Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-30
BY JOHN CUDAHY.


Laeken, the royal palace outside O
the city where her son, King Leopold
III, is a German prisoner oSWar.
often the Queen drops in un-
seratded at the soup kitchens anC
always unofficially, as BELTS hel
status in an enemy occupied coun'
try. Every Belgian will tell you
about her devotion to the people
her unrecorded benevolence and hel
heroiSm at OStend, where she ad-
ministered to the wounded while
bombs smashed close by and struck
terror in the hearts of those of the
royal household whose duty COM
PEELED them to stand by
She was more a diSembOdied spirit
than being of Observation-Disclosures
frail lady whose strength was the
strength of gentlewomen through
out the ages. About her was the
same strange serenity of the sister
of charity in the QUARTER Marbles
like one who, in suffering all, suf-
fers nothing.
She spoke to me in a detached,
accomplishing way about this
grieving, distressed land she knew
so well in every part. You could
detect her professional training
when she mentioned edema. ricketts,
and other maladieS of malnutritlon.
Children were her main concern,
she said, and she could not hide
her dread for their future lives.
Queen Sees Compensations.
She related a story of mother
she knew who had died of Starva-
ton because she would not take
bread which might feed her chill
dren. This she told internationally,
not as an appeal to sympathy but
as an illustration of what was &C.
curing in many Belgian homes.
There were compenSatlonS she told
me in her soft-spoken way, as rose
to go; sometimes the grace OF people
shone through the encompasslng
darkness like a great light.
Back in Brussels I talked to M.
Emile de Winter, secretary general
in the Ministry of Agriculture, who
gave me an inventory of Belgian
food supplies. He said that bread,
of rye and potato -four, now came
entirely from German sources.
There was oil in Antwerp for the
manufacture of margarine to pro-
vide q quarter ounce ration until
the end of the summer. Potatoes
were running very low and there
was milk to supply one pint for
children and one-half pint for the
aged and for lnvalids.
There would be little milk next
winter. since Belgium imported the
great bulk of its stock from the
Western Hemisphere, and most OF
the COWS would have to be slaught-
cred when the pasturing season was
over. Sixty per cent OF the swine
had already been killed and three
quarters of the chickens, so there
were very few eggs. Meat could
still be rationed, an ounce a day
but this was so unevenly distrlb-
uted that some markets, like Namur,
Charlevoie and Dinant, got only
half the amount to which they were
entitled. Beef and veal would soon
become luxurious tidbitS, as pork
now was. The situation would be
relieved a little by vegetables during
the summer but, he concluded, it
was impossible not to be pessimist
about the future.
Food Taken by Nazis.
I asked him if the Germans had
requisitioned much food in Belgium
and, if so, whether they were still
shipping much to Germany and liv-
ing off the country. In answer 10
the first question, he said it was i'm
possible to reply with accuracy be-
cause none of the burgomasters or
commune officials had made an in
ventory of provisions in the country
before the invasion, but he was OF
the opinion that the Germans had
taken a great deal, not so much by
requisition as by purchase by SOL
diers.
That checked with my view, for
I had vivid recollection of Brus-
sells shops filled with Germans in
uniform, their pockets bullying with
curious bundles of kreditmarks.
Under this process of acquisition,
shelves had been laid pretty bare
when I left Belgium two months
after the Germans came. And these
securing methods had only been
brought to an end in December,
when the commanding general issued
an order that no German soldier
could thereafter buy any Belgian
goods.
M. de Winter admitted that the
German Army was being fed entirely
from Germany now, and that Bel
GUM in large part was living on Ger
man rationS. He gave the following
account of what had been shipped
from Germany since the occupation;
100000 tons of rye, 10000 tons OF
rye flour enough together to make
bread on the basis of the reduced
ration for nearly three months
$4,000 tons of eating potatoes and
10000 tons of seed potatoes. He said
the German government had prom
ised to ship 10000 tons of potatoes
for food and $4,000 tons of seed
potatoes.
Willing to Pay for Food.
After I finished my questions. M.
de Winter had a few leading ques-
tions of his own. explaining that
Belgium was ready and willing to
nav, and in gold, for any United
States food shipments. I answered
with what was meant to be a fair
statement of American feelings on
the subject. I pointed out that,
on the one hand, the United States
was openly an enemy of Germany
and that it was believed by many
that our cause was identical with
that of Britain. Therefore we could
do nothing to weaken the blockade
All German-occupied territory was
considered for blockade purposes a
part of Germany and it was argued
that to feed Belgium would be as
sisting German war economy. IL
was distressing to think OF the
Understanding Belgian children
but who was responsible for their
starving? To feed them would be