The daily Alaskan., 1918-02-25
Urged That Inhuman DepOrta' tions Be Stopped Because of Effect on NeutraIS.
GERARD SUMS UP SITUATION
"Germans Will Stop at Nothing, ana the Only Thing They Respect Is Force" - Huns Capacity for
 Cruelty Told by Hhitlock.

! by the whOEe Uortd Orer the ruthless d.portatiOnS Of the people iR Bel { gium aud France, socialist deputies in the retchStGg protested against | the continuance of the practice. Ann | beSsGdor Gerard'S evidence ShOWS the ertsnt Of the horror.
 In the NorddeutSche Allgemeine Zeitung of December ?, 1916, the fol- lowing protests against the deporta- ton of Belgians to work in Germany appeared, made, respectively, by SO- | cialiSt Deputy Haase and Deputy Dltt- mann, members of the reiChstag:
 Thousands of workmen in the oc- cupIed territory have been compelled to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these work men their liberty, especially In Bel gium. In truth, We (the GermanS) find no sympathy In neutral countries; even | the pope has made a protest 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, must recall that when former ly the Belgian wOrkmen who had fled to Holland returned to Belgium, Gov ] ernor General vOn Bisslng promised that these Belgian workmen would un- der no circumstances be depOrted to Germany. This reasSuring promise has not been kept"
 Ambassador Gerard'S interesting tes- timony appears In his recent book: Ambassador Gerard's Evidence.
 The president (during my visit to America in 1916) impressed upon me his great interest In the BclgianS de ported to Germany. The action of Ger | many in thus carrying a great part of the male population of Belgium into l virtual slavery had reused great indig- nation in America. As the reyered | Cardinal Farley said to me few days before my departure You have to go back to the times of the MedeS and the PersIanS to find a like example of q whole people carried into bondage
 "NIr. Grew had made representations about this to the chancellor and. on my return. I immediately took up the question.
 "I was informed that It was a mill- tary measure. that Ludendort had l feared that the British would break | through and overrun Belgium and that 1 the military did not propose to have q l hostile population at their backs who might cut the rail lines of COmmum cation, telephones and telegraphS, and that for this reason the deportation had been decided on. I was. however | told I would be given permission to visit these BelgianS. The passes, nev- ertheless, which alone made such visit Ing possible were not delivered until q few days before I left Germany.
 5elaians Forced to Make Munitions. Several of these BelgianS who were 1 put to work in Berlin managed to get away and come to see me. They gave me a 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 1 own friends.
 "I said to the chancellor, There are Belgians employed in making shells 1 contrary to all rules of war and the Hague conventlOnS' He said. I do not believe It. I said, My automobile is at the door. can take you, In four minutes, to where 30 BelglanS are working on the manufacture of shells But he did not find time to go.
 Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to win this war, and that the only thing 1 they respect Is orCe."-James W. Ge- rard. My Four Years In Germany, 191I, pp. 3951-52.
 A similar point of view Is expressed In an article entitled "Vae VictIs" from the Hungarian newspaper News zawa of Budapest Quoted in K. c. Os- sIannilsSOn, Mllltarism Ht Work in Bel gIum and Germany, 1917, pp. 5S-54.) Mixed Hungarian Opinion.
 Mechanical skill. and especially qualified mechanical skill, Is for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as 1t must be obtained where 1t can be obtained. Belgium has i had to suffer in accordance with the old saying which always holds good: | Vac viCtiS (wOe. to the vanQuished). In Poland mechanical skill and the arms which exist there are mobIlized under the glorious and fortunate bnn- ners of Poland; in Belgium under the banner of necessity"
 ". The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans use the Belgians? .. every kind of work in Germany Is var work, wheth. CT 1t Is called agricultural or indus trial work. AS the deported Belgians have not given their consent their use Is contrary to international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland is equally to be .deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us near CT ueace. if serves to embitter our on-