Gunnison news-champion., 1918-08-16


practice in the treatment. Of con
qu"red people, part of whom tthe
French nnd the Inhabitants Of the Bel
rian provinces II East and West F'lan-
d"Ts) were under the direct control Of
the German general stan and the sew
erul German armies Of tn. west. and
part the inhabitants of the seven other
Belgian provinces under the quasi
civil government # Governor General
Won ElFslGg. | did not enter the occu-
pied territories until June. 1918. and
50. Of course saw none OF the actual In
yasi0n and ov"rru1niug ~ the land
saw only the graves Of the mnssacred
and Tho ruins ~ their towns But
snw through IA" long. hard months
much tnp much for my peace OF mind
uf hnw the Germans treated the un-
f"r'unu'rs under their control after the
occupation.
Destruction Complete.
'As chief representative FOR the COM
mission. II was nay duty To cover this
whole territory repeatedly in long mo-
tor Journeys In company with the Ger
man officer assigned for my protection
and for the protection Of the German
army against any too much seeing. As
had opportunity also tu cover most OF
Belgium In repeated trips from BruS-
s"ls into the various provinces. I nee
cssarily had opportunity to compare
/ the destruction wrought In the two re-
gions.
81 could understand why certain
/ towns and villages along the Meuse and
/ along the lines of the French and Eng
lish retreat were badly shot to pieces
1 There had been fighting In these towns
and the artillery OF first one side and
then the other had worked their havoc
among the houses of the inhabitants
But there We're many towns In which
there had been no fighting and yet all
too many OF these towns also were In
/ ruins. II was not ruin by shells, but
ruin by fire and explosions. These
were the famous punished towns.
Either citizen or perhaps two or
three citizens had fired from n window
on the inyrdcrS-or were alleged to
have. The eupOn a block. or two or
three blocks, or hnlf the town was
methodlcally and effectively burned or
blown to pieces. There are many OF
these punished towns In occupied
France. And between these towns and
along the roadwnys are innumerable
Isolated single farmhouses that are also
in ruins. II Is not claimed that there
was any snplng from these farm
houses. They were just destroyed along
the way-and by the way one may
say. When the roll Of destroyed viii
lagos and destroyed farmhouses in oc.
cupled France is made known, the
world viii be shocked again by this evil
dence of German thoroughness.
Found Neutrality impossible.
''But the horrible methods Of that
deportation were such that we, al
though trying TO hold stendfast to a
rigorous neutrality, could not but pro-
test. Mr.. Gerard, our ambassador to
Berlin, happened ut the very time of
this protest to make visit TO the
great headquarters In the west and the
matter was brought to the attention
of certain high officers at Headquarters
on the very day OF Mr. Gerard's visit
md in his hearing. So that he added
his own protest to that of Mr.. Poland,
our director at the time and further
deportations We're stopped. But a ter.
rible mischief had already been done
Husbands and fathers had been taken
good-hy; sons and daughters on whom
perhaps aged parents relied for sup
port were taken without pity or appar-
ent thought Of the terrible conse-
quences. The great deportations of
Belgium have shocked the world. But
these lesser deportations-that is,
lesser In extent. but not less brutal In
their carrying out-are hardly known.
Germany Must BE Civilized.
Il went into Belgium and occupied
France neutral and maintained
while there steadfastly neutral be-
havior. But l came out no neutral. !
cannot conceive that any American en-.
joying an experience similar to mine
could have come out a neutral. He
would come out, as I came, with the
ineradicable conviction that a people
or government which can do what the
Germans did and are doing in Belgium
and France today must not be allowed,
II there is power on earth to prevent 1t,
to do this moment longer than can be
helped. And they must not be al
lowed ever to do 1t again.
II went in also hater of war, and !
zane out more ardent hater Of war.
But. also. came out with the ineradic-
able conviction, again, that the only
way in which Germany under Its pres
ent rule and in Its present state Of
mind can be kept from doing what 1t
has done is by force of arms. 1t can
1ot be prevented by appeal, concession
or treaties. Hence, ardently as nope
hat all war may cease. hope that
his war may not cease until Germany
.ealizes that the civilized world simply