.) - -Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at -the foul deeds. - -"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was -clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to -behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were -many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see; -three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and -the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there -to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the -survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle, -with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this -was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt! -Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed. -I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on -the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul -Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.) - - * * * * * - -* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty -persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The -sights here make you cry. - -"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far -given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants -returning to Liége. - -"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no -post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and -drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der -Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry -Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château -belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had -behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and -then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things -about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash -the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy--magnificent furniture, -silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to -requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap -of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting." - -"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where -the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the -villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole -lot--16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did -for three at a time. - -"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * * - -"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot -was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed. -We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely -corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were -in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows; -and we burnt it afterwards. - -"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the -guilty and paying 15,000 francs. - -"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic -steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot. -The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set -on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle -went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants -were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors. - -"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some -innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as -to their guilt instead of shooting them. - -"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having -our meal the alarm was sounded--everyone is very jumpy. - -"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The -houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent -furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but -in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken, -mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more -damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled -could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have -been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column -commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they -could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to -millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked. - -"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in -excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works -of art, everything was smashed to bits. - -"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * * -* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The -hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase -and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One -Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.) - -But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in -chief, as is evident from the following: - - "ORDER. - - "_To the People of Liége._ - - "The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful - intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous - manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has - reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot. - - "I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order - that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar - attitude. - - "Liége, 22nd August, 1914. - - "GENERAL VON BÜLOW." - -The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a -like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot -men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it -was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded. -It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when -commanded by the officers. - - "Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that - the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is - there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the - contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of - alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack. - - "The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few - exceptions, makes a scandalous impression. - - "It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set - houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as - the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they - encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder. - - "I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with - regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian - population. - - "I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer. - - "The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer - and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets. - - "The Commanding Officer, - "MAJOR VON BASSEWITZ." - -In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, -Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The -following passages refer to the subject of massacres: - -[Sidenote: Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.] - - "Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance - of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but - they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details - in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown. - Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant; - Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine - Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his - wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave - and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot - in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17; - Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During - the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed - before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame - Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was - brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of - her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her - husband's life was spared." - - "On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of - Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the - Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated - persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men - and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day. - They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens, - who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the - house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on - the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes - Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to - the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks. - - "On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to - leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women, - children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like - cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as - Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain." - - "One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little - village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal - fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it - is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants, - mostly all poor laborers. - - [Sidenote: Massacres in Tamines.] - - "The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute - testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made - graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the - crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk - between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the - sinister date of August 22d, 1914." - - "But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were - impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military - order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there - overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms - were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by - any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself: - - [Sidenote: Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.] - - "One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the - Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel - Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes, - especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of - nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the - victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of - families, even old men. - - "It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the - fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms: - - "The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old. - "Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old. - "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old. - "Gilda Genon, 18 months old. - "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old. - "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months. - - "The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years. - Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one - survivor. Those men that escaped death--and many of whom were riddled - with bullets--were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion - their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been - relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to - Cassel [Prussia]." - -Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited -Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In _A Journal -from our Legation in Belgium_, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he -relates what the German officers told him: - - "It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the - town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, - wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free - application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red. - And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make - people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her." - -German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing -have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.: - -[Sidenote: Pastor defends frightfulness.] - - "We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us - * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a - ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any - previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in _Deutsche Reden in schwerer - Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days." - - * * * * * - - "The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for - the individual, but not too hard for this political structure - (_Staatsgebilde_), for the destinies of the immortal great nations - stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, - to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, - as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in - _Süddeutsche Monatsheft_, "South German Monthly." - -Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen -the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent -eloquence? - -This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from -one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the -massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are: - - PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS. - - Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge. - Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. - St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us. - St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us. - Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us. - -After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German -eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in -the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words -as these: - - "The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the - greatest institute for moral education in the world." - - "The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never - so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston - Stewart Chamberlain, in _Kriegsaufsätze_, "War Essays", 1914. - - "We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness - of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in _Deutsche Reden in Schwerer - Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days." - - -II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS. - -The massacres described above were a part of the German system of -frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians -as hostages and for screens. - -In discussing the use of hostages the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch -im Landkriege_) says: - -[Sidenote: Views of the German General Staff.] - - "By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for - the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or - detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been - less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the - law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has - disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * * - - "A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German - Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from - French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order - to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the - people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any - fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer - outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of - nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country." - -Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally -condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend -to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In _L'Interprète -Militaire_ the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both -in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The -evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities -and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from -these will illustrate the system which was employed. - -A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the -proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are -presented: - - FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914. - - "4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in - Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnée, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the - persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not - forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition. - - [Sidenote: Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.] - - "5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not - be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnée must - immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as - hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fléron. September 6th, 1914, for - the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until - September 7th at midday. - - "The life of these hostages depends on the population of the - above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances. - - "During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous - signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German - time). - - "6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent - persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following - midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must - remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage - will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear. - - "7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to - be taken first as hostages. - - "8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * * - show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats, - or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of - doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do - this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by - every means." - - * * * * * - - A PROCLAMATION BY VON BÜLOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914. - - "1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of - war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey - will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany. - - "The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every - soldier found will be immediately shot. - - "2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty, - being shot. - - "Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the - burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life. - - [Sidenote: Von Bülow takes hostages in every street.] - - "3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten - hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If - there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot. - - "4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must - be lights at three windows in every house. - - "5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The - inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more - horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the - life of its citizens by risings against the German Army. - - "The Commander of the Town, - "VON BÜLOW. - - "NAMUR, _25th August, 1914_. (Printed by Chantraine)." - - * * * * * - - PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914. - - "September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were - destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * * - - [Sidenote: Hostages are made responsible for railroads.] - - "Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events - take place--it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or - not--will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have - been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of - similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway, - telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot. - - "Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways - have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph - or telephone lines in a suspicious manner. - - "The Governor General of Belgium, - - "BARON VON DER GOLTZ, - "_Field-Marshal_." - - * * * * * - - PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS. - - "In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the - tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have - been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These - hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other - hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and - inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army. - - "THE GENERAL COMMANDING. - - "RHEIMS, _12th September, 1914_." - -[Sidenote: Over 80 hostages in Rheims.] - -Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages -and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives -of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the -German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the -least disorder," in the proclamation. - -Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 184, -explains what was likely to happen: - - "Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster, - the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good - behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like - nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law - and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a - bit on account of the hostages." - - STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL. - - "Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages. - - "Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses - and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and - then we again set fire to the village. - - "On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests - because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought - to the village of Ste. Marie. - - [Sidenote: Hostages at Willekamm.] - - "Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut. - Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners - (tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they - were to be killed. - - "Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot - them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery, - First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.) - -The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure -civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in -front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be -compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans. -This usage is illustrated in the following: - - LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN. - - "OCTOBER 7, 1914. - - [Sidenote: Civilians used as screens.] - - "But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant - idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out - in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on - ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little - one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all - seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers - they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively - clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was - immediately effective. - - "The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were - able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal - street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot. - The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when, - toward 7 o'clock in the evening, the brigade advanced to the assault - to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Dié had been - cleared of the enemy. - - "Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint - Dié further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four - civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the - street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the - middle of the street near the hospital." - - "A. EBERLEIN, - "_First-Lieutenant_." - - Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of - the _Münchner Neueste Nachrichten_. - -Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the -Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of -seeking protection. - -[Sidenote: "No respect to the cassock."] - -"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops -were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the -parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As -they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest -was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men, -burned 50 houses, and looted 100." - -Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 155, -gives another incident: - -"Two old priests have staggered into the ---- legation more dead than -alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops -for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is -said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through." - - STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS. - - "At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were - made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At - Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable - citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German - regiments or to make a screen before them. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.] - - "The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty. - The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without - circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.' - - "An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of - August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German - troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes - the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the - severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against - those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the - citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.' - - "These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer, - burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent - deputy and sheriff of Liége." - -The above quotation is taken from _An Appeal to Truth_, addressed Nov. -24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the -cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary. - -[Sidenote: Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.] - - "Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one, - witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so - appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for - life." Will Irwin, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41. - - -III. FINES. - -The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions -of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves -to the following: - -[Sidenote: Germany's promises in Hague conventions.] - - "Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be - inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals - for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally - responsible." - - "Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded - from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army - of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the - country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the - obligation of taking part in military operations against their own - country." - -[Sidenote: German violations of Hague conventions.] - -The German authorities have violated these articles from the very -beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon -individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German -Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In -_An Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases: - - "Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of - 20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform - the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of - the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact, - upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes. - The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because - a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had - given way through wear." - -In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914, -the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid -by the Belgian Provinces jointly. - -Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the -_Appeal to Truth_: - - "The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this - kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear - _relation to the resources of the country_, article 52. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's comments.] - - "Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of - war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had - exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in - those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all - law, being freely commandeered. - - "It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that - a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed." - -[Sidenote: The crushing fine is increased.] - -The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy. -In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month -period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of -40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In -November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month, -in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German -authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for -acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that -these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village -thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.) - -The German military rulers have also made the families responsible -for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the -following examples, which are quoted from the _Appeal to Truth_, cited -above. - -[Sidenote: Family made responsible.] - - "The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the - militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these - orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * _In case of - disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally - responsible._" - - "A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders - the _members of the family_ responsible if a Belgian fit for military - service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland." - -The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a -proclamation declaring: - - [Sidenote: Villages made responsible.] - - "The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the - inhabitants against our troops _will be burned_. - - "For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., _the villages - in the neighborhood_ of the destruction _will be held responsible_. - - "The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and - without mercy. _The whole community will be held responsible._ - Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will - be levied." - -At the end of the _Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier says: - - "But we can not say all here, nor quote all. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier has proofs.] - - "If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * * - we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in - the four annexes [to the _Appeal to Truth_], one allegation of which - we have not the proofs in our records." - -A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the -archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed -to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a -small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State -Department archives tell the story. They need no comments. - - "PARIS, _Oct. 27, 1914_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - "_Washington_. - - "Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following - case be submitted to the President: - - [Sidenote: The case of Sissonne.] - - "Prince states that General von Bülow for weeks has been inhabiting - Prince's ancestral château near Rheims, historical monument, - containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Bülow has - imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne - some miles distant from château, because broken glass found on road - near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a - number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand - francs but von Bülow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince - that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the château and adjoining - village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first. - Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his - word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of - danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning - messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because - of refusal to pay. - - "I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and - Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German - Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's - threatened property is in France. - - "HERRICK." - - "ARMY HEADQUARTERS, - "_Warmériville, Sept. 19th, 1914_. - - "TO the MAYOR OF THE COMMUNE OF SISSONNE, - "_Sissonne_. - - [Sidenote: Von Bülow's levy on Sissonne.] - - "It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and - the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with - broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50 - metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic. - - "I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility - on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by - levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred - thousand francs). - - "This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by - October 15th. - - "The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to - enforce execution of this order. - - "The General Commander in Chief of the Army. - - "VON BÜLOW." - - LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR. - - "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_. - - "SIRE: - - "I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave - and urgent matter. - - [Sidenote: Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.] - - "The General von Bülow has caused to be occupied since one month and - a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the - village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred - inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five - hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than - one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a - document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village - of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not - disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of - October. - - "That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45 - years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of - the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work. - - "In reply to the summons of the General von Bülow I have given my - word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert - a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a - sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor - by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Château de - Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction. - - "I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin, - - "ALBERT, _Prince of Monaco_." - - LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BÜLOW. - - "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_. - - "GENERAL: - - "To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the - rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word - of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war - come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence - or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of - five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne. - - "As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the - Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has - decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle. - - [Sidenote: Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.] - - "My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal - will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Château - de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and - charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem - the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims--when no - reprehensible action has been committed there--the whole world will - judge between you and myself. - - "I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard. - - "ALBERT, _Sovereign Prince of Monaco_." - - -IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR. - -[Sidenote: Advance in humanity--until August, 1914.] - -Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its -advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and -in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be -given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as -1863, in the _Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United -States in the Field_ the United States declared: - -[Sidenote: United States treatment of civilians, 1863.] - - "22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last - centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on - land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a - hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms. - The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed - citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the - exigencies of war will admit. - - "23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried - off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little - disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile - troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war. - - "24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues - to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the - hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and - protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and - still is with uncivilized people, the exception." - -[Sidenote: German Government's reversion to barbarism.] - -These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War--one of -the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than -50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the -methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has -deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and -girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even -compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies -and their own flesh and blood. - -No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and -detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men -and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been -broken up. Girls have been carried off to work--or worse--in a strange -land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or -what their fate has been. - -This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of -Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France. - -The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and -forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small -fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the -story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the -reader easily to grasp the connection of events. - - -BELGIUM. - - "The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing, - single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of - German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium." - Vernon Kellogg, in _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1917. - -A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be -obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken -from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on -pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report -at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum -of repetition. - - "_Legation of the United States of America_, - "_Brussels, January 16th, 1917_. - - "_The Honorable the Secretary of State_, - "_Washington_. - - [Sidenote: Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.] - - "_Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since - the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to - prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance - of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of - obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be - based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself, - that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and - justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary - despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with - doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress - that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy - land._ - - [Sidenote: Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.] - - "_In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go - back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief - work, the Comité National--the Belgian relief organization that - collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium--proposed an - arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own - employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages - they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this - both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide - the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time, - to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected - in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had - many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium - on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans. - However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice, - and on the rolls of the Comité National have been borne the names of - hundreds of thousands--some 700,000, I believe--of idle men receiving - this dole, distributed through the communes._ - - [Sidenote: German cupidity excited.] - - "_The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation - to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of - the chômeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the - guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comité - National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than - risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to - own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful, - since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the - authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters - of the communes. Finally, however, the military party, always brutal, - and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral - sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work._ - - "_General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had - always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have - sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and - secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application._" - - (Continued on page 53.) - -In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had -learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In -order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might -hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured -from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter -dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp -to communicate them to the people: - -[Sidenote: Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.] - - "The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene, - has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by - your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following - declarations: - - "(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be - enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors. - - "(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed, - the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors - and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire - population. - - "(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see - that food is assured to the population." - -These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues -show by abundant evidence in the _Appeal to Truth_. - - "On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted - a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were - called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from - their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman, - a member of the family was arrested. - - [Sidenote: Violation of German promises.] - - "However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were - unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.' - - "On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut - up in the railway carriages. - - "On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at - Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret - society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German - military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment. - - [Sidenote: Early deportations.] - - "On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken - to Germany. - - "On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany. - - "On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would - receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days. - On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi." - - "A similar course was adopted at _Malines_, where, by various methods - of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers - at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not - plain that this material would become war material sooner or later. - - "On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be - obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all - commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen - had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.' - - "On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a - complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of - several kilometres of the town." - - "Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the - arsenal." - - [Sidenote: Belgians asked to make barbed wire.] - - "The commune of _Sweveghem_ (Western Flanders) was punished in June, - 1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert - refused to make barbed wire for the German Army. - - "The following notice was placarded at _Menin_ in July-August, - 1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of - any description--including assistance to their families, wives, - and children--to any operatives except those who work _regularly_ - at _military work_, and other tasks assigned to them. All other - operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any - fashion.' - - [Sidenote: Punished for refusal to work for German Army.] - - "Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at - Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke - 29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's - factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for - having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir - was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a - year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks. - -[Sidenote: Interference with Red Cross.] - - "The General Government had recourse also to _indirect_ methods of - compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property, - and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself - master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and - Food Committee. - -[Sidenote: Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.] - - "If we were to cite _in extenso_ the decree of the Governor General - of August 4th, 1915, _concerning measures intended to assure the - carrying out of works of public usefulness_, and that of August 15th, - 1915, '_concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from - work_,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power - attempts to attack at once the masters and the men." - -October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the -development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in -prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and -openly discloses a contempt for international law. - - DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915. - - "Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to - continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of - which the military administration is interested, such work being - ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to - imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to - Germany. - - [Sidenote: Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work - for them.] - - "Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the - contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work. - - "On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military - commandant has the sole right of forming a decision. - - "Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other - means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in - Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding - five years. - - "Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other - way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum - fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's - imprisonment. - - "If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such - offence the heads of the communes will be punished. - - "Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3, - the German authorities may, in case of need, impose on communes, - where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive - police measures. - - "This present decree comes into force immediately. - - "Der Etappeinspekteur, - "VON UNGER, - "Generalleutnant. - - "GHENT, _October 12th, 1915_." - -Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and -arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced -labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there. -It is slavery, neither more nor less." - -[Sidenote: October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale -deportations.] - -Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able -to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the -need for an additional labor supply _in Germany_ had become urgent, -the German government established the system of forced labor _and -deportation_ which has aroused the detestation of Christendom. -The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German -authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree. - - THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916. - - "DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY.... - - [Sidenote: German verbal camouflage.] - - "I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the - place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of - others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of - gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness. - - "II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in - case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of - public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he - lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force. - - "III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall - refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur - the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to - 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer - penalty is provided for by the laws in force. - - "If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement with - several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a - ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment. - - "IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce - the proper execution of this decree. - - "The Quartermaster General, SAUBERZWEIG. - "GREAT HEADQUARTERS, _3d October, 1916_." - -[Sidenote: Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.] - -The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military -rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and -the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that -the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of -Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff. -In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued) - - [Sidenote: Was Bissing against deportations?] - - "_Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme - command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too - mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest, - threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official - here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible - régime--would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated. - Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of - Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so._" - (Continued on p. 54.) - -If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own -judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate" -and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the -following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott: - - VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT. - - "I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had - opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing, - who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man - steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart - which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined - for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped - in that system. - - "I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and - France stop giving these people money to purchase food?' - - "He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out - for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any - time.' - - [Sidenote: Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.] - - "He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60 - days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to - compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into - Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and - fight against the English and the French.' - - "'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would - transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work, - across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where - we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water - and it will blossom like the rose.' - - "'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate - opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and - force them through that line, so that the English and French could - take care of their own people.' - - "It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the - German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people - not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in _The - National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.) - -A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps -be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock. - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - "_The deportations began in October in the Étape, at Ghent, and at - Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich - industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about - Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant, - even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the - civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned._ - - [The étapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included - the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the - region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was - under civil government.] - - [Sidenote: The deportations begin.] [Sidenote: Pitiable scenes.] - - "_During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels, - but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care - than in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There - was no public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly - about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list - of chômeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the - railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to - respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of - employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On - the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves - at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by - German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large - force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access - to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The - Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to - each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided - warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial - allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more - excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of - those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the - cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold - and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of - brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one._ - - "_It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels, - but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked - were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe - weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations._" - (Continued on page 67.) - - Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to - abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises - in the past: - - "MALINES, _19th October, 1916_. - - "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL: - - [Sidenote: Another "Scrap of Paper."] - - "The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population - asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms - or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The - entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me - to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the - kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure - the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless, - that at Liége, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and - taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to - be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had - given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen - at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning - deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly he sent me in - writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no - reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there - enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.' - - "This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the - clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your - Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October - 16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding - pages.] - - "Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz, - at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and - requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country, - without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given - me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this - request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure. - The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines - to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of - two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the - liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected. - - "To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to - reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps - to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties - which persisted in the interested families. - - "Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes - workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment, - separates them by force from their wives and children and deports - them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this - unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same - acts of violence. - - [Sidenote: Mercier's moving appeal.] - - "In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of - Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in - the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would - gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of - the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate - representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I - respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the - measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian - workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who - have already been deported. - - "Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the - weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards - these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my - agency and at my request were lamentably deceived. - - "I persist in believing that this will not be the case. - - "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high - consideration. - - "D.J. CARDINAL MERCIER, - "_Arch. of Malines_." - -Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities -to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow -illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers. - - - RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916. - - "In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on - October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by - the municipality) * * * - - "The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal. - - "It further feels it its duty to place on record the following: - - "The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the - exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity - can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to - the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at - close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect - composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby - that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado. - - [Sidenote: Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.] - - "But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against - its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations - (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action. - - "In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor - General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic - sentiments.' - - "The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it - is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose - name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration - of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the - loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer. - - "The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of - this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself - and the German Army." - - GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI. - - "TOURNAI, _23rd October, 1916_. - - [Sidenote: And is roundly lectured and fined.] - - "In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to - oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied - territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a - complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war. - - "The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following: - - "The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city - must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous - explanations. - - "The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city--on account - of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded--a punitive - contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six - days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such - time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in - arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will - be paid by the city. - - "HOPFER, _Major General_, - "_Etappen-Kommandant_." - -The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce -the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans. - - "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM, - "_Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916_. - - [TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BELGIUM.] - - "EXCELLENCY: The measures which are being planned by your - administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power, - the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region - of the étapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in - Belgium. - - "The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central - socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that - they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the - painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the - echo of their touching complaints. - - "They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most - diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of - obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance - one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud. - - [Sidenote: Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.] - - "For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has - been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery - and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the - parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with - which their hearts are overflowing. - - "Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and - the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints - and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty - and independence. But the measures which have been announced will - make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow; - the proletariat, _the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced_, - citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor - without having disobeyed any regulation or order. - - [Sidenote: And appeal for decent treatment.] - - "In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful - anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancées, and whose - little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your - Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary - to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes, - contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human - nature. - - "We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the - homage of our distinguished consideration. - - "(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the - Commission Syndicale.)" - -Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth -of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested -against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the -letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows: - - "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM, - "_Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916_. - - "To His Excellency BARON VON BISSING, - "_Governor General in Belgium_. - - "EXCELLENCY: The Secretaries and representatives of the socialistic - and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a painful - disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were good - enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning the - deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the - working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort - to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed - against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity. - - [Sidenote: Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.] - - "You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of - the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy. - Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested - very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium - of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very - natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those - mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say - those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international - commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the - right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products. - - "Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying - authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines - of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and - wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of - transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ - workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have - been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings - have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless - efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men - were constantly thrown out of work. - - [Sidenote: And proudly praise the Belgian workman.] - - "You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility - to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this - accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where - is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made - of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power? - And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses - of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of - their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is - not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer - to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with - sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and - fruitful work. - - "What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the - same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions - of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these - requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war - against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not - wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories - which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty. - Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of - punishments. - - "You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May 15th, - 1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen - who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and - carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with - what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have - the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps - think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you - yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every - motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted - by international law. - - [Sidenote: Laborers see through the German scheme.] - - "For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the - right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals - and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain - that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive - approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they - have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly - their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a - question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise; - but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will - take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the - ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these - tribunals carry on their functions. - - "You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and - moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence - in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only - in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of - organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational - work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge - and to increase their professional value? The _Comité National_ was - not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is - it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black - despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their - physical and moral energy? - - [Sidenote: The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of - Belgians.] - - "You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length - weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that - Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that - form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed - the food of so many working families for so many months; and what, - after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed - each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unemployed, in comparison - with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the - horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have - cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in - our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near - future Flanders and _Wallonie_ will rise again, glorious, in history. - - [Sidenote: All Belgians understand the German scheme.] - - "Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it - is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to - our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their - families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been - deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there - echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by - its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who - constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country. - - "Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the - execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts - regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain - workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its - arms. - - "While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years - who were under the régime of control, in the Borinage they call all - the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over - 17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and - unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been - taken--bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives - of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment; - agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant, - 2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age. - Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons - have been exiled thus by force. - - [Sidenote: The tears of the mothers and the children.] - - "Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered - together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They - had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken - at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not - allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given - to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones. - They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for - how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years - of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide - themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles, - what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there? - In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the - cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers and little children. - Distress and despair reign in the homes. - - "Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit - our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit - human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the - dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many - centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot. - - "It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope - of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice, - at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the - entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest. - - "Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished - consideration." - -(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the _Comité Nationale_ -and of the _Commission Syndicale_.) - - "We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers - and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our - comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland." - -The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many -such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic -collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration, -some passages from two others: - - PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. - - "BRUSSELS, _9th November, 1916_. - - "To his Excellency, BARON VON BISSING, - "_Governor General in Belgium_. - - [Sidenote: Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.] - - "EXCELLENCY: It seemed that no suffering could be added to those under - which we have already been weighed down since the occupation of our - country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed industry and commerce, - our raw products and instruments of work taken out of the country, the - public fortune ruined, want succeeding to wealth in families formerly - most prosperous, privations, anxieties, and mourning. * * * - - [Sidenote: The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.] - - "Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the étape - has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being - reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government - General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to - commune until its victims are counted by hundreds of thousands? - The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell - sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and - sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the - unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the - unknown. * * * - - "The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the - representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good - wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they - may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral - depression is counted on in order to force their hand? - - [Sidenote: Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.] - - "True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them - will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every - side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman - permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.' - The most odious work is that whose results are used against the - fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country. - To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force - contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your - proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit, - if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * * - * - - "They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities - the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent - the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of - modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most - distinguished consideration." - - [Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.] - - PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER. - - "ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MALINES, - "_Malines, 10th November, 1916_. - - "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL: - - "I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which - have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which - I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the - deportation of the unemployed. - - [Sidenote: German perfidy.] - - "I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency, - dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your - arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I - have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.' - - "My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement - taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified - a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor - General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited - as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, - either to be enrolled in the army _or to be employed at forced labor_.' - - "This engagement is being violated every day--thousands of times in - the last fortnight. - - "Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say - conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to - imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men - fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said - categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have - reached an advanced age, shall not _at any moment of the occupation, - either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor_.' * * * - - "The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended - to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded - especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a - danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity. - - [Sidenote: The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.] - - "It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our - workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace. - Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished - witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working - class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge - upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by - their administration. The _Comité National_, in which the occupying - government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to - the victims of enforced idleness. * * * - - [Sidenote: The German plan makes Belgians war against their own - country.] - - "Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add - one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity, - is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter - himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure - one which affects the conduct of war _properly speaking_ (_proprement - dite_)'. It is, then, connected with the war _improperly speaking_ - (_improprement dite_); which can only mean that the Belgian workman, - although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German - workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to - co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against - his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague - Conventions. - - "Here is another statement: _unemployment is not caused either by the - Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the régime of - the German Occupation_. - - [Sidenote: No disorder is caused by Belgians.] - - "The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw - material intended for our national industry; it has seized and - shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories - and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus - suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work - for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain - idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of - hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy; - but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign - themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure - the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid - of a meager relief allowed them by the _Comité national de secours et - d' alimentation_, under the supervision of the protecting ministers - of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without - a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a - revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited - with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal - administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the - undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power - paralyzed their efforts. The _Comité National_ attempted to organize - a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical - instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to - keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for - the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the - plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The - occupying government. - - [Sidenote: Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.] - - "Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give - work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the - governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which, - as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured, - where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon - the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed. - - "They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the - army of the unemployed. * * * - - "The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the - unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not - allowed raw materials to enter Belgium. - - [Sidenote: England not to blame.] - - "England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the - revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral - States--Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw - materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same - control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not - to seize the finished products of our industrial work. - - [Sidenote: Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.] - - "But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of - its _Centrales_, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting - ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable - portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our - country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living, - which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * * - - [Sidenote: Deportation is slavery.] - - "Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code - after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong, - deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for - vengeance? - - "Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the - noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the - mission of dressing the wounds of your country.' - - "If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as - we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom - your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far - better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping. - - [Sidenote: Cold calculation of Germans.] - - "Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires, - but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation, - intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the - debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity. - - "It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted - conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of - our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the - good Samaritan! - - "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration. - - "D.J. CARD. MERCIER, - "_Arch. of Malines_." - -In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation -of the report of Minister Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - [Sidenote: Appalling stories of German behavior.] - - "_The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over - Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the - Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for - Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing - stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures. - And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been - related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us - to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all - possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because - there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and - the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult, - the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack - of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are - forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in - vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of - the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously - respected, are hauled by oxen._ - - [Sidenote: A foul deed.] - - "_The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate - themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that - existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house - for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly - repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all - that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as - one of the foulest that history records._ - - "_I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that - tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and - cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying - condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned - men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of - neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger._" (Continued on - page 74.) - -A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant, -may well be cited here: - - [Sidenote: "The woes of slavery."] - - "I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so - before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital - city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were - not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city - council, would be deported. - - "At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of - November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons, - myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street - and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with - the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held - back. - - "The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this - great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they - were cattle--all the great men of that province--the lawyers, the - statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital - of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years. - - "There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they - were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go - to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to - the one side or the other. - - "Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany. - You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left. - A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man - on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his - old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed. - They were packed in those trains that were waiting there. - - "You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching - to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last - that they had in life between themselves and starvation--a small - bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw - women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of - the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach - to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so - there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John - H. Gade, in _The National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917. - -The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock: - - THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN. - - "BRUSSELS, - "_November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine_. - - "His Excellency Mr. BRAND WHITLOCK, - "_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary - of the United States of America_. - - "MR. MINISTER: - - "From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you. - - "In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as - well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent - in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and - defenseless people is a victim. - - "Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on - impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible - events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian - hordes. - - [Sidenote: No shadow of excuse for deportations.] - - "Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes, - namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy - soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow - of excuse on the ground of military necessity, for it constitutes a - violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience. - - "Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may - be compelled to work directly or indirectly _for_ the enemy _against_ - their brothers who are fighting. - - "The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle. - - "Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this - monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international - law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those - who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from - neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered. - - [Sidenote: The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.] - - "Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in - the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers - of honor by their tears. - - "They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * * - The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields. - - "Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious - duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by - hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious - work--service to the enemy against the fatherland. - - "The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking - place without making their voices heard in protest. - - "They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral - torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed - with their children. - - [Sidenote: The rights of honor and conscience.] - - "They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and - conscience. - - "It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.' - - "We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our - hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal. - - "We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the - unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad - and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention. - - "Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed - can counterbalance that of the German authorities. - - "This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought - to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians? - - "Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most - distinguished consideration." - - (Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.) - -The United States Government did not fail to respond to this touching -appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at -Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with -the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In -an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. -Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in -translation, as follows: - - THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT." - - [Sidenote: More German camouflage.] - - "Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public - charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory - measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not - voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation - issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain - such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required - for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the - districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of - Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief - committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the - sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have, - in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations - regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal - authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who - may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be - released." - -Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and -would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the -negotiations which he carried on he says: - - [Sidenote: Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion - against her.] - - "I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for - Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would - make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle - contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor - at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which - the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in - Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated - solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the - matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal - attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would - entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had - very little influence with the military authorities and that it was - unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated, - however, in answer to my inquiry, that he would not disapprove of my - seeing the Chancellor about the matter." - -[Sidenote: Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor] - -Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor, -and among other arguments urged the promises which the German -Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron -von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in -detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in -full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the -Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations, -and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal -statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows: - - "The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to - Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows: - - "1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate - and careful selection. - - "2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken. - - "3. Employees of the Comité National not to be taken. - - [Sidenote: and asks certain concessions] - - "4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian - authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities - themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the - Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these - lists, released. - - "5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families - in Belgium. - - "6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be - voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral - representatives. - - * * * * * - - "A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me - and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to - the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of - amelioration: - - [Sidenote: but with slight success.] - - "1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be - made in a careful and deliberate manner. - - "2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be - exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits. - - "3. Employees of the _Comité National_ are regarded as actually - employed and therefore exempt. - - "4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate - with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in - order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been imprisoned for - refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his - release. - - "5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their - families in Belgium. - - "6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open - to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives. - - "American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired. - - * * * * * - - "On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text - of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th, - stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my - interview with the Chancellor." * * * - -The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following: - - MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916. - - "BRUSSELS, VIA THE HAGUE, _November 28, 1916_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - "_Washington_. - - [Sidenote: Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.] - - "We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his - conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders - [for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put - into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without - distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received - creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which - allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had - given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the - persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same - district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is - based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There - is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification - cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working - for the _Comité National_ were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding - them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day - in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in - various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small - percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist - in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken - there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have - no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to - oblige them to work for the Germans. - - "WHITLOCK, - "_American Minister_." - -The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able -to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister -Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - [Sidenote: Neutral representatives are allowed to request - reconsideration of special cases.] - - [Sidenote: They run into high figures.] - - "_We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the - conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have - already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with - the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request - that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and - on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time - to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who - were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come - within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government - that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in - Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions - that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations - of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many - requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to - rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation - in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and - supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comité National, - which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports - received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the - persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war, - and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it - is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the - very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with - any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been - deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned._ - - "_The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is - charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims - precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each - and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each - day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented, - and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances - were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to - Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should - they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told - that they submit over fifteen hundred each day._ * * * - - "_We have a great many requests, and although we try not to - discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though - now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it - because all the cases are deserving._ - - [Sidenote: Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported - Belgians.] - - "_I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La - Louvière, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported - men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent - to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused - to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians - claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the - camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the - agreements to work._ - - "_It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who - would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium - from workmen in Germany._" (Concluded on p. 78.) - -The American Government was not content with informal recommendations -to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American -representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German -chancellor: - - FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. - - [Sidenote: A solemn protest by United States.] - - "The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest - concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport - from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result - of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest - in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is - in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of - international practice which have long been accepted and followed by - civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered - territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is - convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all - probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned - and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally - deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the - German Government." - -[Sidenote: Other neutrals support American protest.] - -This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the -Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail, -except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil -over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure -come through, although the full facts will not be known until the -liberation of heroic Belgium. - -In the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ of December 2, 1916, the -following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy -Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag: - - PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG. - - "Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled - to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these - workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the - Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made - a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done - the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure - which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we - have agreed." - - "In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when - formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to - Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian - workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This - reassuring promise has not been kept." - -Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book: - - AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE. - - [Sidenote: American indignation at deportations.] - - "The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me - his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action - of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population - of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in - America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before - my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and - the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into - bondage.' - - "Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and, - on my return, I immediately took up the question. - - [Sidenote: Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.] - - "I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had - feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and - that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at - their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones - and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been - decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit - these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such - visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left - Germany. - - [Sidenote: Some of them call on him.] - - "Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to - get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how - they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany at making - munitions to be used probably against their own friends. - - "I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making - shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He - said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I - can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on - the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go. - - "Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to - win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W. - Gerard, _My Four Years in Germany_, 1917, pp. 351-52. - -A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae -Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper _Nepszawa_ of Budapest (quoted in -K.G. Ossiannilsson, _Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany_, 1917, -pp. 53-54). - - HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS. - - "Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is - for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must - be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in - accordance with the old saying which always holds good: _Vae victis_ - (woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms - which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate - banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'" - - [Sidenote: The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.] - - "* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans - use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work, - whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported - Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to - international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland - is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer - peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred - towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have - had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for - Belgium than for any other belligerent." - -[Sidenote: Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.] - -The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of -Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York _Evening -Post_, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian -population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here. -The town of Roulers, immediately behind the battle line in Flanders, -has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and -two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another -dispatch from Havre (_Washington Post_, September 24, 1917) it is -stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are -conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the -ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The -rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the -school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping." - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded). - - [Sidenote: German capacity for blundering.] - - "_One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted, - a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for - blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until - the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part - of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The - old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes; - they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone - fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the - humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the - privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish - population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in - its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed - all that._ - - [Sidenote: Germans will be hated for generations.] - - "_They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have - had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away - from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a - son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go - out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that - will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations, - a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early - atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by - one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human - race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and - systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are - said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German - officers are now said to be ashamed._ - - "WHITLOCK." - -Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium, -which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence -already presented. - - MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS. - - SEPTEMBER, 1917. - - I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of - German rule in Belgium and Northern France. - - I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes - which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I - have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people. - - [Sidenote: Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."] - - The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and - fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but - partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of - thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of - men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country, - the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening - of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the - country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to - witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this - long and terrible time--and still these are not the events of battle - heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the - mastership of the world. - - All these things are well known to the world--but what can never be - known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of - millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why? - Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies - before the march of autocracy. - - I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these - things are possible to us--but even should the broad Atlantic prove - our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for - us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be - trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest? - - HERBERT HOOVER. - - -FRANCE. - -[Sidenote: German practices were the same in all occupied regions.] - -In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its -attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in -Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately -illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this -part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two -occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from -a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may be gathered -from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by -the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25, -1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been -translated, along with the official documents, in _The Deportation of -Women and Girls from Lille_, New York, Doran. - - PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE. - - "The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more - and more difficult. - - "To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for - volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the - success that was expected. - - [Sidenote: German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.] - - "In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order - and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the - interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front, - where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any - military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the - opportunity of providing better for their subsistence. - - "In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German - depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30 - kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it - will be well to make ready at once. - - "I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change - his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared - legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in - possession of a permit in due form. - - "Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of - the population itself to remain calm and obedient. - - "COMMANDANT. - - "LILLE, _April, 1916_." - - NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE. - - "All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children - under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare - themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time. - - [Sidenote: Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to - depart.] - - "An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the - concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house - must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain - in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests - will be useless. No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be - transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time). - - "Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if - anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without - further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each - person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed. - This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the - number of the identity card. - - [Sidenote: Must carry their own cooking utensils.] - - "It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own - interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well - as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must - carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade - transportation will be punished without mercy. - - "ETAPPEN-KOMMANDANTUR." - - [LILLE, _April, 1916_.] - - PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON - GRAEVENITZ. - - "MONSIEUR LE GÉNÉRAL: It is my duty to bring to your notice the fact - that a very agitated state of mind exists among the population. - - "Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and - youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of - Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial. - - [Sidenote: The Bishop protests against deportations.] - - "The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures - equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You - will not be surprised, Monsieur le Général, that I intercede with you - in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission - lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the - Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that - eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty - to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and - whose burdens and sorrows are mine. - - [Sidenote: Appeals to the humanity of the commander.] - - "You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity - a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every - Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches - to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in - our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family - affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to - dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is - not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures--unlimited - moral torture. - - [Sidenote: The methods of deportation a danger to morals.] - - [Sidenote: Hopes for restoration of the deported.] - - "The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the - sacred demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere - idea of which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity - which inevitably accompanies removals _en masse_, involving mixture - of the sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral - standing. Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed - any worse offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few - potatoes to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the - light penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers, - who have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that - of keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and - sons fighting or killed at the front--these mothers are now alone. - They bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of - what I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these - harsh measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is - why I venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward - without delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a - Bishop, whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered - much for the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be - comparable to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and - would produce in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe - that the blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I - preserve the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families - will be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their - return and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all - lower considerations. - - "ALEXIS ARMAND, - "_Bishop_." - - ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE - PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. - - "To Monsieur RAYMOND POINCARÉ, - "_President of the French Republic, Paris_. - - "SIR: We have the honor to express again our most sincere gratitude to - you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the deputation - which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform you of the - deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities have just - carried out in the invaded districts. - - "We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an - honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing - about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to - your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been - made to us: - - "'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans announced that - the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be - transported into French districts where their provisioning would be - easier. - - [Sidenote: The procedure of the deportations.] - - "'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of - the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house - was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact - reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document, - above.] - - "'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an - hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation. - - "'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer, - who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can - express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending - scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of - their parents--a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were - executing the infamous task--rejoined the group of those who were - going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by - other soldiers with fixed bayonets. - - [Sidenote: Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the - brutal orders.] - - "'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly - separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes, - however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair, - and did not choose all the persons whom he should--by the terms of his - instructions--have separated. - - "'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where - they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form - convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or - thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them. - - "'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc., - then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by - districts. - - [Sidenote: Numbers deported.] - - "'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up - to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days - to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again - soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the - "Marseillaise." - - "'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?) - one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is - going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs, - whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap. - - [Sidenote: Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."] - - "'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to - their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the - Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful - promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is - unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained - to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of - insufficient food. - - "'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told - the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work, - and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which - only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the - victims, became known. - - "'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a - measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of - slave drivers. - - "'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the - whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in - knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the - despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the - German officers or rather executioners. - - "'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home - once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.' - - "Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without - commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we - took the liberty of laying before you. - - "We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the - invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you, - as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a - few words the situation from this aspect: - - "The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by - the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * * - * People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a - half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing - noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably. - - [Sidenote: People rely on the neutral powers.] - - "Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note - of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.' - We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le Président, that the - energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French - Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures - which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. * - * * - - "With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture - to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous kindness and - far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on - behalf of the whole country." - - (Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde, - Charles Droulers, Léon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.) - - "PARIS, _15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout_." - - AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT. - - [Sidenote: Barbarity of deportations.] - - "It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the - great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these - fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers - only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize - a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the - outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told - me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that - a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had - disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that - the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and - a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house - of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen - and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant - would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some - little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The - Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation - among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising - and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans. - - [Sidenote: Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the - deportations.] - - "That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told - him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without - consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name - of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil - population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not - known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military, - that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be - able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped, - but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were - not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made - in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of - the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of - these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press - agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements - about this matter because these people were not returned to their - homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of - Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had - no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the - case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, _My Four Years in - Germany_, 1917, pp. 333-335. - - -POLAND. - -The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities -in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become -only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will -be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this -pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more -touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the -_National Geographic Magazine_ for May, 1917. - - POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM. - - SEPTEMBER, 1917. - - Poland--Russian Poland--is perishing. And the German high command, - imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the - necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends. - - West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred - years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain - Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years, - by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland - will be thoroughly made over into a German province. - - [Sidenote: Devastation of Poland.] - - In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely - devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans. - A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished - by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the - way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by - the crows--though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty - Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets--the little - basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant - home--were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one - could not count them, each one telling a death. - - Warsaw, which had not been destroyed--once a proud city of a million - people--was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the - streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in snow and rain, - too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich - gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were - starving there in the streets in droves. - - In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a - proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to - work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much - as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law. - - [Sidenote: The policy of starvation.] - - It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father - of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your - families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve--this - to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the - authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to - millions of fellow Christians captive and starving. - - [Sidenote: Country to be restocked with Germans.] - - General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain. - - Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on - the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it - must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness, - the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be - restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed--rich alluvial - soil--better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If - the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany. - - Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the - women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries - concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good; - it will reappear as a German province." - - Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was - the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the - all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of - their mind. - - German people are material for building the State--of no other - account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity, - liberty, equality, the rights of others--all foolish talk. Democracy, - an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German - State may be mighty and great. - - [Sidenote: German system of frightfulness everywhere.] - - All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the - Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the - starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities, - frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the - enslavement of women--all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of - nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are - subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world. - - FREDERICK C. WALCOTT. - - - - -CONCLUSION. - -STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917. - -(Prepared for this pamphlet.) - - -[Sidenote: The graves of the massacred.] - -It was my privilege--and necessity--in connection with the work of -the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the -Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to -spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium -and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something -of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of -whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of -East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German -General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the -inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil -government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the -occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of -the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves -of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the -long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans -treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation. - -It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in -Louvain, Dinant, Visé, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of -the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little -has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent -of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in -the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench -lines of the extreme western front. - -As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover -this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with -the German officer assigned for my protection--and for the protection -of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity -also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into -the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the -destruction wrought in the two regions. - -[Sidenote: Towns untouched by war but ruined.] - -I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and -along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to -pieces. There had been fighting in these towns and the artillery of -first one side and then the other had worked their havoc among the -houses of the inhabitants. But there were many towns in which there -had been no fighting and yet all too many of these towns also were in -ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by fire and explosions. -There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a citizen or perhaps -two or three citizens had fired from a window on the invaders--or were -alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three blocks, or half the -town was methodically and effectively burned or blown to pieces. There -are many of these "punished" towns in occupied France. And between -these towns and along the roadways are innumerable isolated single -farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed that there was -any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just destroyed along the -way--and by the way, one may say. When the roll of destroyed villages -and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is made known, the world -will be shocked again by this evidence of German thoroughness. - -[Sidenote: Heartlessness of German rule.] - -The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French -territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions -occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable -steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was -visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at -the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated -through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can -pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town. - -[Sidenote: False receipts for requisitioned property.] - -The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm -animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried -to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These -requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming -in that quartermaster's _bons_ were given for the things taken. Even -then the German sense of humor too often made the _bon_ a crude jest. -The _bons_ were written in the German language in German script, -illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A _bon_ -might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was -taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the -requisitioning was simplified by the omission of _bon_-giving. Where -the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be -buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places -became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman -had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights -above the Meuse. But these bottles found their way to special tables -at the Great Headquarters. - -In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of -deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns -near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were -to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a -matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The -congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem -there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection -with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but -crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the -rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do, -as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open -air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real -advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food -supply situation. - -[Sidenote: Horrors of deportations.] - -But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we, -although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not -but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the -very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in -the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high -officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in -his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland, -our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But -a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had -been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and -daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken -without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The -great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser -deportations--that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their -carrying out--are hardly known. - -[Sidenote: No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.] - -I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained -while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral. -I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to -mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with -the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do -what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must -not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a -moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to -do it again. - -[Sidenote: Civilization must crush Prussian system.] - -I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of -war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again, -that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its -present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by -force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or -treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope -that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized -world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is -responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible. - - VERNON KELLOGG. - - - - -Your Government Is Willing to Send You - -WITHOUT CHARGE - -Any Two of the Pamphlets Listed Here with Exceptions Noted - - -_Committee on Public Information._ - -(Established by Order of the President, April 14, 1917, Washington, -D.C.) - - -Series No. 1. War Information. (Red, White and Blue Covers.) - -Catalogue No. - -1. How the War Came to America. - - _Contents_: A brief introduction reviewing the policy of the United - States with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, freedom of the seas, and - international arbitration, developments of our policy reviewed and - explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's - address to the Senate January 22, 1917, his war message to Congress - April 2, 1917, his Flag Day address at Washington, June 14, 1917. 