Arizona republican., 1916-12-18
reeoubllo,n A D. Leased wirel


 NEW YORK, Dec. F. Cardinal Merciers protest against the depor- tation of Belgians to Germany, only brief excerpts of which came in the cable dispatches. has been received here by The Associated Press in it's full text, as follows:
 "Malines, November 7th, 1916.
 Every day the military authorities deport from Belgium into Germany thousands of inoffensive citizens to oblige them there to perform forced labor
 AS early as october 18th we sent to the governor general a protest, a copy of which was handed to the rep resentatives of the Holy See, of Spain, the United States and Holland, in Brussels, but the governor general re- piled to 1t that nothing could be done.
 At the time of our protestation. the orders of the occupying power threat ened oulv the unemployed; today every able bodied man is carried off. pell- uteii assembled in freight cars. and carried off to unknown parts, like a herd of slaves. The enemy proceeds by regions. Vague rumors had come to our ears that arrests had been made in Tournau, Ghent and Alost, but We were not aware of the conditions under which they had been made. Be- tween October 24th and November 2nd. it occurred in the region of Mons, Quievrain. Saint Guislain, Jemappes. in punches of 500 to 1900 men a day. The next. and the following days. 1t occurred in the Arrondissment of Nie- velles. Here is a specimen of the an nouncement concerning the pro- cCedings:
 By order of hte Kreischef every male person over r years old shall present himself. Place Saint Paul. in Nivelles, on November Sth, 1916, at s o'clock Belgian time) 9 o'clock Cen tral time). bringing with him his iden- tification card and eventually his card from the Meldeamt.
 Only small handbaggage is per mitted
 Those not presenting themselves will be forcibly deported into Germany and win besides be liable to d heavy fine and to long imprisonment.
 'Ecclesiastics. physicians. lawyers and teachers are exempt from this order
 The mayors will be held respon- sible for the proper execution of this order which must be brought imme- diately to the knowledge of the in habitants.'
 Between the announcement and the deportation there Is an interval of only A hours
 Under pretext of public works to be performed on Belgian soil. the occupy ing power had attempted to obtain from the communities the lists Of working men out of work. Most of the communities proudly refused Three decrees from the general government prepared the way for the execution which is in force today.
 Under date of August 18th. 1915. first decree imposes. under penalty of Imprisonment and fine. forced worl, on the idle, but adds that the work is l to be executed in Belgium. and that | non compliance will be adjudged b, | Belgian tribunals.
 "A second decree. dated May 2nd 1916, reserves the right of the German authorities to supply work to the idle and threatens a fine of three years ! imprisonment and 20000 marks impos- able on anybody executing or ordering to be executed work not approved o Dy the general government
 Under the same decree. the righ to judge infractiOns which had re mained with the Belgian tribunals passes from the Belgian to the German tribunals
 "A third decree, dated May 18th | A. military commanders and the chiefs O trrnudissemenfs 10 order that the un employed be conducted by force to tn ula 6ts where they must work Thi was already forcible working. althougl in Belgium.
 Now Il Is no longer uestion @ forcihle working in Belgium. but il Germany. and for the benefit of tn Germans.
 ITO give an appearance of plausi bility to these violent measures. tn occupying power insisted in the Ger man press. both in Germany and Rel gium. on these two pretexts Tn unemployed constitute a danger L public order. and burden on officia benevolence
 "To this we replied in a letter ad dressed to the governor general an, 10 the head of the political department on October l6th. as follows: You are well aware that publi order is in no wise threatened and tha all influences. moral and civil, woul
 support you spontaneously were it i danger.
 The unemployed are not a burde on official beneyolence it is not iron vour funds that they receive assis tance.'
 Tn his reply the governor genera no longer urges these two first con alterations. but he alleges that dole to the unemployed from whateye
 source they may come at present. ms finally be a charge upon our finances and that 1t is the duty of good ad ministrator to tighten such charges he adds that prolonged unempIoy
 ment would cause our workmen to los their technical proficiency, and that 1 the time of peace to come they woul be useless to industry True. there were other ways i which our finances might have bee protected. We might have bee spared those war leyies which hay now reached the sum of one billio francs, and are still mounting up { the rate of 40 millions q month: W might have been spared those reuuist tions in kind. which amount to sever, thousands of millions, and are ex hausting us.
 There are other ways of providn
 for the maintenance of professions
 skill among our workpeople, such a
 leaving to Belgian industry it's machin
 cry and accessories, it's raw material
 and it's manufactured goods. wpic
 have passed from Belgium into Ger
 many. And 1t is neither to the uuaf
 ries nor to inc lime kflpu to ,.tio1, ,t