Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-11-26
an interview with the sOvernOr-gen-
RAND WHITLOCK

" men ne AEkEANE Us III AAAt -AAll-
instry OF Arts and Sciences that we
mI.hI present our protest 10 him IN
person, NillaloDar, Won Nol.enhOVen
and ]. Won Kissing was looking de-
pressed and Ill. L wondered IL The
quarrel with Hindenburg had had
anything 10 do with thls unaccus-
toned air, less vigorous than we
were used to IN HIM. Prussian sol
dicr. though he was, he WAS not al
ways for PruSS.an methods; he had
some conception of milder means,
and he had often resisted the mill
risen 10 the position almost OF Il dc
tatOT. the military were in the sad
die and were riding roughShOd over
all civilian scruples and Bissing'S
power was waning.
When 1 asked il he were in good
health. he put his wrinkled hand
wcarily 10 his head, and said:
Non. de climat d'ici ne me con-
Went pas I\o. the climate here does
no; agree with mel.
NilIaloDar gave me the glance the
remark must InfalIibly provoke. The
old soldier. had been shooting IN the
Ardennes, and bagged three deer and
SOME wild boar Game was plentiful
just then in those old forests, where
the animals had taken refuge from
the dangers OF those fields where
men were hunting each other in the
north OF France. He wore no decora-
IiOnS that day; he had on a Well-worn
uniform as he stood there in the
saIOn. with portrait Of King Albert
on the wall behind him. He looked
older and showed the haggard marks
OF care.
Won Kissing was even then matur-
ing a plan over which he had long
been broodinS, a plan more auda-
ciOus, more far-reaching, more
imaginative. and vastly more fatal
in its erect on the life of the Bel
giSn nation than the slaye-driye OF
NOn Hindenburg. The Won Kissing
plan was more deeply and cunning
~ laid; il showed a certain tinesse;
IL was no mere recrudescence of me-
cievaliSm. no reverSion TO the an
Client type. Both men wished TO
carry out the imperial German
cation with its recollectiOus of sor-
scheme OF ConQuerlng and anneNIng
Belgium in order 10 have a foOthOld
whence Germany might strike Eng
land and America. But Hindenburp
heavy, ponderous, with the tactics
OF the Infatuated ram, could think OF
nothing more original than to drag
conquered BelSianS OF into slavery,
after the manner of cOnquerors IN
ancient times; IL was impossible to
go further in Teviving the customs
OF the Dark Ages without actually
eating the victims. But Kissing,
scheme. He, by an adroit appeal to
the old racial feeling between the
Flemish and the WalloOns, would
divide the Belgian nation. He would
give his policy the appearance of a
spontaneous and generous act in the
name of the very principle for which
the allies were Nightingale right
o. small nations TO govern them
selves. He would stand by beneYo-
lcntly, holding out n patronizlng and
protecting hand, while the Flemish
set up for themselves the Flemish
state under a German prOtectorate,
sui in this way Germany would
ain Antwerp and the Belgian lit
ora. the foOthold on the sea, men,
rriIg the virile democracieS of the
British Isles and the American con-
Won Bissing's Plan Fails
-uis daring and ambitious
--leme, with its penetrating vision
- -ic future, never had any chance
- success. Kissing did not know
I've Flemish people, and whatever
..-0-ce his scheme may have had
900 policy OF the burly hero into
hose enormous wooden statue the
Germans. like savages with some
-si-h or totem-pole, were enthusi-
=-tically driving nails.
But HindenburS. standing for
uuiSed with adherence by any other
r.5ion on the earth. had his way in
he quarrel. and Kissing, with his
greater sOphistication, his Difference
"a the forms and prejudices of civ
iij.ltiOn. his pretenSions to scholaS-
tie culture, had to swallow his
c',aSrin and go of to Client and
there, on the 21st OF October. 10
open the new Flemish university
&c was inaugurating by a speech in
which he sought to fiatter the pride
OF the Flemish people.
It must have been a bitter moment
70 the old satrap who was trying
n pathetically to rule his province
with some appearance of paternai
. concern for its welfare. to think that
1T the very moment he was laudin-.
E the Flemish traditions and trying
7 TO cultivate the sympathy of the
I Flemish people. he should have been
compelled by Hindenburg to send
{ gangs OF SlayerS in the night to tear
. away from every home and hearth
stone in the two Flanders. a hus-
hand. a father or a son, and thus
create in the land he was trying TO
3 cOrnuer by soft words and indulEeut
smiles n hatred for the very word
: ierman-Dutch-that would burn as
long as there was memory in Eland-
Z ers.
The FIRST Thousand Slaves
The seventeenth of October was
day OF dull sky that grew dark as
I the afternoon wore one. The lag
gard guns sounded louder than ever,
as if 10 show that while they could
not advance, or do anything else,
they could make more noise, reiter-
ate their one argument in a heavier
voice. Vernon kellogg. of the -.
r. T., and 1 were playing truant. We
had run away from the gloomy &C.