The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-01-23

clearing house for this relief WORK.
and the only one recognized BY the
powers az war
Before one can visualize tho Bel
GUM OF today one must recall the Bet
GUM OF yesterday--the busy. prosper
Que. densely populated. happy little
Belgium OF yesterday
Today she lies cold and desOlato
under a black pail % hopeless misery.
full Of bitter hatred for the nation that
has destroyed her happiness. Her
nelds are plowed By the cnemy's shells.
many OF the public buildings In her
cities are gone. Thousands OF her pei
ple are dead or have fed to other
lands.
Her roads are empty except for SOL
dierH. peasants foraglng for food. and
hopeless families. returning in desper-
alton to their former homes. Her fat
tories are closed. There is no raw ma
terial In the country and no money 20
buy raw material 20 manufacture. no
railroads or ships TO bring ~ In ~ &c
were possible to secure IL elsewhere.
no means OF getting manufactures out
OF the country.
There are practically no tsle graphs
no banking facilities no postal system
available and no newspapers of their
own. Each day two one-sheet papers
are published I'm Brussels but the Bel
CLANS declare these are in reality Ger
man papers and believe nothing in
them.
4 With nothing Of their own. they are
: hemmed I'm at every move by German
restrictions. German prohibitions and
warnings placard the walls OF thc'i
cities. The Belgians have copied many
OF theae and sell them surreptitiously
I'm pamphlet form. TO do this rs run
ming "A risk both for the seller and
buyer. Here IL sample OF these
proelamations:
brussels. August 81. 1914.
NO notices may be published by
the city government without my per
mission.
"The Military Governor
The three following notices are OF
a dioerent type, issued by the Military
Governor with the statement that they
are published as warning and TINT
in future acts of similar nature Will
be even more drastically punished.
September Il. 1914.
ivan Der Hagen. Joan. laborer, for
resisting a German sentinel in pursuit
of his duty Six months in prison.
"Verheyden, HoTtense. a widow.
= grave offense against German army
and one OF it's members. year in
prison.
'Debonnet, julien. laborer. shooting
at a German sentinel. Death
Needless TO say-with no news
from the outside. with nothing be-
fore their eyes but such printed re-
ininders OF their subjugation, the de-
ISOLATE fields where once were harvest
AL a = vUh ars
their homes. with food growing scare
er until they find themselves depend
ent on the generosity of alien nations
across the sea for their bread during
the coming winter--that the bitter
hopelessness in the hearts OF thou
sands OF idle men and women bids
fair to rival the misery of their ma
terial conditions.
How Belgium is Isolated.
Unless one has actually seen the
hunger Of these people for authentic
news one cannot understand. I have
seen IS paid for one copy OF the Lon
don Times and have heard that an
other copy brought $40. They meet
in groups in the cities. the villages
and the fields. read the German pro-
carnations posted on the walls. talk
Of and wait and hope for the con
tories run like wildhre through the
larger cities. | myself was one day
drawn secretly into a doorway by
man and offered a typed copy purport-
ing To be the account OF an ally vic
tory for 10 cents. These reports are
sized up by the people and believed
until the last shred OF hope L. torn
from them Until the Germans were
in actual occupation OF Brussels the
Belgians believed that the Allies were
almost az their gates with aid. They
believe 10 yet. They cannot believe
that they have been permanently
conquered. But fast prisoners as they
are. with even the carrier pigeons
watched and their owners subject 10
German martial Law. they can 30
nothing but hope and wait
The Psychology Of the Problem.
I'm any consideration Of the state of
affairs IN Belgium today very serious
account must b. taken Of the psycno-
logical side In my personal opinion
10 is a. serious and dangerous ~ the
prospect uf actual fnmine Already
among certain classes 90 has hIuderpd
some efforts 90 bring the Belgian peo-
pie together for the first steps % re-
habilitation. 10 should not b. for
, gotten that for years the Belgian
working people have used the local
and general labor strike a. protest
against working conditions that. On
their opinion we're infolerablc %
has been their one method OF indus.
trial warfare
Today. those not arfurliv nrht.ur lu
tho ranks are using the same methods
J do not mean. Of course. that they
arc 40 present actually refusing work
That ia not so. for aa yet the chaotic
conditions can furnish no work What
do mean ie that among fhomsnlFra
The people ore saying. ITO build uU
our country again Or. under present
conditions fD build ~ up FOR Germany
We believe none OF their guarantees
Tor our security They destroyed our
neutrality They VIII break every
promise fnrH make m tomorrow We
could aIl return fU our factories. tho
Germans U.Ehf .0Hfarafr every ariI.
cID Wn put out Nr cannot trust them
Those 0f uH Who are not lighting one
way. may .fII I.bf another We can
burt Germany tfIs way BETTER to die
bF inches Than hip Germany boo the