The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-09-07
BELGIUM MADE
TO PAY GREAT
SUN TO GERMANS
SINCE WAR BEGAN
Levies Total $446,oo0,0oo
During First Four
H. Years of Conflict

Paris, Sept. 7.-(Correspondence
of The. Associated Press -Germany
has exacted war contributions from
Belgium during the first four years
Of the war amounting to q total of
$466, 200, 600. This is in addition to
the vast amount of machinery, ma
terials and men taken from Belgium
to sustain Germany.
In this fifth year of, war it is in
teresting to review the financial
activities" of the Germans in Bel
GUM since that fateful day in Bel
GUMS history. August 90, 1914,
when the German hordes entered
Brussels. q
During that month, as the Ger
man armies were hacking their way
through the little kingdom, numer-
and war contributions were levied
from each province as. the Germans
progressed southwestward.
Demand Made First.
The first move of the German
staff when entering a town was to
proceed to the city hall and an
nounce to the burgomaster that for
resisting the advance of the Emper-
or Williams armies, his city or town
had been fined so many thousand or
million francs, as the case might be.
When the Burgomaster would re-
monstrate, .Uhlans and Deaths Head
Hussars would covert innocently in
city hall square or the Burgomaster
would be taken prisoner.
In one instance in the province
of Liege the German commander of
the company entering the town in
formed the. Burgomaster that a war
contribution of 100000 francs would
have to be forthcoming within two
hours. The burgomaster demurred.
Never in the history of the little
town had there been so much money
in the city treasury. At the present
moment, there was only a little over
three thousand francs in the strong
box.
well, we'll take that" calmly re-
sponded the German.
More than 2O0,o00,000 francs were
thus levied between August and
November, 1914.
But q serape of Paper.
Then Field MarshaI Baron Won der
Glotz- Pasha decreed Belgium would
have to pay a. monthly contribution
Of 100000 francs during one year
and it would not be Increased and
that it would not be renewed. The
Pasha's decree. however, proved to
! be but another scrap of paper.
In November, 1915, Baron Won Bis
| sing called upon the councils OF nine
| Belgian provinces to meet and in
! formed them that the promise of his
predecessor had been made in good
faith but with the implied condition
| that war would be ended within the
year and that he saw no alternative
%gaJ
tribution Of 100000 francs for an
other year.
Raise In Levy peoreed.
On the goth of November, 1915, in
stead Of abolishing the onerous tax
that, owing to the duration of the
war, the increase I'm prices-high
cost Of living he would have to in
crease the monthly payments to &c.
100000 francs. He added ominous1y
temporarily"
1t proved to be SO, indeed, for, on
the 21st Of May, 1917, the contribu-
ton was further raised to 60,000.000
francs.
The flow Of francs into the cof-
fers of the War Lord was too small
TO satisfy the gargantuam appetites
OF the military men, however, and on
the 18th OF September, 1916, they
Seized 48O,OO0,oOO million marks,
constituting all the deposits in Ger
man bills of the Bangue Rationale
and the Societe Generate de Belgi-
que, the two large banks In Belgium.
When one of the directors Of the
Societe Generate refused to divuIge
that part OF the combination OF the
vaults which he alone knew and
without which the vaults could not
be opened the Germans said that
they would blow them open with
high explosives. The director ratl1-
err than have the vaults of the in
stitutton wrecked decided to ac-
duiece. Thus what will probably go
modern times was penetrated.