Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-09-13

gians throughout the country and with
the Americans who are supervising the
distribution. besides keeping my own
eyes open for any indications of con-
fiscation by the Germans. AS a re-
suit l ann convinced that the relief sup
plies sent into Belgium reach. in their
entirety. the Belgian people. Except
for trivial local Incidents. which are
invariably remedied, l heard of no in
stance whatever of the Germans break
ing their guarantees to respect the food
which the allied governments allow to
be brought through the blockade. AS
regards the home grown produce there
are, probably. still some minor leak
agcs-.lmost inevitable in a country
garlisoned by a foreign arny-but !
can safely say that 50 per cent of the
native food supplies go towards feed
ing the Belgian people. The inappre-
ciable ~lcakages To which ! refer are all
ways made the subject of negotiations
W the relief organization and the
belligerent powers.
You ask me as TO what the Belgian
people really think. They ont think.
They Just hope. They live from day to
day in the undimmed expectancy of re-
gaming their independence. 1 might
also say they live on hope. because IL
that wonderful spirit We're not there.
the scanty ration, which is all the re-
lief organization can supply. would be
inadequate to prevent increased disease
and mortality.
High German Wages Refused.
Under ordinary circumstances he
population would be pauperi2ed by free
feeding of the unemployed. This Is not
the case in Belgium. In the first place,
!, daily diet of soup, bread. sometimes
potatoes and Il little bacon, and Oc-
casionally rice and beans, continued
over two years, does not offer nan
attractions. Ii is only the indomitable
spirit of the people themselves that
makes it bearable. They will be glad
enough when peace comes to exchange
free meals of such 81 kind for the food
they can earn by work. At present. a
small percentage get a few days work
weekly i'm local Industries, such AS tho
enamel. glass and coal trades. at a few
francs per week. They INCREASINGLY re-
week which they could obtain by work
ing for the Germans. Glass and
enamel ware. by consent of the allies,
are being exported i'm small quantities,
but the payments for such exports are
retained in allied countries until the
conclusion of the war. The German
assertion, that the whole Belgian ma
ton has organized a passive resistance
strike on an unprecedented scale. is I'M
doubtedly correct.
In n relief canteen which l in
spected a man came up and made a
complaint. There was no meat, he
said excitedly, in his soup. He had
long given up the idea Of receiving
meat as part of his daily meal, but IL
he was to live, he declared he must get
some OF the nourishment that meat
provides. He was right. There was
practically no meat In the soup. But
what is n to do? Such meat as
there is in the country Is $3.50 per
pound.
The Plight of the Children.
There are 600. 900 children in Bel
gian entirely dependent pom the tender
heartedness of the outside world. A
large percentage of the remaining q
100000 children: up to the Of l6,
are partially dependent upon relief.
The problem OF bringing them up and
even of keeping them alive is becom-
ing more and more grave. The relief
organization has just started an extra
ordinarily interesting experiment to
plies in industrial ccnters. They ave
asked the peasants to lend, free of
charge for one year., one COW from each
of their herds to a ommuna herd
which Will provide milk for the chill
dren. In Antwerp, the herd now num-
bers over 400 cattle. In other centers
the peasants are responding excellent
ly to the appeal. AT the end of the year
the COWS will be returned to their own
ers. who will be compensated for the
loss or any OF their cattle.
1T was a relief TO turn from the COM
plexities and hardships apparently in
evitable in connection with the feeding
of these unfortunate children to the
splendid results of Americas recent re-
spouse to the appeal for clothing. In
Brussels l visited the distributing CEN
tiers and there saw huge quantities Of
cloth n garments from the United
States being redistributed to different
parts of the country. In Antwerp l
saw 500 Belgian women and girls under
one roof busily employed in making up
their share of this cloth INTO suits or
dresses or altering ready made cloth
ing. The material over which they
bent their heads had come from every
state in the union, from California to
New York. j only wished that the
generous donors we're with me to see.
the JOY it brought and also the bust
nesslike way in which it was prepared
fer local requirements, and then dis
c~riminately given to those most in
need.
"A Marvel Of Efficiency"
My visit to Belgium gave me my
first opportunity to see for myself the
actual working OF the relief system. 1t
is a marvel of efficiency and devotion.
of my fellow countryman. Mr.. Herbert
Hoover. to whose genius for organiza-
ton the whole structure owes it's con-
tinued existence through a thousand
heart breaking difficulties, but of those
Americans who, SO self sacrificingly
and self-effacingly, are devoting them
selves in the occupied territory to keep
ing the Belgian nation alive: M. Emile
Francqui. head of the Belgian Comite
National, has also achieved wonders,
and his army Of Belgian workers is the
most striking instance in history Of