Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1918-01-17
SocllllSTS SAW !.
GERMANY ERROR
Urged That Inhuman Deporta-
i tons BE Stopped Because Of
X
Effect on Heutrals.
GERARD SUMS UP SITUATION.
-osrmans viii stop a Nothing, and
The Only Thing They Respect 10
Fsress - Huns Capacity for
crvsstyl lTeid BY WhitloeIs.

crvsstyl lTeld BY Whttloek.
Arotassd By the Indignation skown
By the wbolesworld ovsr the ruthless
d@2ortst;0ns iof the people in Bel
g;Gna and FHance. socialist deputies
IN the ssichstag protested against
~ ooatissua1ce Of the practice. Am
bassador Gsssrfs evidence shows Tia
ertsnt Of ths horror. ;sn .5n
In the Ncrddentsche AHxefneine
xsltunk sof December 2. 1915, the fol-
sloVing protests against the depprtd-
sio4 Of Beigisns to work in Germany
appeared; made, respectively, by So
etalist- Deputy Haase and Deputy Ditt-
mann, members Of the reichstag:
Thousands Of workmen in the oc-
cupied territory have been compelled
to forced labor; we earnestly ask the
government t6Srestore to these work
men their liberty, especially in Bel
oium. In truth. we (the Germans) find
no sympathy IN neutral countries; even
the pope has made asprotest against.
this procedure. and several neutral
states have done, the same. Common.
sense itself demands that we abandon.
this procedure which moreover is in
opposition to the Hague convention to
which we have agreed"
( 'In opposition to the secretary of,
state, Imust recall that when former
" the Belgian wofkmen who had fled
to Holland returpsd to Belgium, Gov;
ernor General Won Bissing promised
thaK these Belgian workruen would un-
der mo circumstances be depofted to
Germany. This Sreassurine promise:
has not been Kept" IL
Ambassador Gerard'A d'Asinteresting4es-
,ttmony appears in his Isssnt book:
4 Il Ambassador osrards kyldense.
Ine president (durinH mA vist tv,
America in 1876 impressed hpA ma
sliS grest interest nj the BSlttans is
ported to Germany. The action Of Ger
many In thus carrying great part Of
the male ekpopulation of Belgium into
Virtual slavery. had reused great indig-
nation in.s America. AS the revered
Cardinal Farley said to me few days
before my departure. You have to go
hack to the times Of the Medes and
the Persiahs to find like example Of
whole people carried into bondage
mir. Grew had made representations
about thissto the chancellor and, on my
return, Immediately took up the
question.
II was Informed that 1t was mill
tary measure. that Ludendorf had
feared that the British would break
through and oyerrun Belgium and that
the military did not propose to have a
hostile population at their backs who
ruight cut the rnil lines of commune.
cation. telephones and telegraphs, and
that for this reason the deportation
had been decfdedSon. was. however.
told I would be given permission to
visit these Belgians. The passes, new
ertheless, which clone made such VISIT
ing possible were not delivered until a
few days before left Germany.
DsISians Forced to Make Munitions.
Several OF these Relgians who were
put to work in Berlin managed to get
away and come to see me. They gave
me narrowing account of how they
had been seized in Belgium and made
to work in Germany at making muni-
tions to be used probably against their
own friends.
II said TO the chancellor, There are
Belgians employed In making shells
contrary to all rules of war and the
Hague colventjona,' He said. 4 do
not believe IT. I said. My automobile
lie atsthe door. 1 can take you. in four
minutes. to where 80 Belgians are
working on the manufacture of Shells
But he did not fDd time to go.
Americans must understand that
the Germans will stop at nothing to
win this war, and that the only thing
;thsy; respect is force."-James w. &c.
:rard. Ny Four Years in Germany, 1917,
|pp. 3o61.62.
I A similar point Of view is expressed
In m article entitled "vae victis"
IRON the Hungarian newspaper News
Eawa Of Budapest QUOTED In K. q. Os-
stannilsson. Militarism at Work in Bel
GUM and Germany, 1917, pp. 5s-54.)
Mixed Hungarian Opinion.
Mechanical skill, and especially
qualified mechanical skill, is for the
moment more important factor than
usual, and as 1t must be obtained
where 1t can be obtained, Belgium has
had to suffer in accordance with the
old saying which always holds good
We vactis (woe to the vanquished).
In Poland mechanical skill and the
aEl9e which exist there. are mobilized
under the glorious and fortunate ban
ners Of Poland : IN Belgium under the
banner Of necessity"
M -. The question remains: for
what kind Of work will the Germans
msei the . Beigians? Z. every kind of
work in Germany is war work, wheth.
sr At ~ called agricultural or indus
trial work. Az the deported Belgians
AAys not given their consent, their use
80 contrary to International law. and
the policy Of the Germans in Belgium
andi Poland IL equally to be deplored..
t1nstead Of aiming at bringing us near.
- D1acs. itserves 70 snll1tter our op-
1eaAAib erouse ihpfe hatrsd to.