32 - pages. (Translations: German, Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, - Swedish, Portuguese. 48 pages.) - - NOTE.--For Numbers 2, 3 and 7 described below, a contribution is - required as noted. All other booklets are free. - -2. National Service Handbook. (Price, 15 cents) - - (A reference work for libraries, schools, clubs and other - organizations.) - - _Contents_: Description of all civic and military organizations - directly or indirectly connected with war work, pointing out how - and where every individual can help. Maps, Army and Navy Insignia, - diagrams. 246 Pages. - -3. The Battle Line of Democracy. (Price, 15 cents) - - _Contents_: The best collection of patriotic prose and poetry. Authors - and statesmen of America and all the countries now associated with us - in the war have expressed the highest aspirations of their people. 134 - Pages. (Price 15 cents.) - -4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans. - - _Contents_: The President's speech with the facts to which he alludes - explained by carefully selected notes giving the proofs of German - purposes and intrigues. THESE NOTES PRESENT AN OVERWHELMING ARSENAL OF - FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages. - -5. Conquest and Kultur. - - _Contents_: A brief introduction outlining German war aims and showing - how the proofs were gathered; followed by quotations from German - writers revealing the plans and purposes of Pan Germany, one chapter - being devoted entirely to the German attitude toward America. 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(George Clarke) -Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians</p> -<p>Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey</p> -<p>Release Date: August 27, 2017 [eBook #55442]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1: TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala"> - https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pg" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<p class="ph1"> <span class="doubleUnderline"> -<i>GERMAN<br /> -WAR PRACTICES</i></span></p> - -<p class="ph3">PART I<br /> -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS</p> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 5em;"><small>EDITED BY</small><br /> -DANA C. MUNRO<br /> -PRINCETON UNIVERSITY</p> - -<p class="ph4">GEORGE C. SELLERY <small><i>and</i></small> AUGUST C. KREY<br /> -UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA</p> - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/illus01.jpg" alt="mark" /> -</p> - - -<p class="ph5"><small>ISSUED BY</small><br /> -THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 8em;">THE SECRETARY OF STATE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">THE SECRETARY OF WAR</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10.5em;">THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">GEORGE CREEL</span></p> - -<p><i>November 15, 1917</i> -</p> - - -<div class="bbox" style="margin-top: 10em;"> - -<p class="ph2">EXECUTIVE ORDER.</p> - - -<p>I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of -the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the -Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction -of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr. -George Creel.</p> - -<p>The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the -Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work -of the Committee.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 10em;">WOODROW WILSON.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>April 14, 1917.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">INTRODUCTION.</p> - - -<div class="sidenote">Germany pledged to Hague regulations.</div> - -<p>For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to -make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the -Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care -of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first -meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war -it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and -nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy. -The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules -to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants -and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings -and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the -rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article -44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give -information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the -most binding manner.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German policy of frightfulness.</div> - -<p>But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn -promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading -generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In -the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as -the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated -were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871. -Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von -Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.</p> - -<p>Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war -involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of -his master work, <i>Vom Kriege</i> (<i>On War</i>), he says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * * -Self-imposed restrictions, almost im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>perceptible and hardly worth -mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without -essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls -might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or -subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this -is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may -appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such -dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of -'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical -force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the -intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without -regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not -so use it."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military -necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as -von Clausewitz:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Frightfulness advocated by German generals.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of -war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and -subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with -when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * * -* Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary -military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that -modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence, -and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When -international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle -made necessary by military considerations."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian -army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is -an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the -most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation, -fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice—the soldier gives his -life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in -materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and -fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the -resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his -existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman." -"The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of -this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration -of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military -forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of -procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy -government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and -even his prestige. * * *"</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.</div> - -<p>Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German -generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is -to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his -speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in -1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to -the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China, -he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The -local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice -and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army, -the head of all Germany.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No -mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under -King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in -traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in -China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look -at a German askance. * * * Open the way for <i>Kultur</i> once for all."</p></blockquote> - - - -<p>Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the -Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the -circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly -successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers -in China were being published in local German papers, the leading -socialist newspaper, <i>Vorwärts</i>, excerpted from them reports of -atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders -in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's -speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal -condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was -openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party), -after quoting the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There are, -alas,<span class="sidenote">Opposition in Reichstag.</span> in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities told -in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response of -soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social Democrats, -Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a two-hour -address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in China and -on the speech of the Emperor he said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we -will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which -this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has -been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way -to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the -respect of the world."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the -German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for -the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home." -"An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in -the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing -worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by -the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he -sacked Magdeburg."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Atrocities in China.</div> - -<p>These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued -to be published in the <i>Vorwärts</i> for several years and appeared -intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that -time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial -of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that -he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in -wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery, -as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a -very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them." -He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had -been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of -the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made -clear by the revelations, made in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Reichstag shortly afterwards, of -similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa -in the campaign against the Hereros.</p> - -<p>The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence -upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of -the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from -those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and -of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press -with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and -political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of -volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the -vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated -the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.</p> - -<p>These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military -class, are best shown in the <i>German War Book</i> (<i>Kriegsbrauch im -Landkriege</i>), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book -may be judged from the following extracts:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Teachings of the German War Book.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated -essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently -degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (<i>Sentimentalität -und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei</i>), there have not been wanting -attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way -which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its -object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, -the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition -in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague -Conferences."</p> - -<p>"By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to -guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach -him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that -the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of -them."</p></blockquote> - -<p>For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered -territory should take up arms against the German Army, the <i>German War -Book</i> quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother -Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against -him:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p><blockquote> - -<p>"The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the -conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to -submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them; -my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty. -Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the -revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the -clergy.]</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">German war proclamations in French translations.</div> - -<p>Some of the rules laid down in the <i>German War Book</i> are illustrated -and their spirit made more definite in <i>L'Interprète Militaire</i>. <i>Zum -Gebrauch im Feindesland</i> (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's -Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains," -says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of -the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which -it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years -before this war began, the German military authorities were not only -preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the -Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these -proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready -for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by —— to -assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of -——.</p> - -<p>"Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of -the fine.</p> - -<p>"The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17, -at noon ——.</p> - -<p>"Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this -month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you -expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret -the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this -subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so -clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the -matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R—— is -not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"On account of the destruction of the bridge of F——, I order: The -district shall pay a special contribution of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> 10,000,000 francs by -way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are -informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and -that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost -severity. The village of F—— will be destroyed immediately by fire, -with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the -troops."</p></blockquote> - -<p>These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium -and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed -in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by -reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which -are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by -an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made -upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"The Governor of Brussels,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 42%;">"<span class="smcap">Baron von Luettwitz</span>.</span> -</p> - -<p>"<i>November 1, 1914.</i>"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German -authorities:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Notice to the People.</p> - -<p>"Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on -the German columns and wagons (<i>trains</i>). The same day [some of the] -inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In -addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German -ambulance were fired upon.</p> - -<p>"Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is -imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay -this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914, -at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German -military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No -delay will be granted.</p> - -<p>"If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of -650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.</p> - -<p>"In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made -and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has -concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure -by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city, -he will be shot.</p> - -<p>"The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> authorities will be -held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.</p> - -<p>"The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the -Commune.</p> - -<p>"Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"The General in Chief,</span><br /> - -<span style="margin-left: 42%;">"<span class="smcap">von Fasbender</span>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in -terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided -with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the -terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State -Department on September 12, 1917, writes:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate -translations in German and French of such sentences as:</p> - -<p>"'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)</p> - -<p>"'Carry out all the furniture.</p> - -<p>"'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.</p> - -<p>"'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.</p> - -<p>"'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.</p> - -<p>"'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders -to requisition several barrels of wine.</p> - -<p>"'Show us the way to ——. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">The system of frightfulness.</div> - -<p>The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the -attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of -frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail -worked out in advance. The <i>German War Book</i> with its "cold-blooded -doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed -in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military -officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in -the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately -formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their -sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted -in an interview in the <i>Neue Freie Presse</i> of Vienna, as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the -conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run -its course all the sooner. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> war which of all wars is and must -be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as -possible."</p></blockquote> - -<p>This interview was reproduced in the <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i> of November -20, 1914.</p> - -<p>Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the -<i>Geographical Magazine</i> for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Interview with Bernhardi.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert -artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the -next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, <i>Germany and the -Next War</i>.</p> - -<p>"I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of -the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the -bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What -did you think of it?'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but -I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general -looked actually pleased."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which -the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of -Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Statement by von Bissing.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression -of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses, -flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated, -that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed -sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as -the life of a single one of our brave soldiers—the rigorous -accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high <i>Kultur</i>, and in -that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from -our army."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium, -repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The -interview is published in the <i>Düsseldorfer Anzeiger</i> of December 8, -1914.</p> - -<p>Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the -higher German command for the atrocities:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of -humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual -excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be; -because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis -by order<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under -their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I -saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a -penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in -which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw -other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon -another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had -been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to -den in holes, like wild beasts.</p> - -<p>"Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and -buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives -but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one -conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in -command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.' -And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.' -And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had -indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their -superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, <i>Speaking of Prussians</i>, New York, 1917, -pp. 32-34.</p></blockquote> - -<p>These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and -official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of -the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman -policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult, -for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public -opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which -was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give -ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have -been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See -War Information Series, No. 3, <i>The Government of Germany</i>; see also -Gerard's <i>My Four Years in Germany</i>, Chap. II.)</p> - - - -<p>The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all -in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of -the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with -the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous -nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious -<span class="sidenote">Hatred against Belgians.</span> -to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that -it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes, -but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity, -and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of -self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred -became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans -became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium, -the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable -warfare, that the <i>francs-tireurs</i> (guerillas) were everywhere present -doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that -women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or -helpless prisoners.</p> - -<p>The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the -following extracts from German letters:</p> - -<p>Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This -letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was -obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to -the United States Embassy at Berlin.)</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">November 4, 1914.</span></span> -</p> - -<p>"The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The -Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once. -While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever -beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not -overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down -without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is -a desire to wipe them out, root and all."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Extract from another letter to a brother:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Schleswig, 25, 8, 14</span> [Aug. 25, 1914].</span> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with -your regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against -these <i>Civilians</i>, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of -them come near you. <i>Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes -too near.</i> They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians; -even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go -inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make -the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. <i>The -newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our -soldiers whilst they were drinking.</i> You soldiers must spread around -so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near -you.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Remain always in the company of others. <i>I hope that you have -read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no -compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the -butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet.</i> * * *</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"Your brother,</span><br /> - -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Willi</span>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the -Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.</p> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<span class="smcap">Berlin, via Copenhagen</span>, <i>Sept. 7, 1914</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 15%;">"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,</span> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span> -</p> - -<p>"Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following -telegram from the Emperor to the President:</p> - -<p>"'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most -prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking -the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands -<span class ="sidenote">Emperor's telegram.</span> -of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The -same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and -prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds -and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly -forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore -address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which, -owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most -barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these -atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged -and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian -civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by -women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers, -medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle -fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the -most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten -the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder -and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain], -excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense -and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that -such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous -innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of -the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor -and King.'</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Gerard.</span> <i>Berlin.</i>"</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, <i>Der Fels</i>, February, -1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Refutation by a German.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with -the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been -made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of -inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests -during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary, -without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the -United States of America that even women and priests had committed -atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors -and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be -reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn -until after the war."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The <i>Vorwärts</i>, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Refutation by Vorwärts.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great -number of assertions which have been made with great precision and -published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties -committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is -at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position -to silence two others of these fantastic stories.</p> - -<p>"The War Correspondent of the <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i> spoke a few weeks -ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have -been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He -even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this -kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this -story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention. -Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out -by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single -case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance -where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been -demonstrated.</p> - -<p>"It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance -of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The -desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error -play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every -nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately -transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs. -Already the <i>Volkszeitung</i> of Cologne has been able, contrary to the -very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> to prove that there -was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this -town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under -treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have -been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been -demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross -Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated -in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the -Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only -slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a -request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written -reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned -field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 10%;">"'<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 10%;">'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.</span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">'Yours obediently,</span> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">'<span class="smcap">Professor Rautenberg</span>.'"</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">German soldiers protest against atrocities.</div> - -<p>Thus the teachings of the <i>German War Book</i> and of the German apostles -of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their -natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A -considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by -the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was -the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation. -The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the -American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this -pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the -horror of it, which the writers felt.</p> - -<p>Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter -of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings -were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon -could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians! -O Prussians!'—but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The -whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one -officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most -of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless -Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the -swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For -days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> and I dare not -think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality -and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only -beasts. Down with militarism.</p> - -<p>"This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded; -Berlin, October 22, 1914.</p> - -<p>"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a -common Prussian soldier."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Russian Poland</span>, <i>December 18, '14</i>.</span> -</p> - -<p>"In the name of Christianity I send you these words.</p> - -<p>"My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you -of these lines.</p> - -<p>"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.</p> - -<p>"And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses -according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.</p> - -<p>"In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will -protest against this, I sign myself,</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">A German Soldier and Christian</span>.</span> -</p> - -<p>"I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me -court-martialed for divulging military secrets."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the -system of which the writer was a witness.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -"To the<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">American Government</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10%;">"<i>Washington, U.S.A.</i></span> -</p> - -<p>"Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With -the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves -be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is -that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people; -one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down -in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary -mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no -judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to -these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is -right? Might is right.</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">A Soldier and Man Who Is No Barbarian.</span>"</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Socialists oppose system.</div> - -<p>Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe -the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and -refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The <i>Vorwärts</i>, the -leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has -opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have -so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial, -entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the -fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish -also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them. -* * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being -barbarous. * * *</p> - -<p>"What should one say when even such an organ as the <i>Deutsches -Offizier-Blatt</i> expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the -beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only -wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help -impossible?' Or what should we say when the <i>Deutsches Offizier-Blatt</i> -states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot -'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian -grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we -are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that -there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in -themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our -fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show -knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such -pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not -be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class -associates on the other side of the border."</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the following day, August 24, 1914, the <i>Vorwärts</i> returned to the -attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>* * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a -demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages] -emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole -groups among certain classes who represent German <i>Kultur</i> want to -indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the -purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'</p> - -<p>"What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'. -Thus in a leading article of the <i>Berliner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Neueste Nachrichten</i>, the -demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels—one, the second -Burgomaster, is generously excepted—should be immediately seized and -subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according -to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been -committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should -immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the -conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a -single penny for them."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Three years later, August 26, 1917, the <i>Vorwärts</i> quoted the following -passage from the <i>Deutsche Tagezeitung</i>:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Still hold same opinions.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right -(<i>Machtpolitiker</i>) who despise the forces of the inner life and -believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from -foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of -the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins -and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals -is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of -consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgian warning of danger.</div> - -<p>Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and -the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a -terrible character (<i>grausamen Charakter</i>) caused grave anxiety among -the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian -Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian -newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in -large print:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">"TO CIVILIANS.</p> - -<p>"The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy -should show himself in their district:</p> - -<p>"Not to fight;</p> - -<p>"To utter no insulting or threatening words;</p> - -<p>"To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will -be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;</p> - -<p>"To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may -occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged -that civilians have fired;</p> - -<p>"An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime -for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more -reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of -oppression, resulting in bloodshed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> or pillage, or the massacre of the -innocent population with the women and children."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the -neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to -ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected -by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their -reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to -include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges -they make against the Germans:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and -children, were murdered by the Germans.</p> - -<p>"2. That women had been outraged.</p> - -<p>"3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a -town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and -madden themselves with drink.</p> - -<p>"4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and -systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities, -sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.</p> - -<p>"5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by -bestial and sacrilegious practices.</p> - -<p>"6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were -destroyed.</p> - -<p>"7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt -alive.</p> - -<p>"8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby -rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for -the alleged wrongdoings of others.</p> - -<p>"9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually -enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for -the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into -Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.</p> - -<p>"10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their -inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian -over the German soldiers.</p> - -<p>"11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly -destroyed by the invaders.</p> - -<p>"12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and -the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans, -and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the -Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men, -women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the -allied soldiers."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<p>The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the -terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government -and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of -materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts -of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of -testimony was published in a <i>German White Book</i> with the title <i>Die -völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs</i>.</p> - -<p>The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers -had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the -sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published, -show the reverse to be true.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German White Book reveals atrocities.</div> - -<p>It has been well said that the publication of this <i>German White Book</i> -was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good -opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had -committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the -other hand, this <i>White Book</i>, published by the German Government, will -be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and -other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders -of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German -officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and -"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and -callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain -upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."</p> - -<p>Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the <i>German White Book</i>, it -is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken -of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September -19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman -practices in the conduct of a war"):</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the -truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those -responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if -such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their -adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the -world."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET.</p> - - -<div class="sidenote">German sources.</div> - -<p>In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence -is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources -include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters -and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers. -The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The -<i>Rules for Field Service</i> of the German Army advises each soldier to -keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers -who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been -confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with -facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known -collection was made by Bédier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University -of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bédier -of the Collège de France." Of Bédier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the -University of Copenhagen, says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one -does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone -may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied -the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here, -accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has -employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts -are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They -tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bédier -accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not -only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins -have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity. -Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details -which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own -violent acts are horror-striking."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in -translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of -the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> well be authentic and I -accept this without further comment for all those which are provided -with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case -be established after the war."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">American sources.</div> - -<p>The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives -of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors -and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given. -Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially -for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony -of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the -United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well -authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Frightfulness as a system.</div> - -<p>The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of -frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite -policy of the German Government, against which more humane German -soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not -seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such -acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone -who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the <i>Report of -the Committee on Alleged German Outrages</i>, presided over by the former -British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as -"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian <i>Commission -d'Enquête</i>; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices -of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications, -and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official <i>German -White Book</i> cited above. The last, published by the German Government, -is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - -<p class="ph2">TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS</p> -<p class="center">I. MASSACRES.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.</div> - - - -<p>In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that -conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves; -that their property would be taken and that their lands would be -devastated. "<i>Vae victis!</i>—woe to the conquered!" For two centuries -or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of -humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the -combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established -as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it -sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of -the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and -private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must -be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in -<span class="sidenote">But her military leaders did not acquiesce.</span> -common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this -article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They -had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years -ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful -to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had -been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's -biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was -still continuing in January, 1871, said:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Bismarck's idea in 1871.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for -our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the -localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn. -After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come -to their senses."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway -in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the -individual German soldiers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="center">EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.</p> - -<p>"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr—— gave the alarm in the -town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were -burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops." -(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second -Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown -into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of -Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished -for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by -the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The -village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so -that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by -house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater -part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone -who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the -village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl -Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched -down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant. -A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village -lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops -from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so -that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced -to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst -of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched -the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain -Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> (From the diary -of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of -Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and -give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.</p> - -<p>"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge). -At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has -thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry -Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the -latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were -shot and the village was burnt—artillery is continuously shooting—the -village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, -the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages, -châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a -beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.</p> - -<p>"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many -dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger -Battalion, Marburg.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very -severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of -the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the -population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German -troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who -resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses -which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our -own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced -to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children, -utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From -the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry, -Thirty-third Reserve Division.)</p> - -<p>Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at -the foul deeds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was -clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to -behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were -many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see; -three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and -the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there -to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the -survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle, -with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this -was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt! -Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed. -I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on -the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul -Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty -persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The -sights here make you cry.</p> - -<p>"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far -given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants -returning to Liége.</p> - -<p>"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no -post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and -drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der -Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry -Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château -belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had -behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and -then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things -about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash -the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy—magnificent furniture, -silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to -requisition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap -of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."</p> - -<p>"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where -the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the -villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole -lot—16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did -for three at a time.</p> - -<p>"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *</p> - -<p>"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot -was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed. -We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely -corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were -in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows; -and we burnt it afterwards.</p> - -<p>"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the -guilty and paying 15,000 francs.</p> - -<p>"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic -steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot. -The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set -on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle -went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants -were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.</p> - -<p>"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some -innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as -to their guilt instead of shooting them.</p> - -<p>"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having -our meal the alarm was sounded—everyone is very jumpy.</p> - -<p>"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The -houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent -furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but -in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken, -mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more -damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled -could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have -been left intact after so many troops had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> passed. But the column -commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they -could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to -millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.</p> - -<p>"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in -excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works -of art, everything was smashed to bits.</p> - -<p>"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * * -* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The -hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase -and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One -Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)</p> - -<p>But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in -chief, as is evident from the following:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">"ORDER.</p> - -<p> -"<i>To the People of Liége.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful -intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous -manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has -reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.</p> - -<p>"I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order -that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar -attitude.</p> - -<p>"Liége, 22nd August, 1914.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">General von Bülow.</span>"</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a -like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot -men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it -was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded. -It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when -commanded by the officers.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that -the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is -there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the -contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> influence of -alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.</p> - -<p>"The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few -exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.</p> - -<p>"It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set -houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as -the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they -encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.