Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-10-22


cor deSerterS. and they were #NS.
.ematiCally closing streets and MAX
ing gerquiSitiOnS one after another
IN ali the houses. looking FOR let
terS. 0ictures--everyth The rue
de Commerce there In the Quarter
Leopold was closed this way. and
man was shot, so the rumor had
il. for assisting some German OF
ficerS 20 escape.
Black Despair Settles Down
Brussels was nearer black despair
than il ever had been. Winter was
coming on. No one smiled and the
people only hoped on because they
must: there WAS nothing else 20 90.
And then there cane tnluS tndS
threw its black and monStrous Shad-
ny, NOT only over US but over the
.yholc world. 1t seemed like the
yheln1ing doom that had been i'm
plicit in the dreadful events or that
dark month, the denouement toward
which they had been SO lmplacloly
tending II was so IN harmony
with 5he atmosphere, the spirit
and the feeling OF the time, IL was
one OF a thousand other iEJuStceS
essentially as bad. but because II
doomed in its tragic clrcuusta noes
a noble woman of our own blood ana
tradition and tongue II well nlgh
overwhelmed US. as II die the WorIu'
with it's horror.
Early in August Brussels haa
that nars OF Belgium hat lived IN
chate3uN, had heard that the Prin-
cess Maria de CToy and the Countess
Jeanne de Belleville haG been ar
rested. The de Croys are one or the
oldest families of the Belgian no
LiIitv and the Princess Maria was
a maiden lady VINO lived almost IN
sseclusion in her chateaux OF Bel
iignie near Mons. The countess
Jeanne de Belieyille lived not Tar
= TN nrrF nj
sur-Roc near AndreGnleS. in the
province of Hainaut. These two dls-
tinguished ladies had been arrested
for treason in time or war ana
were accused OF having aided Brit
rsh. soldiers 10 pass TO the Belgian
At the beginning of the. war the
PRINCESS de CrOy had established
red Cross hospital in her chateau,
where Belgian, English and German
wounded were cared for.
After he battle OF Mons a great
many British soldiers. cut OF In the
retreat. aa1 beer left behind in Bel
ciurn. and hid lived under such dir
ficulties and hardshipS all through
the winter and spring. had llNeu
lie lives CT hunted animals in the
woods or N the farms and helds OF
Hainaut and Brab3nt. Near the
chateau Il The Princess &c Croy
thirteen British soldiers had ND
~
and. tracked down at last by Ger
man soldiers, they were taken,
stood against the wall and shot
without merry. This atrocity so al
fected the Princess that she deter
mined 10 organize methods where
by British soldiers who, finding
themselves in a position that in all
civilized countries would nave en-
titled them at least 10 the consld-
era ton shown to prisoners OF war,
a FOR nd
cot out of the country. And
Enough fr1il and delicate in health,
She and the Countess de BelleNllle
ard Madame Thuliez and certain
others organized system 20 ara
British soldiers who were still IN
aiding and to send them to Brus-
sells. where. as she declared in her
iuterrogatory before the military
tribunal, she thought they would be
iess vigorously dealt with than near
Mons, which was under the military
regime. whereas Brussels was IN
he territory OF the general govern
;nent The Princess declared that
she did not know what became or
them after they reached Brussels.
There, however, others aided them
10 get across the frontier into Hol-
land. 1t was for this that these
coura geous women were arrested.
Caveu Arrested
One day in August IL was learned
nurse named Edith Cavell had been
arrested by the Germans. wrote
a letter to the Baron Won der Lanck-
en- 10 ask il il was true that MISS
CayelI had been arrested and say
ing that if it were 1 should request
that Maitre de Leval, the legal coun-
selor of the legation. be permit
ted to see her and to prepare Tor
her defense. There was no reply 10
this letter and on the 10th OF
September L wrote a second letter,
repeating the questions and the re-
quests made in the first. On sep
TENDER u l had reply from the
baron stating that Miss CaVell had
been arrested on August ,; that
she was confined in the prison at
st. Giles; that she had amitted nav
ing hidden English and French SOL
diers in her home, as well as Bel
gians OF an age to bear arms, all
anxious to get to the 'front.' thal
she had admitted also having fur
nished these soldiers with money
To get to Franco and had provided
guides to enable them to cross the
Dutch frontier; that the defense OF
Miss Cavell was III the hands OF
AIaitre Thomas Braun, and that In
asmuch as the German government,
on principle would not permit ac-
cused persons TO have any inter
views whatever, he could not obtain
permission for Maitre de LeNal TO
visit Miss Cavell as long as she
was in Solitary confinement.
We at the legation had not at the
time seen anything more serious ia
the case than in the numerous other
cases thai were similarly brought
TO our notice. or of which we were
constantly hearing. 1t was the
German practice in Belgium to ar
rest any one ION suspicion" as
we should say in America, and in
vestigato the facts afterward. IN
der the German system in vogue IN
Belgium, as Aaitre Theodor hau not
feared so many months oeIore 10
Doint out to the authorities, per-
sons who were arrested were not
told of the offensc with which they
were charged. nor We're the onenSes
themselves clearly defined: so that
Miss CaVell, like many another VINO
had shared her fate, was arrested
and held in prison while The secret
police continued their iuveStiga-
lions and made up the "dossier.'
tbrIeD which would reveal its Sc
crets only before The military
court. which was prosecutor, jury
For ono OF our Anglo-Saxon race
and legal traditions to understand
conditions in Belgium during the
German OCCUPATION it is necessary
to Danish resolutely from the mind
every conception of right we have
inherited from our ancestors. con-
centionS long since crystalliZed into
iuimitable principles OF law and
confirmed in our charters Of liher-
~. In the German mentality these
conceptions do not exist; they
think sn other sequences: they act
according 70 another principle. 81 Il
Is n princiule. the conviction that
there is only ore right. one privil-
ego. and that IL belongs exclusive
~ 10 Germany, the right, namely,
10 do whatever they have the ply
=ic91 force 10 Do
German Trials in Belgium
These so-caIled courts. of whose
arbitrary and irresponsible and bru-
tai nature I have tried 20 convey
some notion. were mere inquiSito-