Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-10-03
GIVE SOLEMN PROMISE:
no TELL ONLY THE TRUTH

All these people who had given me
their solemn promise TO tell me the
truth assured me that they knew 10th
ing OF any conspiracy against the Ger
mans. nor did any civilian fire a single
shot. There was one single exception.
y lay brother told me that he had
overheard Il conversation between TWO
workingmen. OF whom one said that he
had killed German officer. He could.
however. tell me nothing about the cir
cunstances in which the murder took
place.
Al asked myself this question: is il
possible that there may have been at
Louvain conspiracy against the Ger
man occupation. and that the plan ar
ranged BY the conspirators was car
ried out OH Tuesday, August %. in con-
junction with a planned sor,ie OF the
Antwerp garrison-that is TO say, ar
ranged by the Belgian authorities
when neither the Mayor, the chief Of
police. the president and the professors
* the university nor the clergy, who
had the full confidence OF the popula-
iion. knew anything about il?
~ give YOU my word of honor
the chief OF police said TO me, that
not word was said to me Of any such
conspiracy. and that ali the inha bitants
Of the city had surrendered their arms
in manner so conscientious that IL
would have made YOU laugh had the
situation been less serious. They
handed in Old muzz!e- leaders. pistols
rusty swords. and even razors. They
were dreadfully scared OF the punish
ment which threatened those who
should afterwards he found to have
arms OF any kind in their possession
There was no conspiracy at Lou
vain. This fact stands out beyond any
doubt. and any one who really tries TO
discover the truth must keep this in
mind 1t is possible. though | have
found absolutely no proof of it, that
some civilian at I.ouvain may have fred
a shot at the Germans. but the con-
spiracy OF which the German White
Book speaks. most assurcdly, did not
exist.
There is n possibility. repeat, that
one or more civilians may have fired
At the German troops. but there are
no proofs. On the other hand. il is
an indisputab BILE fact that all the bullets
found in the bodies OF dead or wounded
German soldiers were German, not Bel
gian, bullets.
Does the discovery OF these facts
solve the problem of Louvain? or
course not. We find ourselves facing
tho fact that great part of I.ouvain
was wiped out. One thousand one hun
dred and twenty-onc houses were en-
tirely or partially destroyed, and among
these several belong to very prominent
people. 1t has not been established
how many lives were lost. Father
ciacs, courageous Capucine monk.
told me that he personally buried los
bodies, OF whom nincty-siX had been
killed by gunshots, while the others
had been found among the debris.
The facts are these:
ION August %. between and 1880
the alarm was sounded
AT o'clock sharp. as If by com
mand. shots were heard in various
parts OF the town, and houses were SCI
afre. The fire spread rapidly.
GERMAN TROOPS FIRE
AT ONE ANOTHER
Among the Germans in the city. as
we'll as among part OF the inhabitants
there was All impression that the
French attacked and drove back the
Germans at Malincs. The troops In
I.ouvan fired at the rctreating Ger
man troops in the belief that they were
enemies. That night. as well as later.
the German troops fred at one another
II have this from the lips OF eve
witnesses whose veracity Is above ali
doubt. The autopsics performed con
frmc,l this, for in the body OF no Ger