</p> - -<p>"I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with -regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian -population.</p> - -<p>"I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.</p> - -<p>"The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer -and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"The Commanding Officer,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Major von Bassewitz</span>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, -Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The -following passages refer to the subject of massacres:</p> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance -of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but -they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details -in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown. -Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant; -Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine -Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his -wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave -and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot -in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17; -Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During -the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed -<span class="sidenote">Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.</span> -before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame -Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was -brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of -her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her -husband's life was spared."</p> - -<p>"On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of -Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the -Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated -persons were lying. Women and children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> were separated from the men -and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day. -They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens, -who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the -house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on -the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes -Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to -the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks.</p> - -<p>"On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to -leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women, -children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like -cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as -Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."</p> - -<p>"One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little -village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal -fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it -is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants, -mostly all poor laborers.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Massacres in Tamines.</div> - -<p>"The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute -testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made -graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the -crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk -between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the -sinister date of August 22d, 1914."</p> - -<p>"But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were -impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military -order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there -overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms -were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by -any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.</div> - -<p>"One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the -Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel -Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes, -especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of -nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the -victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of -families, even old men.</p> - -<p>"It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the -fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:</p> - -<p> -"The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old.<br /> -"Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old.<br /> -"Nelly Pollet, 11 months old.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>"Gilda Genon, 18 months old.<br /> -"Gilda Marchot, 2 years old.<br /> -"Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years. -Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one -survivor. Those men that escaped death—and many of whom were riddled -with bullets—were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion -their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been -relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to -Cassel [Prussia]."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited -Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In <i>A Journal -from our Legation in Belgium</i>, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he -relates what the German officers told him:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the -town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, -wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free -application of the torch—the whole story enough to make one see red. -And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make -people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."</p></blockquote> - -<p>German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing -have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Pastor defends frightfulness.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us -* * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a -ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any -previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in <i>Deutsche Reden in schwerer -Zeit</i>, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for -the individual, but not too hard for this political structure -(<i>Staatsgebilde</i>), for the destinies of the immortal great nations -stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, -to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, -as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in -<i>Süddeutsche Monatsheft</i>, "South German Monthly."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> - -<p>Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen -the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent -eloquence?</p> - -<p>This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from -one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the -massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.</p> - -<p> -Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge.<br /> -Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.<br /> -St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us.<br /> -St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us.<br /> -Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German -eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in -the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words -as these:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the -greatest institute for moral education in the world."</p> - -<p>"The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never -so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston -Stewart Chamberlain, in <i>Kriegsaufsätze</i>, "War Essays", 1914.</p> - -<p>"We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness -of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in <i>Deutsche Reden in Schwerer -Zeit</i>, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="center">II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.</p> - -<p>The massacres described above were a part of the German system of -frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians -as hostages and for screens.</p> - -<p>In discussing the use of hostages the <i>German War Book</i> (<i>Kriegsbrauch -im Landkriege</i>) says:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Views of the German General Staff.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for -the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or -detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been -less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the -law of nations have wrongly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> decided that the taking of hostages has -disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *</p> - -<p>"A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German -Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from -French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order -to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the -people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any -fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer -outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of -nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally -condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend -to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In <i>L'Interprète -Militaire</i> the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both -in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The -evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities -and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from -these will illustrate the system which was employed.</p> - -<p>A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the -proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are -presented:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914.</p> - -<p>"4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in -Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnée, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the -persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not -forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.</div> - -<p>"5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not -be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnée must -immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as -hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fléron. September 6th, 1914, for -the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until -September 7th at midday.</p> - -<p>"The life of these hostages depends on the population of the -above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances.</p> - -<p>"During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous -signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German -time).</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> -<p>"6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent -persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following -midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must -remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage -will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear.</p> - -<p>"7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to -be taken first as hostages.</p> - -<p>"8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * * -show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats, -or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of -doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do -this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by -every means."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">A PROCLAMATION BY VON BÜLOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914.</p> - -<p>"1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of -war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey -will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany.</p> - -<p>"The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every -soldier found will be immediately shot.</p> - -<p>"2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty, -being shot.</p> - -<p>"Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the -burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Von Bülow takes hostages in every street.</div> - -<p>"3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten -hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If -there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot.</p> - -<p>"4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must -be lights at three windows in every house.</p> - -<p>"5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The -inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more -horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the -life of its citizens by risings against the German Army.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"The Commander of the Town,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">von Bülow</span>.</span> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Namur</span>, <i>25th August, 1914</i>. (Printed by Chantraine)."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914.</p> - -<p>"September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were -destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * *</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Hostages are made responsible for railroads.</div> - -<p>"Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events -take place—it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or -not—will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have -been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of -similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway, -telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot.</p> - -<p>"Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways -have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph -or telephone lines in a suspicious manner.</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"The Governor General of Belgium,</span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Baron von der Goltz</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Field-Marshal</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS.</p> - -<p>"In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the -tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have -been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These -hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other -hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and -inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">The General Commanding.</span></span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Rheims</span>, <i>12th September, 1914</i>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Over 80 hostages in Rheims.</div> - -<p>Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages -and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives -of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the -German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the -least disorder," in the proclamation.</p> - -<p>Hugh Gibson, in <i>A Journal from our Legation in Belgium</i>, page 184, -explains what was likely to happen:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster, -the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good -behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like -nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law -and order, ignominiously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> shot, and they do not restrain themselves a -bit on account of the hostages."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL.</p> - -<p>"Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages.</p> - -<p>"Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses -and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and -then we again set fire to the village.</p> - -<p>"On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests -because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought -to the village of Ste. Marie.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Hostages at Willekamm.</div> - -<p>"Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut. -Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners -(tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they -were to be killed.</p> - -<p>"Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot -them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery, -First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure -civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in -front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be -compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans. -This usage is illustrated in the following:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">October 7, 1914.</span></span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Civilians used as screens.</div> - -<p>"But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant -idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out -in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on -ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little -one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all -seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers -they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively -clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was -immediately effective.</p> - -<p>"The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were -able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal -street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot. -The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when, -toward 7 o'clock in the evening,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> the brigade advanced to the assault -to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Dié had been -cleared of the enemy.</p> - -<p>"Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint -Dié further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four -civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the -street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the -middle of the street near the hospital."</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"<span class="smcap">A. Eberlein</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>First-Lieutenant</i>."</span> -</p> - -<p>Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of -the <i>Münchner Neueste Nachrichten</i>.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the -Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of -seeking protection.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"No respect to the cassock."</div> - -<p>"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops -were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the -parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As -they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest -was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men, -burned 50 houses, and looted 100."</p> - -<p>Hugh Gibson, in <i>A Journal from our Legation in Belgium</i>, page 155, -gives another incident:</p> - -<p>"Two old priests have staggered into the —— legation more dead than -alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops -for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is -said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through."</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS.</p> - -<p>"At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were -made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At -Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable -citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German -regiments or to make a screen before them.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.</div> - -<p>"The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty. -The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without -circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'</p> - -<p>"An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of -August, ran thus: 'Every aggression com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>mitted against the German -troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes -the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the -severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against -those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the -citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.'</p> - -<p>"These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer, -burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent -deputy and sheriff of Liége."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The above quotation is taken from <i>An Appeal to Truth</i>, addressed Nov. -24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the -cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one, -witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so -appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for -life." Will Irwin, in <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="center">III. FINES.</p> - -<p>The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions -of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves -to the following:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Germany's promises in Hague conventions.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be -inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals -for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally -responsible."</p> - -<p>"Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded -from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army -of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the -country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the -obligation of taking part in military operations against their own -country."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">German violations of Hague conventions.</div> - -<p>The German authorities have violated these articles from the very -beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon -individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German -Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In -<i>An Appeal to Truth</i> Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of -20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform -the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of -the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact, -upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes. -The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because -a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had -given way through wear."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914, -the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid -by the Belgian Provinces jointly.</p> - -<p>Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the -<i>Appeal to Truth</i>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this -kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear -<i>relation to the resources of the country</i>, article 52.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier's comments.</div> - -<p>"Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of -war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had -exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in -those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all -law, being freely commandeered.</p> - -<p>"It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that -a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">The crushing fine is increased.</div> - -<p>The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy. -In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month -period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of -40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In -November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month, -in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German -authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for -acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that -these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village -thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.)</p> - -<p>The German military rulers have also made the families responsible -for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the -following examples, which are quoted from the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>, cited -above.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Family made responsible.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the -militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these -orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * <i>In case of -disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally -responsible.</i>"</p> - -<p>"A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders -the <i>members of the family</i> responsible if a Belgian fit for military -service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a -proclamation declaring:</p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Villages made responsible.</div> - -<p>"The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the -inhabitants against our troops <i>will be burned</i>.</p> - -<p>"For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., <i>the villages -in the neighborhood</i> of the destruction <i>will be held responsible</i>.</p> - -<p>"The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and -without mercy. <i>The whole community will be held responsible.</i> -Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will -be levied."</p></blockquote> - -<p>At the end of the <i>Appeal to Truth</i> Cardinal Mercier says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"But we can not say all here, nor quote all.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier has proofs.</div> - -<p>"If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * * -we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in -the four annexes [to the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>], one allegation of which -we have not the proofs in our records."</p></blockquote> - -<p>A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the -archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed -to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a -small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State -Department archives tell the story. They need no comments.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>Oct. 27, 1914</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span> -</p> - -<p>"Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following -case be submitted to the President:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The case of Sissonne.</div> - -<p>"Prince states that General von Bülow for weeks has been inhabiting -Prince's ancestral château near Rheims, historical monument, -containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Bülow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> has -imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne -some miles distant from château, because broken glass found on road -near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a -number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand -francs but von Bülow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince -that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the château and adjoining -village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first. -Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his -word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of -danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning -messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because -of refusal to pay.</p> - -<p>"I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and -Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German -Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's -threatened property is in France.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Herrick.</span>"</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Army Headquarters</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 33%;">"<i>Warmériville, Sept. 19th, 1914</i>.</span> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">To</span> the <span class="smcap">Mayor of the Commune of Sissonne</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Sissonne</i>.</span> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Von Bülow's levy on Sissonne.</div> - -<p>"It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and -the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with -broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50 -metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic.</p> - -<p>"I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility -on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by -levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred -thousand francs).</p> - -<p>"This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by -October 15th.</p> - -<p>"The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to -enforce execution of this order.</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"The General Commander in Chief of the Army.</span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Von Bülow.</span>"</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Monaco</span>, <i>Oct. 22nd, 1914</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Sire</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<p>"I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave -and urgent matter.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.</div> - -<p>"The General von Bülow has caused to be occupied since one month and -a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the -village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred -inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five -hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than -one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a -document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village -of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not -disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of -October.</p> - -<p>"That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45 -years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of -the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work.</p> - -<p>"In reply to the summons of the General von Bülow I have given my -word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert -a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a -sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor -by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Château de -Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction.</p> - -<p>"I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin,</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Albert</span>, <i>Prince of Monaco</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BÜLOW.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Monaco</span>, <i>Oct. 22nd, 1914</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">General</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<p>"To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the -rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word -of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war -come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence -or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of -five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne.</p> - -<p>"As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the -Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has -decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.</div> - -<p>"My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal -will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Château -de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and -charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem -the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims—when no -reprehensible action has been committed there—the whole world will -judge between you and myself.</p> - -<p>"I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Albert</span>, <i>Sovereign Prince of Monaco</i>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="center">IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Advance in humanity—until August, 1914.</div> - -<p>Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its -advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and -in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be -given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as -1863, in the <i>Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United -States in the Field</i> the United States declared:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">United States treatment of civilians, 1863.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last -centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on -land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a -hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms. -The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed -citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the -exigencies of war will admit.</p> - -<p>"23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried -off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little -disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile -troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war.</p> - -<p>"24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues -to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the -hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and -protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and -still is with uncivilized people, the exception."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">German Government's reversion to barbarism.</div> - -<p>These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War—one of -the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than -50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the -methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has -deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and -girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even -compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies -and their own flesh and blood.</p> - -<p>No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and -detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men -and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been -broken up. Girls have been carried off to work—or worse—in a strange -land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or -what their fate has been.</p> - -<p>This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of -Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France.</p> - -<p>The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and -forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small -fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the -story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the -reader easily to grasp the connection of events.</p> - - -<p class="center">BELGIUM.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing, -single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of -German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium." -Vernon Kellogg, in <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, October, 1917.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be -obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken -from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on -pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report -at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum -of repetition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<i>Legation of the United States of America</i>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, January 16th, 1917</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<i>The Honorable the Secretary of State</i>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.</div> - -<p>"<i>Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since -the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to -prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance -of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of -obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be -based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself, -that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and -justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary -despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with -doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress -that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy -land.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.</div> - -<p>"<i>In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go -back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief -work, the Comité National—the Belgian relief organization that -collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium—proposed an -arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own -employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages -they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this -both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide -the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time, -to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected -in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had -many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium -on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans. -However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice, -and on the rolls of the Comité National have been borne the names of -hundreds of thousands—some 700,000, I believe—of idle men receiving -this dole, distributed through the communes.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">German cupidity excited.</div> - -<p>"<i>The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation -to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of -the chômeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the -guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comité -National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than -risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to -own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful, -since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the -authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters -of the communes. Finally, however, the military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> party, always brutal, -and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral -sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had -always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have -sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and -secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application.</i>"<br /> - -(Continued on page 53.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had -learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In -order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might -hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured -from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter -dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp -to communicate them to the people:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene, -has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by -your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following -declarations:</p> - -<p>"(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be -enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors.</p> - -<p>"(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed, -the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors -and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire -population.</p> - -<p>"(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see -that food is assured to the population."</p></blockquote> - -<p>These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues -show by abundant evidence in the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted -a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were -called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from -their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman, -a member of the family was arrested.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Violation of German promises.</div> - -<p>"However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were -unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.'</p> - -<p>"On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut -up in the railway carriages.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> -<p>"On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at -Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret -society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German -military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Early deportations.</div> - -<p>"On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken -to Germany.</p> - -<p>"On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany.</p> - -<p>"On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would -receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days. -On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi."</p> - -<p>"A similar course was adopted at <i>Malines</i>, where, by various methods -of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers -at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not -plain that this material would become war material sooner or later.</p> - -<p>"On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be -obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all -commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen -had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.'</p> - -<p>"On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a -complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of -several kilometres of the town."</p> - -<p>"Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the -arsenal."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgians asked to make barbed wire.</div> - -<p>"The commune of <i>Sweveghem</i> (Western Flanders) was punished in June, -1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert -refused to make barbed wire for the German Army.</p> - -<p>"The following notice was placarded at <i>Menin</i> in July-August, -1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of -any description—including assistance to their families, wives, -and children—to any operatives except those who work <i>regularly</i> -at <i>military work</i>, and other tasks assigned to them. All other -operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any -fashion.'</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Punished for refusal to work for German Army.</div> - -<p>"Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at -Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke -29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's -factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for -having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir -was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a -year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Interference with Red Cross.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The General Government had recourse also to <i>indirect</i> methods of -compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property, -and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself -master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and -Food Committee.</p></blockquote> - - - -<blockquote> - -<p>"If we were to cite <i>in extenso</i> the decree of the Governor General -of August 4th, 1915, <i>concerning measures intended to assure the -carrying out of works of public usefulness</i>, and that of August 15th, -<span class="sidenote">Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.</span> -1915, '<i>concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from -work</i>,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power -attempts to attack at once the masters and the men."</p></blockquote> - -<p>October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the -development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in -prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and -openly discloses a contempt for international law.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915.</p> - -<p>"Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to -continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of -which the military administration is interested, such work being -ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to -imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to -Germany.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work -for them.</div> - -<p>"Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the -contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work.</p> - -<p>"On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military -commandant has the sole right of forming a decision.</p> - -<p>"Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other -means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in -Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding -five years.</p> - -<p>"Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other -way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum -fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's -imprisonment.</p> - -<p>"If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such -offence the heads of the communes will be punished.</p> - -<p>"Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3, -the German authorities may, in case of need, impose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> on communes, -where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive -police measures.</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"This present decree comes into force immediately.</span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"Der Etappeinspekteur,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Von Unger</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"Generalleutnant.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Ghent</span>, <i>October 12th, 1915</i>."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and -arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced -labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there. -It is slavery, neither more nor less."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale -deportations.</div> - -<p>Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able -to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the -need for an additional labor supply <i>in Germany</i> had become urgent, -the German government established the system of forced labor <i>and -deportation</i> which has aroused the detestation of Christendom. -The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German -authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916.</p> - -<p class="center">"DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY....</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German verbal camouflage.</div> - -<p>"I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the -place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of -others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of -gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness.</p> - -<p>"II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in -case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of -public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he -lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force.</p> - -<p>"III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall -refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur -the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to -10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer -penalty is provided for by the laws in force.</p> - -<p>"If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>ment with -several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a -ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment.</p> - -<p>"IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce -the proper execution of this decree.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"The Quartermaster General, <span class="smcap">Sauberzweig</span>.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Great Headquarters</span>, <i>3d October, 1916</i>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.</div> - -<p>The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military -rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and -the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that -the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of -Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff. -In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued)</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Was Bissing against deportations?</div> - -<p>"<i>Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme -command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too -mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest, -threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official -here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible -régime—would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated. -Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of -Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so.</i>" -(Continued on p. 54.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own -judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate" -and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the -following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT.</p> - -<p>"I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had -opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing, -who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man -steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart -which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined -for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped -in that system.</p> - -<p>"I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and -France stop giving these people money to purchase food?'</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> -<p>"He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out -for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any -time.'</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.</div> - -<p>"He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60 -days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to -compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into -Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and -fight against the English and the French.'</p> - -<p>"'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would -transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work, -across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where -we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water -and it will blossom like the rose.'</p> - -<p>"'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate -opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and -force them through that line, so that the English and French could -take care of their own people.'</p> - -<p>"It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the -German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people -not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in <i>The -National Geographic Magazine</i>, May, 1917.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps -be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p> - -<p>"<i>The deportations began in October in the Étape, at Ghent, and at -Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich -industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about -Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant, -even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the -civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned.</i></p> - -<p>[The étapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included -the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the -region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was -under civil government.]</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The deportations begin.</div> - -<p>"<i>During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels, -but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care than -in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There was no -public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list -of chômeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the -railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to -respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of -employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On -the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves -at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by -German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large -force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access -to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The -Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to -each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided -warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial -<span class="sidenote"> Pitiable scenes.</span> -allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more -excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of -those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the -cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold -and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of -brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels, -but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked -were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe -weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations.</i>" -(Continued on page 67.)</p> - -<p>Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to -abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises -in the past:</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Malines</span>, <i>19th October, 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"Mr. <span class="smcap">Governor General</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Another "Scrap of Paper."</div> - -<p>"The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population -asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms -or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The -entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me -to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the -kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure -the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless, -that at Liége, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and -taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to -be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had -given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen -at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning -deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> he sent me in -writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no -reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there -enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.'</p> - -<p>"This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the -clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your -Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October -16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding -pages.]</p> - -<p>"Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz, -at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and -requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country, -without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given -me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this -request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure. -The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines -to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of -two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the -liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected.</p> - -<p>"To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to -reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps -to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties -which persisted in the interested families.</p> - -<p>"Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes -workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment, -separates them by force from their wives and children and deports -them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this -unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same -acts of violence.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Mercier's moving appeal.</div> - -<p>"In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of -Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in -the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would -gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of -the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate -representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I -respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the -measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian -workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who -have already been deported.</p> - -<p>"Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the -weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards -these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my -agency and at my request were lamentably deceived.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> -<p>"I persist in believing that this will not be the case.</p> - -<p>"Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high -consideration.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">D.J. Cardinal Mercier</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Arch. of Malines</i>."</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities -to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow -illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers.</p> - - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916.</p> - -<p>"In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on -October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by -the municipality) * * *</p> - -<p>"The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal.</p> - -<p>"It further feels it its duty to place on record the following:</p> - -<p>"The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the -exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity -can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to -the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at -close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect -composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby -that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.</div> - -<p>"But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against -its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations -(which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action.</p> - -<p>"In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor -General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic -sentiments.'</p> - -<p>"The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it -is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose -name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration -of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the -loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer.</p> - -<p>"The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of -this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself -and the German Army."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Tournai</span>, <i>23rd October, 1916</i>.</span> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">And is roundly lectured and fined.</div> - -<p>"In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to -oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied -territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a -complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war.</p> - -<p>"The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following:</p> - -<p>"The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city -must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous -explanations.</p> - -<p>"The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city—on account -of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded—a punitive -contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six -days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such -time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in -arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will -be paid by the city.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Hopfer</span>, <i>Major General</i>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Etappen-Kommandant</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce -the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Commission Syndicale of Belgium</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -[<span class="smcap">To the Governor General of Belgium.</span>]<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: The measures which are being planned by your -administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power, -the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region -of the étapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in -Belgium.</p> - -<p>"The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central -socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that -they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the -painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the -echo of their touching complaints.</p> - -<p>"They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most -diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of -obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance -one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> -<div class="sidenote">Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.</div> - -<p>"For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has -been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery -and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the -parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with -which their hearts are overflowing.</p> - -<p>"Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and -the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints -and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty -and independence. But the measures which have been announced will -make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow; -the proletariat, <i>the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced</i>, -citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor -without having disobeyed any regulation or order.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">And appeal for decent treatment.</div> - -<p>"In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful -anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancées, and whose -little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your -Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary -to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes, -contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human -nature.</p> - -<p>"We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the -homage of our distinguished consideration.</p> - -<p>"(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the -Commission Syndicale.)"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth -of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested -against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the -letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Commission Syndicale of Belgium</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"To His Excellency <span class="smcap">Baron von Bissing</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Governor General in Belgium</i>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: The Secretaries and representatives of the -socialistic and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a -painful disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were -good enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning -the deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the -working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort -to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed -against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> -<div class="sidenote">Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.</div> - -<p>"You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of -the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy. -Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested -very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium -of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very -natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those -mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say -those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international -commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the -right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products.</p> - -<p>"Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying -authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines -of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and -wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of -transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ -workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have -been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings -have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless -efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men -were constantly thrown out of work.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">And proudly praise the Belgian workman.</div> - -<p>"You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility -to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this -accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where -is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made -of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power? -And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses -of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of -their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is -not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer -to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with -sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and -fruitful work.</p> - -<p>"What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the -same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions -of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these -requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war -against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not -wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories -which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty. -Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of -punishments.</p> - -<p>"You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> 15th, -1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen -who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and -carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with -what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have -the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps -think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you -yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every -motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted -by international law.</p> - - - -<p>"For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the -right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals -and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain -that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive -approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they -have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly -their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a -<span class="sidenote">Laborers see through the German scheme.</span> -question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise; -but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will -take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the -ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these -tribunals carry on their functions.