The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-08-01
SOCIALISTS SAW
GERMANY'S ERROR
Urged That inhuman Deporta-
tons Be Stopped Because of
Effect OH heutrals.
GERARD SUMS UP SITUATION
Germans viii Stop at Nothing, anu
the Only Thing They Respect Is
FORCE" - Huns Capacity for
Cruelty Told by Whitlock.

aroused by The Indignation &b0un
By the whole world oUer he ruthless
7cportQ'icpS of the people in Bel
gam All France, socialist deputies
in the reichstag protested against
the continuance Of tie practice. Am
5assddor Gerard'S evidence sh0rS The
crtcnt Of the horror.
In the Norddcutsche Allgemelne
Zeitung of December . 1916, the fol
lowing protests against the de2orta-
,lon ol BelgianS to work in Germans
appeared. made. respectively. by So
gialist Deputy Haase and Deputy Dit
mann. members of the reichstag:
"Thousands of worE!npn 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
yiun IN truth. we {the Germans) find
no sympathy i'll neutral countries; evCa
The pope has made Il 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 worlimen who had fed
to Holland returned to Belgium, Gov
ornor General Won Kissing promised
that these Belgian workmen would un-
der no circumstances be deported to
Germany. This reassurlng promise
has not been kept"
/ Ambassador Gerard's interesting tos
timony appears in his recent book:
Ambassador Gerard's Evidence.
! Inc president During my visit t.
America In 1870 impressed upon me
ms great interest in the ReigianS IL
ported to Germany. The action of Ger
many in thus carrying q great part Of
the male population Of Belgium into
virtual slavery had reused great indIg
nation in America. AS the revered
Cardinal Farley said to me few days
before my departure, You have to 60
back to the times of the Modes and
the persans to find n like example of
a whole people carried into bondage
E, "Mr Grew he'd made representations
about this TO the chancellor and, on my
return. I Immediately took up the
question.
! 81 WAS informed that it was mill
tary measure. that LrdcndOrf had
feared that the British would break
through and overrun Belgium and that
the military did not probase to have Il
hostile population ut their backs who
might cut the rail lines of comnnm-
cation, telephones and t"lcgraphs. 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, new
ertheless, which alone made such visit
ing possible were not delivered until a
few days before I left Germany.
Beigians Forced to Make Munitions.
Several of these Belgians who were
put to work in Berlin managed to get
away and come to see me. They gave
me Il narrowing account of how they
had been seized in Belgium and made
to work In Germany at making NUM-
tons TO be used probably against their
own friends.
81 said to the chancellor. There are
Belgians employed in making shells
contrary to all rules of war and the
Hague conventions He said. I do
not believe it. I said, My automobile
is at the door. l can take you, in four
minutes, to whore 80 Relgians 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 70
win this war, and that the only thing
they respect is force.'-James w. Ge-
rard My Four Years in Germany, 1914,
PIP. 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 X. g. Os-
siannilsson. Militarism at Work In Bel
GUM and Germany, 1917, PIP. 53-54.)
Mixed Hungarian Opinion.
mechanical skill, and especially
qualified mechanical skill, is for the
moment more important factor than
usual, and as it must be obtained
where it can be obtained, Belgium has
had to suffer in accordance with the
Did saying which always holds good :
Vac victis (woe to the yanquished)
In Poland mechanical skill and the
arms which exist there are modified
under the glorious and fortunate BAN
ners Of POland;' in Belgium under the
banner of necessity"
%. The question remains: fol
what kind Of work will the Germans
use the Belgians? ;. every kind of
work in Germany Is war work, wheth-
err it is called agricultural or indus
trial work. AS the deported Belgians
havesnot 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 mt bringing us near
or upacp If serves TO pmbitter orr on