The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-09
BERLIN DEFENDS
 EXILE CASES7BY THE HAGUE RULE
Rebukes France For Not Earlier Protesting Against 'Transplanting'' Popu-
 lations.

waited three months before issuing It's formal protest to neutral countries against the removal by the German of the cities of Lille. Roubaix and Tourcoing from their homes last April for the purpose of compelling them to do farm work in the occupied part of France, the German government, in an official sttement printed in the North German Gazette, charges the French government with having made it's com plain merely in the hope of intensity ing the hatred of the French people fer the Germans and of inducing some neutral powers to enter the lists against Germany
 The publication of the protest of the French government caused considera- ble comment in many neutral coun- tries, and there was talk of action in favor of the deported civilians, most of whom were women and children, by the United States, Spain, Holland and the Vatican, but the only power that took definite steps to this end was Spain, whose repeated representations so the German government obtained a promise that the deported persons would be sent back home as soon as possibl after the fall harvest work was done, according to a cablegram from Paris printed in the New York Times of Oct 8.
 The statement by the German gov srnment, in which the act of deporta- tion isE referred to as 'fVerpfanzung, (transplanting). which was briefly mentioned in cab1egram at the time it was issued, reads as follows:
 During the last third of April, 1916 the supreme administration of the German army transplanted some 2O,- 900 inhabitants of the northern French cities of Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing to the country. There is no doubt but that the French govern ment learned of this measure within very brief time. Only a short while after the carrying out of this measure the supreme army administration took occasion to enter into correspondence with the representatives of neutral government regarding the matter. in question Besides, the Gazette des Ar dennes (the newspaper printed III French by the Germans in the occu- pied territory has been transmitting communications from the transplant ed persons to their relatives since the French government took no stand in the matter and only at the end or July, consequently, after about quar- ter of a ear, made it the starting point of a systematic campaign of fncltat1on against Germany which has spread over the whole world.
 "The reception that these calumn1es have found, particular y in neutral for eign lands, affords 9 fresh incentive for the follow ing detailed exposition:
 Neutral Aid Inadequate.
 .The actual facts in the course of the affair are follows:
 "In spite of the praiseworthy pro- visions taken by the Spanish -Ameri- can Relief Committee, the matter of feeding the inhabitants of the popu- lous cities of Lille, Rubaix and Tour coing, in the industrial part of north ern France, was encountering con- stantly increasing difficulties. Because of the sortage created by the interna- tionally illegal English blockade, food from Germany for the inhabitants of occupied France was available only in insufficient quantities Furthermore, at the beginning of the year, in view of the repeated threats by the British that they would tighten the blockade. it was impossible to tell how long, if at all, the bringing in of American supplies would be allowed by Eng land Therefore, if the supreme army administration wised to insure the feeding of the urban population f northern France in all future emer- gencies, it was necessary to take ener- getic measures. In view of the fact that as a consequence of the English blockade large numbers of the city population were without work, while on the other hand. even with the com parative density of population in the rural districts 2. scarcity of labor was evident there, the transplanting of part of the urban population to the land as such an energetic measure followed automatically.
 "An appeal to the inhabitants of the cities asking them to volunteer to work for pay at cultivating the land and gathering the crops met with no success. Therefore, the only thing left to do was forcibly to draft the city people who were able to work. The city commandants in the three north ern French cities announced the com, ing transplanting in a proclamation which was also imparted verbally in the town halls concerned and ex- plained to the local authorities. In this proclamation the reasons for the measure were made public and special attention was directed to the fact that the persons who were to be trans planted would be sent to the interior of the occupied provinces of France and there, far behind the front, would be employed in agricultural work, but not in military tasks, for pay and with their maintenance fully assured. Each of those transpIanted was to be a1- lowed to take 66 pounds of baggage with him, and the people were ad- vised to get this baggage ready at once.
 Calls It Military Measure.
 .The selection of those to be trans planted had to be begun without de- lay, as the failure of the attempt to get volunteers had already resulted in time being irretrievably lost. The transplanting was a military measure, an action in connection with the war, and was, indeed, unavoidable, for its object was thes applying of labor es- sential for the insuring of the har- vest. The extraordinary favorable l April weather necessitated speeding l