</p> - -<p>"You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and -moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence -in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only -in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of -organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational -work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge -and to increase their professional value? The <i>Comité National</i> was -not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is -it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black -despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their -physical and moral energy?</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of -Belgians.</div> - -<p>"You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length -weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that -Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that -form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed -the food of so many working families for so many months; and what, -after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed -each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>ployed, in comparison -with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the -horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have -cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in -our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near -future Flanders and <i>Wallonie</i> will rise again, glorious, in history.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">All Belgians understand the German scheme.</div> - -<p>"Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it -is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to -our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their -families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been -deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there -echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by -its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who -constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country.</p> - -<p>"Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the -execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts -regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain -workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its -arms.</p> - -<p>"While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years -who were under the régime of control, in the Borinage they call all -the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over -17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and -unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been -taken—bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives -of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment; -agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant, -2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age. -Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons -have been exiled thus by force.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The tears of the mothers and the children.</div> - -<p>"Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered -together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They -had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken -at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not -allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given -to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones. -They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for -how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years -of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide -themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles, -what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there? -In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the -cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> and little children. -Distress and despair reign in the homes.</p> - -<p>"Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit -our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit -human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the -dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many -centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot.</p> - -<p>"It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope -of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice, -at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the -entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest.</p> - -<p>"Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished -consideration."</p></blockquote> - -<p>(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the <i>Comité Nationale</i> -and of the <i>Commission Syndicale</i>.)</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers -and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our -comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many -such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic -collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration, -some passages from two others:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels</span>, <i>9th November, 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"To his Excellency, <span class="smcap">Baron von Bissing</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Governor General in Belgium</i>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.</div> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: It seemed that no suffering could be added -to those under which we have already been weighed down since the -occupation of our country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed -industry and commerce, our raw products and instruments of work taken -out of the country, the public fortune ruined, want succeeding to -wealth in families formerly most prosperous, privations, anxieties, -and mourning. * * *</p> - - - -<p>"Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the étape -has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being -reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government -General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to -commune until its victims are counted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>by hundreds of thousands? -<span class="sidenote">The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.</span> -The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell -sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and -sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the -unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the -unknown. * * *</p> - -<p>"The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the -representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good -wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they -may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral -depression is counted on in order to force their hand?</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.</div> - -<p>"True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them -will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every -side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman -permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.' -The most odious work is that whose results are used against the -fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country. -To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force -contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your -proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit, -if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * * -*</p> - -<p>"They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities -the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent -the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of -modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most -distinguished consideration."</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">[Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.]</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Archbishopric of Malines</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Malines, 10th November, 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"Mr. <span class="smcap">Governor General</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<p>"I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which -have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which -I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the -deportation of the unemployed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German perfidy.</div> - -<p>"I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency, -dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your -arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I -have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.'</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement -taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified -a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor -General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited -as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, -either to be enrolled in the army <i>or to be employed at forced labor</i>.'</p> - -<p>"This engagement is being violated every day—thousands of times in -the last fortnight.</p> - -<p>"Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say -conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to -imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men -fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said -categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have -reached an advanced age, shall not <i>at any moment of the occupation, -either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor</i>.' * * *</p> - -<p>"The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended -to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded -especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a -danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.</div> - -<p>"It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our -workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace. -Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished -witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working -class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge -upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by -their administration. The <i>Comité National</i>, in which the occupying -government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to -the victims of enforced idleness. * * *</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The German plan makes Belgians war against their own -country.</div> - -<p>"Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add -one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity, -is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter -himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure -one which affects the conduct of war <i>properly speaking</i> (<i>proprement -dite</i>)'. It is, then, connected with the war <i>improperly speaking</i> -(<i>improprement dite</i>); which can only mean that the Belgian workman, -although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German -workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to -co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against -his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague -Conventions.</p> - -<p>"Here is another statement: <i>unemployment is not caused either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> by the -Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the régime of -the German Occupation</i>.</p> - - - -<p>"The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw -material intended for our national industry; it has seized and -shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories -and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus -suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work -for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain -idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of -hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy; -but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign -themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure -the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid -of a meager relief allowed them by the <i>Comité national de secours et -d' alimentation</i>, under the supervision of the protecting ministers -of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without -<span class="sidenote">No disorder is caused by Belgians.</span> -a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a -revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited -with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal -administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the -undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power -paralyzed their efforts. The <i>Comité National</i> attempted to organize -a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical -instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to -keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for -the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the -plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The -occupying government.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.</div> - -<p>"Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give -work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the -governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which, -as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured, -where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon -the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed.</p> - -<p>"They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the -army of the unemployed. * * *</p> - -<p>"The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the -unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not -allowed raw materials to enter Belgium.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">England not to blame.</div> - -<p>"England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the -revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral -States—Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same -control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not -to seize the finished products of our industrial work.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.</div> - -<p>"But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of -its <i>Centrales</i>, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting -ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable -portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our -country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living, -which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * *</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Deportation is slavery.</div> - -<p>"Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code -after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong, -deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for -vengeance?</p> - -<p>"Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the -noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the -mission of dressing the wounds of your country.'</p> - -<p>"If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as -we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom -your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far -better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Cold calculation of Germans.</div> - -<p>"Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires, -but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation, -intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the -debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity.</p> - -<p>"It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted -conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of -our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the -good Samaritan!</p> - -<p>"Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">D.J. Card. Mercier</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Arch. of Malines</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation -of the report of Minister Whitlock says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p> - - - -<p>"<i>The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over -Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the -Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for -Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures. -<span class="sidenote">Appalling stories of German behavior.</span> -And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been -related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us -to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all -possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because -there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and -the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult, -the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack -of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are -forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in -vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of -the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously -respected, are hauled by oxen.</i></p> - - - -<p>"<i>The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate -themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that -existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house -for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly -<span class="sidenote">A foul deed.</span> -repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all -that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as -one of the foulest that history records.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that -tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and -cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying -condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned -men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of -neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger.</i>" (Continued on -page 74.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant, -may well be cited here:</p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">"The woes of slavery."</div> - -<p>"I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so -before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital -city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were -not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city -council, would be deported.</p> - -<p>"At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of -November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons, -myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street -and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with -the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held -back.</p> - -<p>"The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this -great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they -were cattle—all the great men of that province<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>—the lawyers, the -statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital -of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years.</p> - -<p>"There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they -were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go -to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to -the one side or the other.</p> - -<p>"Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany. -You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left. -A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man -on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his -old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed. -They were packed in those trains that were waiting there.</p> - -<p>"You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching -to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last -that they had in life between themselves and starvation—a small -bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw -women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of -the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach -to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so -there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John -H. Gade, in <i>The National Geographic Magazine</i>, May, 1917.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels</span>,</span><br /> -"<i>November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine</i>.<br /> -<br /> -"His Excellency Mr. <span class="smcap">Brand Whitlock</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary -of the United States of America</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Mr. Minister</span>:<br /> -</p> - -<p>"From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you.</p> - -<p>"In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as -well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent -in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and -defenseless people is a victim.</p> - -<p>"Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on -impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible -events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian -hordes.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">No shadow of excuse for deportations.</div> - -<p>"Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes, -namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy -soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow -of excuse on the ground of military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> necessity, for it constitutes a -violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience.</p> - -<p>"Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may -be compelled to work directly or indirectly <i>for</i> the enemy <i>against</i> -their brothers who are fighting.</p> - -<p>"The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle.</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this -monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international -law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those -who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from -neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.</div> - -<p>"Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in -the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers -of honor by their tears.</p> - -<p>"They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * * -The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields.</p> - -<p>"Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious -duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by -hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious -work—service to the enemy against the fatherland.</p> - -<p>"The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking -place without making their voices heard in protest.</p> - -<p>"They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral -torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed -with their children.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The rights of honor and conscience.</div> - -<p>"They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and -conscience.</p> - -<p>"It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.'</p> - -<p>"We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our -hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal.</p> - -<p>"We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the -unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad -and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention.</p> - -<p>"Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed -can counterbalance that of the German authorities.</p> - -<p>"This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought -to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians?</p> - -<p>"Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most -distinguished consideration."</p> - -<p>(Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>The United States Government did not fail to respond to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> touching -appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at -Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with -the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In -an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. -Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in -translation, as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">More German camouflage.</div> - -<p>"Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public -charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory -measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not -voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation -issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain -such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required -for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the -districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of -Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief -committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the -sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have, -in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations -regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal -authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who -may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be -released."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and -would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the -negotiations which he carried on he says:</p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion -against her.</div> - -<p>"I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for -Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would -make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle -contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor -at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which -the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in -Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated -solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the -matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal -attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would -entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had -very little influence with the military authorities and that it was -unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated, -however, in answer to my inquiry,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> that he would not disapprove of my -seeing the Chancellor about the matter."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor</div> - -<p>Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor, -and among other arguments urged the promises which the German -Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron -von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in -detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in -full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the -Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations, -and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal -statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to -Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows:</p> - -<p>"1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate -and careful selection.</p> - -<p>"2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken.</p> - -<p>"3. Employees of the Comité National not to be taken.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">and asks certain concessions</div> - -<p>"4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian -authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities -themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the -Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these -lists, released.</p> - -<p>"5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families -in Belgium.</p> - -<p>"6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be -voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral -representatives.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me -and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to -the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of -amelioration:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">but with slight success.</div> - -<p>"1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be -made in a careful and deliberate manner.</p> - -<p>"2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be -exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits.</p> - -<p>"3. Employees of the <i>Comité National</i> are regarded as actually -employed and therefore exempt.</p> - -<p>"4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate -with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in -order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> imprisoned for -refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his -release.</p> - -<p>"5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their -families in Belgium.</p> - -<p>"6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open -to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives.</p> - -<p>"American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text -of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th, -stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my -interview with the Chancellor." * * *</p></blockquote> - -<p>The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels, via The Hague</span>, <i>November 28, 1916</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.</div> - -<p>"We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his -conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders -[for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put -into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without -distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received -creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which -allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had -given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the -persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same -district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is -based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There -is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification -cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working -for the <i>Comité National</i> were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding -them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day -in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in -various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small -percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist -in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken -there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have -no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to -oblige them to work for the Germans.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Whitlock</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<i>American Minister</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p>The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able -to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister -Whitlock says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Neutral representatives are allowed to request -reconsideration of special cases.</div> - - - -<p>"<i>We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the -conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have -already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with -the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request -that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and -on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time -to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who -were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come -within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government -that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in -Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions -that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations -of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many -requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to -rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation -in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and -supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comité National, -which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports -received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the -<span class="sidenote">They run into high figures.</span> -persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war, -and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it -is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the -very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with -any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been -deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is -charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims -precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each -and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each -day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented, -and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances -were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to -Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should -they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told -that they submit over fifteen hundred each day.</i> * * *</p> - -<p>"<i>We have a great many requests, and although we try not to -discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though -now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it -because all the cases are deserving.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported -Belgians.</div> - -<p>"<i>I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La -Louvière, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported -men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent -to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused -to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians -claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the -camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the -agreements to work.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who -would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium -from workmen in Germany.</i>" (Concluded on p. 78.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>The American Government was not content with informal recommendations -to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American -representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German -chancellor:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A solemn protest by United States.</div> - -<p>"The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest -concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport -from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result -of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest -in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is -in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of -international practice which have long been accepted and followed by -civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered -territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is -convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all -probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned -and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally -deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the -German Government."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Other neutrals support American protest.</div> - -<p>This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the -Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail, -except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil -over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure -come through, although the full facts will not be known until the -liberation of heroic Belgium.</p> - -<p>In the <i>Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung</i> of December 2, 1916, the -following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy -Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG.</p> - -<p>"Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled -to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these -workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the -Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made -a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done -the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure -which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we -have agreed."</p> - -<p>"In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when -formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to -Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian -workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This -reassuring promise has not been kept."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">American indignation at deportations.</div> - -<p>"The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me -his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action -of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population -of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in -America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before -my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and -the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into -bondage.'</p> - -<p>"Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and, -on my return, I immediately took up the question.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.</div> - -<p>"I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had -feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and -that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at -their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones -and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been -decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit -these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such -visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left -Germany.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Some of them call on him.</div> - -<p>"Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to -get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how -they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Germany at making -munitions to be used probably against their own friends.</p> - -<p>"I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making -shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He -said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I -can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on -the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go.</p> - -<p>"Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to -win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W. -Gerard, <i>My Four Years in Germany</i>, 1917, pp. 351-52.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae -Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper <i>Nepszawa</i> of Budapest (quoted in -K.G. Ossiannilsson, <i>Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany</i>, 1917, -pp. 53-54).</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS.</p> - -<p>"Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is -for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must -be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in -accordance with the old saying which always holds good: <i>Vae victis</i> -(woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms -which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate -banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.</div> - -<p>"* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans -use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work, -whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported -Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to -international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland -is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer -peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred -towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have -had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for -Belgium than for any other belligerent."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.</div> - -<p>The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of -Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York <i>Evening -Post</i>, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian -population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here. -The town of Roulers, immedi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>ately behind the battle line in Flanders, -has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and -two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another -dispatch from Havre (<i>Washington Post</i>, September 24, 1917) it is -stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are -conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the -ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The -rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the -school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping."</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded).</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German capacity for blundering.</div> - -<p>"<i>One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted, -a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for -blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until -the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part -of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The -old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes; -they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone -fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the -humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the -privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish -population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in -its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed -all that.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Germans will be hated for generations.</div> - -<p>"<i>They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have -had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away -from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a -son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go -out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that -will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations, -a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early -atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by -one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human -race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and -systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are -said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German -officers are now said to be ashamed.</i></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Whitlock.</span>"</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium, -which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence -already presented.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">September, 1917.</span></span><br /> -</p> - -<p>I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of -German rule in Belgium and Northern France.</p> - -<p>I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes -which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I -have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."</div> - -<p>The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and -fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but -partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of -thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of -men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country, -the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening -of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the -country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to -witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this -long and terrible time—and still these are not the events of battle -heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the -mastership of the world.</p> - -<p>All these things are well known to the world—but what can never be -known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of -millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why? -Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies -before the march of autocracy.</p> - -<p>I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these -things are possible to us—but even should the broad Atlantic prove -our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for -us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be -trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest?</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Herbert Hoover.</span></span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="center">FRANCE.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German practices were the same in all occupied regions.</div> - -<p>In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its -attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in -Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately -illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this -part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two -occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from -a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> be gathered -from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by -the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25, -1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been -translated, along with the official documents, in <i>The Deportation of -Women and Girls from Lille</i>, New York, Doran.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE.</p> - -<p>"The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more -and more difficult.</p> - -<p>"To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for -volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the -success that was expected.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.</div> - -<p>"In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order -and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the -interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front, -where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any -military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the -opportunity of providing better for their subsistence.</p> - -<p>"In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German -depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30 -kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it -will be well to make ready at once.</p> - -<p>"I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change -his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared -legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in -possession of a permit in due form.</p> - -<p>"Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of -the population itself to remain calm and obedient.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Commandant.</span></span><br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Lille</span>, <i>April, 1916</i>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE.</p> - -<p>"All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children -under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare -themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to -depart.</div> - -<p>"An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the -concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house -must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain -in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests -will be useless.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be -transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time).</p> - -<p>"Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if -anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without -further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each -person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed. -This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the -number of the identity card.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Must carry their own cooking utensils.</div> - -<p>"It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own -interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well -as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must -carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade -transportation will be punished without mercy.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Etappen-Kommandantur.</span>"</span><br /> -<br /> -[<span class="smcap">Lille</span>, <i>April, 1916</i>.]<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON -GRAEVENITZ.</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Monsieur le Général</span>: It is my duty to bring to your -notice the fact that a very agitated state of mind exists among the -population.</p> - -<p>"Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and -youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of -Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The Bishop protests against deportations.</div> - -<p>"The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures -equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You -will not be surprised, Monsieur le Général, that I intercede with you -in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission -lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the -Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that -eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty -to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and -whose burdens and sorrows are mine.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Appeals to the humanity of the commander.</div> - -<p>"You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity -a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every -Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches -to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in -our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family -affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to -dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is -not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures—unlimited -moral torture.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - - - -<p>"The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the sacred -demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere idea of -which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity which -<span class="sidenote">The methods of deportation a danger to morals.</span> -inevitably accompanies removals <i>en masse</i>, involving mixture of the -sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral standing. -Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed any worse -offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few potatoes -to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the light -penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers, who -have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that of -keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and sons -fighting or killed at the front—these mothers are now alone. They -bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of what -I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these harsh -measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is why I -venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward without -delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a Bishop, -whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered much for -the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be comparable -to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and would produce -<span class="sidenote">Hopes for restoration of the deported.</span> -in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe that the -blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I preserve -the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families will -be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their return -and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all lower -considerations.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Alexis Armand</span>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Bishop</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE -PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.</p> - -<p> -"To Monsieur <span class="smcap">Raymond Poincaré</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>President of the French Republic, Paris</i>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: We have the honor to express again our most sincere -gratitude to you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the -deputation which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform -you of the deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities -have just carried out in the invaded districts.</p> - -<p>"We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an -honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing -about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to -your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been -made to us:</p> - -<p>"'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> announced that -the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be -transported into French districts where their provisioning would be -easier.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The procedure of the deportations.</div> - -<p>"'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of -the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house -was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact -reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document, -above.]</p> - -<p>"'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an -hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation.</p> - -<p>"'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer, -who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can -express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending -scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of -their parents—a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were -executing the infamous task—rejoined the group of those who were -going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by -other soldiers with fixed bayonets.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the -brutal orders.</div> - -<p>"'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly -separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes, -however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair, -and did not choose all the persons whom he should—by the terms of his -instructions—have separated.</p> - -<p>"'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where -they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form -convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or -thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them.</p> - -<p>"'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc., -then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by -districts.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Numbers deported.</div> - -<p>"'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up -to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days -to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again -soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the -"Marseillaise."</p> - -<p>"'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?) -one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is -going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs, -whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> -<div class="sidenote">Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."</div> - -<p>"'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to -their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the -Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful -promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is -unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained -to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of -insufficient food.</p> - -<p>"'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told -the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work, -and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which -only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the -victims, became known.</p> - -<p>"'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a -measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of -slave drivers.</p> - -<p>"'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the -whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in -knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the -despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the -German officers or rather executioners.</p> - -<p>"'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home -once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.'</p> - -<p>"Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without -commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we -took the liberty of laying before you.</p> - -<p>"We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the -invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you, -as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a -few words the situation from this aspect:</p> - -<p>"The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by -the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * * -* People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a -half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing -noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">People rely on the neutral powers.</div> - -<p>"Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note -of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.' -We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le Président, that the -energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French -Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures -which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. * -* *</p> - -<p>"With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture -to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> kindness and -far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on -behalf of the whole country."</p> - -<p>(Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde, -Charles Droulers, Léon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.)</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout</i>."</span><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Barbarity of deportations.</div> - -<p>"It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the -great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these -fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers -only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize -a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the -outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told -me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that -a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had -disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that -the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and -a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house -of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen -and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant -would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some -little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The -Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation -among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising -and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the -deportations.</div> - -<p>"That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told -him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without -consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name -of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil -population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not -known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military, -that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be -able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped, -but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were -not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made -in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of -the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of -these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press -agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements -about this matter because these people were not returned to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of -Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had -no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the -case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, <i>My Four Years in -Germany</i>, 1917, pp. 333-335.</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="center">POLAND.</p> - -<p>The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities -in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become -only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will -be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this -pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more -touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the -<i>National Geographic Magazine</i> for May, 1917.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">September, 1917</span>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Poland—Russian Poland—is perishing. And the German high command, -imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the -necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends.</p> - -<p>West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred -years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain -Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years, -by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland -will be thoroughly made over into a German province.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Devastation of Poland.</div> - -<p>In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely -devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans. -A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished -by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the -way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by -the crows—though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty -Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets—the little -basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant -home—were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one -could not count them, each one telling a death.</p> - -<p>Warsaw, which had not been destroyed—once a proud city of a million -people—was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the -streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> snow and rain, -too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich -gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were -starving there in the streets in droves.</p> - -<p>In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a -proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to -work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much -as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">The policy of starvation.</div> - -<p>It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father -of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your -families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve—this -to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the -authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to -millions of fellow Christians captive and starving.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Country to be restocked with Germans.</div> - -<p>General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain. - -Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on -the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it -must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness, -the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be -restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed—rich alluvial -soil—better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If -the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany.</p> - -<p>Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the -women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries -concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good; -it will reappear as a German province."</p> - -<p>Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was -the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the -all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of -their mind.</p> - -<p>German people are material for building the State—of no other -account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity, -liberty, equality, the rights of others—all foolish talk. Democracy, -an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German -State may be mighty and great.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">German system of frightfulness everywhere.</div> - -<p>All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the -Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the -starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities, -frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the -enslavement of women—all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of -nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are -subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Frederick C. Walcott.</span></span> -</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">CONCLUSION.</p> - -<p class="center">STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917.</p> - -<p class="center">(Prepared for this pamphlet.)</p> - - - - -<p>It was my privilege—and necessity—in connection with the work of -the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the -Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to -spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium -and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something -of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of -whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of -East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German -General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the -inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil -government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the -occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of -the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves -<span class="sidenote">The graves of the massacred.</span> -of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the -long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans -treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation.</p> - -<p>It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in -Louvain, Dinant, Visé, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of -the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little -has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent -of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in -the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench -lines of the extreme western front.</p> - -<p>As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover -this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with -the German officer assigned for my protection—and for the protection -of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity -also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into -the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the -destruction wrought in the two regions.</p> - - - -<p>I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and -along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to -pieces. There had been fighting in these towns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> -<span class="sidenote">Towns untouched by war but ruined.