Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-06
.bELG|ANS' BITTER
NEED Of j. S. AID
Sir Gilbert Parker Says Only
America Can Save Them
From Starvation.
VISITS HOLLAND CAMPS
TO OBTAIN THE FACTS
Also Goes to Frontier on 1nvestiga-
ton for the American
Committee.

LONDON, December 5-Sir Gilbert
Parker. NJ. p, went to Holland at the
request Of the American committee
for the relief of Belgium a week ago
to inquire into the work of the COM
mittee and the needs of the Belgians.
Sir Gilbert visited frontier towns and
the camps of the refugees for tho pur-
pose of making a personal investiga-
ton into the conditions. That he is
deeply impressed by the desperate need
of the Belgians may be gathered from
the following graphic statement and
appeal to the American people:
"Since the beginning of the war the
hearts of all humane people have been
tortured by the sufferings of Belgium.
For myself, the martyrdom of Belgium
had been a nightmare since the fall of
Liege. Whoever or whatever country
is to blame for this war, Belgium is In
nocent. Her hands are free from stain.
She has kept the faith. She saw 1t
with the eyes of duty and honor. Her
government is carried on in another
land. Her king Is in the trenches. Her
army Is decimated, but the last deci-
mails fight on.
the highest and lowest looking for
work and bread; they cannot look for
homes. Those left behind huddle near
the ruins of their shattered villages. or
take refuge in towns which cannot feed
their own citizens.
Abyss Of Want and War.
MANY cities and towns have been
completely destroyed; others. reduced
or shattered, struggle In vain to feed
their poor and broken populations.
Stones and ashes mark the places
where small communities lived their
peaceful lives before the invasion. The
Belgian people live now in the abyss of
want and woe.
"All this l knew in England. but
knew it from the reports of others.
did not, could not, know what the
restitution. the desolation of Belgium
of this people. until 1 got to Holland
and to the borders of Belgian terri
tory. Inside that territory l could not
pass, because I was a Britisher. but
landwehr, keeping guard over what
they call their new German province
Belgium German province!
Carried All With Them.
There at Maastricht I saw fugitives
crossing the frontier into Holland with
all their worldly goods upon their
shoulders or in their hands. or with
nothing at all, seeking hospitality OF
a little land which itself feels. though
it is neutral, the painful stress and
cost of the war. There. on the from
tier. was standing between Dutch
the Germans that I could almost have
touched them. SO near three German
officers that their conversation as they
saluted me reached my ears.
A0{~ IN ND nd 20 f.
ferings and needs of Belgium are. They
are such that the horror of it almost
paralyzes expression. met at Mast
rich Belgians, representatives. of mu-
food for only fortnight longer. And
what was the food they had? No meat.
no vegetables. but only one-third of a
soldiers rations of bread for each person
per day. At Liege, as / write, there Is
food for only three days.
What is it the people Of Belgium ask
for? They ask for bread and salt. no
more. and 1t is not Forthcoming. They
They have no fires for cooking: and they
do not beg for petrol. Money Is Of little
use to them. because there is no food to
be bought with money.
Belgium under ordinary circumstances
imports five-sixths Of the food she eats.
The ordinary channels Of sale and pur-
chase are closed. They cannot buy ana
sell If they would. Representatives Of
tricht yesterday that the crops were
taken from their fields-the wheat and
potatoes-and were sent into Germany.
No Work, But Taxes Continue.
There is no work. The factories are
closed because they have not raw ma
terial, coal or petrol. because they have
no markets.
"And yet war taxes are falling with
hideous pressure upon a people whose
hands are empty, whose workshops are
closed, whose fields are idle. whose cat
tie have been taken. or compulsorily
purchased without value received.
In Belgium itself the misery of the
populace is greater than the misery Of
the Belgian fugitives in other coun-
tries, such as Holland, where there
and half million of fugitives. To
gauge what that misery in Belgium is.
think of what even the fugitives suf-
fer. I have seen in a room without
fire. the walls damp. the floor without
covering. not even straw, family of
nine women and eight children. one on
an improvised bunk seriously i'll. Their
home in Belgium was leveled with tho
ground, the father killed in battle.
Their food is coffee and bread for
breakfast, potatoes for dinner, with salt
and in having the salt they were
lucky-bread and coffee for supper. In
sufficiently clothed, there by the North
Sea, they watched the bleak hours pass,
| with nothing to do except cling togeth-
er in a vain attempt to keep warm
| Multiply this case by hundreds OF
| thousands, and you will have some hint
of the peoples sufferings.
| Coa-o