The Washington herald., 1921-01-03
Mock Trials
For Traitors
BeIgians Who Aid Ger.
man InUaders Being
Hunted DOUn.

81 tried three times to leave the
country to join up" said a Belgian
workman, according to a verbatim
account given in a Brussels dispatch
recently. "On the last occasion l
came so near being electroCuted on
the live wire that l gave up any
further attempts. was out Of work
for eighteen months: my wife and
children were famished. Nearly all
in my little home had been sold;
rent was in heavy arrears. The Ger
mans offered me regular work on
munitions in Germany, and an al
lowanCe and protection for my wife
and family. I took their offer. for
the sake of my dear ones. Today
the village shuns me as a traitor"
That is one case in. say, a hun
dred. The bulk of the Belgian trail
tors who helped the Germans dur
ing the occupation did so either
from pure stupidity or from poIit-
ical motives Many thought that Bel
gium was scheduled as a permanent
German province. Some became
pro-German in order to be free from
German interference with their daily
life and occupations. Horse and
cattle dealers, farmers, and some
iron founders were especially open
to Prussian Establishments, mainly
on account of their war utility.
Courts Grind slowly.
Ever since the. armistice the Bel
gian courts have been busy trying
those who comforted the enemy.
Many Of the accused, especially
those who are charged with deIiv-
ering patriotic Belgians to the Ger
mans, with forcing Belgian work
men to take employment under the
Germans, and with acts Of pure Sc
dition against the Belgian govern
ment, have fed the country. never
to return. Not a few Of these, in
their absence and in view of the
gravity Of their crimes, have been
sentenced to death.
In some of the worst cases among
these, there is a mock execution of
the guilty ones in the public mar
ket places of the Belgian cities with
Guillotine, sheriff, gendarmcs and all
tie paraphernalia of the last act of
the criminals career. Many more
are serving long terms of imprison-
ment.
Convictions for Voluntary Help.
Voluntary help to the Germans in
their war enterprises of any nature
is enough to secure a conviction.
High and low, rich and poor, have
had to go through the hoop" Com
plant is made that justice is slow,
that some of the upper crust get
away scot free, while the starving
laborer goes to jail. One or two
of the accused'openly avow that they
prefer German rule to Belgian. The
fact is that the lists of every court
in the country contain hundreds of
cases of treachery yet to be tried.
Aside from those traitors who
have to meet their judges in the
courts Of law, there is a class of
anti-patriots who are today being
punished by public opinion. These
are small tradesmen and others who,
by sailing close to the wind. have
succeeded in keeping beyond the pale
Of the law, and yet whose record
is known to their neighbors as hav-
irg been distinctly pro-German dur
ing the war.
Seconding the efforts of the con-
stituted authorities, a federation Of
nearly a hundred local patriotic So
cieties throughout the country Is
also busily engaged in ferrcting
out and investigating cases Of
treachery and trading with the
enemy, which private research can
work" more effectively than gov
ernment detectives. This federation,
called Justice" collects and COL
lates evidence of preliminary char
acter. and places II before the courts
as a basis for prosecution.