</span> -and the artillery of first one side and then the other had worked -their havoc among the houses of the inhabitants. But there were many -towns in which there had been no fighting and yet all too many of -these towns also were in ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by -fire and explosions. There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a -citizen or perhaps two or three citizens had fired from a window on the -invaders—or were alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three -blocks, or half the town was methodically and effectively burned or -blown to pieces. There are many of these "punished" towns in occupied -France. And between these towns and along the roadways are innumerable -isolated single farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed -that there was any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just -destroyed along the way—and by the way, one may say. When the roll -of destroyed villages and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is -made known, the world will be shocked again by this evidence of German -thoroughness.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Heartlessness of German rule.</div> - -<p>The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French -territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions -occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable -steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was -visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at -the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated -through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can -pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town.</p> - - - -<p>The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm -animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried -to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These -requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming -in that quartermaster's <i>bons</i> were given for the things taken. Even -then the German sense of humor too often made the <i>bon</i> a crude jest. -<span class="sidenote">False receipts for requisitioned property.</span> -The <i>bons</i> were written in the German language in German script, -illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A <i>bon</i> -might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was -taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the -requisitioning was simplified by the omission of <i>bon</i>-giving. Where -the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be -buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places -became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman -had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights -above the Meuse. But these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> bottles found their way to special tables -at the Great Headquarters.</p> - -<p>In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of -deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns -near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were -to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a -matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The -congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem -there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection -with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but -crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the -rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do, -as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open -air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real -advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food -supply situation.</p> - - - -<p>But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we, -although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not -but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the -very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in -the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high -officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in -his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland, -our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But -<span class="sidenote">Horrors of deportations.</span> -a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had -been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and -daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken -without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The -great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser -deportations—that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their -carrying out—are hardly known.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.</div> - -<p>I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained -while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral. -I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to -mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with -the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do -what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must -not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a -moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to -do it again.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Civilization must crush Prussian system.</div> - -<p>I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of -war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again, -that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its -present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by -force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or -treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope -that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized -world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is -responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Vernon Kellogg.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - - - -<p class="ph2" style="margin-top: 10em;">Your Government Is Willing to Send You</p> - -<p class="center">WITHOUT CHARGE</p> - -<p class="center">Any Two of the Pamphlets Listed Here with Exceptions Noted</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>Committee on Public Information.</i></p> - -<p class="center">(Established by Order of the President, April 14, 1917, Washington, -D.C.)</p> - - -<p>Series No. 1. War Information. (Red, White and Blue Covers.)</p> - -<p>Catalogue No.</p> - -<p><b>1. How the War Came to America.</b></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>Contents</i>: A brief introduction reviewing the policy of the United -States with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, freedom of the seas, and -international arbitration, developments of our policy reviewed and -explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's -address to the Senate January 22, 1917, his war message to Congress -April 2, 1917, his Flag Day address at Washington, June 14, 1917. 32 -pages. (Translations: German, Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, -Swedish, Portuguese. 48 pages.)</p> - -<p>NOTE.—For Numbers 2, 3 and 7 described below, a contribution is -required as noted. All other booklets are free.</p></blockquote> - -<p><b>2. National Service Handbook. 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THESE NOTES PRESENT AN OVERWHELMING ARSENAL OF -FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages.</p></blockquote> - -<p><b>5. Conquest and Kultur.</b></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>Contents</i>: A brief introduction outlining German war aims and showing -how the proofs were gathered; followed by quotations from German -writers revealing the plans and purposes of Pan Germany, one chapter -being devoted entirely to the German attitude toward America. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition.</p> - -<p>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org</p> - -<p>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</p> - -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/old/55442-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/55442-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 78f0ca2..0000000 --- a/old/55442-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/55442-h/images/illus01.jpg b/old/55442-h/images/illus01.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 239059e..0000000 --- a/old/55442-h/images/illus01.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/55442.txt b/old/55442.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4f59f2f..0000000 --- a/old/55442.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4815 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of -Civilians, Edited by Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) -Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians - - -Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August -C. (August Charles) Krey - -Release Date: August 27, 2017 [eBook #55442] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1: -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS*** - - -E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala - - - - - -GERMAN WAR PRACTICES - -PART I - -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS - -Edited by - -DANA C. MUNRO -Princeton University - -GEORGE C. SELLERY and AUGUST C. KREY -University of Wisconsin University of Minnesota - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -Issued by -The Committee on Public Information - The Secretary of State - The Secretary of War - The Secretary of the Navy - George Creel - -November 15, 1917 - - - - -EXECUTIVE ORDER. - - -I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of -the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the -Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction -of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr. -George Creel. - -The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the -Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work -of the Committee. - - WOODROW WILSON. - -April 14, 1917. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -[Sidenote: Germany pledged to Hague regulations.] - -For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to -make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the -Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care -of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first -meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war -it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and -nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy. -The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules -to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants -and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings -and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the -rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article -44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give -information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the -most binding manner. - -[Sidenote: German policy of frightfulness.] - -But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn -promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading -generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In -the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as -the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated -were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871. -Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von -Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven. - -Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war -involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of -his master work, _Vom Kriege_ (_On War_), he says: - - "Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * * - Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth - mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without - essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls - might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or - subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this - is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may - appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such - dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of - 'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical - force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the - intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without - regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not - so use it." - -In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military -necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as -von Clausewitz: - -[Sidenote: Frightfulness advocated by German generals.] - - "The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of - war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and - subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with - when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * * - * Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary - military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that - modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence, - and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When - international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle - made necessary by military considerations." - -In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian -army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared: - - "Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is - an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the - most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation, - fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice--the soldier gives his - life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in - materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and - fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the - resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his - existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman." - "The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of - this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable, - must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration - of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military - forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of - procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy - government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and - even his prestige. * * *" - -[Sidenote: Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.] - -Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German -generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is -to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his -speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in -1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to -the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China, -he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The -local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice -and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army, -the head of all Germany. - - "As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No - mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under - King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in - traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in - China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look - at a German askance. * * * Open the way for _Kultur_ once for all." - -[Sidenote: Opposition in Reichstag.] - -Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the -Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the -circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly -successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers -in China were being published in local German papers, the leading -socialist newspaper, _Vorwaerts_, excerpted from them reports of -atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders -in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's -speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal -condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was -openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party), -after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There -are, alas, in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities -told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response -of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social -Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a -two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in -China and on the speech of the Emperor he said: - - "If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we - will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which - this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has - been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way - to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the - respect of the world." - -The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described: - - "By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the - German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for - the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home." - "An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in - the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing - worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by - the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he - sacked Magdeburg." - -[Sidenote: Atrocities in China.] - -These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued -to be published in the _Vorwaerts_ for several years and appeared -intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that -time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial -of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that -he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in -wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery, -as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a -very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them." -He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had -been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of -the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made -clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of -similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa -in the campaign against the Hereros. - -The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence -upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of -the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from -those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and -of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press -with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and -political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of -volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the -vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated -the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke. - -These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military -class, are best shown in the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im -Landkriege_), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book -may be judged from the following extracts: - -[Sidenote: Teachings of the German War Book.] - - "But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated - essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently - degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (_Sentimentalitaet - und weichlicher Gefuehlschwaermerei_), there have not been wanting - attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way - which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its - object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future, - the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition - in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague - Conferences." - - "By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to - guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach - him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that - the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of - them." - -For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered -territory should take up arms against the German Army, the _German War -Book_ quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother -Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against -him: - - "The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the - conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to - submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them; - my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty. - Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the - revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the - clergy.] - -[Sidenote: German war proclamations in French translations.] - -Some of the rules laid down in the _German War Book_ are illustrated -and their spirit made more definite in _L'Interprete Militaire_. _Zum -Gebrauch im Feindesland_ (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's -Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains," -says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of -the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which -it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years -before this war began, the German military authorities were not only -preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the -Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these -proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready -for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following: - - "A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by ---- to - assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of - ----. - - "Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of - the fine. - - "The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17, - at noon ----. - - "Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted." - - * * * * * - - "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this - month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you - expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret - the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this - subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so - clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the - matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R---- is - not paid the town will be burned down without pity!" - - * * * * * - - "On account of the destruction of the bridge of F----, I order: The - district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by - way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are - informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and - that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost - severity. The village of F---- will be destroyed immediately by fire, - with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the - troops." - -These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium -and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed -in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by -reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which -are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet. - - "The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by - an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made - upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials. - - "The Governor of Brussels, - "BARON VON LUETTWITZ. - - "_November 1, 1914._" - -Placard posted on the walls of Luneville by order of the German -authorities: - - "Notice to the People. - - "Some of the inhabitants of Luneville made an attack from ambuscade on - the German columns and wagons (_trains_). The same day [some of the] - inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In - addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German - ambulance were fired upon. - - "Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is - imposed upon the commune of Luneville. The mayor is ordered to pay - this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914, - at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German - military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No - delay will be granted. - - "If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of - 650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized. - - "In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made - and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has - concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure - by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city, - he will be shot. - - "The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be - held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders. - - "The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the - Commune. - - "Henamenil, Sept. 3, 1914. - - "The General in Chief, - - "VON FASBENDER." - -The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in -terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided -with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the -terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State -Department on September 12, 1917, writes: - - "The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate - translations in German and French of such sentences as: - - "'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.) - - "'Carry out all the furniture. - - "'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum. - - "'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer. - - "'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately. - - "'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders - to requisition several barrels of wine. - - "'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'" - -[Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.] - -The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the -attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of -frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail -worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded -doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed -in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military -officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in -the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately -formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their -sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted -in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows: - - "One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the - conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run - its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must - be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as - possible." - -This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November -20, 1914. - -Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the -_Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi: - -[Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.] - - "As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert - artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the - next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the - Next War_. - - "I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of - the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the - bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What - did you think of it?' - - "I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but - I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general - looked actually pleased." - -Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Muenster, of the extreme measures which -the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of -Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said: - -[Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.] - - "The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression - of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses, - flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated, - that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed - sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as - the life of a single one of our brave soldiers--the rigorous - accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high _Kultur_, and in - that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from - our army." - -Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium, -repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The -interview is published in the _Duesseldorfer Anzeiger_ of December 8, -1914. - -Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the -higher German command for the atrocities: - - "But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of - humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual - excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be; - because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis - by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under - their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I - saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a - penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in - which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw - other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon - another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had - been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to - den in holes, like wild beasts. - - "Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and - buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives - but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one - conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in - command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.' - And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.' - And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had - indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their - superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, _Speaking of Prussians_, New York, 1917, - pp. 32-34. - -These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and -official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of -the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman -policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult, -for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public -opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which -was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give -ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have -been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See -War Information Series, No. 3, _The Government of Germany_; see also -Gerard's _My Four Years in Germany_, Chap. II.) - -[Sidenote: Hatred against Belgians.] - -The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all -in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of -the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with -the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous -nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious -to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that -it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes, -but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity, -and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of -self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred -became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans -became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium, -the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable -warfare, that the _francs-tireurs_ (guerillas) were everywhere present -doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that -women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or -helpless prisoners. - -The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the -following extracts from German letters: - -Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This -letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was -obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to -the United States Embassy at Berlin.) - - "NOVEMBER 4, 1914. - - "The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The - Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once. - While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever - beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not - overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down - without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is - a desire to wipe them out, root and all." - -Extract from another letter to a brother: - - "SCHLESWIG, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914]. - - "DEAR BROTHER, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your - regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these - _Civilians_, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them - come near you. _Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes - too near._ They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians; - even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go - inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make - the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. _The - newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our - soldiers whilst they were drinking._ You soldiers must spread around - so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near - you. Remain always in the company of others. _I hope that you have - read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no - compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the - butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet._ * * * - - "Your brother, - - "WILLI." - -The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the -Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson. - -[Sidenote: Emperor's telegram.] - - "BERLIN, VIA COPENHAGEN, _Sept. 7, 1914_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - - "_Washington_. - - "Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following - telegram from the Emperor to the President: - - "'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most - prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking - the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands - of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The - same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and - prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds - and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly - forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore - address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which, - owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most - barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these - atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged - and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian - civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by - women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers, - medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle - fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the - most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten - the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder - and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain], - excepting the fine hotel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense - and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that - such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous - innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of - the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor - and King.' - - "GERARD. _Berlin._" - -Lorenz Mueller in the German Catholic review, _Der Fels_, February, -1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram: - -[Sidenote: Refutation by a German.] - - "Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with - the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been - made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of - inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests - during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary, - without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the - United States of America that even women and priests had committed - atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors - and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be - reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn - until after the war." - -The _Vorwaerts_, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said: - -[Sidenote: Refutation by Vorwaerts.] - - "We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great - number of assertions which have been made with great precision and - published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties - committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is - at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position - to silence two others of these fantastic stories. - - "The War Correspondent of the _Berliner Tageblatt_ spoke a few weeks - ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have - been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He - even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this - kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this - story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention. - Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out - by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single - case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance - where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been - demonstrated. - - "It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance - of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The - desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error - play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every - nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately - transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs. - Already the _Volkszeitung_ of Cologne has been able, contrary to the - very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there - was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this - town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under - treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have - been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been - demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross - Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated - in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the - Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only - slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a - request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written - reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned - field hospital, dated the 18th of the month: - - "'SIR, - - 'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories. - - 'Yours obediently, - - 'PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG.'" - -[Sidenote: German soldiers protest against atrocities.] - -Thus the teachings of the _German War Book_ and of the German apostles -of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their -natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A -considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by -the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was -the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation. -The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the -American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this -pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the -horror of it, which the writers felt. - -Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter -of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps: - - "It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings - were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon - could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians! - O Prussians!'--but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The - whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one - officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most - of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless - Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the - swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For - days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not - think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality - and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only - beasts. Down with militarism. - - "This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded; - Berlin, October 22, 1914. - - "If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a - common Prussian soldier." - -Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front. - - "RUSSIAN POLAND, _December 18, '14_. - - "In the name of Christianity I send you these words. - - "My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you - of these lines. - - "Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders. - - "And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses - according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers. - - "In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will - protest against this, I sign myself, - - "A GERMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN. - - "I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me - court-martialed for divulging military secrets." - - * * * * * - -The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the -system of which the writer was a witness. - - "To the - "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, - "_Washington, U.S.A._ - - "Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With - the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves - be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is - that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people; - one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down - in small groups. They say naively: 'We don't want any unnecessary - mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no - judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to - these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is - right? Might is right. - - "A SOLDIER AND MAN WHO IS NO BARBARIAN." - -[Sidenote: Socialists oppose system.] - -Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe -the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and -refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The _Vorwaerts_, the -leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has -opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have -so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial, -entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows: - - "We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the - fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish - also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them. - * * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being - barbarous. * * * - - "What should one say when even such an organ as the _Deutsches - Offizier-Blatt_ expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the - beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only - wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help - impossible?' Or what should we say when the _Deutsches Offizier-Blatt_ - states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot - 'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian - grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we - are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that - there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in - themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our - fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show - knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such - pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not - be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class - associates on the other side of the border." - -On the following day, August 24, 1914, the _Vorwaerts_ returned to the -attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism." - -[Sidenote: Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."] - - * * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a - demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages] - emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole - groups among certain classes who represent German _Kultur_ want to - indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the - purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.' - - "What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'. - Thus in a leading article of the _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, the - demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels--one, the second - Burgomaster, is generously excepted--should be immediately seized and - subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according - to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been - committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should - immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the - conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a - single penny for them." - -Three years later, August 26, 1917, the _Vorwaerts_ quoted the following -passage from the _Deutsche Tagezeitung_: - -[Sidenote: Still hold same opinions.] - - "We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right - (_Machtpolitiker_) who despise the forces of the inner life and - believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from - foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of - the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins - and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals - is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of - consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality." - -[Sidenote: Belgian warning of danger.] - -Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and -the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a -terrible character (_grausamen Charakter_) caused grave anxiety among -the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian -Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian -newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in -large print: - - "TO CIVILIANS. - - "The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy - should show himself in their district: - - "Not to fight; - - "To utter no insulting or threatening words; - - "To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will - be impossible to allege that there was any provocation; - - "To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may - occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged - that civilians have fired; - - "An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime - for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more - reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of - oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the - innocent population with the women and children." - -In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the -neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to -ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected -by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their -reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to -include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges -they make against the Germans: - - "1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and - children, were murdered by the Germans. - - "2. That women had been outraged. - - "3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a - town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and - madden themselves with drink. - - "4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and - systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities, - sent back a large part of the booty to Germany. - - "5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by - bestial and sacrilegious practices. - - "6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were - destroyed. - - "7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt - alive. - - "8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby - rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for - the alleged wrongdoings of others. - - "9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually - enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for - the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into - Germany, where all trace of them had been lost. - - "10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their - inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian - over the German soldiers. - - "11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly - destroyed by the invaders. - - "12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and - the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans, - and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the - Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men, - women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the - allied soldiers." - -The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the -terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government -and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of -materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts -of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of -testimony was published in a _German White Book_ with the title _Die -voelkerrechtswidrige Fuehrung des Belgischen Volkskriegs_. - -The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers -had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the -sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published, -show the reverse to be true. - -[Sidenote: German White Book reveals atrocities.] - -It has been well said that the publication of this _German White Book_ -was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good -opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had -committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the -other hand, this _White Book_, published by the German Government, will -be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and -other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders -of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German -officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and -"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and -callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain -upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface." - -Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the _German White Book_, it -is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken -of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincare, September -19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman -practices in the conduct of a war"): - - "The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the - truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those - responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if - such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their - adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the - world." - - - - -CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET. - - -[Sidenote: German sources.] - -In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence -is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources -include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters -and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers. -The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The -_Rules for Field Service_ of the German Army advises each soldier to -keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers -who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been -confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with -facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known -collection was made by Bedier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University -of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bedier -of the College de France." Of Bedier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the -University of Copenhagen, says: - - "He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one - does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone - may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied - the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here, - accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has - employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts - are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They - tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bedier - accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not - only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins - have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity. - Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details - which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own - violent acts are horror-striking." - -Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bedier had made mistakes in -translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of -the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I -accept this without further comment for all those which are provided -with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case -be established after the war." - -[Sidenote: American sources.] - -The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives -of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors -and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given. -Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially -for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony -of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the -United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well -authenticated facts from foreign sources are used. - -[Sidenote: Frightfulness as a system.] - -The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of -frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite -policy of the German Government, against which more humane German -soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not -seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such -acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone -who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the _Report of -the Committee on Alleged German Outrages_, presided over by the former -British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as -"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian _Commission -d'Enquete_; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices -of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications, -and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official _German -White Book_ cited above. The last, published by the German Government, -is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness. - - -I. MASSACRES. - -[Sidenote: Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.] - -[Sidenote: But her military leaders did not acquiesce.] - -In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that -conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves; -that their property would be taken and that their lands would be -devastated. "_Vae victis!_--woe to the conquered!" For two centuries -or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of -humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the -combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established -as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it -sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of -the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and -private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must -be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in -common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this -article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They -had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years -ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful -to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had -been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's -biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was -still continuing in January, 1871, said: - -[Sidenote: Bismarck's idea in 1871.] - - "If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for - our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the - localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn. - After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come - to their senses." - -The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway -in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the -individual German soldiers. - - -EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES. - -"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr---- gave the alarm in the -town of Vise. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were -burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops." -(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second -Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown -into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of -Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished -for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by -the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The -village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so -that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by -house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater -part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone -who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the -village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl -Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.) - - * * * * * - -"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched -down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant. -A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village -lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops -from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so -that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced -to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst -of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched -the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain -Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary -of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of -Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and -give us many things. There is no difference noticeable. - -"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge). -At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has -thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry -Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the -latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were -shot and the village was burnt--artillery is continuously shooting--the -village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, -the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages, -chateaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a -beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance. - -"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many -dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jaeger -Battalion, Marburg.) - - * * * * * - -"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very -severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of -the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomeny, because the -population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German -troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who -resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses -which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our -own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced -to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children, -utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From -the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry, -Thirty-third Reserve Division.) - -Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at -the foul deeds. - -"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was -clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to -behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were -many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see; -three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and -the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there -to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the -survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle, -with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this -was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt! -Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed. -I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on -the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul -Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.) - - * * * * * - -* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liege became mutinous. Forty -persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The -sights here make you cry. - -"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far -given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants -returning to Liege. - -"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no -post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and -drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der -Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry -Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.) - - * * * * * - -"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little chateau -belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had -behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and -then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things -about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash -the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy--magnificent furniture, -silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to -requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap -of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting." - -"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where -the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the -villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole -lot--16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did -for three at a time. - -"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * * - -"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot -was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed. -We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely -corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were -in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows; -and we burnt it afterwards. - -"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the -guilty and paying 15,000 francs. - -"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic -steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot. -The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set -on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle -went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants -were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors. - -"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some -innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as -to their guilt instead of shooting them. - -"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having -our meal the alarm was sounded--everyone is very jumpy. - -"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The -houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent -furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but -in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken, -mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more -damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled -could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have -been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column -commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they -could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to -millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked. - -"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in -excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works -of art, everything was smashed to bits. - -"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * * -* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The -hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase -and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One -Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.) - -But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in -chief, as is evident from the following: - - "ORDER. - - "_To the People of Liege._ - - "The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful - intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous - manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has - reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot. - - "I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liege in order - that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar - attitude. - - "Liege, 22nd August, 1914. - - "GENERAL VON BUELOW." - -The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a -like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot -men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it -was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded. -It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when -commanded by the officers. - - "Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that - the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is - there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the - contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of - alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack. - - "The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few - exceptions, makes a scandalous impression. - - "It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set - houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as - the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they - encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder. - - "I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with - regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian - population. - - "I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer. - - "The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer - and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets. - - "The Commanding Officer, - "MAJOR VON BASSEWITZ." - -In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, -Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The -following passages refer to the subject of massacres: - -[Sidenote: Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.] - - "Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance - of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but - they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details - in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown. - Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant; - Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine - Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his - wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave - and Leon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot - in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17; - Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During - the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed - before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame - Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was - brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of - her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her - husband's life was spared." - - "On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of - Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the - Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated - persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men - and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day. - They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens, - who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the - house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on - the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes - Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to - the camp of Muenster, where they were held for several weeks. - - "On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to - leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women, - children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like - cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as - Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain." - - "One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little - village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal - fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it - is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants, - mostly all poor laborers. - - [Sidenote: Massacres in Tamines.] - - "The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute - testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made - graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the - crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk - between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the - sinister date of August 22d, 1914." - - "But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were - impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military - order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there - overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms - were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by - any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself: - - [Sidenote: Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.] - - "One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the - Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel - Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes, - especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of - nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the - victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of - families, even old men. - - "It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the - fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms: - - "The child Fievet, 3 weeks old. - "Maurice Betemps, 11 months old. - "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old. - "Gilda Genon, 18 months old. - "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old. - "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months. - - "The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years. - Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one - survivor. Those men that escaped death--and many of whom were riddled - with bullets--were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion - their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been - relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to - Cassel [Prussia]." - -Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited -Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In _A Journal -from our Legation in Belgium_, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he -relates what the German officers told him: - - "It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the - town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, - wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free - application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red. - And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make - people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her." - -German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing -have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.: - -[Sidenote: Pastor defends frightfulness.] - - "We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us - * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a - ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any - previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in _Deutsche Reden in schwerer - Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days." - - * * * * * - - "The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for - the individual, but not too hard for this political structure - (_Staatsgebilde_), for the destinies of the immortal great nations - stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, - to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, - as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in - _Sueddeutsche Monatsheft_, "South German Monthly." - -Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen -the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent -eloquence? - -This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from -one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the -massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are: - - PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS. - - Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge. - Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. - St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us. - St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us. - Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us. - -After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German -eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in -the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words -as these: - - "The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the - greatest institute for moral education in the world." - - "The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never - so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston - Stewart Chamberlain, in _Kriegsaufsaetze_, "War Essays", 1914. - - "We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness - of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in _Deutsche Reden in Schwerer - Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days." - - -II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS. - -The massacres described above were a part of the German system of -frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians -as hostages and for screens. - -In discussing the use of hostages the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch -im Landkriege_) says: - -[Sidenote: Views of the German General Staff.] - - "By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for - the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or - detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been - less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the - law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has - disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * * - - "A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German - Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from - French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order - to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the - people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any - fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer - outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of - nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country." - -Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally -condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend -to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In _L'Interprete -Militaire_ the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both -in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The -evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities -and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from -these will illustrate the system which was employed. - -A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the -proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are -presented: - - FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914. - - "4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in - Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnee, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the - persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not - forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition. - - [Sidenote: Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.] - - "5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not - be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnee must - immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as - hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fleron. September 6th, 1914, for - the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until - September 7th at midday. - - "The life of these hostages depends on the population of the - above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances. - - "During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous - signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German - time). - - "6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent - persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following - midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must - remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage - will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear. - - "7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to - be taken first as hostages. - - "8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * * - show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats, - or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of - doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do - this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by - every means." - - * * * * * - - A PROCLAMATION BY VON BUELOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914. - - "1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of - war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey - will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany. - - "The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every - soldier found will be immediately shot. - - "2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty, - being shot. - - "Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the - burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life. - - [Sidenote: Von Buelow takes hostages in every street.] - - "3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten - hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If - there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot. - - "4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must - be lights at three windows in every house. - - "5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The - inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more - horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the - life of its citizens by risings against the German Army. - - "The Commander of the Town, - "VON BUELOW. - - "NAMUR, _25th August, 1914_. (Printed by Chantraine)." - - * * * * * - - PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914. - - "September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were - destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * * - - [Sidenote: Hostages are made responsible for railroads.] - - "Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events - take place--it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or - not--will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have - been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of - similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway, - telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot. - - "Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways - have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph - or telephone lines in a suspicious manner. - - "The Governor General of Belgium, - - "BARON VON DER GOLTZ, - "_Field-Marshal_." - - * * * * * - - PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS. - - "In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the - tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have - been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These - hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other - hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and - inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army. - - "THE GENERAL COMMANDING. - - "RHEIMS, _12th September, 1914_." - -[Sidenote: Over 80 hostages in Rheims.] - -Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages -and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives -of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the -German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the -least disorder," in the proclamation. - -Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 184, -explains what was likely to happen: - - "Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster, - the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good - behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like - nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law - and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a - bit on account of the hostages." - - STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL. - - "Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages. - - "Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses - and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and - then we again set fire to the village. - - "On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests - because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought - to the village of Ste. Marie. - - [Sidenote: Hostages at Willekamm.] - - "Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut. - Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners - (tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they - were to be killed. - - "Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot - them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery, - First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.) - -The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure -civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in -front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be -compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans. -This usage is illustrated in the following: - - LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN. - - "OCTOBER 7, 1914. - - [Sidenote: Civilians used as screens.] - - "But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant - idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out - in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on - ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little - one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all - seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers - they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively - clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was - immediately effective. - - "The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were - able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal - street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot. - The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when, - toward 7 o'clock in the evening, the brigade advanced to the assault - to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Die had been - cleared of the enemy. - - "Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint - Die further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four - civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the - street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the - middle of the street near the hospital." - - "A. EBERLEIN, - "_First-Lieutenant_." - - Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of - the _Muenchner Neueste Nachrichten_. - -Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the -Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of -seeking protection. - -[Sidenote: "No respect to the cassock."] - -"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops -were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the -parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As -they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest -was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men, -burned 50 houses, and looted 100." - -Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 155, -gives another incident: - -"Two old priests have staggered into the ---- legation more dead than -alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops -for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is -said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through." - - STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS. - - "At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were - made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At - Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable - citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German - regiments or to make a screen before them. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.] - - "The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty. - The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without - circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.' - - "An official proclamation, posted at Liege, in the early days of - August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German - troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes - the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the - severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against - those natives of Liege who have been detained as hostages in the - citadel of Liege by the commandant of the German troops.' - - "These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liege; M. Kleyer, - burgomaster of Liege; the senators, representatives, and the permanent - deputy and sheriff of Liege." - -The above quotation is taken from _An Appeal to Truth_, addressed Nov. -24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the -cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary. - -[Sidenote: Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.] - - "Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one, - witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so - appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for - life." Will Irwin, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41. - - -III. FINES. - -The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions -of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves -to the following: - -[Sidenote: Germany's promises in Hague conventions.] - - "Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be - inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals - for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally - responsible." - - "Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded - from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army - of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the - country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the - obligation of taking part in military operations against their own - country." - -[Sidenote: German violations of Hague conventions.] - -The German authorities have violated these articles from the very -beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon -individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German -Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In -_An Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases: - - "Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of - 20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform - the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of - the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact, - upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes. - The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because - a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had - given way through wear." - -In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914, -the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid -by the Belgian Provinces jointly. - -Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the -_Appeal to Truth_: - - "The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this - kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear - _relation to the resources of the country_, article 52. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's comments.] - - "Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of - war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had - exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in - those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all - law, being freely commandeered. - - "It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that - a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed." - -[Sidenote: The crushing fine is increased.] - -The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy. -In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month -period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of -40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In -November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month, -in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German -authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for -acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that -these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village -thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.) - -The German military rulers have also made the families responsible -for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the -following examples, which are quoted from the _Appeal to Truth_, cited -above. - -[Sidenote: Family made responsible.] - - "The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the - militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these - orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * _In case of - disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally - responsible._" - - "A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders - the _members of the family_ responsible if a Belgian fit for military - service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland." - -The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a -proclamation declaring: - - [Sidenote: Villages made responsible.] - - "The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the - inhabitants against our troops _will be burned_. - - "For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., _the villages - in the neighborhood_ of the destruction _will be held responsible_. - - "The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and - without mercy. _The whole community will be held responsible._ - Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will - be levied." - -At the end of the _Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier says: - - "But we can not say all here, nor quote all. - - [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier has proofs.] - - "If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * * - we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in - the four annexes [to the _Appeal to Truth_], one allegation of which - we have not the proofs in our records." - -A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the -archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed -to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a -small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State -Department archives tell the story. They need no comments. - - "PARIS, _Oct. 27, 1914_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - "_Washington_. - - "Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following - case be submitted to the President: - - [Sidenote: The case of Sissonne.] - - "Prince states that General von Buelow for weeks has been inhabiting - Prince's ancestral chateau near Rheims, historical monument, - containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Buelow has - imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne - some miles distant from chateau, because broken glass found on road - near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a - number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand - francs but von Buelow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince - that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the chateau and adjoining - village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first. - Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his - word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of - danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning - messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because - of refusal to pay. - - "I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and - Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German - Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's - threatened property is in France. - - "HERRICK." - - "ARMY HEADQUARTERS, - "_Warmeriville, Sept. 19th, 1914_. - - "TO the MAYOR OF THE COMMUNE OF SISSONNE, - "_Sissonne_. - - [Sidenote: Von Buelow's levy on Sissonne.] - - "It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and - the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with - broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50 - metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic. - - "I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility - on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by - levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred - thousand francs). - - "This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by - October 15th. - - "The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to - enforce execution of this order. - - "The General Commander in Chief of the Army. - - "VON BUELOW." - - LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR. - - "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_. - - "SIRE: - - "I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave - and urgent matter. - - [Sidenote: Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.] - - "The General von Buelow has caused to be occupied since one month and - a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the - village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred - inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five - hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than - one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a - document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village - of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not - disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of - October. - - "That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45 - years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of - the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work. - - "In reply to the summons of the General von Buelow I have given my - word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert - a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a - sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor - by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Chateau de - Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction. - - "I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin, - - "ALBERT, _Prince of Monaco_." - - LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BUELOW. - - "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_. - - "GENERAL: - - "To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the - rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word - of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war - come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence - or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of - five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne. - - "As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the - Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has - decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle. - - [Sidenote: Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.] - - "My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal - will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Chateau - de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and - charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem - the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims--when no - reprehensible action has been committed there--the whole world will - judge between you and myself. - - "I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard. - - "ALBERT, _Sovereign Prince of Monaco_." - - -IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR. - -[Sidenote: Advance in humanity--until August, 1914.] - -Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its -advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and -in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be -given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as -1863, in the _Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United -States in the Field_ the United States declared: - -[Sidenote: United States treatment of civilians, 1863.] - - "22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last - centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on - land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a - hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms. - The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed - citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the - exigencies of war will admit. - - "23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried - off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little - disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile - troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war. - - "24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues - to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the - hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and - protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and - still is with uncivilized people, the exception." - -[Sidenote: German Government's reversion to barbarism.] - -These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War--one of -the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than -50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the -methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has -deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and -girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even -compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies -and their own flesh and blood. - -No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and -detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men -and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been -broken up. Girls have been carried off to work--or worse--in a strange -land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or -what their fate has been. - -This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of -Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France. - -The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and -forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small -fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the -story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the -reader easily to grasp the connection of events. - - -BELGIUM. - - "The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing, - single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of - German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium." - Vernon Kellogg, in _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1917. - -A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be -obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken -from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on -pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report -at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum -of repetition. - - "_Legation of the United States of America_, - "_Brussels, January 16th, 1917_. - - "_The Honorable the Secretary of State_, - "_Washington_. - - [Sidenote: Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.] - - "_Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since - the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to - prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance - of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of - obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be - based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself, - that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and - justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary - despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with - doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress - that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy - land._ - - [Sidenote: Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.] - - "_In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go - back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief - work, the Comite National--the Belgian relief organization that - collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium--proposed an - arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own - employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages - they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this - both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide - the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time, - to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected - in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had - many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium - on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans. - However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice, - and on the rolls of the Comite National have been borne the names of - hundreds of thousands--some 700,000, I believe--of idle men receiving - this dole, distributed through the communes._ - - [Sidenote: German cupidity excited.] - - "_The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation - to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of - the chomeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the - guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comite - National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than - risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to - own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful, - since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the - authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters - of the communes. Finally, however, the military party, always brutal, - and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral - sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work._ - - "_General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had - always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have - sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and - secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application._" - - (Continued on page 53.) - -In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had -learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In -order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might -hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured -from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter -dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp -to communicate them to the people: - -[Sidenote: Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.] - - "The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene, - has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by - your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following - declarations: - - "(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be - enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors. - - "(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed, - the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors - and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire - population. - - "(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see - that food is assured to the population." - -These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues -show by abundant evidence in the _Appeal to Truth_. - - "On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted - a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were - called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from - their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman, - a member of the family was arrested. - - [Sidenote: Violation of German promises.] - - "However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were - unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.' - - "On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut - up in the railway carriages. - - "On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at - Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret - society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German - military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment. - - [Sidenote: Early deportations.] - - "On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken - to Germany. - - "On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany. - - "On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would - receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days. - On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi." - - "A similar course was adopted at _Malines_, where, by various methods - of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers - at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not - plain that this material would become war material sooner or later. - - "On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be - obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all - commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen - had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.' - - "On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a - complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of - several kilometres of the town." - - "Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the - arsenal." - - [Sidenote: Belgians asked to make barbed wire.] - - "The commune of _Sweveghem_ (Western Flanders) was punished in June, - 1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert - refused to make barbed wire for the German Army. - - "The following notice was placarded at _Menin_ in July-August, - 1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of - any description--including assistance to their families, wives, - and children--to any operatives except those who work _regularly_ - at _military work_, and other tasks assigned to them. All other - operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any - fashion.' - - [Sidenote: Punished for refusal to work for German Army.] - - "Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at - Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke - 29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's - factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for - having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir - was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a - year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks. - -[Sidenote: Interference with Red Cross.] - - "The General Government had recourse also to _indirect_ methods of - compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property, - and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself - master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and - Food Committee. - -[Sidenote: Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.] - - "If we were to cite _in extenso_ the decree of the Governor General - of August 4th, 1915, _concerning measures intended to assure the - carrying out of works of public usefulness_, and that of August 15th, - 1915, '_concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from - work_,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power - attempts to attack at once the masters and the men." - -October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the -development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in -prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and -openly discloses a contempt for international law. - - DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915. - - "Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to - continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of - which the military administration is interested, such work being - ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to - imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to - Germany. - - [Sidenote: Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work - for them.] - - "Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the - contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work. - - "On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military - commandant has the sole right of forming a decision. - - "Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other - means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in - Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding - five years. - - "Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other - way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum - fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's - imprisonment. - - "If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such - offence the heads of the communes will be punished. - - "Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3, - the German authorities may, in case of need, impose on communes, - where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive - police measures. - - "This present decree comes into force immediately. - - "Der Etappeinspekteur, - "VON UNGER, - "Generalleutnant. - - "GHENT, _October 12th, 1915_." - -Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and -arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced -labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there. -It is slavery, neither more nor less." - -[Sidenote: October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale -deportations.] - -Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able -to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the -need for an additional labor supply _in Germany_ had become urgent, -the German government established the system of forced labor _and -deportation_ which has aroused the detestation of Christendom. -The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German -authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree. - - THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916. - - "DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY.... - - [Sidenote: German verbal camouflage.] - - "I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the - place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of - others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of - gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness. - - "II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in - case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of - public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he - lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force. - - "III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall - refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur - the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to - 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer - penalty is provided for by the laws in force. - - "If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement with - several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a - ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment. - - "IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce - the proper execution of this decree. - - "The Quartermaster General, SAUBERZWEIG. - "GREAT HEADQUARTERS, _3d October, 1916_." - -[Sidenote: Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.] - -The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military -rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and -the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that -the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of -Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff. -In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued) - - [Sidenote: Was Bissing against deportations?] - - "_Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme - command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too - mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest, - threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official - here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible - regime--would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated. - Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of - Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so._" - (Continued on p. 54.) - -If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own -judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate" -and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the -following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott: - - VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT. - - "I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had - opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing, - who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man - steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart - which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined - for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped - in that system. - - "I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and - France stop giving these people money to purchase food?' - - "He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out - for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any - time.' - - [Sidenote: Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.] - - "He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60 - days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to - compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into - Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and - fight against the English and the French.' - - "'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would - transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work, - across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where - we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water - and it will blossom like the rose.' - - "'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate - opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and - force them through that line, so that the English and French could - take care of their own people.' - - "It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the - German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people - not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in _The - National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.) - -A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps -be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock. - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - "_The deportations began in October in the Etape, at Ghent, and at - Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich - industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about - Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant, - even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the - civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned._ - - [The etapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included - the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the - region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was - under civil government.] - - [Sidenote: The deportations begin.] [Sidenote: Pitiable scenes.] - - "_During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels, - but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care - than in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There - was no public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly - about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list - of chomeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the - railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to - respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of - employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On - the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves - at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by - German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large - force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access - to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The - Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to - each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided - warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial - allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more - excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of - those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the - cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold - and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of - brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one._ - - "_It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels, - but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked - were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe - weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations._" - (Continued on page 67.) - - Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to - abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises - in the past: - - "MALINES, _19th October, 1916_. - - "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL: - - [Sidenote: Another "Scrap of Paper."] - - "The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population - asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms - or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The - entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me - to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the - kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure - the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless, - that at Liege, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and - taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to - be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had - given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen - at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning - deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly he sent me in - writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no - reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there - enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.' - - "This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the - clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your - Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October - 16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding - pages.] - - "Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz, - at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and - requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country, - without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given - me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this - request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure. - The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines - to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of - two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the - liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected. - - "To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to - reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps - to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties - which persisted in the interested families. - - "Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes - workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment, - separates them by force from their wives and children and deports - them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this - unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same - acts of violence. - - [Sidenote: Mercier's moving appeal.] - - "In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of - Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in - the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would - gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of - the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate - representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I - respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the - measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian - workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who - have already been deported. - - "Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the - weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards - these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my - agency and at my request were lamentably deceived. - - "I persist in believing that this will not be the case. - - "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high - consideration. - - "D.J. CARDINAL MERCIER, - "_Arch. of Malines_." - -Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities -to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow -illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers. - - - RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916. - - "In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on - October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by - the municipality) * * * - - "The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal. - - "It further feels it its duty to place on record the following: - - "The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the - exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity - can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to - the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at - close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect - composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby - that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado. - - [Sidenote: Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.] - - "But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against - its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations - (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action. - - "In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor - General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic - sentiments.' - - "The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it - is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose - name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration - of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the - loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer. - - "The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of - this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself - and the German Army." - - GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI. - - "TOURNAI, _23rd October, 1916_. - - [Sidenote: And is roundly lectured and fined.] - - "In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to - oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied - territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a - complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war. - - "The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following: - - "The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city - must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous - explanations. - - "The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city--on account - of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded--a punitive - contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six - days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such - time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in - arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will - be paid by the city. - - "HOPFER, _Major General_, - "_Etappen-Kommandant_." - -The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce -the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans. - - "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM, - "_Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916_. - - [TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BELGIUM.] - - "EXCELLENCY: The measures which are being planned by your - administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power, - the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region - of the etapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in - Belgium. - - "The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central - socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that - they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the - painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the - echo of their touching complaints. - - "They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most - diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of - obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance - one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud. - - [Sidenote: Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.] - - "For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has - been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery - and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the - parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with - which their hearts are overflowing. - - "Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and - the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints - and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty - and independence. But the measures which have been announced will - make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow; - the proletariat, _the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced_, - citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor - without having disobeyed any regulation or order. - - [Sidenote: And appeal for decent treatment.] - - "In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful - anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancees, and whose - little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your - Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary - to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes, - contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human - nature. - - "We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the - homage of our distinguished consideration. - - "(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the - Commission Syndicale.)" - -Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth -of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested -against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the -letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows: - - "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM, - "_Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916_. - - "To His Excellency BARON VON BISSING, - "_Governor General in Belgium_. - - "EXCELLENCY: The Secretaries and representatives of the socialistic - and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a painful - disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were good - enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning the - deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the - working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort - to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed - against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity. - - [Sidenote: Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.] - - "You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of - the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy. - Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested - very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium - of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very - natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those - mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say - those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international - commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the - right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products. - - "Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying - authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines - of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and - wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of - transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ - workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have - been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings - have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless - efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men - were constantly thrown out of work. - - [Sidenote: And proudly praise the Belgian workman.] - - "You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility - to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this - accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where - is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made - of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power? - And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses - of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of - their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is - not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer - to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with - sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and - fruitful work. - - "What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the - same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions - of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these - requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war - against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not - wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories - which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty. - Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of - punishments. - - "You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May 15th, - 1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen - who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and - carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with - what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have - the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps - think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you - yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every - motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted - by international law. - - [Sidenote: Laborers see through the German scheme.] - - "For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the - right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals - and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain - that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive - approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they - have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly - their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a - question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise; - but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will - take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the - ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these - tribunals carry on their functions. - - "You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and - moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence - in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only - in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of - organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational - work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge - and to increase their professional value? The _Comite National_ was - not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is - it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black - despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their - physical and moral energy? - - [Sidenote: The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of - Belgians.] - - "You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length - weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that - Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that - form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed - the food of so many working families for so many months; and what, - after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed - each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unemployed, in comparison - with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the - horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have - cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in - our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near - future Flanders and _Wallonie_ will rise again, glorious, in history. - - [Sidenote: All Belgians understand the German scheme.] - - "Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it - is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to - our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their - families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been - deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there - echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by - its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who - constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country. - - "Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the - execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts - regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain - workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its - arms. - - "While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years - who were under the regime of control, in the Borinage they call all - the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over - 17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and - unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been - taken--bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives - of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment; - agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant, - 2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age. - Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons - have been exiled thus by force. - - [Sidenote: The tears of the mothers and the children.] - - "Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered - together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They - had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken - at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not - allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given - to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones. - They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for - how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years - of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide - themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles, - what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there? - In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the - cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers and little children. - Distress and despair reign in the homes. - - "Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit - our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit - human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the - dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many - centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot. - - "It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope - of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice, - at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the - entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest. - - "Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished - consideration." - -(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the _Comite Nationale_ -and of the _Commission Syndicale_.) - - "We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers - and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our - comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland." - -The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many -such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic -collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration, -some passages from two others: - - PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. - - "BRUSSELS, _9th November, 1916_. - - "To his Excellency, BARON VON BISSING, - "_Governor General in Belgium_. - - [Sidenote: Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.] - - "EXCELLENCY: It seemed that no suffering could be added to those under - which we have already been weighed down since the occupation of our - country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed industry and commerce, - our raw products and instruments of work taken out of the country, the - public fortune ruined, want succeeding to wealth in families formerly - most prosperous, privations, anxieties, and mourning. * * * - - [Sidenote: The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.] - - "Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the etape - has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being - reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government - General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to - commune until its victims are counted by hundreds of thousands? - The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell - sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and - sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the - unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the - unknown. * * * - - "The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the - representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good - wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they - may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral - depression is counted on in order to force their hand? - - [Sidenote: Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.] - - "True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them - will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every - side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman - permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.' - The most odious work is that whose results are used against the - fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country. - To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force - contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your - proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit, - if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * * - * - - "They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities - the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent - the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of - modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most - distinguished consideration." - - [Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.] - - PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER. - - "ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MALINES, - "_Malines, 10th November, 1916_. - - "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL: - - "I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which - have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which - I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the - deportation of the unemployed. - - [Sidenote: German perfidy.] - - "I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency, - dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your - arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I - have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.' - - "My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement - taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified - a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor - General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited - as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, - either to be enrolled in the army _or to be employed at forced labor_.' - - "This engagement is being violated every day--thousands of times in - the last fortnight. - - "Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say - conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to - imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men - fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said - categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have - reached an advanced age, shall not _at any moment of the occupation, - either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor_.' * * * - - "The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended - to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded - especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a - danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity. - - [Sidenote: The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.] - - "It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our - workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace. - Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished - witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working - class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge - upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by - their administration. The _Comite National_, in which the occupying - government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to - the victims of enforced idleness. * * * - - [Sidenote: The German plan makes Belgians war against their own - country.] - - "Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add - one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity, - is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter - himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure - one which affects the conduct of war _properly speaking_ (_proprement - dite_)'. It is, then, connected with the war _improperly speaking_ - (_improprement dite_); which can only mean that the Belgian workman, - although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German - workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to - co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against - his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague - Conventions. - - "Here is another statement: _unemployment is not caused either by the - Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the regime of - the German Occupation_. - - [Sidenote: No disorder is caused by Belgians.] - - "The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw - material intended for our national industry; it has seized and - shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories - and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus - suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work - for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain - idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of - hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy; - but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign - themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure - the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid - of a meager relief allowed them by the _Comite national de secours et - d' alimentation_, under the supervision of the protecting ministers - of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without - a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a - revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited - with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal - administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the - undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power - paralyzed their efforts. The _Comite National_ attempted to organize - a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical - instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to - keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for - the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the - plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The - occupying government. - - [Sidenote: Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.] - - "Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give - work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the - governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which, - as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured, - where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon - the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed. - - "They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the - army of the unemployed. * * * - - "The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the - unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not - allowed raw materials to enter Belgium. - - [Sidenote: England not to blame.] - - "England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the - revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral - States--Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw - materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same - control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not - to seize the finished products of our industrial work. - - [Sidenote: Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.] - - "But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of - its _Centrales_, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting - ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable - portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our - country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living, - which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * * - - [Sidenote: Deportation is slavery.] - - "Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code - after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong, - deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for - vengeance? - - "Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the - noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the - mission of dressing the wounds of your country.' - - "If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as - we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom - your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far - better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping. - - [Sidenote: Cold calculation of Germans.] - - "Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires, - but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation, - intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the - debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity. - - "It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted - conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of - our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the - good Samaritan! - - "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration. - - "D.J. CARD. MERCIER, - "_Arch. of Malines_." - -In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation -of the report of Minister Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - [Sidenote: Appalling stories of German behavior.] - - "_The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over - Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the - Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for - Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing - stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures. - And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been - related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us - to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all - possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because - there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and - the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult, - the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack - of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are - forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in - vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of - the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously - respected, are hauled by oxen._ - - [Sidenote: A foul deed.] - - "_The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate - themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that - existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house - for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly - repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all - that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as - one of the foulest that history records._ - - "_I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that - tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and - cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying - condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned - men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of - neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger._" (Continued on - page 74.) - -A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant, -may well be cited here: - - [Sidenote: "The woes of slavery."] - - "I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so - before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital - city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were - not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city - council, would be deported. - - "At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of - November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons, - myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street - and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with - the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held - back. - - "The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this - great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they - were cattle--all the great men of that province--the lawyers, the - statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital - of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years. - - "There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they - were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go - to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to - the one side or the other. - - "Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany. - You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left. - A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man - on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his - old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed. - They were packed in those trains that were waiting there. - - "You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching - to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last - that they had in life between themselves and starvation--a small - bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw - women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of - the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach - to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so - there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John - H. Gade, in _The National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917. - -The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock: - - THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN. - - "BRUSSELS, - "_November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine_. - - "His Excellency Mr. BRAND WHITLOCK, - "_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary - of the United States of America_. - - "MR. MINISTER: - - "From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you. - - "In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as - well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent - in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and - defenseless people is a victim. - - "Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on - impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible - events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian - hordes. - - [Sidenote: No shadow of excuse for deportations.] - - "Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes, - namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy - soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow - of excuse on the ground of military necessity, for it constitutes a - violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience. - - "Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may - be compelled to work directly or indirectly _for_ the enemy _against_ - their brothers who are fighting. - - "The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle. - - "Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this - monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international - law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those - who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from - neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered. - - [Sidenote: The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.] - - "Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in - the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers - of honor by their tears. - - "They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * * - The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields. - - "Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious - duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by - hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious - work--service to the enemy against the fatherland. - - "The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking - place without making their voices heard in protest. - - "They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral - torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed - with their children. - - [Sidenote: The rights of honor and conscience.] - - "They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and - conscience. - - "It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.' - - "We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our - hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal. - - "We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the - unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad - and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention. - - "Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed - can counterbalance that of the German authorities. - - "This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought - to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians? - - "Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most - distinguished consideration." - - (Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.) - -The United States Government did not fail to respond to this touching -appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at -Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with -the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In -an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. -Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in -translation, as follows: - - THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT." - - [Sidenote: More German camouflage.] - - "Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public - charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory - measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not - voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation - issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain - such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required - for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the - districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of - Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief - committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the - sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have, - in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations - regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal - authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who - may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be - released." - -Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and -would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the -negotiations which he carried on he says: - - [Sidenote: Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion - against her.] - - "I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for - Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would - make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle - contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor - at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which - the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in - Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated - solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the - matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal - attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would - entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had - very little influence with the military authorities and that it was - unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated, - however, in answer to my inquiry, that he would not disapprove of my - seeing the Chancellor about the matter." - -[Sidenote: Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor] - -Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor, -and among other arguments urged the promises which the German -Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron -von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in -detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in -full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the -Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations, -and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal -statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows: - - "The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to - Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows: - - "1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate - and careful selection. - - "2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken. - - "3. Employees of the Comite National not to be taken. - - [Sidenote: and asks certain concessions] - - "4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian - authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities - themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the - Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these - lists, released. - - "5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families - in Belgium. - - "6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be - voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral - representatives. - - * * * * * - - "A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me - and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to - the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of - amelioration: - - [Sidenote: but with slight success.] - - "1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be - made in a careful and deliberate manner. - - "2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be - exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits. - - "3. Employees of the _Comite National_ are regarded as actually - employed and therefore exempt. - - "4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate - with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in - order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been imprisoned for - refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his - release. - - "5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their - families in Belgium. - - "6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open - to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives. - - "American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired. - - * * * * * - - "On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text - of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th, - stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my - interview with the Chancellor." * * * - -The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following: - - MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916. - - "BRUSSELS, VIA THE HAGUE, _November 28, 1916_. - - "SECRETARY OF STATE, - "_Washington_. - - [Sidenote: Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.] - - "We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his - conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders - [for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put - into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without - distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received - creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which - allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had - given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the - persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same - district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is - based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There - is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification - cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working - for the _Comite National_ were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding - them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day - in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in - various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small - percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist - in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken - there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have - no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to - oblige them to work for the Germans. - - "WHITLOCK, - "_American Minister_." - -The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able -to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister -Whitlock says: - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued). - - [Sidenote: Neutral representatives are allowed to request - reconsideration of special cases.] - - [Sidenote: They run into high figures.] - - "_We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the - conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have - already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with - the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request - that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and - on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time - to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who - were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come - within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government - that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in - Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions - that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations - of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many - requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to - rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation - in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and - supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comite National, - which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports - received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the - persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war, - and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it - is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the - very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with - any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been - deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned._ - - "_The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is - charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims - precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each - and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each - day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented, - and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances - were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to - Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should - they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told - that they submit over fifteen hundred each day._ * * * - - "_We have a great many requests, and although we try not to - discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though - now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it - because all the cases are deserving._ - - [Sidenote: Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported - Belgians.] - - "_I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La - Louviere, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported - men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent - to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused - to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians - claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the - camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the - agreements to work._ - - "_It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who - would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium - from workmen in Germany._" (Concluded on p. 78.) - -The American Government was not content with informal recommendations -to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American -representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German -chancellor: - - FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. - - [Sidenote: A solemn protest by United States.] - - "The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest - concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport - from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result - of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest - in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is - in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of - international practice which have long been accepted and followed by - civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered - territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is - convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all - probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned - and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally - deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the - German Government." - -[Sidenote: Other neutrals support American protest.] - -This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the -Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail, -except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil -over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure -come through, although the full facts will not be known until the -liberation of heroic Belgium. - -In the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ of December 2, 1916, the -following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy -Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag: - - PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG. - - "Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled - to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these - workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the - Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made - a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done - the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure - which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we - have agreed." - - "In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when - formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to - Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian - workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This - reassuring promise has not been kept." - -Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book: - - AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE. - - [Sidenote: American indignation at deportations.] - - "The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me - his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action - of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population - of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in - America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before - my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and - the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into - bondage.' - - "Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and, - on my return, I immediately took up the question. - - [Sidenote: Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.] - - "I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had - feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and - that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at - their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones - and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been - decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit - these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such - visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left - Germany. - - [Sidenote: Some of them call on him.] - - "Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to - get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how - they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany at making - munitions to be used probably against their own friends. - - "I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making - shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He - said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I - can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on - the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go. - - "Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to - win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W. - Gerard, _My Four Years in Germany_, 1917, pp. 351-52. - -A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae -Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper _Nepszawa_ of Budapest (quoted in -K.G. Ossiannilsson, _Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany_, 1917, -pp. 53-54). - - HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS. - - "Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is - for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must - be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in - accordance with the old saying which always holds good: _Vae victis_ - (woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms - which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate - banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'" - - [Sidenote: The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.] - - "* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans - use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work, - whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported - Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to - international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland - is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer - peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred - towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have - had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for - Belgium than for any other belligerent." - -[Sidenote: Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.] - -The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of -Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York _Evening -Post_, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian -population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here. -The town of Roulers, immediately behind the battle line in Flanders, -has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and -two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another -dispatch from Havre (_Washington Post_, September 24, 1917) it is -stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are -conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the -ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The -rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the -school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping." - - REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded). - - [Sidenote: German capacity for blundering.] - - "_One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted, - a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for - blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until - the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part - of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The - old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes; - they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone - fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the - humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the - privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish - population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in - its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed - all that._ - - [Sidenote: Germans will be hated for generations.] - - "_They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have - had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away - from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a - son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go - out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that - will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations, - a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early - atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by - one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human - race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and - systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are - said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German - officers are now said to be ashamed._ - - "WHITLOCK." - -Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium, -which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence -already presented. - - MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS. - - SEPTEMBER, 1917. - - I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of - German rule in Belgium and Northern France. - - I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes - which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I - have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people. - - [Sidenote: Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."] - - The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and - fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but - partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of - thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of - men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country, - the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening - of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the - country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to - witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this - long and terrible time--and still these are not the events of battle - heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the - mastership of the world. - - All these things are well known to the world--but what can never be - known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of - millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why? - Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies - before the march of autocracy. - - I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these - things are possible to us--but even should the broad Atlantic prove - our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for - us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be - trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest? - - HERBERT HOOVER. - - -FRANCE. - -[Sidenote: German practices were the same in all occupied regions.] - -In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its -attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in -Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately -illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this -part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two -occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from -a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may be gathered -from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by -the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25, -1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been -translated, along with the official documents, in _The Deportation of -Women and Girls from Lille_, New York, Doran. - - PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE. - - "The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more - and more difficult. - - "To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for - volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the - success that was expected. - - [Sidenote: German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.] - - "In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order - and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the - interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front, - where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any - military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the - opportunity of providing better for their subsistence. - - "In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German - depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30 - kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it - will be well to make ready at once. - - "I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change - his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared - legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in - possession of a permit in due form. - - "Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of - the population itself to remain calm and obedient. - - "COMMANDANT. - - "LILLE, _April, 1916_." - - NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE. - - "All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children - under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare - themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time. - - [Sidenote: Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to - depart.] - - "An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the - concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house - must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain - in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests - will be useless. No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be - transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time). - - "Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if - anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without - further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each - person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed. - This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the - number of the identity card. - - [Sidenote: Must carry their own cooking utensils.] - - "It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own - interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well - as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must - carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade - transportation will be punished without mercy. - - "ETAPPEN-KOMMANDANTUR." - - [LILLE, _April, 1916_.] - - PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON - GRAEVENITZ. - - "MONSIEUR LE GENERAL: It is my duty to bring to your notice the fact - that a very agitated state of mind exists among the population. - - "Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and - youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of - Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial. - - [Sidenote: The Bishop protests against deportations.] - - "The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures - equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You - will not be surprised, Monsieur le General, that I intercede with you - in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission - lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the - Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that - eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty - to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and - whose burdens and sorrows are mine. - - [Sidenote: Appeals to the humanity of the commander.] - - "You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity - a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every - Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches - to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in - our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family - affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to - dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is - not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures--unlimited - moral torture. - - [Sidenote: The methods of deportation a danger to morals.] - - [Sidenote: Hopes for restoration of the deported.] - - "The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the - sacred demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere - idea of which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity - which inevitably accompanies removals _en masse_, involving mixture - of the sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral - standing. Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed - any worse offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few - potatoes to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the - light penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers, - who have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that - of keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and - sons fighting or killed at the front--these mothers are now alone. - They bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of - what I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these - harsh measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is - why I venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward - without delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a - Bishop, whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered - much for the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be - comparable to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and - would produce in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe - that the blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I - preserve the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families - will be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their - return and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all - lower considerations. - - "ALEXIS ARMAND, - "_Bishop_." - - ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE - PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. - - "To Monsieur RAYMOND POINCARE, - "_President of the French Republic, Paris_. - - "SIR: We have the honor to express again our most sincere gratitude to - you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the deputation - which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform you of the - deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities have just - carried out in the invaded districts. - - "We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an - honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing - about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to - your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been - made to us: - - "'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans announced that - the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be - transported into French districts where their provisioning would be - easier. - - [Sidenote: The procedure of the deportations.] - - "'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of - the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house - was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact - reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document, - above.] - - "'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an - hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation. - - "'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer, - who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can - express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending - scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of - their parents--a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were - executing the infamous task--rejoined the group of those who were - going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by - other soldiers with fixed bayonets. - - [Sidenote: Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the - brutal orders.] - - "'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly - separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes, - however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair, - and did not choose all the persons whom he should--by the terms of his - instructions--have separated. - - "'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where - they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form - convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or - thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them. - - "'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc., - then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by - districts. - - [Sidenote: Numbers deported.] - - "'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up - to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days - to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again - soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the - "Marseillaise." - - "'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?) - one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is - going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs, - whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap. - - [Sidenote: Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."] - - "'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to - their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the - Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful - promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is - unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained - to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of - insufficient food. - - "'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told - the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work, - and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which - only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the - victims, became known. - - "'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a - measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of - slave drivers. - - "'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the - whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in - knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the - despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the - German officers or rather executioners. - - "'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home - once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.' - - "Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without - commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we - took the liberty of laying before you. - - "We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the - invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you, - as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a - few words the situation from this aspect: - - "The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by - the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * * - * People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a - half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing - noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably. - - [Sidenote: People rely on the neutral powers.] - - "Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note - of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.' - We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le President, that the - energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French - Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures - which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. * - * * - - "With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture - to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous kindness and - far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on - behalf of the whole country." - - (Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde, - Charles Droulers, Leon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.) - - "PARIS, _15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout_." - - AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT. - - [Sidenote: Barbarity of deportations.] - - "It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the - great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these - fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers - only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize - a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the - outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told - me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that - a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had - disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that - the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and - a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house - of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen - and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant - would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some - little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The - Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation - among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising - and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans. - - [Sidenote: Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the - deportations.] - - "That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told - him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without - consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name - of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil - population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not - known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military, - that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be - able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped, - but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were - not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made - in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of - the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of - these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press - agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements - about this matter because these people were not returned to their - homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of - Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had - no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the - case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, _My Four Years in - Germany_, 1917, pp. 333-335. - - -POLAND. - -The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities -in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become -only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will -be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this -pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more -touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the -_National Geographic Magazine_ for May, 1917. - - POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM. - - SEPTEMBER, 1917. - - Poland--Russian Poland--is perishing. And the German high command, - imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the - necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends. - - West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred - years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain - Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years, - by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland - will be thoroughly made over into a German province. - - [Sidenote: Devastation of Poland.] - - In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely - devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans. - A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished - by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the - way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by - the crows--though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty - Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets--the little - basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant - home--were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one - could not count them, each one telling a death. - - Warsaw, which had not been destroyed--once a proud city of a million - people--was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the - streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in snow and rain, - too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich - gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were - starving there in the streets in droves. - - In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a - proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to - work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much - as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law. - - [Sidenote: The policy of starvation.] - - It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father - of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your - families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve--this - to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the - authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to - millions of fellow Christians captive and starving. - - [Sidenote: Country to be restocked with Germans.] - - General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain. - - Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on - the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it - must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness, - the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be - restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed--rich alluvial - soil--better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If - the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany. - - Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the - women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries - concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good; - it will reappear as a German province." - - Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was - the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the - all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of - their mind. - - German people are material for building the State--of no other - account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity, - liberty, equality, the rights of others--all foolish talk. Democracy, - an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German - State may be mighty and great. - - [Sidenote: German system of frightfulness everywhere.] - - All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the - Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the - starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities, - frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the - enslavement of women--all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of - nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are - subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world. - - FREDERICK C. WALCOTT. - - - - -CONCLUSION. - -STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917. - -(Prepared for this pamphlet.) - - -[Sidenote: The graves of the massacred.] - -It was my privilege--and necessity--in connection with the work of -the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the -Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to -spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium -and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something -of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of -whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of -East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German -General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the -inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil -government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the -occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of -the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves -of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the -long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans -treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation. - -It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in -Louvain, Dinant, Vise, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of -the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little -has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent -of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in -the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench -lines of the extreme western front. - -As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover -this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with -the German officer assigned for my protection--and for the protection -of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity -also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into -the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the -destruction wrought in the two regions. - -[Sidenote: Towns untouched by war but ruined.] - -I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and -along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to -pieces. There had been fighting in these towns and the artillery of -first one side and then the other had worked their havoc among the -houses of the inhabitants. But there were many towns in which there -had been no fighting and yet all too many of these towns also were in -ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by fire and explosions. -There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a citizen or perhaps -two or three citizens had fired from a window on the invaders--or were -alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three blocks, or half the -town was methodically and effectively burned or blown to pieces. There -are many of these "punished" towns in occupied France. And between -these towns and along the roadways are innumerable isolated single -farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed that there was -any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just destroyed along the -way--and by the way, one may say. When the roll of destroyed villages -and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is made known, the world -will be shocked again by this evidence of German thoroughness. - -[Sidenote: Heartlessness of German rule.] - -The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French -territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions -occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable -steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was -visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at -the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated -through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can -pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town. - -[Sidenote: False receipts for requisitioned property.] - -The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm -animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried -to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These -requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming -in that quartermaster's _bons_ were given for the things taken. Even -then the German sense of humor too often made the _bon_ a crude jest. -The _bons_ were written in the German language in German script, -illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A _bon_ -might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was -taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the -requisitioning was simplified by the omission of _bon_-giving. Where -the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be -buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places -became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman -had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights -above the Meuse. But these bottles found their way to special tables -at the Great Headquarters. - -In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of -deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns -near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were -to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a -matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The -congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem -there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection -with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but -crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the -rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do, -as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open -air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real -advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food -supply situation. - -[Sidenote: Horrors of deportations.] - -But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we, -although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not -but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the -very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in -the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high -officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in -his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland, -our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But -a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had -been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and -daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken -without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The -great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser -deportations--that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their -carrying out--are hardly known. - -[Sidenote: No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.] - -I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained -while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral. -I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to -mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with -the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do -what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must -not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a -moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to -do it again. - -[Sidenote: Civilization must crush Prussian system.] - -I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of -war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again, -that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its -present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by -force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or -treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope -that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized -world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is -responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible. - - VERNON KELLOGG. - - - - -Your Government Is Willing to Send You - -WITHOUT CHARGE - -Any Two of the Pamphlets Listed Here with Exceptions Noted - - -_Committee on Public Information._ - -(Established by Order of the President, April 14, 1917, Washington, -D.C.) - - -Series No. 1. War Information. (Red, White and Blue Covers.) - -Catalogue No. - -1. How the War Came to America. - - _Contents_: A brief introduction reviewing the policy of the United - States with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, freedom of the seas, and - international arbitration, developments of our policy reviewed and - explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's - address to the Senate January 22, 1917, his war message to Congress - April 2, 1917, his Flag Day address at Washington, June 14, 1917. 32 - pages. (Translations: German, Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, - Swedish, Portuguese. 48 pages.) - - NOTE.--For Numbers 2, 3 and 7 described below, a contribution is - required as noted. All other booklets are free. - -2. National Service Handbook. (Price, 15 cents) - - (A reference work for libraries, schools, clubs and other - organizations.) - - _Contents_: Description of all civic and military organizations - directly or indirectly connected with war work, pointing out how - and where every individual can help. Maps, Army and Navy Insignia, - diagrams. 246 Pages. - -3. The Battle Line of Democracy. (Price, 15 cents) - - _Contents_: The best collection of patriotic prose and poetry. Authors - and statesmen of America and all the countries now associated with us - in the war have expressed the highest aspirations of their people. 134 - Pages. (Price 15 cents.) - -4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans. - - _Contents_: The President's speech with the facts to which he alludes - explained by carefully selected notes giving the proofs of German - purposes and intrigues. THESE NOTES PRESENT AN OVERWHELMING ARSENAL OF - FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages. - -5. Conquest and Kultur. - - _Contents_: A brief introduction outlining German war aims and showing - how the proofs were gathered; followed by quotations from German - writers revealing the plans and purposes of Pan Germany, one chapter - being devoted entirely to the German attitude toward America. The - quotations are printed with title or no comment, THE EVIDENCE PILING - UP PAGE AFTER PAGE, CHAPTER AFTER CHAPTER. 160 Pages. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1: -TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS*** - - -******* This file should be named 55442.txt or 55442.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/5/4/4/55442 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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