| Show i Cardinal Merciers Mercier's s Protest Ag Against German Enslavement of the Bei ians ff V Primate Makes ll Stirring A Ap AI Appeal pI peal to Civilization to Put Pu t f an End to Atrocities oci- oci 3 ties to in ill King ry Alberts Albert's Dot Domain Do Do- ties I t main NB TE r E 11 r Yr YORK Dec 23 Cardinal 23 Cardinal iN Merciers Mercier s protest against the de de- deI deportation I o of Belgians to Germany only brief bricf excerpts of or which came in inthe inthe the cable dispatches has been received here herc by hv the Associated Press Pres s in its full r text as follows Nov Kov 7 1916 j 16 to Every cry day aY the military authorities deport from Belgium ium into Germany thousands of inoffensive c citizens to oblige them there to perform forced labor r r As As early as October 19 HI we wc sent to toi i the thc governor general a protest a n copy cop f of which was as as hUl handed banded to the representatives tati l of the Holy See Sec of Spam Spain the thern rn United Tinted States and md H Holland in Brus- Brus 1 s-eU s hut bill the governor go general replied r to it that nothing could be done At tt the time o ot our OUI protestation I the or orders of the occupying 6 power threatened only t the he unemployed ed j toe tot to- to t e da day daj e Cr every cry bodied able-bodied man is is carried off assembled in freight cars an and carried off to unknown parts like I a herd bird of slaves s The enemy proceeds l by hy regions Vague rumors had bad come cometo cometo to our ears eurs that arrests had been mat made e ein in Ghent and Alost Host but we were not aware of the conditions ons under ander un un- t der which the they had been made Bet Between Be Be- Beit t tween October 24 4 and November NO n 2 it occurred in in the region legion of Mons J in rain ral Saint Guislain 1 bunches u iches of to 1200 men a r. day ur The next and the following da days s 's it occurred oc oe- caned currell in the of Ni- Ni i- i Here is a specimen of or the an- an c concerning n l' l th the proceedings proceed proceed- proceedings jr d- d ings r H By order of the thc scheff every enry L male per person on over oer 1 17 Ii years ears old shall present pre ent himself place Saint Paul in Nivelles Ni on November 8 S 1916 1016 at nt S SI So I o o'clock clock Belgian time 9 o o'clock clock central time tilDe brin bringing in with him his identification on card anI and eventually his card from the 1 lI Only small han hand baggage is per per- I I z I 0 x r rs 7 I 11 fi try a r f i I I r His Eminence Cardinal Mercier primate of Belgium who protests the deportation of his bis people by the Germans milted mitte H Those not noL presenting themselves es will be forcibly deported into Germany and will trill besides s be liable to a he heavy w fine and to loner lone imprisonment Ecclesiastics phy physicians lawyers and teachers are arc c exempt empt from this or or- der The mayors will trill be be- beheld held responsible responsible sible for the proper execution ol of this order which must be e brought immediately imme mediately me- me to tu the knowledge of the Between en the tile mi announcement enl and i the he deportation there is an interval of only twenty four hours l Under pretext of public works to tobe tobe tobe be performed on un Belgian soil the occupying oc oc- power ver had attempted to obtain obtain obtain ob ob- tain frum froin the communities the lists of working men out of work Mo Most lost t of the communities proudly refused Three decrees from tho the general government prepared the way for the execution which is in force toda today Under date of August J 35 1915 1015 a first decree imposes un under cr penalty of imprisonment and fine forcers force work on the idle but hut adds that the work is to bo he executed in Belgium and that noncompliance will be adjudged adjudged adjudged ad ad- judged by Belgian tribunals A A second decree dated May flay 2 l 1910 1916 lG reserves the right of or the German German German Ger Ger- man authorities to supply work to the idle and nn threatens a fine of three years years' ars' ars imprisonment and I marks on an anybody executing executing executing ing or order ordering to be executed work not approved of by the thc general gov gov- Under the same ame decree the right to judge infractions which had remained remained remained re re- re- re with the Belgian tribunals passes from irom tho the Belgian to the German Her Ger- Herman man tribunals Already Forcible Working A A third decree dated May 1916 1010 the governors governor the military commanders and the chiefs of to order that the unemployed unemployed un- un employed be bc conducted b by force to the place where the they must work This was already forcible le working although in Belgium Now Now it is no longer a question of forcible working in Belgium but in Germany and for the benefit of the Germans To give qi an appearance of plausibility plausibility plausibility to the these e violent measures tho the occupying power insisted in the Gern German German Ger Ger- man n press both hoth in Germany and Belgium Belgium Bel Bel- gium on these two pretexts the unemployed unemployed un un- employed constitute a danger to public public public pub pub- lic order and a burden on official benevolence olence To this we wc replied in a letter addressed