The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-01-21

ward US amongst the neutrals. Many
times and more and more we have
had occasion to observe that the neu-
trails show more sympathy for Bel
GUM than for any other helligerent.
Old Men and Boys Taken.
The news dispatches indicate that
the deportation and forced labor of
Belgians still continue. In dispatch
from Hayre (New York Evening Post,
September 10, 1910 it Is stated: 1.-THE
removal Of the civilian population of
Belgium continues, according to ad-
vices received here. The town of Rou-
lers, Immediately behind the battle
line in Flanders. has been evacuated
completely. Ostend is being emptied
gradually. and two thousand persons
already have been sent from Courtrai."
In another dispatch from Havre
washington Post, September "a, 1910
1t is stated that 1.-THE German military
authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are
conscripting forcibly all the boys and
men of that city between the ages Of
fourteen and sixty to work in munition
factories and shipyards. The rich and
poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all
are being taken, only the school teach
ers, doctors, and priests escaping"
German Officer Rebuked Men.
The following "Order of the Day"
| shows how the town of Huy escaped
the fate of so many Belgium and
| French towns. Drunken German sol
| diers We're frightened and began to
| shoot men and burn houses. The
| commanding officer condemned this be-
! cause it was not done by his order and
| because two German soldiers were
wounded 1t is evident that massacres
and arson were permitted only when
commanded by the officers.
Last night a shooting ARRAY took
place. There is no evidence that the
Inhabitants of the towns had any arms
| in their houses, nor is there evidence
that the people took part in the shoot
ing; on the contrary, it seems that the
soldiers We're under the influence of
alcohol, and began to shoot in a sense
less fear of hostile attack.
1.-THE behavior of the soldiers during
the night, with very few exceptions,
makes a scandalous impression.
at is highly deplorable when officers
or noncommissioned officers set houses
on fire without permission or order of
the commanding, or, as the case may
be, the senior officer, or when by their
attitude they encourage the rank and
file to burn and plumber.
The miserable behavior of the men
caused a noncommissioned officer and
n private to be seriously wounded by
German bullets.
"MAJOR Won BASSEWITZ."
Report of Minister Whitock.
zone interesting result of the depor
tations remains to be noted, result
t that once more places in relief the
& German capacity for laundering, al
most as gredt as the German capacity
i for cruelty. Until the deportations
: were begun there was no intense ha
q tired on the part of the lower classes
i. e. the workingmen and the peasants
+ The old Germans of the Landsturn
= had been CHARTERED in Flemish homes
{ they and the inmates spoke nearly TIL
\ same language; they got along fairr
q Well they helped the women with tn
work, the poor and the humble havin
!. none of those hatreds of patriotisr
a that are among the privileges of tn
!, upper classes. It is conceivable tina
II the Flemish population might hay
. existed under German rule; 1t wa
~ TeutOnic in its origin and anti-Frenc
always But now the Germans hav
ii changed all that.
N "They have dealt a mortal blow t
r. any prospect they may ever have ha
to of being tolerated by the populatio
V of Flanders; in tearing away frol
+ nearly every humble home in the Ian
q 4 husband and q father or a son an
brother they have lighted fire {
hatred that will never go out; the
r. have brought home to every heart
Of the land, in a way that will impre!
vc its horror indelibly on the memory I
av three generations. q realization
4, | what German methods mean, not {
ii | with the early atrocities, in the he;
,ir of passion and the first lust of wa
but by one of those deeds that NAL
re one despair of the future of the h
lis man race, deed coldly planned, STUD
he ously matured, and deliberately ar
do Systematically executed. deed
lie cruel that German soldiers are 50
ur to have wept in its execution, and
re monstrous that even German office
s. are now said to be ashamed.
.'WHITLOCK."
.at Mr. Hoover's Conclusions.
to Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions
ng the German practices in Belgiu
,e which he wrote for the pamphlet
IT sued by the committee on public
formation. reinforce the detailed e
ed dence already presented:
is" September, 1917.
vs. I have been often called upon for
0s- statement of my observation of Gt
,el- man rule in Belgium and northe
, Franco