A LAND STRIPPED TO THE BONE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14725, 3 October 1918, Page 2

A LAND STRIPPED TO THE BONE.

i SYSTEM AHO MURDER OF. THE 1 PEOPLE. LONDON, July 15. 1 Tho . murderous policy of -.Germany m Belgium is not yet fully understood i» this country. Nearly' four years; have passed' since the sacking of Louvairi Sent a thrill of horror through the civilised world. To-day worse terrorism is part of tho devilish plot to extinguish altogether the most industrious and the most tortured nation m Europe. lt goes on remorselessly, ceaselessly. The little kingdom of nearly 8,000,000 people has been stripped bare because it refused to> make way .for the Hun. Men and women are murdered systematically. Even the children are not spared. The" people who are left are m slavery. ' -Tliis Is "no f ancy » picture. It is based' on cumulative;,- indisputable evidence, brought by Belgians who m sheer des-[pe-ration 'have achieved miracles to escape. Many of these refugees -• are known, to Belgian officials -m London. Their past history' is accessible, their statements", can be* tested, and this is done with 1 'painstaking,, scrupulous care. Their records are', filed by a special Court, of Inquiry m Lon~ idort, and they establish certain facts j. beyond, cftmbt.' - Forced labor is imposed oii every Belgian between the ages of fourteen and sixty -five. This applies to girls as well ag boys 'equally with old men whose upbringing has unfitted them for heavy toil. I is ripfc work ■ for Belgium*^:.* but military slave labor for the armies of the conqueror. .-.,..' | ' REFUGEE'S STORY, ' | One of ! the latest - v refugees escaped from" a ■ military, camp near Hiiyse on j'June 26th. He says :— . I ■- "There ■■ were 150 of- us, m'eny^and boys, compelled to work ou cvoad-making and', trench-digging. Among ' us were former wealthy landowners, whose chateaux have been dtesjiroyed ;oj occupied t by tho Germans, and others who were formerly m professions, and many old : and of *feeble physique. "The victims, have been, robbed of their- personal belongings, as well as of ! their .; liberty: ," The systematic robbery earned on by the Germans, is still more flagrantly i anti-national: , Before the war Belgium.' was the most highly developed industrial community; ,^ hi/ Europe. . Its factory towns supported ii ■' densely - crowded, population.. To-day the towns are silent, tlie factories 'empty. "Every scrap of machinery, on '-which tlie Hun invader could lay 'hands has been carried" off to Germany to be ! turned into guns and shrapnel to fire at the Allies. The famous bells of the cathedral towns went long,' ago; now the maclunerv fi'dm .the' factories has followed. . Business is at. an end. Those people who have -not -been- -triken' away live- m semi -starvation, and abject ->mise"ry." ''" :-■.-- "The first -principle of German policy m Belgium is to kill .'. men," said- one of the; officials, who dfeals with these reports.' "The" fewer men, the fewer enemies they may have' to' "fight." • ' "But "thfe "deliberate -terrorism has 'other objects;' it is' directed uiidbubtedly towards other neutral countries, as a tlireat of what may happen to them; and to frighten them.', into acquiescence with demands made on them -by Gerniany. 'Tlie -robbery of the machinery of industry , is m itself a proof, • how? ever,' of the straits to which Germany arid her allies are. reduced' for metals.". All,- the "'^brutality bf the' invaders, has not broken— -as the German's ' hoped it would break— the spirit still cherished by the Belgian' people. Fights between tlie forced lab/brers and their guards are frequent because of the insolence and brutality to whichi the Belgians, are subjected. Those who are stung .into- refusing to obey, their loaptors or. resent outrage are thrown irito dirty, vermiriinfested barracks, where they are compelled to sleep m herds on the' floor without covering, whatever the weather, and their rations reduced to starvation point. Many, irf fact j have sickened and died under this treatment. EXPQSET) TO BOMBS. Women, old men, and mere boys have been set to 'work on the mole at Blankenberghe arid 'tlie . quays. 'bf ZeebruggeY Although they know they 'qre thus exposed to the risks of wounds or death from Allied air raids — a number have already been killed' — these Belgians express gratification at the raids and are philosophically willing to pay some of the cost of such Allied successes so long as the Germans are made to suffer. "With Machiavellian dunning,," stated the member of the Committee of Inquiry (as his son is a; prisoner m Germany his name is withheld), "the Kaiser keeps . faith to . th©' letter of his promise to the Pope,' while utterly traitor to its spirit. He pvornised there should be no more ' depprtatioris Jjf . Belgians to Germany^ but 'deportations' o: large numbers continue to ..the roads arid! commuuication trenches, just behind the lines oii the Western ".'front from Bruges and Ostend vand all the territory jvhioh is arbitrarily delimited as the f military zone;* • and: which ' embraces about one-third of all Belgium. -, '"These workers .are pushed teethe" extremity of their strength. Their rations .consist of one small'loaf of. war bread,' made mostly of dried -bean's and chaff, •with a. daily, quart of poor potato- soup. In consequence they are 1 soon worn out and have to be sent back— perhaps to die-rand a; fresh contingent of deportees tako their places. ' ' "They are paid, when working, the munificent Weekly wage of ithreo shih lings ■ m s depreciated German i>aper money. ' 'At- the time of the Kaisers famous' promise' to ■ stop his flagrant ' violation of one of the 'first principles' of the international: laws governing civilised- 'nations 'iiv \varf are 'and'- to observe cpmmbn : humanity j about lotyOOO 1 men arid 30,000 had been torn from ■ then.' homes arid' virtually: enslaved. About half this number- were sent to Germany. It was promised that those .who Avere willing, to cpritiriue work; m this capacity should be returned to their homes from Germany, j,"About 40,000 were so* allowed to return. Most of thern^ were so utterly broken m health-as tq.be- of - little value to their taskmasters. " We -can well imagine the te^rorisrii by. which those who remained in' exile* were' .'persuaded.*!'. - "Two obvious motives stand 'out on the face of the whole matter of German policy iri Belgium. First, the Germans; m their ruthless exploitation of Belgian resources and the Belgian ' population', show their desperate need of both men i and materials. Every Belgian man, woman, or child V they can '. force into war- work releases their own men for the fighting linfe; Every ounce of metal they can steal from Belgium helps to mitigate the German shortage. -In-tak-ing what they want they are utterly regardless of 'the consequences to the -Belgians, ' "In the second place, certain measures consistently carried out argue a motive that goes beyond this mere- supply of economic need- Many of the schools aye practically closed) down because of the withdrawal of boi,h : boys - an# -girls flf fourteen or over for this forced '.labor. Secondary education- (and, ! of course, -university education) and all technical training; m Belgium have beeit ' stopped. ' "Following oil "the ■ wholesale destruction, of factories and machinery, because of the refusal of Belgian workmen to turn out shells and rifles for the Germans, and! the stripping of -public buildings, and overt. smalDdweTlinfcs,' of every bit -of rrietal m the hvay of,. door knobs, ■window fastenings,, 'and domestic utensil s,. to be made Jntjo shrajphel', the- G t err! '■maamaaaaaaaaaaaaamammm^^—mmmm^a—aoak

mans are plainly endeavoring to demora.lise l-hp phnidercd population and o-ush out all hope and ambition, with a view also to its effect on neutral peoples. It will have an effect different from German expectation."