New Britain herald., 1915-10-13
SERVED SENTENCE
 IN GERMAN PRISON
Belgian Woman in Solitary Con- hnement for Over Three Months

fnement for Over Three Months tCorresponoence of the Associated Pressj
 Paris, Sept. 30.-"When one knows
 why to live, how to live Is of very little importance, yet 1t was a great relief to my nerves to get out from behind German prison bars" said Madame Carton de Wiart, wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice to The Associated Press-"in spite of my in- terest in prison reforms" she added. Madame de Wiart has for some time been corresponding member of the New York Prison Association.
 "It was by no favor that I was released" she declared; T had served
 out the sentence of the court-mar- , tial three and half months imprison- ment and it was only on being re- leased that I learned I was also con- demned to exile. They wanted to keep me in Germany but through the efforts of the Spanish mbassador 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 a mili- ,tary expedient to keep me out of my country.
 To Help Belgians.
 What I managed to do, all the women of Belgium did as far 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 hus- bands who have been fighting for many 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 perhaps not always able to com prehend the situation of the mothers, wives and children of the occupied re- gions of Belgium and Northern France, in whose minds is repeated each day since the beginning "the agonizing question whether a cher ished one has not been killed or wounded or is not waiting in direct distress a last word from home. I have with a great many others done what I could to alleviate such suffer- ings, especially among the poor peo- pie. At the same time I took good care to prevent any correspondence  tions themselves.
 When the Belgian government re- tired to Antwerp I remained in Brus- sells with my children the youngest of whom was only a year old. Being the wife of the Belgian minister of Justice I continued to occupy the apartments at the ministry that are set apart for the Ministers family.
 Ordered Out by Germans.
 "The Germans ordered me out say ing they required the premises for their soldiers. I refused, still con- sidering Belgium an independent country. They declared they would send soldiers to be quartered there notwithstanding. For months the guard occupied the ministry at night and during all that time no visitor could gain access to my apartments without being challenged, questioned and showing papers"
 Endeavoring to keep up the juven- ile courts instituted in Belgium by a law introduced by her husband and organized after the plan of the ju- venile courts of Denver and other Am erican cities, Mrs. de Wiart travelled | about a great deal all through Bel | gium. 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 government" she said, "seizing waste paper basket and spending hours in matching together and past ing up scraps of torn letters, envel- opes and other papers. Of all they found the most compromising in their eyes wede two priests cassocks, copies Of Cardinal Mercier's pastoral letter papers containing speech delivered by Monsieur de Wiart in Paris De- cember goth, 1914 and a letter ad- dressed to the Kommandatur torn up instead of being delivered.
 Placed Under Arrest.
 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-Chapelle. Asked if wished to be represented by counsel, refused saying I would present my own case as Belgian advocates do not recognize the authority of German courts martial by pleading before them. I was accompanied only by the head of the order of advocates of Brussels as a witness to the pro- ceedings.
 During the eighteen hours of close qlestioning that I endured they me with changing my cos tune radically in order to spy upon them; they declared that two priests cassocks found in my apartment were intended for disguises. I denied noth- Ing, explaining simply that the cas- socks were gifts intended for priests driven from ak, nd