The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1918-07-26
SOLDIERS CORNER

II would be we'll if every American
soldier ore he sets out for France.
vyere given an official booklet, issued
bv our own government, setting forth
tIe true story of Germany's treat
ment of Belgium. If anything could
give an added spur and a yet higher
determination to u men on the west
err nfront it would be to fully under
stsndd The three and a half wears of
nartvrdom endured by that little ma
ton in the name of liberty.
Belgium has been the victim of
MANY invaders, but not since the days
of Alya has she suffered oppression
to be compared to that inflicted upon
her by the soldiers of the German
No means calculated to break the
spirit or the heart of mar has been
rejected as too savage or too vile.
From murder, with or without the
formalities of law, to be enslavement
and to corruption, none has been left
unused. The Germans have not been
content to "hack their way" through
the land of their peaceful neighbors.
| Year by year, they have riveted the
yoke TIGHTER upon their victims and
have sought by fresh articles to kill
their national life.
What has been the result? They
have earned for themselves the indy
ing reprobation of the world, and the
flame of Belgian patriotism, burns
brighter and steadier than ever. The
wrong done Belgium has been the ce-
ment of the alliance, the great object
lesson to the d~emOcracies of the whole
world in the meaning of German emil
itarism" and the doom which it's
triumph would bring a civilization.
Unshakable Belgium.
The mistaken and unshakable stead
fastness with which the Belgian peo-
pie have chung to their faith in the
final victory Of freedom and in the
complete restoration of their country
has won for them the ardent graft
tude of all who prize the things for
which they suffer.
The Germans intended Belgium to
be an example. They meant her terri
BILE fate to overawe all who might
think of resisting their behests. II
has been an example-an example
of what the German peace" on which
the kaiser and his captains insist
would have in store for mankind.
The high deserts of Belgium as the
champion of liberty and of law are
immensely magnified by the fact that
she faced the danger with open eyes
She did not know-she could not know
the extremities to which German
brutality and German disregard OF
all rights, human and Divine, woult
be pushed; but when she took her nag
unanimous decision she was well aware
that the invader was at her doors, ant
that it must be long before the allie,
could succOr her.
She did not hesitate. Mindful Of
her good right, of her traditions, ant
of her honor, she met the insolent ant
lawless demand of the German host!
with a calm refusal. "We may b'
beaten" her prime minister declared
in parliament, "but we never shall
submit"
A Glory That Will Never Fade.
They never will submit. German,
has conquered their country "mili
tarily." But she has utterly failed t.
lay even the first foundations for tn
moral conquest which Court Czeril
Justly regards as indispensable to rea
victory. Therein lies the glory of thu
Belgians, a glory that can never fad
while men do homage to enduranc,
and to courage in the cause of free
dom and right. The one thing tina
disturbs their serene confidence is tn
fear lest credit should be given abroa'
to the German calummy that al
"activist" movement exists in Bel
GUM. The very idea of such a suspi
cion humiliates them. They feel tn
stain like a wound, as men of such un
furnished honor must. There is NJ
such movement. The handfll of trai
tors whom the Germans have hired t,
stimulate it are outcasts from amons
their countrymen, whether Flemingt
or Walloons. That all the allies wei
know.
The Belgians of the two tongue
have their differences, but they viii
settle these without the interference,
of foreigners, and especially withou
the intermeddling of the invaders VIII
outrage the rights and feeling of tn
whole nation.
They are quite confident; confiden
in their king. who has shared thei
sorrows and their trials; confident il
the promises of America, Britain an
France. "We shall arise tomorrow,
their prime minister prophesies
"sturdier and stronger than ever"
In this heroic mood they bid thei
tyrant do his worst. They meet hin
with the last unconquerable deiianc
of the weak to the oppressor:
"Thou has not half the power to d
me harm
AS l have to be hurt"
Seldom have any people shown
nobler consistency or taught the worl
a lesson more sublime.
German press comment during tn
lull in the western offensive consist
almost entirely at elaborate attempt
at mystification. 1t is a very lon
time since the Germans have talked S
much nonsense about the superhuma
brilliance of their strategy and tn
impossibility that mere enemy sol
diers should understand it-much les
to be able to meet it in the RICH
way.