The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-07-14
'BtlGIAIS COMPLAIN Of
ENGLISH TREATMENT

Brussels. July 1s.--Belgians return.
ing from England complain of their
treatment by the British government
and the British public. According to
their statements the lot Of the 100000
Belgian fugitives on English soil Ia
deplorable. They are kept under Do
lice surveillance and not permitted
to live In the coast districts or to
change their residence without per-
mission of the authorities.
Many Of them find 1t impossible
to obtain employment. because the
British workmen object to their pres
ence In factories. When they ask for
work they are turned away and told
to Join the army of their country in
Flanders and Northern France.
When the war began and hundreds
of thousands of, fugitives sought an
asylum across the English Channel,
even the houses of the best classes
were opened to them. For a. time they
received liberal aid from all sides and
lived comfortably, but this did not
last long.
The authorities and the public after
a few months became tired OF sup
porting them and they were told to
go to work. When they tried to earn
their own living the laboring classes
objected to their competition They
were treated as paupers and foreign
''scabs' and accused of taking the
bread away from British working
men. In manv cases the manufac-
turers were compelled to bar them,
because strikes were threatened.
In the paper "LIndependence
Beige" published in London since
Brussels was occupied by the German
troops, the Belgian writer L. de Le-
vaux. says In a copy received here
England In her egotism has COM
menced a crusade to drive out the
Belgian fugitive by making life I'M
bearable to them. Our people are ac-
cused Of pressing down British wages,
and we are told that 100000 Belgians
of military age are living on Eng
lish charity, instead of fighting for
their country and the common cause
of the allies.
The latter charge Ia an outright
falsehood. According to a recent CEN
sus the total number of Belgian fugi-
tives in England is 100000. including
women and children. The men among
them are mostly over fifty years old.
ITO call our men towards and
suckers is q brutal SANDER. The he
roes who fought at Leige, at Haelem
and on the Yeer 1 nthe expectation
of England and French aid and were
moved down by thousands by the Ger
man machine guns did not belong to
nation of towards. and they were
not fighting for their own interests
The Belgians had nothing to gain In
the war against Germany They did
not have to defend the supremacy of
their commerce, and IL was not nee
essarv for them to crush a dangerous
competitor.
They had no Interior motives
when they cast their lot with England
and France. and now, after losing
everything in the terrible struggle,
they are almost treated like enemies
and called towards by the nation for
which they sacrificed themselves.
There are mparativelv few Bel
CLANS of military ao@ in England To
demand OF them that they should leave
their families to starvation and 20 TO
the front Is brutal. The Englishmen
volunteers know that his wife and
children will get ample support from
the government but the Belgian can
expect no aid, for his dear ones, and
they may die OF hunger while he Ia
dying on the battlefield"
I'm another article "LIndependence
Beige" protests against the order of
the British government which forbids
the Belgians living In England TO furn-
ish war material to their own country.
Under this order the Belgian govern
ment Is compelled to buy directly from
the British manufacturers, without the
aid OF middlemen and the Belgians are
not even permitted to act as brok-
ers"