The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-02-21

FarlS, reDs Il-h0VleW1ng the re-
lief and food conditions in northern
France and Belgium in an address be-
fore the Circle Volnay Saturday night
Herbert, Hoover, the United States
Food Administrator and director-gen-
eral of the Inter-Allied Relief organ
ization, said:
II have recently revisited the de-
vastated regions of northern France
and Belgium. There is no man, even
without personal experience of two
and one-half years of German rule,
who could pay mere casual visit
to northern France and Belgium with
out experiencing renewed fire of in
dignation at the men and forces which
brought about this appalling situa-
ton.
sit is now four years and three
months since first came into contact
with the people of the invaded re-
gions. At that time my American
and Belgium colleagues had estab-
lished the relief of Belgium, but there
came on every wind stories of the
pitiable situation of the French pop
ulation under German control.
''The Germans, in difiance of every
canon of international law and moral
ity, even human decency, had taken
from the French population their har-
vest and cattle, and the French wo-
men and children were combing over
the awful heaps in the German camps.
The work of myself and my Ameri-
can colleagues was supported by pub
lie charity and we quickly spread
that charity to the people of the
north of France.
with the backing of the Ameri-
can government, agreements were per
fected with the German government
at Berlin and the German general
staff at Charlevil!e, by which it was
undertaken that there should be no in
reference with the distribution of
foodstuffs, that there should be pro-
lection of the produce of the popu-
acknowledgements which read well
to the world, agreements which were
often carried out in letter, but never,
except under pressure, carried out in
the spirit, which involves years of con-
slant complaints, chickering's, pressure
and intervention by neutral govern
ments.
Germans Unrepentant
DESPITE the depth of feeling /
have in these matters, am not pre-
pared to say that the German race is
beyond redemption, that it is not our
duty to endeavor to build up that
people to the decency of membership
in the league of nations. There is,
perhaps, one step outstanding today
in their progress in that direction
more lacking than any other and that
is total abstinence from any express
sion of regret. If the seventy mil
lions of Germans were to shed the
tears of Niobe for the next thousand
years they could not wash away the
human misery for which they have
been responsible in Belgium and
northern France alone.
Zone of the features of the rela-
tionship of our Americans with the
Germans was that they had to endure
every hour of every day, whether
awake or asleep, the personal and
definite attachment of German Off
Ger. Of the men who took part in
this work l believe the one who en-
dured the longest the strain of this
offensive association, sleeping and
waking, was not able to continue for
more than nine months.
zone of the worst features of this
association was that there could be no
conversation between the Americans
and the civil population except in
the presence of an officer and such
conversations were required to be
confined to the mere routine of the
revictualling. Some of our men were
escorted out of the country on Ger