MYSTERY OF BRUSSELS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 22 February 1916, Page 8

MYSTERY OF BRUSSELS.

SUPPRESSED NEWSPAPER'S ACTIVITY.

A Rotterdam Correspondent recently directed attention to the fact that the' already famous Brussels news-sheet Libre Belgique, which the German authorities have made furious but fruitless efforts to suppress, has made its fifty-third appearance. I The regular appearance of this weekly paper under conditions of the greatest difficulty and danger is one of the most arresting chapters of "la guerre anecdotique" (writes the Central News' Paris correspondent). I The sheet is cleverly edited, and pursues a red-hot policy, lashing the Germans with its satire and condemnation,' seeking to keep the flame of loyalty and confidence burning in the hearts of the Belgian people, and delighting its many readers with accounts of the numberless tricks which the gamins of Brussels continue to play on the German soldiery. , Morning by morning General yon Bissing receives a free copy of the current issue. Nobody seems to know how it reaches him, and the most searching investigation has led to nothing more important than the arrest of two of the agents responsible for the distribution of the paper. The people higher up have never been discovered; the location of the printing press has never been brought to light, nor have the authorities been able to set hands upon a single member of the editorial staff. Yet Libre Belgiqiie circulate* widely,' copies regularly arriving in France, and duly conforms with the law by giving, in each issue, the address of -its offices and printing works. It announces that it is printed fn a cellar on wheels,* and i ln^ites its numerous correspondents to address communications to the offices of the Kommandantur! The reward offered by the Governor for the denunciation of the persons responsible for its production has risen from £1000 to £3000, but so far there have been no claimants. i

According to the Matin, one of the latest and most daring exploits of Libre Belgique ha«s been to identify yon Bissmg, the Governor of Brussels, with the Lieut, yon Bissing who is mentioned by Sir William Russell, the famous Times correspondent, in connection with the loot of treasures from the chateau of Saint Cloud during the Franco-Ger-man war.

Libre Belgique points out thai the present Governor of Brussels was born in 1844. and served as lieutenant with the Third Army in the campaign of 1870. Tt suggests that herein lies the reason for his appointment as head of the provisional Government—he had had eperience of pillage. The Matin anticipates that the reward already alluded to will now be increased to £5000j but In the meantime Libre Belgique regularly appears, with its unsparing accounts of German crimes and its shrewd analyses of the German official communiques. A number of Jesuits and Redeirmtorists who were arrested on suspiciion have just been released for lack of evidence.