Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-11-14

- HSL4!LLe TON NOV. - t.t Par dlIoiI
for damage done" That requirement
contained in the armistice terms ac-
cepted by Germany o5liga;eS her to
! erform a stIpendous task and one
! which. in the opinion Of experts here.
! cannot DC fully performed in genera
/ ton. -f--.
! Ii vas intimaIed that the occupa-
ton by the allies OF ;i+rnan' terrific
ries. these comprising som" OF the
principal Industrial districts Of Ger
many. viii greatly facilitate. the exc
! CutiOn of this condition, and, IL need
! DC, the allied powers will be a: com
! p!ete liberty TO remove entire indus
| trial plants to Belgium and France to
! compensate those nations in part for
the destruction wrought by the Ger
man armies Of occupation.
Belgian Debt Staggering.
The case OF Belgium alone is stag
sering one. According to the most re-
cent report compiled by officials of the
Belgian government, Germany eX-
. tracted from Belgium in war lev!es
alone s4+1, 100000 up to June 10, 1918,
and var levies comprised only d small
part OF the wealth taken from the
| Belgian nation by the invaders.
An official statement obtained here
today contained the following facts:
/ The Germln administration lin
! Belgium) not only took over the col
/ lection OF the regular taxes which had
been voted to the Belgium government
by the legislature: il raised the rate on
some Of these and imposed new and
Irregular ones. II is impossible to eS-
tabish an aggregate sum for these
;dXeS.
In November, 1914 Brussels was
fined slDG1,909 because a police SER
Seant had shown lack OF respect for
:, German officer and again in July,
1915, sl".4"e,g2g in punishment CO q
demonstration n honor Of Cardinal
Mercier; Mons, in 1917 was fined $l25,
900 because Belgian Newspaper APP
pearng in Holland mad accused Prince
Rupprecht of Bavaria of shifting his
headquarters IN that city from house
TO house through dread Of airmen:
Watcht ebeke, $500; Assche, s1,S0O;
Battice, $3.50; Liege, 100000. Aeltre,
$4,000. Wynghonc, $4,000 etc.
Against Hague Convention.
Pines Of this nature which are a
| lDidttou D'tiI vi tilt has uS Ich' Si'
ton and of the Belgian constitution,
cost Belgium On an average somewhere
between $2,500,O0u and s3,750,000 a
month, it was reported in 1917. AT
Louyain, Malines, Aerschot, Dinant,
Termonde. etc, not only what was
needed but whatever was considered
useful vas taken. Furniture from pri-
yate houses vas loaded on military
trucks and shipped to Germany, and
also quantities of foodstuffs, clothing,
housing materials, raw materials Of all
kind, and industrial plants.
1T is difficult to judge OF the value
of the first acquisitions, most of which
were made without payment, even
without delivery Of the Customary re-
ceipt or voucher In February, 1918,
DR.. Ganghofer estimated the saving to
Germany from these sources on the
western front belgium and northern
IE'rance) to lie between $4,000 and
si,tUI, Vo0 day. a
This would make a total OF the per-
iod of $l75,000y000 to 100000, Cco, a
considerable portion of which, owed to
Bclgians will certainly never volun-
tarily be paid.
U. S. Commissions Report.
in 1916 an American commission
of engineers who had listed Belgium,
estimated that the refitting of her face
tories would cost betwcen 100000. Ooo
and s120.110. 900. In 1917 those rsaul J.
sitions beat all records.
On Sept. IL, 1916, the cash In Ger
man bank notes of the National Bank
of Beisi um Of the Societs Generate de
BelgiQue, amounting TO 100000, OOo
was transferred to Germany with the
promise Of its return two years, after
the war, at The average exchange rate
in Rerlin ut that time.