Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-09-17
Continued from Last IssusI

y was indeed diIuCuit even loE
That hope which is an element
- in the phenomenon Of spring,
working mysteriously in man as
part OF nature. TO keep itself alive IN
such an atmosphere. 1t was not
only the constant outrage Of that
sense of Justice which lives in most
men who have known liberty. but
every day brought some concrete in
stance Of injustice, or. if not that,
az some indeliCacy.
Nothing was too small, too petty,
Tor the official notice of the govern
ment Of occupation. II had the no
ton. everywhere the mark of i'm
mature development, that every in
exact statement. no matter how
trivial. must be pursued and hunt
cd down Ii spent much time III
denials and explanations: long. elab-
crate. pucrile discussions were post
ed on the walls and published IN the
censored press. 'Qui s'eNcuse, 5 &C
cuse" When the American newspa-
pers published a story TO the effect
that a German officer in a Brussels
restaurant had objected TO my
speaking English. and that l had
risen and with bow and flourish
handed him my card, precisely or
course. as II would be done in the
cinema. the authorities asked me
TO issue a formal denial and were
nonplusSed when 1 declined to do so.
some such adventure indeed had
befallen the American consul at
Gnent. and I told them that min
listers were sometimes confused with
consUlS. especially in my country.
That in any event il was not worth
denying. and that in four days il
would be forgotten in the new inter-
est that would be taken in a later
iuexactitude. and that a denial would
only serve to introduce it to all
those who had not seen the orig
inal
They found il difficult indeed to
regulate the American press; they
frequently asked me if something
could not be done. and could not
in the least understand it when
explained to them that our press
knew no censorship whatever.
Freedom" said Count H, one
day with a laugh at the word and
a sheer. It's not our way; and
as for democracy-we want none
OF it"
One OF the members of the Rock
efeller commission, after returning
10 America, had reported in an inter-
view that at Dinant the Germans
had shot the director OF cashier
Of the Banque Rationale de Bel
gique, and his two sons, because
they refused to open the safe at
the bank. The German authorities
were very much distressed and re-
preached me with the inaccuracy of
the statement and wished me to
have il denied. / declined, and they
proceeded to the denial themselves
proceeded in the methodical way. A
certain German official summoned
responsible official of the Banque
Rationale before him and asked:
rs il true that the director or
the Banque Rationale at Dinant and
his two sons were shot by the Ger
man soldiers for having refused to
open the safe"
Now. the fact was. as all Belgium
knew. NJ. Wasseige and his two sons
had been shot by German soldiers at
Dinant for having refused to open
the safe. not of a branch of the
Banque Rationale, but of a branch
of the Societe Generate, of which NJ.
wasseige was cashier; the Banque
Rationale had no branch at Dinant,
and the official under Interrogation
began to expla in this fact and to say
that il was the director of the
branch of the Societe Generate who
with his two sons. had been shot,
when the German official interrupt
ed him, refused TO accept this re-
Spouse, and said that he was not 10
reply beside the question "a cote de
la question: but was simply TO an
Swer yes or no, the question whether
the director Of the Banque Rationale
at Dinant, and his sons, had been
killed. The bank official could only
say. of course. that limiting the an
swer to the question in that form
he would have to say no, and the
German authorities thereupon sent
out this statement to contradict the
story that had been published as
coming from the Rockefeller com
mission.
The German censor seemed TO
read all the letters in the post. The
political department complained TO
me of letter which the legation
had posted; il was the most innocent
thing imaginable, a response to some
inquiry concerning the health of an
old lady. And one day an officer
actually brought to me a letter
written by a clerk in the legation to
a man in Liege, with the objection
that there was a statement in the
letter that they could not approve!
IL was done with apologies, to be
sure. but-"ce sont les militaires
oui Texigent." 1t is the military
who demand it,. he explained.
The censor for the c. r. BIS cor
delivering to Mr.. Crosby. the director,
a letter which Mr.. Crosby's daugh-
ter had written to him from Rome.
observed:
That is a very interesting letter
Of your daughters; ] enjoyed read
ing it"
And to my friend. Mr.. Edward
Riley. who went to the Pass-Zen-
trale to reclaim a pocketbOOk which
he had inadvertently left there the
day before. and. in asking if it had
been found, remarked:
There is a letter in il that
prize" the officer said, politely:
Oh yes. know it: 1 read it,"
Constant Clashes
These were trivialities and anus
ing. but there were others with
more formidable consequences. Thus
a young girl, the Countess Helene
de Johnghe, who lived across the
street from US, a young girl of ST.
teen with her hair still down her
back. mere "fapper," as the Eng
lish would say. was walking with
some OF her young girl companions
.NOGRAPH 0FFE
improvement