Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-10


devastation of Belgium.
SEVEN MILLION nELGiANs
DEPRIVED OF LIVELIHOOD
Sympathy? Yes. any quantity Of
sympathy. Compliments to her hero
Ism? Yes. dithyrambs galore. Rein
ihforcements? BY all means; the
British and French guns are raining
shells OH Belgian villages and towns
us literally AS the Germans; I'm fact,
they now boast of having established
superiority In artillery, which means
that no German can live within range
OF their howiters and of the famous
solXante quinze. Splendid, but no Bel
sEah can live within that range either;
ana the net result is that there are
100000 Belgians deprived of their
means OF livelihood in their own coun-
Try (not counting refugees who have
ieit ~ who must perish OF simple
starvation unless 100000 pounds a
are forthcoming to feed them.
Ana where is the Belgian govern
ncnt TO iind those millions when II is
itscii exiled and ruined? MIR. Part
rioScs line cartoon shows us King Al
bert facing the Kaiser with his conn
try ravaged but his honor intact; but
King Albert cannot pawn his honor for
II inlllioH Il month, nor can his peoDlc
live on cartoons. The very Germans
themselves are treating Belgium bet
lci IMAM TIC ullcS. Tor tncy ut least
assume charge of the cities they have
seized. and. by treating them as Ger
man cities by right Of conquest. accept
responsibility for the inhabitants
The allies shake their fists and cry.
we shall come and lombard you and
drive you out and run up the Belgian
nag presently: just you wait and see"
winch is all very martial and proper
In Its way: but look at IL from the
point OF view of hungry child and
the parents to whom ii is crying in
VAIN Tor bread, and deny. II you can or
dare, that there is something more
imperative IN that child's call to the
justice OF Providence. more terrible and
sacred In It's appeal TO your own con
science, and more agoniZiDg in the grip
IL lays on your very entr;.ils. than all
the threats. all the detianccs all the
carnage and the glory and the crosses.
iron ana Victoria and Legion tthc only
sort of crosses worshiped in war timc)
and all the laundering explosions that
drown every Sroan and every cry cx-
ccpt that curious, magical cry that
penetrntes cvcrything--thc cry of the
hungry child.
MUST FACE: TRUTH AND
SHOULDER RESPONSIBILITY
We must face tie truth and shoulder
our responsibility. There liz only one
country OF which this war has been
forced, and that country Is Belgium
And all the bclligcrcnt countries have
forced this war on her. 1t matters not
which side YOU talte-that Of Germany
and Austria or that OF France, Russia
and Britain--the fact remains. for YOU
as for those who oppose you. that Bel
GUM was utterly powcrless to prevent
either OF these warlikc alliances. and
that IL has been openly known to all
the world for years that when the two
finally came TO blows. the first attack
would inevitably be made by Germany
through belgium. There was no con-
cealment about H. The strategic rail
way system leading to the Belgian
frontier was not a secret In a pigeon
hole. nor were the articles In which
Mr. Belloc and other military experts
pointed to 1.icgc as the predcstined
first battlefield any less public than the
latter articles in which the Times con
graduated Mr.. Belloc on the cxactncss
OF his forecast.
On n previous occasion ISIO). Brit
ain had offered her own neutrality as
the price OF Bclgium's and Belgium
was spared at that price. This time
such a price was out OF the question.
All the powers proceeded with strict
correctness. France and Britain read
lily undertook to respect Belgian neu-
tra.ty II Germany respected it--a very
proper pledge. but OF little comfort
to Belgium when all the parties knew
that Germany would not respect II;
'cINdIS WIN tuuaI readiness declared
her determination to respect intcrnn-
tional conventions and not 10 lose sight
Of the fact that Belgian neutrality
was guaranteed by international trca-
ties. But there is Il hole in all ncu-
trality treaties through which any
state can drive a coach md six. Ger
many drove whole army through it,
She asked for right OF way for her
army, undertaking to pay all expense
and TO make good all unavoidable dam
ages; and she added that a refusal
would place her ut such a disadvantage
that she would interpret it as an act
of war on the part OF Belgium. Britain
then informed the belgian government
that She expected Belgium to resist
the passage OF Germany by every
means in her power: and the terms OF
this communication were sufficiently
pe"cmptory TO suggest that compliance
with Gcrmany's demand might be
taken as AN act OF war on the allies.
Thus Belgium WAS between the devil
and the deep sea. She was forced to
make her soil the field OF battle for the
most destructive warfare ever waged
in the worlds history. Can IL be de-
nicd that there is here no question Of
the romantic rescue of a distressed ma :
ton by British and French knights
Grant, but a deliberate inniction upon
her OF frightful calamity by those
who Drofcssed to defend her no less
than by those who made war on her"
Grant. If YOU like, that the calamity
was necessary and inevitable; that it
Will end in Il happier, frccr, better Flu :
rope. as all the belligercnts declare 1t
must If only they are victorious. All
the more reason why it's cost should
be spread over all the nations, and not
flung with crushing weight on Belgium.
who had no European grievances, no
European ambitions, no stake in the