addressed ad ad- dressed to the governor general an and aurl to the head of the political department department depart depart- ment on October 10 ll as follows 5 You are well aware that public order is is in no wise rsc threatened and null that thai all influences moral and civil would support you ou spontaneously were wen it t in in danger The Tire unemployed are not a a. burden burden burden bur bur- den on official benevolence bene it is not from your funds that thc they receive c as ns- In hi his reply tho thu governor general no longer longcr urges these two first considerations considerations con con- on hut but ho alleges that doles holes to the unemployed from whatever cr source they 1111 rung may conic come at present must bo Ile a charge upon our finances an and that it ii is tho tiro duty of a good 00 1 administrator administrator administrator ad ad- to lighten such charges charges' ho he adds t ds that prolonged d unemployment ment would cause our workmen to fo lose loso their technical proficiency and andant ant and that in the tho time of peace to come thc they would be he useless to tu ill industry True there were oth other r ways was in which our finances might have been protected Wo Io o mi might ht ha hue have been spared those war var levies le which have e now no reached the sum slim of ono one billion francs and arc are still mounting up at the rate rale of forty millions a n month we I might have havo been spared those requisitions requisitions in kind which amount to several thousands of millions and are arc exhausting ex ex- exhausting hau ting us There are arc other wa ways s 's of or providing provid- provid ing for the maintenance of professional professional professional skill among our work people such sueh as ns leaving ing to Belgian industry its machinery and accessories s its raw materials and its manufactured goods which have passed from Belgium into Germany And it is neither to the quarries nor to the tho lime kilns to 10 which the Germans themselves declare declare de de- clare the they will tend send our unemployed that our spec specialists will go to complete complete complete com com- their professional education Tire The fhe naked truth is that every c deported deported deported de de- de- de ported workman is another soldier for forthe forthe the thc German arm array army He will take the place of a German workman who willbe will willbe willbe be made into a soldier Thus tho the situation situation situation sit sit- which we denounce to the civilized civilized civilized world mn may be he reduced to these terms Four hundred thousand workmen workmen workmen work work- men have been thrown out oi work ork by no fault of their own and largely on account of tho the regime of the pation Sons husbands and fathers of families the they bear benr their unhappy lot without murmuring respectful of or public order national solidarity provides provides provides pro pro- vides their most wants b pressing by dint of unselfish thrift and self de self self- e- e nial they escape c extreme destitution and the they await with dignity and in a mutual affection which our national sorrows have intensified the end of our common ordeal Violent Separations it Groups of soldiers introduced I themselves Cs forcibly in the homes of these people tearing the thc young people out ont of the arms of their parents the husband from his wife the father c 1 L L J H from num his ins HIS children ii at ai aL the point ui of the Lilt bayonet they ther block the entrances to the homes preventing wives and mothers moth moth- ers from rushin rushing out to say a last farewell to them they ther align the cap captives captives cap cap- tives live in iii groups of fort forty or fifty and und push them forcibly into freight cars the locomotive c is under pressure and find andas as fiS soon as a trainload is ready an all officer officer of of- gives gi the signal and thc they de de- le- le part Thus another thou thousand and Belgians Belgians Belgians Bel Bel- gians reduced to slavery without previous previous previous pre pre- trial condemned to the penalty which comes next in cruelty to the death penalty deportation They dont don't know how lon lord their exile is s going to last neither do they know where they arc are going All the they know knowis is that their work w will ll benefit the enemy eDemy Several of them have been brought to sign sign sign-by b coercion or by threats threats threats-nn an engagement which the they d dare rc to call voluntary While thc they certainly take the unemployed unemployed un nn- un- un employed ed the they also take a large number num num- ber in ber-in in in the proportion of quarter one for the of of oC of men who were never Cr out of work aud and belonging to diversified i professions professions- butchers bakers tailors brewery workers electricians farmers the they even eu take the tho youngest men coll college go and university ty students student or young Joung men from other high schools school This in spite of the fact that two high authorities of t the e German Geiman empire had formally guaranteed guarantee tho the liberty of our compatriots The clay da after capitulation the thc of Ant Antwerp the frightened populace asked itself what would become of the Belgians of military age or those