Evening star., 1914-11-25
APPEAL IN VAIN,
It |SASSERTED
American Commission Denies
Statement Attributed to Gen.
Won Frankenberg.
SAYS NO GERMAN EFFORT
MADE FEED BELGIANS
Civilization Turned Back for Gen.
turies and Brigandage Prevails,
Declares Bruges Dispatch.

has issued the following statement:
with regard to a statement pub
lished in America and credited to Gen.
Won Frankenberg. governor OF Ant
werp, to the effect that if America had
not been SO kindhearted as to send
foodstuffs to Belgium the Germans
themselves would have considered 1t
their duty to bring food from Germany,
we cannot conceive that the German
governor of Antwerp ever authorized
such statement, and are inclined to
believe that the report is unfounded.
'The following cities through their
representatives. have made repeated ap-
peals to the German representatives in
Antwerp for food: Malines. Lierre.
Willebroeck. Boom. Duffel. Torhagen.
st. Nicolas, Coutich and Wahlen. They
were refused.
Under Million Dollar Bond.
| Last Friday two town councillors of
Antwerp came to our headquarters in
Rotterdam and stated that they had
been released by the German authori-
ties under bond of 100000 francs
(s1, 900, ,00O) to obtain help for the desti-
tute of Antwerp. and upon their urgent
representation we sent $40 tons of sup
plies to Antwerp.
"The provinces of Limbourg and
Luxembourg. adjoining the German from
| tier. have made repeated appeals to the
Germans for the right to buy food in
Germany and import it into Belgium and
have been consistently refused. On the
| minor question of salt alone, OF which
| there is an abundant supply in Germany.
| the privilege O. importation was refused.
| and we have had to send salt from the
British Isles.
"These are only a few Of the instances
| which make 1t impossible for US to be-
lieve that any such statement as the one
| referred to was authorized by a re-
sponsible German official.
Waited on Germans.
1.-The first and most natural inquiry
| we made when we were asked to under
take the work of relief was: Why do
the Germans not supply the civil popula-
tion with food?' and it was not until we
were absolutely satisfied through Amer
lean Minister Whitlock and by much
corroborative evidence as to the German
refusals to or inability to supply specific
| requests for food that we undertook the
responsibility OF advising the American
people that the feeding of the BelgianS
was up to them.
IF the Germans are prepared to feed
the Belgians an early announcement to
that effect and an organization for that
purpose will be Immediately required
to save the lives of millions of peo-
pie AS regards the report that no
one is starving in Belgium, the ofhcial
can ministers. in Brussels, the appeals
of Cardinal Mercier and the daily de-
| tailed accounts from every source of
report is cruelty false and that there
are considerably over a million and a
half people dependent on the soup
kitchens at the present moment is
Setback to Civilization.
BRUGES. Belgium. November 25. via
The Hague and London.-In some as
poets civilization has been set back
several centuries by the war in parts
of Belgium. Conditions in Bruges and
| the surrounding region are SO unsatis-
factory that the entire countryside
seems likely to return GA state re-
sembling the period of the religious
wars in the sixteenth century, when
the famishing population reso; reu to
stealing. plundering and smuggling.
| Such occurrences are being reported
now along the Dutch frontier. They
have led to sanguinary fights between
Belgian smugglers and German soldiers
and Dutch frontier guards. Lawless
elements of the population are raiding
farms. killing or wounding the occu-
pants and stealing their possessions.
| The Germans are doing whatever they
can to preserve order. Marauders are
pursued relentlessly.
Food Prices Are Soaring.
In cities like Antwerp prices Of the
necessaries of life have risen greatly.
The German authorities, while refrain
ing from the imposition of direct taxes,
demand large sums from the people
through a complicated system Of stamp
taxes. These taxes are imposed for
infraction of any one of the many petty
rules which have been made.
All of the Austrian troops who were
engaged SO actively in the operations
at Antwerp have disappeared.
Prices of essential commodities have
risen at Antwerp since the beginning
of the war as follows: Salt, from 5
centimes (3-5 cent? a kilogram (2.2O
pounds 20 II centimes: sugar, from
36 to 80 centimes per kilogram; oil,
from to 35 cous (35 cents) per liter
(9-10 quartz: coal, from 80 to As francs
($9) per thousand kilograms These
articles frequently are unavailable even
at the higher prices.
rar