Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-09-13
Belgium Under the Surface"
Observations of A. j. Hemphin, Treasurer of the Commission
For Relief In Belgium-60 90, 900 Little Ones Need ~
Special Diet to Keep Them Alive.

"A. j. Henlpnlll, chairman vi SHe
Guaranty Trust company, of New York.
has just returned after a visit to Bel
GUM nj Germany. He was also re
ceived by King Albert.
Mr.. Hemphill. who acts as treasurer
OF the Neutral Commission for Relief:
crossed the Atlant to see for himselI
the conditions in the German occupied
part of Belgium and to investigate the
distribution OF the relief supplies TO
which the American people have gencr-
ouSlN contributed. In order to secure
permission to enter Belgium he had to
go to Berlin. where he spent the better
part of a week. In an interview. MI.
Hemphill said:
Il was greatly impressed while in
Berlin with the difference of opinion
which exists alnong prominent Ger
maEs as to the advisability of permit
ting the continuation of the present
system of relieving the Belgiuns IN
Belgium. The shortage of food supplies
in Germany itself. owing to the allied
blockade. has given rise to considerable
criticism of the German governments
action in agreeing to the allies de
nland, as a condition of continued re-
lief imports. that the whole of the
homegrown food supplies in Belgium
should be devoted to the sole use of the
Belgians. An influential German sec
NiCI MAINTAINS l!Istt aN ItdSt ~ lVi W.
of these supplies are. under the Hague
convention, the rightful support of the
occupying army. and that so long as
there is any possibility of German
women and children and German SOL
diers being in want of food these Bel
gian native productions should be taken
by the German army for this purpose.
Criticism In Berlin.
Another criticism levelled at the
German government is that the policy
of permitting relief supplies to be dis
tributed merely prolongS he passive re-
sistance which is still practically uni
versal among the 1000, 900 Belgians
| who are under German rule. However,
!! despite the serious opposition on both
these scores, | am confident that the
more humane policy authorized by the
| vail.
When got to Brussels my first inn
! preston was that everything was
normal, except for the absence of We
hicles owing to the scarcity of horses
n the prohibition of motors except
to a few. The people are well clad,
the shops are open and every one goes
about their daily life much the same as
they do in London or New York. AT
the markets l saw people buying and
selling-mostly vegetables-and bust
ness being freely transacted in the
ordinary way. That was on the sur
face. But one has to remember that
Belgium normally lives on imported
raw materials and food and pays for
her food by export of her manu-
features. This vital current is stopped
by the war n 60 per cent of Bel
GUMS work people are idle. A large
part of the commercial class are also
idle and reduced to dependency upol
charity. When l went to the relief sta
lions where the wholly destitute
amounting to a large proportion of the
population-get their soup and Other
provisions, l saw, in the waiting
ueues. not only the needy class tina,
one would expect. but we'll dressed
men, women and children. In Brussels
human ines that daily wait for the
small ration provided by the charity OF
the world are marked by this same sac
feature. DeStitution is not only wide
spread, but there are now dependen,
upon relief thousands of the upper
classes who never dreamt of coming to
such a pass.
Misleading First Impressions.
1T is only after being in Brussels
Tor II little time, and after visiting
Charlerio. Malines, Antwerp, Liege AN,
other places that one realizes how mis-
leading are first impressions of life il
Belgium as it is today. The outward
appearance of n%ornaality is SUSTAINED
only by the fact that relief to the value
of over $4,000, 600 is, so to speak, in.
jected into the country every o
The external calm is an amazing tri
butte to the efficiency of the system
whereby the relief organization pro.
vides and distributes to this whole M
ton the supplies without which her
would be chaos and unthinkable SUI.
fering. In this complex work of ra
tioning every day over 1000, 600 souls
Of whom just one-half are totally o
partially destitute, the Belgians them
selves are cooperating lnagnificently
Without their unflagging support an'
public spirited work the efforts of thos
throughout the world who. regardless
Of nationality, sympathiZe with TIL
Gelgian people would fail of their pur
pose. The Comite National in Brus
sells, composed of the leading Belgian
who dared to stay and face the in
vaders, has enrolled thousands of vol
unteer helpers who are now experts il
this problem Of rationing.
Relief Reaches the BeIeians.
Both in America and England a goo.
leal of uneasiness somewhat NATURAL,
exists as to the relief supplies actuall.
reaching the Belgians. discussed thi
0 BIest Seclueion.