The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-01-12
By GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

tNhAAI ~ Oil uilSC1 uDilcLS anu I'M
expected aggression. Germany pro.
tests that she is defending her front
ierS from a conspiracy OF france with
Russia and England to destroy her.
England until very recently claimed
that she a beer rudely awakened
from q dream of perpetual peace BY
Germany's violation Of the treaty OF
1899, guaranteeing the neutrality of
Belgium. Austria was avenging an
assassination. Russia was rescuing q
gallant little Slavonic nation from
Teutonic imperialism. France was
wrestling with a wanton invasion.
None OF them would admit any re-
sponsibility for the war. COnse-
quently none Of them would admit
any responsibility for the devastation
Of Belgium.
Sympathy? Yes, any quantity Of
sympathy. Compliments TO her he.
rolsm? Yes, dithyranbs galore. Re
Inducements? By all means; the Brit
ish and french guns are raining
shells on Belgian villages and towns
as LITERALLY as h Germans; in fact.
they now boast Of having established
q superiority in artillery, which
means that no German can i've with
IN range OF their hOwitzers and of the
famous Ike quinze. Splendid.
but no Belgian can live within that
range either; and the net result is
that there are seven million BelSians
deprived Of their means of livelihood
IN their own country (not counting
VINO nave left IT'D who must
perish OF simple starvation unless a
million pounds a month, or. five mill
hon dollars. or twenty-five million
francs are Forthcoming to feed them.
ana where is the Belgian govern.
ment to md those millions when it is
itself exiled and ruined? Mr.. Part
IldSeS hne cartoon shows US King
Albert facing the Kaiser with his
country ravaSed but his honor intact.
but King Albert cannot pawn his
honor for a million a month, nor can
ms people live on cartoons. The very
Germans themselves are treating
Belgium better than the Allies: for
they at least assume charge Of the
cities they have seized, and, by treat
ing them as German cities by right
OF conquest, accept responsibility for
the inhabitants.
The Allies shake their fists and cry.
we snail come and lombard you
and drive you out and run I'D the
Belgian flag presently: just You wait
aIio See' which is all very martial
and proper in it's way; but look at it
from the point of view OF a hungry
child and the patrents to whom it is
crying III vain for bread, and deny, if
you can or dare, that there is some
lhlnG more imperative in that child's
call to the justice OF Providence. more
terrible and sacred in its appeal 10
your " conscience, and more ago
nlzlng IN the grip it Laws on your
very entrailS, than all the threats. ali
the d~efiances, all the carnage and
the glory and the crosses, Iron and
Victoria and Legion the only sort Of
crosses Worshlpped in war time), and
all the laundering explosions that
drown every groan and every CRY ex.
cept that curious, magical cry that
p~enetrates everything-the cry OF the
hungry child.
We must face the truth and should
er our responsibility. There is only
one country on which this war has
oeen forced; and that country is Bel
GUM. And all the belligerent coun-
tries have forced his war on her. II
matters not which side you take
mat Oh Germany and Austria or tina
OF France Russia and Britain-fhe
TACT remains, for you as for those
who oppose you, hat Belgium was
utterly po"erless 10 prevent either Of
.hese "arllke alliances, and that il
mas been openly known to all 1he
world for years that when the Two
finally came to blows, The first attack
WOULD inevitably be made by Ger
many through Belgium. There was
no ~concealment about it. The strategic
railway system leading to the Belgian
frontier was not a secret in a pigeon
hoie, nor were the articles in which
Mr. Beiloc and other military experts
pointed to Liege as the predestined
nrSt battlefield any less public tina
the latter articles in which The Times
congratulated Mr.. Belloc on the ay
actness Of his forecast.
On a previous occasion t181O)
Britain had offered her own neutral
lty as n price OF Beigium's: arf
belgium was spared at n price
Ihl time such a price was out of III.
question. All the Powers proceeded
with strict correctness. France anf
Britain readily undertook to respec,
Belgian neutrality if Germany Re.
! spected lt-a very proper pledge, bu
! OF lutte comfor to Belgium when al
{ the parties knew that Germany worIr