Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-04-09
BELGIUM EXPERIENCING
REAL REIGN OF TERROR
Dark Moments OF French Revolutions
No Worse Than Conditions
Now Existing.
MEN ABusED AND MALTREATED
Private Communications Of American
Official in Belgium, Made Public
by state Department, Rccitc Hor-,
rors 1'racticei by German Masters.
Ry Assoclated prcss.1-


WASH IIINGTON. April S-A story of
the horrors of German military rule
in Belgium and Of tho tortures in
t'ictcd upon Bclgians 10 force their
labor for their enemies was revealed
here tonight in hitherto unpublished
letters To the government from an
American official who spent many
months in the midst of the reign of
terror.
OF the Germans explanations that
they dcported only the unemployed
among the conquered people, this oni-
ciai says:
They needed skilled and active arti-
sans. aud these men were naturally
stll employed. The authorities did
not, evidently. dare to announce their
real intcutions."
Belgium AT this moment" says a
letter written in December. "is going
through a reign of terror. It is hard
10 hclievc that the dark moments of
tho French Revolution were very much
worse than the conditions OF which
VIC arc now the witnesses With each
month that We remain. tho net is
drawn tighter and tighter around the
rornlation. The entire country is
more or less one great intcrnmcnt
camp. To obtain permission To go for
a breath OF liberty and neutral air i'm
Holland or Switzerland is now pracii-
raliy impossible for Belgians. and even
for ncutraia.
"An uninterrupted series Of trials for
espionage arc being conducted in va
rious parts OF the country but
above everything else at tho prcscnt
moment towers the nightmare of the
dcporiations. Even tho Austrian rep
rcsentative here had words OF apolocy
and even blame for the policy. and i'm
defense could only refer to the alleged
i'll treatment OF Germans in Russia"
WILSON'S PROTEST. or
GREAT MORAL. VALUE
President Wilson'S Splendid protest..
against the dcportations. the writer
SAYS. was of great moral value 'Tt
Is really pititul to sec how the Rel
G'anS look TO America in a crisis like
this" hc continues. ''huts the dcporta-
tions continue without any apparent
serious notifications.
The fashion in which any given re-
crui'mcnt is carried out depends very
largely on the character OF tho officer
in command. Some proceedings mass
off in orderly manner. and others in n
hisordcrlr fashion. y guard OF Uhlans
Is generally necessary sometimes
backed with machine guns. At times
il is thought necessary TO charge the
watching crowds.
Various methods arc cmpIoved IN
force the men to sign and work.
starvation is tho most prominent
Men are also said 10 he placed i'm an
excessively heated room and when I'm
great sweat thrust out of doors. In
ternment at prison camp at Reech (rl.
near Munster. Is likewise reported.
There tho men are said to he Sravely
abused and mistrcated.
~. In Client ii is learned con-
hdcntiaily that go men. have died from
the effect of the treatment or work re-
cciVed In more than ono case the
wife was summoned to the command
atur and handed d bundle OF clothes
with the iaconic remark. Your hus-
band is dead Many of these persons
arc supposed TO have been killed by
tho artillery fire OF the allies. as they
Continued on Second Pase.)