which would arrive e at that age before the end of the siege Baron von yon military governor go of Antwerp authorized mo to tu reassure in his name the frightened parents However el ns os rumors were running that dint in Antwerp Liege Namur lr and Charleroi young men had hod been seized nn and forcibly carried carried car car- ried off to Germany 1 I asked aked Governor GO on von to confirm to me in m writing writing writ- writ ing n the verbal nl guarantee which lie had bad given mo me He replied that the rumo rumors pertaining to tu deportations ons were without without without with with- out foundation fO and antl ho gave o a me without without with with- out hesitancy the writt written n declaration which was as read roal on Sunday October 18 1914 lUH in iii all the parochial churches chinches of the of Antwerp I Young y onn men need not nut fear of being carried off to Germany German either for enrollment enrollment en en- in the army W or ur for forcible employment Immediately after the arrival of I Baron yon o oder der Goltz in the thc capacity of If governor general at Brussels sels I wont 1 to tn o ask him to ratify the tho guarantees guarantees guar guar- ant ees given i yen by G Governor Go yon von II to tu the province of or Antwerp extending them to the whole country without any time limit The Tho governor fo r general g retained 1 m my in rn order to 10 con con- consider sider 1 it at nt hi his lifs leisure The in fuJo following day dar he was IS good goud enough to tu conic come in r person to Malines to express his approval approval approval ap ap- and in the presence of two aides decamp an and of private my secretary secretary secretary sec sec- to confirm tho the promise that the liberty of the Belgian citizens would bo be r respected Von Bissing's Hissing's Reply H In In my inv letter October of 16 10 last to tu Baron von n Hissing Bissing after reminding him of the undertaking given by hy his pren predecessor 0 1 1 concluded Your lour excellency excellency excellency ex ex- will un understand how painful the thc burden of responsibility I should have e incurred towards families would be he if the confidence thc they placed in you ou through me and at m my earnest entreaty entreat entreaty en en- treat treaty should be so lamentably pointed The governor general replied The employment of the Belgian unemployed unemployed unemployed un un- employed in German Germany which has only been in initiated after two years of war differs differ essentially from the captivity it of men fit for militar military ler leree service ee Moreover Moreover More More- over the measure is not related to the conduct of the war properly speaking speaking speaking speak speak- ing but it is determined ned Ly by su social ial and economic causes cause As As if th the wor word of an un honest man was terminable at the end of a n year ear or two As if the declaration confirmed confirmed confirmed con con- firmed in 1914 did not explicitly e exclude exclude ex ex- clude elude both hoth r military operations and ann forced labor As if in fine every overy Belgian workman who takes the place of or a German workman di did not ot enable the latter laHer to fill a gap in the German army We Ve t the hc shepherds of t these lIese sheep I who are arc torn lorn from us b by brutal force full of anguish at nt the thought of the moral and religious isolation in which they are ure about to languish impotent witnesses ses s-ses of the grief and terror ten in inthe inthe inthe the numerous homes shattered or threatened appeal to all souls believers ers or unbelievers ers in allied countries in neutral countries and even enn in enem enemy enemy en en- em emy countries who have a n respect for human dignity When Cardinal Lavigerie embarked embarked em em- barked on his campaign Pope Leo XIII as he blessed his mi mission mission mis mis- sion remarked Opinion is more than ever the tho queen of the world It Jt is on this you ou must work You Oll will trill only conquer by hy means of or opinion May In Divine Providence de deign n to inspire pile all all who have nn any authority all who are arc masters of speech and pen to tor r rally lly round around pur our humble Belgian flag f for r tl tile a abolition of I European slavery May flay May lu human man conscience triumph over o all sophisms sophism and Dud remain remain steadfastly steadfastly steadfastly stead stead- faithful to the thc great precept of Si St Ambrose Honor above uc everything everything every every- thing I In the name of the tho Belgian bis bish bish- ops Signed D J J. J CARDINAL MERCI l ER It Archbishop of Malines l Von Bissing's Reply TIle The reply of General von on Hissing Bissing German governor general in ill the occupied occupied O C pied portion of Belgium to t the Je protests protests protests pro pro- tests of Belgian senators and aud deputies deputies deputies ties against the deportation of Bel- Bel k n Za Zai i k 4 y 3 t 4 t. t h fc h I At tt tup tot Mm on Germ mi Ko o rn o r of nf under whore di direction cU- cU tin the deportation of I. I IH Ir belna 1111 carried tt en nn on lint Hot mind lorn lodi locK minister to JJ gians glans has been received by tho the Belgian Belinn Belinn Bel Bel- gian inn government It is addressed to M. M Favereau president ent of the senate and follows |
