GERMAN RULE IN BELGIUM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16601, 26 January 1916, Page 3

GERMAN RULE IN BELGIUM

INCIDENTS AMUSING AND OTHERWISE.

A Belgian gentleman who has for many years been engaged in manufacturing enterprises in that country, but who is now in the United States, partly on account of his business interests and partly on account of the education of his children, contributes the following to the New York Outlook: — " American newspapers have said little about the petty social and industrial hardships which necessarily perhaps, but none the less disagreeably, have been imposed upon tho Belgian people German rule. To-day, for example, if a resident of Ghent desires to go by railway to Brussels he must go through such formalities as these: " He has to go to the German commander in Ghent and get a permit for Brussels, for which -he has to pay several marks. Without this permit ho cannot enter the railway station. At the tickeet office he _has to show his permit again, and he is then allowed to purchase his ticket for Brussels. On arrival in Brussels he has to show his permit before being allowed to leave tho station. Then his next step is to go to the commander in Brussels, show his permit, and state what his business in Brussels is, and how long his stay in the city will be. The commander will then assign him to the hotel in which he is to stay during his visit. He may sometimes choose his own hotel; it, however, must be approved by the military authorities. But m most cases the hotel is designated by the German authorities. "No Belgian citizen under 50 years, of age is permitted to leave Belgiupi in any circumstanccs, the inference being that tho German authorities wish to prevent the possibility of any Belgian of fighting age taking his place in the ranks of the Allies. Various stratagems are devised to evade this last ruling. For example,"a group of young Belgians of military age got permission of the German authorities to organise a bicycle race from some point in Belgium to Maestricht, which is practically on the Dutch frontier. They obtained this permission on condition that each must carry on his bicycle a small German flag. The race was held; but, instead of stopping at the finish line, all the contestants kept on at full speed over the boundary into Holland, and, as they had tho German fla,g on their bicycles, they were not arrested by the sentries, and fllllo nQMTIPn "I am sometimes asked as to the conditions of my own business, and of my family connections in Belgium. Ido not know my self. I have not heard from office for 6ome time. The only way in which I could receive communications would be by the smuggling of letters out of Belgium over the Dutcii frontier. Only recently three men were shot who wore caught by the Germans *n this kind 'of letter /smuggling. Until rectntly X was ablo to send letters by posting them to a given addrrss in Hollaned, from which place, for a "fixed fee, thev were smuggled by personal couriers over the boundary and delivered to the person addressed. But the rigour of German supervision has at .ast stopped fven this means of .iommimical ion. "The following incident throws some light on German efficiency and skill in managing the publicity sido of their administration m Belgium. Not long ago the German administration brought a fine military band and a large company of soldiers to the Place Rouppe in Brussels. There are now, of course, a very large number of German residents in • Brussels, and the ladies belonging to these families were all invited to corae and listen to the band. The Belgian citizens were allowed to come. They put a cordon of soldiers around the Place, with placards forbidding anv Belgian to come nearer than the cordon. At a certain tuno the band started to play dances, and all the Gorman soldiers engaged the ladies to dance with them. During this performance some moving pictures were taken. Those were sent to Berlin afterwards to show the joy and gaiety of the Belgians and to let the German public know how cordially the Belgian public has received the Germans!

''On the Belgian national holiday, tho 21st Juiy, the German General von Bissing ordered that no Belgian emblems be worn, and no Belgian flags bo displayed in the town. The Belgian men agreed among themselves to wear full evening dress the whole day. It :vas an odd sight to see Belgian citizens going about their ordinary business in dress coats and top hate, but it marked the day effectually, much to i.ho chae-iin of the German pnthorities. _ who, nevertheless, could do nothing about it. On that day all tho gaiety and cclnbiations at tbo restaurants bad to .stop at 8 o'clock by military orders. The citizens went home at that time, but at 12.5 a.m., as it was not then the national holiday, they all came l>aok and continued their celebration. Three Belgian women —one drnssed in yellow, on 9 in black, and one in red—which form the Belgian national c.~lours, walked abreast down the street. For th.'s they were arrested.

"An amusing incid-nt hapj-f-ried in tho Quurtier des Marofliens, or that part of tho city where the street lw.vcors of vegetables nnd fruit and other peddlers live. There was so much disturbance among these gentry that the German authorities placed at each end of the chief street in this quarter two cannon to intimidate the inhabitants. Whereupon from every window in the street a few hours after was thrust a .stovepipe. This joke at the expense of Gerrm.n dignity created such an uproar that soldiers were immediately sent to remove the imitations iof artillery. " In the city of Ghent a Belgian woman kept a tobacco shop which was frequented by the German soldiers, among others a corporal, who each day purchased a package of cigarettes. One day he ordered 10 packages, whereupon the shopkeeper asked him why he took such a largo supply. "Wo are going to Dixmude," was the reply. ' Oh, yes,' said the shopkeeper, ' that is on the River Yser." 'No," said tho corporal. 'it is Dixmude.' ' Well, Dixmude is on the Yser,' 'insisted the shopkeeper. Tho corporal kept on denying it, and left thg shop. Two days afterwards the shopkeeper was summoned to the German commander, and was fined 40 marks'in gold for having given information to a soldier because, as she discovered later, the reverses at the River Yser had so terrified ordinary German soldiers that the German officers were trying to conceal from them the fact that when they wero ordered to Dixmude they were going to the Yser. "Incidents of this land help to keep up the spirits of the citizens of Brussels, who can hardly be blamed for hailing with delight every manifestation of what they regard as at least a lack of nimble wit on the part of the German invaders."