New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-05
But She Lacked the Moral Quality
Which Is the Basis Of
Empire

working to make Flemish the exclusive
tongue in all the Fleming districts, COM
polling its adoption in the whole school
system up to the university in local ad-
minlstration and in the relations of the
central government with Flemish Bel
GUM.
The Germans knew all this They had
lever ready made with which to segre-
gate two sensitively antagonistic ele-
ments in the Belgian population They
had the opportunity to pose as restorers
of an ancient native tongue akin to
their own. Moreover, after Offering the
Flemings lingual freedom, they had
chance to bind them more securely to
the German cause by Offering them po-
litical separation and complete auton-
omy.
Yet German cunning could not undo
the work of German savagery. The
atrocities committed by the German sol
diery united the Walloons and Flemings
in common hatred of the invader. The
breach between the two Belgian stocks
closed long before the separatist in
trigue could get fairly under way It
was not until December, 1915, that Gov
ernor General Won Kissing converted the
state University Of Client into Elem
ish University. 1t was not until March,
1917, that Belgium was partitioned into
two military -consulates, Brussels be-
coming the Flemish capital and Namur
the Walloon capital. Finally, in De-
cember, 1917, a Flemish legislative
body, acting under German military
authority, proclaimed the complete IN
dependence of Flanders.
The few Belgians who were willingto
accept racial "self-d determination" from,
the German oppressor styled themselves
Activists. They were attracted mostly
by the high salaries and personal privi-
leges offered them. But they never had
genuine following The real leaders
and forces in the former Flemish move
ment denounced Activism as treason,
The Activists were "a staff without
troops" as the Germans themselves were
ultimately forced to admit. The new
and intended to form the basis for
completely Teutonzed Belgium, re-
NAMED to the end a political fiction
The German despoier, murderer and
terrorist had bungled the job of the
German ''liberator.' The Flemings
wished to speak their own language,
even though it was cousin to the Ger
man. But they shrank with abhorrenou
from any political liberation" which
might come to them from the nstigators
of the Louvajn massacre.
The two German political pro-consuls
in Belgium were Won Kissing and Won
Falkenhausen. Both were typical Ger
man bureaucrats, without vision or hui
name instincts. Cardinal MERCER, who
deied their tyranny, said of them:
"Falkenhausen was more cruel and
inhuman than Kissing, and more perfid-
ious, insidious and dangerous. There
was not much to choose between them,
however,"
They were true advance agents of the
civilization which Germany intended to
inAict on the rest of the world.
German policy thus failed utterly in
Belgium, where conditions favored local
divisions and partial assimilation. 1t
failed as conspicuously in the Deepen
denotes detached from Russia The Ger
mans also entered Poland as "libera-
tors" They promised an end of Russian
misrule. But the Poles had had some
experience with Prussian methods of
CELEBRATION. - They preferred Russia's
tender mercies to Prussia's. They en-
dured for more than three years the
Joint German and Austrian occupation
and gave a passive assent to German
Austrian plans fer creating Polish