Addressed to Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, Aug. 7.
I consider it my duty, Sir, to inform you, as the most notable
representative of the principles of humanity, that after the
capture of the French fort of Longwy my troops found in that place
thousands of dumdum bullets, which had been manufactured in special
works by the French Government. Such bullets were found not only on
French killed and wounded soldiers and on French prisoners, but
also on English troops. You know what terrible wounds and awful
suffering are caused by these bullets, and that their use is
strictly forbidden by the generally recognized rules of
international warfare.
I solemnly protest to you against the way in which this war is
being waged by our opponents, whose methods are making it one of
the most barbarous in history. Besides the use of these awful
weapons, the Belgian Government openly incited the civil population
to participate in the fighting, and has for a long time carefully
organized their resistance. The cruelties practiced in this
guerrilla warfare, even by women and priests, toward wounded
soldiers, and doctors and hospital nurses--physicians were killed
and lazarets fired on--were such that eventually my Generals were
compelled to adopt the strongest measures to punish the guilty and
frighten the bloodthirsty population from continuing their shameful
deeds.
Some villages and even the old town of Louvain, with the exception
of its beautiful town hall, (Hotel de Ville,) had to be destroyed
for the protection of my troops.
My heart bleeds when I see such measures inevitable and when I
think of the many innocent people who have lost their houses and
property as a result of the misdeeds of the guilty.