The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-12
GERMAN METHODS
 IN BELGIUM TOLD
 BY EXILED WOMAN
Madam De Wiart, Minister s Wife Declares Germans
 Terrorize Populace.


 Madame Carton de Wiart, wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice ''in spite of my interest in prison re- forms." she said. Madame de Wiart has fore some time been cores bonding member of the New York
 Tt was by favor that was re- leased" she declared; q had served out the sentence of the court martial three and a half months imprison- ment and it was only on being releas- led that learned was only con keep me in Germany but through the tefforts of the Spanish ambassador I was allowed to go to Switzerland where my husband joined me. Everything was arbitrary in the pro ceedings against me and the after thought of exile was purely miIi- tary expedient to keep me out of my country.
 What I managed to do, all the Ewomen of Belgium did as far as their situation enabled them to do-that was to help the millions of Belgians who remained in their country to get news from fathers. sons and husbands who have been fighting form any long months; it was an act of elementary humanity that every man with heart | must approve. Those who live far away from the furnace of war are
 
 bend the situation of the mothers. wives and children of the occupied tregions of Belgium and Northern France, in whose minds is repeated each day since the beginning, the Iagonizing. question whether a cher l 1shed one has not been killed or l wounded or is not waiting in direct distress a last word from home. have with a great many others done what could to alleviate such suffer ings, especially among the poor peo- pie. At the same time I took good I care to prevent any correspondence that might concern military opera tfons themselves.
 'sWhen the Belgian government re- 1 tired to Antwerp I remained in Brus- sels with my children, the youngest | of whom was only a year old. Being Justice I continued to occupy the apartments at the ministry that are set apart for the minister's family.
 %The Germans ordered me out. say l ing they required the premises for their soldiers. refused. still consid- ering Belgium an independent coun- 1 try. They declared they would send soldiers to be quartered there not I lwithstanding. For months the troops 1 of the guard occupied the ministry at night and during all that time no vis- l itor could sgain access to kny apart | i tioned and showing papers,
 | Endeavoring to keep up the juve- I nile courts instituted in Belgium by a law introduced by her husband and organized after the plan of the juve- nile courts of Denver and other 1 American cities. Mrs. de Wiart trav- eled about a great deal all through Belgium. Her activity awakened the suspicious of the Kommandatur.
 They forced their way into my apartments, ostensibly seeking evil dence of a plot against the German l government" she said, t'seizing a waste paper basket and spending hours in matching together and past 1 ing up scraps of torn letters, enVe1- opes and other papers Of all they l found, the most compromising in their eyes were two priests cassocks, Icopies of Cardinal Mercier's pastoral letter, papers containing a speech de- 1 Iivered by Monsieur de Wiart. in Paris December 20. 1914, and a letter addressed to the Kommandatur torn up instead of being delivered.
 After the search I was arrested | on the charges of circulating Cardinal Mercier's letter and my husbands speech and with facilitating the cor respondence of Belgian people with their kindred in exile through other channels than by the German post via Aix-la-Chapel1e. Asked if I
  I I refused.s saying, would present my own case as Belgian advocates do not recognize the authority of Ger man courts martial by pleading be- I fore them. I was accompanied only by l the head of the order of advocates l of Brussels as a witness to the pro 1 ceedings.
 1 During the 18 hours of close ques- tioning that I endured they charged me with changing my costume rad i icaI1y in order to spy upon them; they 1 declared that the two priests cassocks found in my apartments were intend 1 ed for disguises. denied nothing, explaining simply that the cassocks were gifts intended for priests driven from their churches and their homes by the devastations of the German | army. admitted corresponding with my husband and with helping poor people who had no facilities to do the same. I told them I knew the risk I wass taking but that didn't admit their right to judge me.
 "After IS hours'S cross -examina- ton and considerable de1iberation they asked me if I had anything further to say in my defense. Mo- replied, all I have to say is that | if anyone seeks any favor for me you will please not accord it.
 N"They sentenced me to three and q half months Imprisonment and sent me to Berlin on. two hours notice. giving me only few minutes to em- brace my children. Arrived at Der lin they told me I was to go to apartments that had been reserved for me at hotel. But I have been sentenced to prison. protested; you must send me to prison They took me to a woman's prison as soon as the papers arrived from Brussels and kept me in solitary confinement. The only distinction they made be- tween me and the murdeIesses and thieves was that the former were a1- lowed to promenade in the court in company while my outdoor exercise was solitary"
 Madame de Wiart- has been joined by her youngest son Hubert and her