The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-19
Belgium Under the German Heel
BY A WHITLocK.

'H"t aulHVIItiea 10 give a list OF
the unemployed registered at the Mel
aeamt. He replied that he had no such
llst, and referred the Germans to Judge
Stlels, president Of the local relief COM
mlttee, a branch of the comite national.
M. Sttels answered that the COMMITTEES
could not furnish sucn list until after
consultation with the patron ministers
Of the comite national. The represent-
atlve Of the German authorities re-
pied that II the lists were not i'm
mediately handed over ne would ar
rest M. Stiels, and In the face OF this
threat M. Stiels delivered the lists Of
unemployed described at the Meldeamt.
In the or Queyaucamps
Grandglise, BettOn, BeioeI and Ath, in
the province Of Hainault, the Germans
demanded Of the mayors the lists OF
unemployed IN their localities, order
ing that they, be grouped in four cate
gories, according to their trades. Ths
mayors applied TO the local committee
OF the comite national to secure these
lists, but these committees uniformly
refused to give them.
The same thing was going on in the
Of Courtrai. rnere the German
authorities had asked the burgomasterg
to furnish the lists of unemployed; the
in general refused 10 give
any information whatsoever. In some
cases the German authorities took the
lists by force, in others the committees
were not mOlested. A thousand men,
already employed others unem-
ployed, were seized and sent to work.
The men were ordered TO take with
them clothing and effects amounting
to the value Of 200 francs, and were
promised a wage Of about seven cents
a day.
/ have told these stories, selected al
most at random from the mass that
were related at the legation. as nearly
IA nnGgihlA an NHAT gANN
even with the occasional repetition they
may contain. They were told bodily,
with no effort at effect, and | have
no doubt that the reader win have ex-
perienced, as l have experienced in
reading them over again. a certain dis
appointment, or If not tha a vague re-
greet, that there were not more de-
tails.
But to tell a story with details, to
reproduce a scene in all its ~poignancy,
requires n rare art that was wholly be-
yond the powers Of those who related
these tales; they told them in quite a
matter-of-fact prosaic way, without the
establishment or ornament that con
scious are might lend them. And /
myself, in those arK ana terrible days,
had heard too many tales of suffering
to have any more the courage to in
tenslty their p0ignancy BY drawing the
out by questions,
To confess the fact, l used to try to
my own heart, TO keep down
my emotions, to say "chomeurs' in
Of men, "deportatIons" instead
slavery, and OftentImes, l fear, to
seek to have done with 1t as quickly
AZ possible, else ! should not have been
able to get through the days that were
made so much harder by the appeals
and by tho implied belief that / could
stop 1t all II | would.
But as the dread thing drew nearet
the tales were more cf~rcumstantihl, |
had them in more abundant detail, and
sometimes from several sources, 80 that
1t was possible to nave a more vivid
OF the events that were still,
In the early days of December almost
belief. For instance, the levy
made at Marche on the 18th OF De-
Marche Is q Walloon village down in
the province Of Luxembourg, east OF
On the Sth Of December little
red placards posted about the town in
the population that on the 18th
men between the ages Of II and IS
were to assemble in the market place,
with them food for two days
md a bag Of warm clothing. The same
little red placards were posted In all
The villages around Marche.
During the days intervening before
18th the district administration al
lowed II to become known that he
would exempt certain classes, such
as lawyers, doctors, clergymen, etc,
from appearing personally. Many men
belonging to the well-to-do classes and
OF those who had helped the Of
Ulcers or the noncommisSloned officers
u the occupying force to comforts in
The way Of food also contrived to have
their cards stamped with the envied
seal Of exemption without appearing on
the day appointed. And, too, there
were rumors in the town to the effect
that certain feminine influences were
ful.
on the morning of the 18th, then,
900 men appeared In the market place.
Many had to tramp all through the
night to get there, and they all had
heavy bags on their backs. At B
duct the work, arrived on the scene,
They were not officers who had been
quartered around Marche during the |
two previous years; they were indeed
strangers to the place, and Il was
understood that they had or were to
perform the same duty for the whole Of
the province OF Luxembourg The dis
trict administrator and the local kom-
mandant, however, were present as on
lockers,
The men were ordered 10 group them
selves by Communes and each Of these |
was called up in turn and, In
single file, each nan holding his cap In
one hand and his Identification card In
the other, was made to march past an
by the side OF whom stood tho
OF the commune under in
spection, Then began that fateful links,
those who went 10 the left were |
free, those who went to the right we're
slaves,
II a man appeared TO be over 40 or
unfit for physical work he was ordered
to the left, mach Hause" (Home) the
would say, without looking at
the Identification card, But in the
Of younger men the officer took
the card and glanced at the occupa-
ton; a railway man, for instance, was
promptly ordered to the right, the Of
ticer simply saying "Eiscnbahner!"
URailroad), and he was turned toward
the little cars. A farmer or agricul-
tural laborer was generally asked how
much land he cultivated. II It proved
be much the man was generally re-
leased, otherwise no was then "rechts, |
Eiscnbahnerl"
When there were doubts the OFFICER
asked; Are you married2" and II the
answer was In the affirmative, How
many childrcn?" II there we're many
children tho man waR set free, But in
no ease n a man asked whether he
was employed or unemployed. Youths
the ages OF II and 20 were
always taken; men OF mean were gem
orally released.
The burgomaster was rarely allowed
TO intervene, A gentleman ] know well,
Mr., H., prominent In the region, was
there to help neighbors n he could.
Tho ~burgomaster OF his commune was
too old TO be present, and MIR, H
he Ia still inside-took his place. He
managed to get n hearing from the
officer on behalf Of six men whom his
w village, three Of whom were re-
lensed but his attempt to intervene a
seventh time was stopped and he was
ordered to keep quiet; he did not obey
and tho officer said he would have him
forcihly removed. and later threatened
TO arrest him,
Four thousand men were marched
past the two officers In -four hours;
each officer therefore had TO examine
1000 men In that length OF time
sevou seconds and n fraction to decide
whether n man should be free or slave,
In December, 1916
The fact Ia that the number OF men
20 he taken was fixed arbitrarily and
IN advance for Zach place, although the
Ill.,. .,n,,1l A.I. 40 - "