The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-12-14

largely on account of the regime of the occupation. Sons, Husbands, and Fathers of families, they bear their unhappy lot without murmurring, re- spectful of public order; national sol idarity provides their most pressing wants; by dint of unselfish thrift and self denial they escape extreme desti- tuition, and they await with dignity and in a mutual affection which our national sorrows have intensified the end of our common ordeal.
 Groups of soldiers introduced themselves forcibly in the homes of these people, tearing the young peo-e pie out of the arms of their parents, the husband from his wife, the father from his children, at the point of the bayonet they block the entrances to the homes preventing wives and mothers from rushing out to say last farewell to them; they align the captives in groups of 40 or 50 and push them forcibly into freight cars; the locomotive is under pressure, and as soon as train load is ready, an officer gives the signal and they de- part. Thus another thousand Bell Egians reduced to slavery, without pre- vious trial, condemned to the penalty which comes next to cruelty to the death penalty; deportation. They don't know how long their exile is going to last, neither do they know where they are going. All they know is that their work will benefit the enemy. Several of them have been brought to sign-by coercion or by threats-an engagement which they dare to call voluntary
 While they certainly take the un- employed, they' also take large number-in the proportion of one quarter for the -Arrondissement of Monsiof men who were newt, out of work and belonging to diversified professions bakers, tailors, | brewery workers, electricians. farm | CTS: they even take the youngest men, college and university students, or young men from other high schools.
 s"This in spite of the fact that two | high authorities of the German Elm pire had formally guaranteed the lib- erty of our compatriots.
 tsThe day after the equalization of | Antwerp, the frightened populace asked itself what would become of | the Belgians of military age or those which would arrive at that age be- fore the end of the siege. Baron von Huene, Military Governor of Ant werp, authorized me to reassure in | his name the frightened parents. l However, as rumors were running | that in Antwerp. Liege,, Namur and | Charleroi, young men had been seiz- l ed and forcbly carried off to Ger | many, asked Governor von Huene to confirm to me in writing the ver- bal guarantees which he had given me. He replied that the rumors per- taining to deportation were without l foundation. and he gave me without hesitancy the written declaration | which was read on Sunday, October Is, 1914, in all the parochial churches Of the Arrondissement of Antwerp: | Young men need not fear of being carried of. toatGerrnany, either for en- rollment in the army or for forcible | employment" .
 iBaronssvon4 der Goltz in the capacity of Governor General at Brussels, I | went to ask him to ratify the guaran- tees given by Govefnor von Huene to the Province of Antwerp, extending them to the whole country, without | any time limit. The Governor Gen. eraI retained my petition in order to consider 1t at his leisure. The fol- lowing day he was good enough to come in person to Malines to express his approval, and in the presence of two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, to confirm the promise that | the liberty of the Belgian citizens would be respected.
 .In. my letter of October 16 last. to Baron von Bfssing, after rernfnd-i ing him of the undertaking given by his predecessor, concluded: Your Excellency will understand how pain full the burden of responsibilitys I | should have incurred towards fam files would be if the confidence they placed in you through me and at my earnest entreaty should be so lament ably disappointed
 The governor general repHedI The employment of the Belgian un- employed in Germany, which has only been initiated after two years of war, differs essentially from the captivity of men fit for military ser- vice. Moreover, the measure is not | related to the conduct of the wari properly speakipg. but it is determin- ed by social and economic causes.' |
 AS if the word of an honest man was terminable at the end of a year or two! As if the declaration con firmed in 1914 did not explicitly ,ex- clude both military operations and forced labor. As if, in fine. every Belgian workman who takes the place of a German workman, did not enable the latter to fill a gap in the Germany army!
 We, the shepherds of these sheen who are torn from us by brutal force. l full of anguish, at the thought of the moral and religious isolation. in which, they are about to languish. in- potent witnesses of the grief and ter TOT in the numerous homes shattered or threatened, appeal to all souls, be- levers or unbelievers in Allied coun- tries, in neutral countries, and even in enemy countries. who have a respect for human dignity.
 When Cardinal Lavigerie embark ed on his enslavery campaign, Pope Leo XIII, as. he blessed his mission. remarked: Opinion is more than ever the queen of the world It is on this you must work. You will only con- quer by means of opinion
 May Divine Providence deign to inspire all who have any authority, all who are masters of speech and pen, to rally around our humble Bel gian flag for the abolition of Euro Hean slavery.
 May human conscience triumph over all sophisms and remain stead fa ct1v faithful fo fho .rroof x1rno~-x q