The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-06-13
Wn'IlOckSST0hY
OF DEPORTATI0NS
Report of German Disregard Of
Human Rights on File in
State Department.
OVERWHELMED WITH HORROR
Minister to Belgium Declared It Was
Difficult to Write Calmly and Justly
in View of the Huns Gratu-
itous Cruelty.

4 "C'o Ioia' mug tHe ucpof e"''o"
of Belgians and the forred labor er-
torfed BY The "Han" military lead
.ers, whicA ercited The Indignation Of
the civilized world, haze been thus
officially set forth:
The plan of setting forth the essen
tlul facts of the DECORATIONS and
forced labor of .Relgians is set forth
by the committee on public informa-
ton as follows: the documents. that
Is to say, n small fraction of those
which could he cited, tell the story, and
AMY such comments ere added as are
needed to enable the reader to easily
grasp the connection of events.
''"Iile deportations were the
most vivid shocking. convincing. single
happening in all our enforced ohserva-
tion and experience Of German dis
regard of human suffering and human
rights in Belgium. Vernon Kellogg
In Atlantic Monthly, October, 1917.
\ summary of the whole situation,
down to january 1917. can be OBJ
t0ined by reading continuously the re-
port of Minister Whitlock. taken from
the files of the state department. This
tells of the brutality of the deporta-
lions.
Legation of the United States of
America, Brussels. Jan. 1G. 1917.
1.-THE Honorable. the Secretary of
State. Washington.
'"Sir: ] have had it in mind and
might say, on my conscience, since
the Germans began to deport Belgian
wOrllmen early in November. TO pre-
pare for the department detailed
report on this latest instance of bru-
tality, but there have been So many
obstacles in the way of obtaining evil
dence on which calm and judicious
opinion could be based, and one Is
so overwhelmed with the horror of the
thing itself. that it has been, and even
now is, difficult to write calmly and
! Justly about it, have had to content
myself with fragments of dispatches
/ ! have from time to time sent to the
department and with doing what l
could, little as that can be. to allevi-
ate the distress that this gratutous
cruelty has caused the population Of
this unhappy land.
Whitlock Opposed Belgian Idea.
"In order TO undo stand fully the
situation, it Is necessary to 30 bacl, to
; the autumn of 1914. Al the time we
We're organizing the relief work, the
,Comite Natlonal-the Pelgian relief or
ganization that coilnboratcs with the
commission for relief in !elgiun-
proposed an arrangement by which
the Belgian government should pay
TO its own employees left in Belgium
/ and other unemployed men besides,
the wages they had been accustomed
to receive The Belgians wished to
do this both for humanitarian and pa
| triotic purposes; they wished to pro-
vide the unemployed With the means
of livelihood and. ut the same time
to prevent their working for the Ger
mans. / refused to be connected in
any way with this plan, and told the
Belgian committee that it had many
possibilities OF danger; that not only
I would ii place q premium on idleness.
but that ii would ultimately eXasper-
ate the Germans. However, the policy
was adopted, and has been continued
in practice. aud on the rolls OF the
Conlite National have been borne the
names of hundreds of thousands
some 100000, I believe-of idle men
receiving this dole, distributed through
the COmmuneS.
"1'he presence of these unemployed,
however was Il constant temptation
TO German cupidity. Many times they
sought to obtain the lists Of the cho-
.meurs. but were always foilcd by the
claim that under the guarantees coy
ering the relief work, the records OF
the Conite National and its various
suborpanizations were immune. Rath-
er than risk any interruption OF the
eayitaillement, for which, while loath
to own aiiy obligation to America. the
Germans have always been grateful,
since 1t has bad the effect of keeping
the population calm. the authorizes
never pressed the point, other than
with the burgomasters of the COM
tmunes. Finally, however, the mill
I.tary party, always brutal, and With an
astounding ignorance of public opn-
lion and of moral sentiment, deter
mined to put these idle men to work.
."General Won Kissing and the civil
portion of his encourage had always
been and even now are opposed to this
policy, and l think have sincerely done
what they could. first. to prevent its
adoption, and secondly, to tighten the
rigors of It's application"
German Promises Worthless.
In the early days of the German ad
vance into Belgium, the people had
learned to fear the worst. This was
particularly true in Antwerp. In or
der to alleviate their fears and to OBJ,
.nin guarantees which might hasten
the restoration of settled conditions,
4 Cardinal MERCER secured from the
German government ut Antwerp prom ,
ises. and in circular letter dated Oc-
tober 10th, 1914, asked the clergy of