The Snowflake herald., 1918-05-31

Old Men and Boys Taken.
The news dispatches indicate that
the deportation and forced labor of
Belgians still continue. In a dispatch
from Havre (New York Evening Post,
September 13, 1919 it is stated: '"The
removal of the civilian population of
Belgium continues, according to adj
vices received here. The town of ROu-
lers, Immediately behind the battle
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, 1919
it is stated that '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 were 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 affray 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 were under the influence Of
alcohol, and began to shoot in sense
less fear of hostile attack.
''The behavior of the soldiers during
the night, with very few exceptions,
makes a scandalous impression.
'It 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 plunder.
"The miserable behavior of the men
caused a nOncOmmiSSioned officer and
a private to be seriously wounded by
German bullets.
''MAJOR Won BASSEWITZ."
Report of Minister WhitIock.
"One interesting result of the depOr-
tations remains to be noted, q result
that once more places in relief the
German capacity for blundering, al
most as great as the German capacity
for cruelty. Until the depOrtationS
were begun there was no intense ha-
tired on the part of the lower classes,
i. e., the workingmen and the peasants.
The old Germans of the LandSturm
had been quartered in Flemish homes;
they and the inmates spoke nearly the
same language; they got along fairly
well they helped the women with the
work, the poor and the humble having
none of those hatreds Of patriotism
that are among the privileges of the
upper classes. It is conceivable that
the Flemish population might have
existed under German rule; 1t was
TeutOnic in it's origin and anti-French
always. But now the Germans have
changed all that.
"They have dealt a mortal blow to
any prospect they may ever have had
of being tolerated by the population
of Flanders; in tearing away from
nearly every humble home in the land
a husband and father or son and
brother they have lighted a fire of
hatred that will never go out; they
have brought home to every heart in
the land, in way that will impress
its horror indelibly on the memory of
three generations a realization of
what German methods mean, not, as
with the early atrocities, in the heat
of passion and the first lust of war,
but by one of those deeds that make
one despair of the future of the hui
man race, deed cOldly planned, studf-
ously matured, and deliberately and
Systematically executed, a deed so
cruel that German soldiers are said
to have wept in its execution, and so
that even German officers
are now said to be ashamed.
"WHITLOCK."
Mr.. Hoover's Conclusions.
Mr.. Hoover's mature conclusions on
the German practices in Belgium,
which he wrote for the pamphlet is
sued by the committee on public in
reinforce the detailed evi-
dence already presented:
September, 1917.
l have been often called upon for a
statement of my observation of Ger
man rule in Belgium and northern
France.
/ have neither the desire nor the
adequate pen to picture the scenes
which have heated my blood through
the two and half years that I have
spent in work for the relief of these
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