Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1918-04-03
BEL G|UM PLUNDERED And TORTURED
BY THE VAR-MAD GERMAN MILITARY
Never Has There Been Bgandage So Methodca So Complete
War Contributions Alone Have Drained the Country Of Money
Raw Materials and All Economic Equipment Car
red 0f-Famine Now Threatens.

tee. The poor are obliged to stand In
line In order to obtain the portions al
lotted by the commission for the relief
In Belgium. The wealthy have to pay
exorbitant prices in order to procure
the most Indispensable articles. Those
of the middle classes are most 20 be
pitied, for they have too much pride 10
go to the soup kitchens and not enough
money to buy food. with sugar at 90
cents pound. -four at 81 a pound, beef
at $50 a pound, fat at 50 a pound.
butter at So pound, chocolate at S4 q
pound, coffee at So pound, eggs from
16 to % cents each, and potatoes at S.
to S13 bushel. Only five pounds OF
potatoes are allowed a week, but the
amount available is much less than
eat dog. Tobacco has been replaced
by strawberry leaves. People are rare.
ly able to get enough to eat to satisfy
hunger, and the consequences of such
regime become more and more alarm
ing from the point of view of the pub
lie health. tuberculosis has increased
by leaps and bounds; at Bruges the
number of cases has increased 1.0Oo
per cent. All kinds of epidemics have
claimed numberless victims, especially
among children of two to ten years of
age. Loss of weight is general The
death rate has greatly increased. In
one week Antwerp reported 104 deaths
az o. fr+h he
against IL. In some localities the
death rate is three times the normal
rate.
Forced Labor.
The deportations in condemning to
slavery more than 100000 OF our fell
lcw-citizens have still further added to
the general distress. Husbands have
been torn from their wives, andssons
from their mothers; courageous work
men refusing to allow the labor of their
hands to be used against their country.
have been beaten, subjected TO treat
ment the horror OF which surpasses
anything that has been seen hereto
fore, and sent back dying. TO their ma
tive village. Ten per cent have died
in Germany and many do not long sur
yive their return to Belgium.
In March, 1917, the kaiser promised
that the deportation TO Germany would
cease, but the military authorities are
constantly carrying Off men, who are
given hard work, often behind the
front. Information from camp in
Athus uuxemburg) shows that the
food was so insufficient that the num-
Der of those there put to work was
soon reduced to half. In spite of this,
the same amount of work was re-
quired, so that double task fell upon
those who survived. The sanitary
conditions in that camp are described
as horrible. Abuses are especially fire.
uuent in Flanders. Recalcitrants are
sent to dangerous work at the front.
Some Of the men who have been requi-
sitioned try TO escape. In such cases
the military authority imposes heavy
fines upon the communes from which
they come, arrests, in the streets, even
In the churches, men who are held as
hostages and after few days sent to
liiC AAbht W LlONt WIN tSGdUtu.
A man who leaves his home for any
reason is never sure OF returning to 1t.
Relatives, women, old men and chill
dren are arrested in their houses and
imprisoned until the return of the fu-
g'tives. AS disclosed from journals
taken from German prisoners and from
reports received through Holland. even
women and girls are forced to dig
trenches, TO repair the roads, and to
do other military works, often under
the artillery fire. In Blankenberghe
and other places boys Of twelve years
of age are placed at work of military
! character.
Moral Sufferines and Endurance.
Successive attacks were and still are
being made upon the Belgian people
4 and its liberties. With impressive
unanimity the bishops, headed by Car
/ dinal MERCER, the constituent bodies,
the notabilities of the political world,
without distinction of party, the magis-
tracy, the bar, the universities have
guided the public spirit. There is no
better witness to the bitterness of the
struggle than the sanguinary activ-
1 ity of the exceptional courts created
| by the Germans to force the Belgians
to obedience. German statistics show
that for one year only there had al
ready been more than 100000 convic-
tons. The judicial drama in which
Miss Cavell persisted is being constant
ly repeated, and not week passes but
that patriots fall before the bullets of
firing squad. On one day at Client
eighteen. of whom three were women
were put to death. The long list OF
martyrs includes hundreds of names
from all classes OF society, from all the
professions. from all ages. men. won
en-. and even children. And If the ex