The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-11-07
GERMAN HONOR I
DRAGGED IN DUST.
Solemn Promises Made to Bel
gians Proved to Be Worse
Than Worthless.
ALL APPEALS WERE FL0UTED
Pathetic and DionIHed supplieatIons Of
Municipal Governments Answered
by Rebuke and Heavy Fine
Imposed by General HOPPER.

Over the earnest protest of Cardi-
nal MERCER, heroic head of the
church in Belgium, the terrible
plans of the kaiser's high officers
concerning the deportation of the
people Were carried out. The SOL
EMMY pledged word Of the German
governor general of Belgium count
ed as nothing in the malignant hate
shown by the kdiser's creatures.
Cardinal MERCER attempted to per-
suade the German authorities to aban-
don their terrible plans for the seizure
Of Belgians to assist in the prosecu-
ton of the war, reminding them Of
their solemn promises in the past:
"Malines, 10th October, 1915.
"Mr. Governor General:
"The day after the surrender Of Ant
werp the frightened population asked
itself what would become of the Bel
gians of age to bear arms or who would
reach that age before the end Of the
occupation. The e%ntreaties of the ia
theirs and mothers of families deter
mined me to question the governor Of
Antwerp, Baron Won Huene, who had
the kindness to reassure me and to
authorize me in his lame to reassure
the agonized parents. The rumor had
spread at Antwerp. nevertheless, that
at Liege, Namur, and Charleroi young
men had been seized and taken by
force to Germany. I therefore beg
Eged Governor Won Huene to be good
ienough to confirm to me in writing the
guarantee which he had given to me
torally, to the effect that nothing sim
iilar would happen at Antwerp. He
tsaid to me Immediately that the ru-
mors concerning deportations were
without basis, and unhesitatingly he
sent me in writing, among other state
Iments, the following: Young men have
.no reason to fear that they will be ia
ken to Germany, either to be there en-
rolled in the army or employed for
forced labor
Lille uIlOb, WIlttCu uuu Sl6h-
led, was publicly transmitted to the
CLERGY and to those of the faith of
the province of Antwerp, as your excel
ilency can see from the document en-
iclosed herewith, dated October 18th,
t1914, which was read in all the church
les.
Solemn German Promises Broken.
"Upon the arrival Of your predeces-
sor, the late Baron Won der Goltz, at
Brussels I had the honor of presenting
myself at his house and requested him
to be good enough to ratify for the en-
tire country, without time limit, the
guarantees which General Won Huene
had given me for the province Of Ant
werp. The governor general retained
this request in his possession in order
to examine 1t at his leisure. The fol-
lowing day he was good enough to
come in person to Malines to bring me
his approval, and confirmed to me, In
the presence Of two aides-de-camp and
of my private secretary, the promise
that the liberty Of Belgian citizens
would be respected.
"To doubt the authority Of such IN
dertakings would have been to reflect
upon the persons who had made them,
and I therefore took steps to allay, by
all the al of persuasion in my
power, the anxieties which persisted In
the interested families.
Notwithstanding all this, your gov
eminent now tears from their homes
workmen reduced in spite Of their ef-
forts to a state of unemployment, sep
arates them by force from their wives
and children and deports them to en-
envy territory. Numerous workmen
have already undergone this unhappy
lot more numerous are those who are
threatened with the same acts Of vio-
lence.
Mercler's Moving Appeal.
."In the name of the liberty Of domi-
cile and the liberty of work of Belgian
citizens; in the name Of the inviola-
bility of families; in the name of O
al interests which the measures of de-
portation would gravely compromise;
in the name of the word given by the
governor of the Province Of Antwerp
and by the governor general, the i'm
mediate representative Of the highest
authority of the German empire, / re-
spectfully beg your excellency to be
good enough to withdraw the measures
of forced labor and Of deportation an
nounced to the Belgian workmen, and
to be good enough to reinstate in their
homes those who have already been
deported.
"Your excellency will appreciate how
painful for me would be the weight Of
the responsibility that I would have
to bear as regards these families, II
the confidence which they have given
you through my agency and at my re-
quest were lamentably deceived.
81 persist In believing that this will
not be the case.
Accept, Mr.. Governor General, the
assurance of my very high considera-
ton.
I'D. J. CARDINAL MERCIER,
"Arch. of Malines."
Municipal governments In Belgium
appealed to the German authorities to,