Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-08-20

no counsel, and when they were, the
attorneys were not permitted to
see their clients before the hearings
or 20 be informed of the. charges
against them. They would appear
in court and do what they could,
which was uo< much, since any
vigorous defense was apt to he con-
sidered as wanting in respect to the
court. or to the German uniforms,
or some such thing.
The trial OF the Count and Count
ess de Merode was one such comedy
The countess was charged with hav-
ing carried letters. 1 believe, and
she and ner husband, after their
old palace in the Rue aux LANES
had been rummaCed over by the
agents of the Eommardantur, had
been confined with German senti-
nels at the door for weeks. The
name de Merode is one of the CID
est and most aristocratic in Bel
GUM. and the statue in the Place
des Martyrs recalls the heroism of
one who bore il heroically in the
revolution Of 1880. Because of the
high station of the accused, the
governor general himself came to
honor with his presence the pro-
nouncement Of the judgment. The
prosecutor had badgered and brow
beaten all the witnesses. but
strangely enough the court acquitted
the de Mez-les unanimously. But
on this Geiferal Won Kissing inter
fered and in a long address said
that despite the unanimous acquit-
tai il was his duty to condemn the
accused. The maximum punishment
for the offense with which they
were charged was death, and the
minimum, confinement in a fortress,
but inasmuch as de Merode was an
old name N Belgium and the Count
de Merode himself grand marechal
of the court, and in addition, mas
much as Won Kissing personally
knew the queen of the Belgians, he
would let them off! Having thus in
the space Of a few minutes been ac-
quilted, then convicted, then par
doned and set free, the distinguish
cd prisoners thought the farce was
ended; but no, to make the vaude-
Vile complete, the governor general
announced that he would impose a
fine Of three hundred francs!
These courts did not always con-
vict; indeed, they now and then ac-
quilted. The reproach to be made
against them was the reproach to
be made against all lynch law,
namely, that il is founded on no ju-
dicial right and is guided by no
fixed rules or principles. No theory
of evidence, for instance, was ap-
piled. Suspicion sufficed for the
arrest, and accuse ton for proof;
hearsay and conclusions were ad-
mitted, and the accused forced to
testify, to submit to terrible inter
rogatories, in prison and in courts.
Informers were encouraged and per-
sonal revenge thereby easily graft
fed Any one with a private grudge
had only to go TO the Kommandan-
tur: there It would be avenged.
The Countess ale R refused a
beggar a pittance in the street and
the beggar denounced her, saying
that she had referred to the Ger
mans as pigs" She was arrested,
taken to the Kommandantur, re-
leased, and then when she again
encountered the beggar on the
boulevard. there was dfsagreeable
scene. The beggar was accompan-
led by an agent provccateur; who
had talked with a German who had
a shop near by, and the shopkeeper
just then ran out and cried:
You call me a spy, do you; and
the Germans pigs?"
II never said such a thing" pro-
tested the countess. But she was
again arrested.
The case was brought to the
legation and, while we could no
nothing for her, Maitre de Leval
gailantly tried to aid her. He
thought he had arranged it all; the
judge had decided to let her go;
Won Kissing had been gracious, had
heard her statement, told her she
could go. had bowed and kissed her
hand; but the shopkeeper on the
boulevard refused to withdraw her
charge. The affair dragged on for
weeks, the poor countess half sick
with worry and fear; finally she
was tried. only witnesses against
her being heard, and she was fined
three hundred francs; and to this
the governor-general added a hun
dred marks, so that her fine in all
amounted to four hundred and
twenty-five francs.
The proprietress of lie Chen
Vert" a restaurant on the Avenue
Tervueren, had as customers one
day some German officers who,
after supping, gave her a five
mark piece in payment
''C'es Timage de notre empereur
meme" CIt is the figure of our en-
peror himself). said one of the Off
GERS.
''Eh bien," replied the patronne.
emperor on pas empereur, ca vaut
six francs cinquante, c'est tout"
emperor or no emperor, it's worth
six francs fifty, and no more)-a
bit of Brussels repartee that cost
her a pretty fine.
Such things were happening every
day.
Near Liege a man named Bra
CONNER was arrested and kept at the
kommandantur for twenty-four
hours. His brother went to ascer-
tain why he was arrested and was
told that he was charged with hav-
ing violated the laws against
poaching. He was of a prominent
name. with a preserve of his own.
'AIais il est braconnier" (But he
is a poacher). said the German Off
Ger, and orders had been issued that
all braconniers were to be severely
punished.
Lvu
The stark objectivity of the atroc-
titles made them easy to under
stand; they struck even the dullest
imagination with an instantaneous
impact; but bad as they were. they
were not the worst. There was, in
this regime. the steel grip of which
was only family indicated by the
cries IL now and then wrupg from
its victims, something that went
deeper. something that goes to the