Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-01-07
:: The Truth About Belgium $:
BY BRAND W4ITLOCK -

and most of them were 50 far gone
that they were brought home only to
die.
Dividing Belgium
We supposed, however, that with
the imperial promise the deporta-
tiOnS had come to an end and that We
could indulge the natural feeling of
relief that would come with the
passing of the worst of the horrors
The Germans had brought to Bel
GUM.
And yet. almost unnoticed. in
those uncertain days of anxiety and
care, there were being enacted the
first scenes in 4 tragedy that tran
seconded any yet played in Belgium.
the preparation for d deed worse
than the atrocities, worse than the
Cavell case, worse than the deporta-
TONS.
They were of that sensational ma
tErG and OF that stark O'iectiVity
which Instantly shocked the, civilized
portions of mankind. But this went
deeper was far more subtle and in
SidiOuS. The atrocities, the depCrta-
tons and the rest, destroyed the
body; this was an attempt to destroy
the soul. They murdered men; this
you'd aSSaSsinate q nation.
On the third of March, or about
that time, the German newspapers
announced that the administration in
Belgium would be separated; then
ISiI GdNS ldltI the NIGIiIIdIl News pa
pers were filled with accounts of q
visit" to Berlin of q group of Bel
gians. so-calied leaders among the
Flemish, who had gone to present
a petition to that end.
Preoccupied by my own problems
and perpleNitieS, L paid little atten~
ton to this at the time; it was men
toned now and then, but we were
thinking and talking of other things.
Nor had the deed as yet been con-
summated. But on the 21st of
March there appeared on the walls
when understood in all of it's impii-
cations. was an offense against JUS
tice and natural right more serious
than any of the deeds that had mark
ed the German adventure i'll Bel
GUM.
The NOTICE was as follows:
There are formed in Belgium two
regions, one of which
comprises the provinces of Antwerp,
East and West FLANDERS,
as well as the districts of Brussels
and OF Louva1n: the other of which
comprises the provinces Of Halnautt,
Liege, Luxembourg and Namur. us
well as the district Nivelles.
1.-THE administration of the first OF
these two regions will - directed
from Brussels; that Of the second
from Namur.
All arrangements looking to the
assurance of the execution of the
present order, notably from the
organization of the two regions ana
the transfer of the control, are re-
served. For anything concerning the
of arts and sciences, tIie
orders of the 25th of October, 1919,
| 9Th December ands 14th February,
1917 (Ofticial Bulletin OF Laws and
Orders. PIP. 1880. 1854 and 3319) e
main in force until the publication OF
the aforementioned arrangements
THE Governor General in Belgium.
"Freihcrr Won Kissing,
"Generaloberst'.
"Brussels. 21st March, 1917"
The, order was the final Towering
of a long-cherished scheme OF Won
Bissing's, q scheme for the complete
CONQUEST and agglutination of Bel
rated by the transformation of the
of Client into a Flemish
institution. He had meditated 1T Tor
long months. it's details had been
studied with Machiavell1an Subtlety
in the political department and the
civil administration, and while ne
was taking the cure at Wiesbaden ne
had matured it; when he returned ne
promulgated it.
The moment was hardly auspicious.
and as we thought it over and talked
it over we could just see why Won
Kissing had been so opposed 10 the
deportations-not as a principle but
rs a policy and why he had quar-
relied. or at least differed with HIN
lenburg la maniere douce (the gen
tie method, which Hindenburg ana
his leaders could neither tolerate nor
apparently understand.
The willy old PruSSian general had
in his hand a plan far greater IMAM
batter the Belgian nation into sub
mission by the rude shock Of his m
struments of war; Won Kissing, with
his medieval ideas of life, surround-
ed by men who had studied '"The
Prince" of Machiavelli as engineers
study textbooks, was already Drama
-izing himself amid acclamations OF
the enthusiastic "Hochs!" of q, pos
terity that would hail him as the
first dictator of Belgium and as the
man who had annexed it to the en-
pire.
Hindenburg's coming to the west
prn front had ruined all his careful
plans by his stubborn and lmpetuous
will. And it must have been a bitter
md ironicaI moment for the old gem
eraI when, posing as the patron Of
learning and of art. and the savior OF
the Flemish people, at the very mo-
ment in which he was delivering an
address in opening the Flemish UNI
yersty at G fe ne coo of f fi9Gd TS
sung by the Flemish workmen whom
the stupid military men were drag
ging off into slavery.
The latest and worst Of German
atrocities in Belgium was always
istrative, a phrase that hardly illus
trates it's sinister and tragic Signifi-
canoe. 1t meant more, of course
than a mere, division. OF the prosalc
ton Of the kingdom; it involved the
of two administrations
where one had served before, one that
had been in operation for more than
eighty years and was an integral
part of the most practical and sat sat
based on the old communal system
It involved the destruction of the
work of long years of Belgian ell
fort.
cumbent on the German occupant TO
respect the laws in force in the
country, the only exception recog-
nized by that convention being that
Of absolute necessity" There mad
been no absolute necessity for limo
walton; the Belgian administration
had carried on--as the English say
under German occUnatiOn for more
than two years. The functionaries
had continued at their posts at the
express invitation of General Won
Kissing himself, and with prom
Use that they would not be molest-
ed. Why was it then considered
necessary to destroy this organiza-
ton and IN It's place erect two Or
CARNATIONS, one Flemish and the
other Walloon?
CONTINUED aext week.
published by special arrangement
with the Mcclure Newspaper Syndi57
cate. Copyright, 1918, by Brand
Whitlock, under the title 'Memories
Of Belgium Under the German Occu-
patton" All rights reserved. Copy
righted in Great Britain, Canada and
Australia. All rights reserved for
France, Belgium. Holland, Italy,
Spain, Russia and the Scandinavian
countrieS)
ems; Sa|ivates! /