The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-01-17
Complicated Question.

~ suppose that to understand tho
r., eh ~ question fully, one would haye
10 be Flemish ones self. ~''
But the Germans knew. long baforo
they arrived, all the currents or noiitieo
"a ana social thought involved in III
me political department studied ire
ps3Diems with minute care and a Ma
SSnmtaveillSh intelligence. The trans
Jay ready, to their hands, to be used
as the thin edge OF the wedge yybtch
as they hoped, would divide the Rel,
gan people and enable them to XIII The
reS soul Of the nation they had al
reduy violated and ~despoiled. And the
more. avg "Sheu ~ uo
When they had transformed tbe
University Of Client, they set to WORK
10 % Teal>e ne separation of admins
original with them; few IDEAS are; thet
are better at adapting than orieinat2-
ing. La separation administrative was
an ola notion In Belgium, but the Idea
naa never made Roadway, though 1t
ment.s 10y 'hoNe-
The movement for the separation Of
auilIlistratlon opened with the comedy
STAGED at Berlin. The four or five
r, enn men, as a commission repre-
nave said, to Berlin with their nett
non. lnasmuch as no one could go
from one town to another in BELGIUM
TO- say nothing Of going to Germany
wlthout appealing to the kommandan-
III Tor days and sometimes for weeks
IN order to obtain the necessary mass
ports, which We're seldom granted! and
lhasmuch as the Belgian peopIe were
not allowed to assemble or to hold pub
nc discussions, and inasmuch as they
had no newspapers, 1t is easy to i'm
aglne JUST whom and what these men
represented.
They were received by Herr Won
bethmann- Hollweg. as we read in the
German and the Belgian press, who
made a speech in which he extended TO
the "~deleEates"' a cordial welcome to
ne capital Of the German empire in
their quality of representatives OF q
people so closely united tosthe German
pS1pIe by political economical and in
community Of ideals which prevails
between the two peoples and assured
them that the confidence with which
they approached him had found a
vibrating echo in his heart" He went
on to express the wish that 'in the
midst of a bloody struggle Germans
and Flemish might remember that the
bitter fight against the encroachments
Of the Latin race should lead them to
the same end"
giles and much labor" he said, but
that does not prevent me from extend
ing to you my hand, that we nay com
bat together our common enemy"
Continuing the chancellor said that
his majesty. animated only bv his
esteem and compassion for the Elem
ish people, had decided to grant their
wishes" and that "in execution of The
orders Of his majesty the emperor.
he, the chancellor, was 'authori2ed
that IN order TO- give the Flemish PEG
pie the possibility Of developing freely.
intellectually and economically, which
has heretofore been refused them" he
would lay the cornerstone of the edifice
of the, Flemish national autonomy
which the Flemish people were not abb
to conquer for themselves, In accord
with the covernor-general in Belgium,
give you the assurance that this pol
Icy, which, as you have said, must be
IN conformity with the principles Of
international law, will be carried out.
and In order to bring 1t about We shall
make a complete separation Of admin
istration, such as has been desired for
50 long by both parties in Belgium"
The chancellor hailed the unanim-
ity of the Flemish people a the best
guarantee of the sucCesss Of Their
work" and went on to say; After
the negotiations Of peace and when
peace shall have been established. the
German empire will do all 10 its powe,
to encourage and to insure the devel.
| opment OF the Flemish nation" And
1 NatNhA ~ N'tANANEhNhA nv va hVA HE VIZ
| itors TO spread my declaration in your
beautiful country. Say TO the citizens
Of Flanders that We Germans Shall do
all that we can. no that out Of the
distress and misery Of these times
q new era Of prosperity shall dawn for
them"
II seems incredible. ] know, that at
the very moment when German SOL
diers were ~ravaginE Belgium. bearing
from those very provinces Of Flanders
FOR which such touching solicitude was
expressed thousands Of men into slav-
cry, stripping every home In Belgium
Of the last copper and Of its linen, with
thousands of spies swarming over the
country and rummaging in every bed.
room and closet in the land, with daily
executions of the death penalty after
n mockery Of q trial, the head of a
modern state could seriously have
adopted this tone: it is beyond the
comprehension OF the normal mind. II
he was sincere, it proves that the Prus
| sian mind thinks in sequences that are
inaccessible to our mental processes.