The Washington herald., 1918-03-17
La Libre Belgique' Mocks
Boche; Has Air Supplement
Dauntless, Still Surviving, Patriotic Paper
Defies and Enrages German Invaders.
Copies Dropped From Air.

= AAAAy2 u the NOlI8 Oh al Iu0
mothers, the voice Of all the widows
and orphans who are mourning those
they have lost This voice Is daily
over all our provinces and reach be-
yond our frontiers. 1t will be silent
only when the last OF your soldiers
and your policemen have ceased to
oppress our invaded soil In defiance
of all justice"
From time to time Free Belgium"
feels called upon to impress on its
readers the necessity for caution.
The existence of our publication"
one issue remarked, and the liberty
Of those who are concerned In its pro-
duction, depend above all on the dis
erection OF those who receive It and
distribute 1t. Curiosity, even the most
benevolent, may be as dangerous and
as mischieyous as the criminal de-
nunciation which Is naturally en-
couraged by our worst enemies. We
therefore urgently beg all true Bel
gians, to whom alone our paper IL
dedicated. to respect the anonymity
Of the contributors to La Libre Bel
gique, and to abstain from the slight
est effort to learn their identity. This
curiosity might by itself become an
act of treachery, and might give rise
to the most serious results, the least
Of which would be the premature de-
cease Of La Libre Belgique."
On another occasion the paper con-
tanned a characteristic warning against
wolves in sleeps clothing, German
agents pretending to be Belgian pa
triots and seeking to betray Free
Belgium: IF they receive Q visit
from q respectable ecceliastic who
wants to talk about La Libre Belgi-
que, the good work accomplished by
the paper, etc, our readers are beg
ged to take this Boche In q cassock
politely by the arm, and to turn him
out OF doors without more ado. How
ever, those who feel that they ought
to embellish this eviction by a good
kick in the part vulgarly known as
the Prussian' are free to do So"
Slow Moving Ideas.
Sometimes a Belgian reader desires
to submit an idea for q story or q car
tOon. Manuscripts, for obvious reasons,
are not received. But an idea can be
sent from a Belgian peasant in the
lighting area to the editor. The time
occupied is two weeks, owing to the
channels the message has to pass
through, each protected against
treachery through the careful system
which ensures that no man in the long
chain knows the identity Of any Of the |
links in the chain excepting the two |
links above and below that come In
contact with himself.
There is not too much humor in Bel
GUM these days. But some of the
most hearty laughs Of the war for the
enslaved population have come from
the antics of the Prussian soldiers and
secret police in their efforts to stop
Free Belgium and other patriotic
prints. Often anonymous letters are
sent to the authorities giving the To-
cation OF the elusive printing press.
German soldiers, with fixed bayonets,
march to the scene. They ind an
empty house. with an elaborate
plant OF another kind-on one occa-
sion a stuffed dummy OF the Kaiser,
with moustaches two feet long.
Hundreds Of houses are ransacked
from cellar to garnet by surprise
visits. Every Belgian who has ever
written a line in public has been
raided. often many times, in the
search for Free Belgium" After the
war, the editors promised to print a
list of the premises searched, and to
explain what all Belgium wants to
know. how they have camoufiaged
their paper. At one time, under Won
Bissing, the police on his orders stop
ped every one in the streets who car
rled portfolio or bag and turned out
the contests, hoping to find copies Of
Free Belgium" Long terms Of i'm
prisonment and heavy fines have been
inflicted on people who have been
caught with Free Belgium" In Sep
cmbcr, 1915, seven leading printers or
~hent were ordered to Jail until the
editors Of Free Belgium" should be
captured. The printers, II they knew
anything, kept silent. Free Belgium
continued to appear. and after a
month the printers were released.
Other surreptitious patriotic or
sans have appeared, sometimes print
cd but more often typewriter. The
Germans have Enthusiastically at
tempted to stop the nuisance by seiz-
Ing all the typewriters and duplicating
machines in Belgium. ''The Truth"
a short-lived paper not so fortunate
as Free Belgium" contained an ap-
peal to the people which shows the
spirit animating them that makes
such ventures possible. After attack
ing the newspapers which apear under
official auspices and accept the Ger
man censorship. The Truth" con-
tinued:
Patriotism Only Reward.
These domesticated organs are op-
posed by a press OF a different ma
ture, an emergency press; this lat
ter repudiates all contact with the
enemy, denounces his crime, and en-
courages the admirable and uncon-
querable spirit displayed by the people
Such publications as The Truth and
Free Belgium are not offered for
sale, nor do they contain advertise
ments. On the contray, money has to
be spent on them, and there Is no
reward to be reaped other than years
OF Imprisonment should one be CAP
tured.
Such an organ has at its disposal,
to increase its circulation, neither
trains nor the motor cars Of the
Prussians. That Is why readers are
begged with the utmost insistence
to employ themselves for this pur-
pose, to distribute these pages through
the provinces. This is risky work So
much the better! The action Is there
fore more meritorious. The country
Is infested with emasculated news
papers.
Let copies be made. by hand or
mechanical means. Of our articles
which are thought worthy of repro
duction- Then the present publica-
uon, small but proud, poor but un-
subjected, will be able to upset the
manoeuvres Of German agents, and
bring comfort to those who have no
other snnrces Of infnrrrnn tinr, IT, nn-