The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-02-20
BARBAROTS AS SLAVE DRIVERS
Continued from Page One)

ADIl lnuttl from i aye OHt
unu grouped TO IOrIn conveys. ii these
factories, they remained II, "a or SO
hours until train was ready to re-
move them
"'The deportation began with the
villages of Roncy, Halluin. ETC., then
Tourcoing and Roubaix. In the towns
the Germans proceeded by Districts
"'In all about 10000 persons are said
to have been carried off up to the pres
ent. This monstrous operation has
taken eight to ten days to accomplish.
It is feared, unfortunately, that it may
begin again soon.
""The reason given by the German
authorities is humanitarian (O one.
They have put forward the following
pretexts: provisioning is going to
break down in the large towns in the
north and their suburbs, whereas in
the Ardennes the feeding is easy and
cheap
at is known from the young men
and girls, since sent back to their
families for reasons Of health, that In
the department of the Ardennes the
victims are lodged in terrible man
ner, in disgraceful promiscuity; they
are compelled to work in the fields. 1t
is unnecessary to say that the inhabi-
tants of our towns are not trained to
such work. The Germans pay them
1.5O m. But there are complaints of
insufficient food
"earbarity Of Slave DrIvers."
""They were very badly received in
the Ardennes. The Germans had told
the Ardennais that these were ''volun-
teers" who were coming to work. and
the Ardennais proceeded to receive
them with many insults, which only
ceased when the forcible deportation
of which they were the victims became
known
"'Feeling ran especially high In our
towns. Never has so Ubiquitous a
measure been carried out. The Ger
mans have shown oil the barbarity of
slave drivers
""The families SO scattered are In
despair and the morale Of the whole
population is gravely affected. Boys
of fourteen, schoOlboys in knicker-
bockers, young girls Of fifteen to six
ten have been carried off, and the de-
spairing protests Of their parents failed
to touch the hearts of the German Off
zone last detail: The persons so
deported are allowed to write home
once a month; that is to say, even less
often than military prisoners
"Such are the declarations which we
have collected and which, without COM
mentary. confirm in an even more
striking way the facts which we took
the liberty of laying before you.
1--WE do not wish here to enter into
the question of provisioning In the in
vaded districts; others, better quail
fed than ourselves, give you, US we
know, frequent information. 1t is
enough for us to describe in a few
words the situation from this aspect:
6uIu OOR0t0SsObb NutOSsys
'The provisioning is very difficult;
food, apart from that supplied by the
Spanish-American committee, is very
scarce and terribly dear. People
are hungry and the provisioning is in
adequate by at least a half; our popu-
lation is suffering constant privations
and is growing noticeably weaker. The
death rate, too, has increased cOnsid-
erably.
Sometimes Inhabitants Of the in
vaded territories speak with a note OF
encouragement, crying apparently:
We are forsaken by everyone We.
on the other hand, are hopeful, Mon
sieur lie President, that the energetic
Intervention on the part Of neutrals,
which the French government is sure
to evoke. will soon bring to an end
these measures which rouse the wrath
of oil to whom humanity is not an emp
ty word. =.
with all confidence in the sympathy
of the government we venture to adj
dress a new and pressing appeal to
your generous kindness and fur-reach-
ing influence in the name of those who
are suffering on behalf of the whole
country" j
"Paris, 18th June, 1916, 3, rue TAFT
bout"
(Signed on behalf of various speci- |
fed organizations by Toulemonde,
Charles DrOulers, Leon Hatine-Dazin,
and Louis LOrthiois.) Z