Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-11-19
:: The Truth About Belgium 3:
BY BRAND WHLTLOCK


undertaking had not gone out d
afforded a good ground Tor adven-
lure or this sort.
1t used to be one Of our most
cherished superstitiOns, q part, in-
deed, OF our very stock III trade, in
me old days oil municipal reform
in America, that German cities
were ideally sOVCrned. l had ac-
ceDted all thar was written ABOUT
them and never had any DOUBTS,
until, myself making certain studies
in Germany, L WGs TOLD at the ltatn-
aus in Dresden, when 1 inndCeHt-
~ inquired whac salary the mayor
was paid, that nay question was Ill
discreet. L found some police scan
dalS III Berlin OF the timIliar Kind,
and IN another city some pecui2tlon,
but / assured myself that these
incidents must be exceptional, anu,
determined to be orthodox III re-
form, went on believing as before.
But if there is any analogy, be-
tween the methods employed III Ecr-
man cities ana those that oh
served on tie parL Oh cCr,a!a &c
hCimr&tC (p1IVy COunciilu4G) ia Bel
gium, i think Incy might much bet
ter De mucl.rai.eo tna.A our own.
I suppose, now, GhaL German
methods Impressed Us because they
NN~-N
we knew l.otniug about then. Any
machine in an American city Will
gladly govern the city, ana gov
ern it With moro or less eliclen-
cy, on the same terms. We never
put our best toOL forward. The
slightest irregularity, the least ms
take, is published from the house
tops and cried abroad. the wellun
always ringing with denunCIationS
of some one, and the atmosphere
darkened by the flying missiles o.
the universal and recrlminatory &C
cusation, charge and lndlctnen
that is ,alwaysNeoing on. NO doHo.
measure and proves us TO be Il
very virtuous people, either search
ing out our own sins with a re-
-snorseless and implacable con-
science, or else searching out che
sins of our neighboTs. There was
none OF this in German cities, and
there was none, and could be none
in occupied Belgium, and so the
Zentralc had pretty much their owe
The managers of any given Zen
trale would buy the pl oductS OF
the producers, and, to justify It's
existence, would lay aside from ,
to 20 per cent OF 1t for EelS ian
consumption. The local brokers,
sometimes renegade Belgians, some
times Germans who came into the
country to profit by the situation,
would buy that product of the Zen
trale, but it was openly said that
in order to obtain stock of any
commodity it was necessary TO
bride certain employees of the zen
trale. The brokers were always
willing to pay large commission
q thousand marks for stock oil
sugar was said not to be unusu-
nj. The brokers could easily affol u
to pay this, because. having a mo-
nopoly. they could extract from the
consumers, who were among the
easier class in Belgium, what prices
they pleased, and L was told tina
brokers and the corrupt officials or
the Zentrale in this way built w
considerable fortunes. The Bernef
Bund of LouVain, one OF the Ci-th-
Ollie cooperative societies, organ
ized generally in the rural DISTRICTS
to procure for the people the same
benefits that the Socialists we've
giving them i'm their cooperative
societies, made application agaiH
and again at the coal bureau, pc
cause it would not offer brides or
commissions. .-,,,
The German army was victualcd
through the central office at BruS-
sells known as the Proviant-A
Ccommissariat) and the Zcntrale
worked in close company with II
as did the brokers. who were al
ways to be found in the cafes
around the Bourse. 1t was not on
ly the brokers' that profited. but
certain tradesmen. too. There were
for instance, butchers assistants
who set up FOR themselves, and
though they did not sell one pig
n week, bought so on market day.
1t was not a violent assumption to
conclude that the 40 pigs went to
the Proviant-Amt, and so to the
German army. The Proviant-Amt'
too. could exercise great differ Ter
ence IN the price. simply Dy IN
structing its agents to stop buying