Made to the President at the White House, Washington, Sept. 16.
Excellency: His Majesty the King of the Belgians has charged us with a
special mission to the President of the United States.
Let me say to you how much we feel ourselves honored to have been called
upon to express the sentiments of our King and of our whole nation to
the illustrious statesman whom the American people have called to the
highest dignity of the Commonwealth.
As far as I am concerned, I have already been able, during a previous
trip, to fully appreciate the noble virtues of the American Nation, and
I am happy to take this opportunity to express all the admiration with
which they inspire me.
Ever since her independence was first established, Belgium has been
declared neutral in perpetuity. This neutrality, guaranteed by the
powers, has recently been violated by one of them. Had we consented to
abandon our neutrality for the benefit of one of the belligerents, we
would have betrayed our obligations toward the others. And it was the
sense of our international obligations as well as that of our dignity
and honor that has driven us to resistance.
The consequences suffered by the Belgian Nation were not confined purely
to the harm occasioned by the forced march of an invading army. This
army not only seized a great portion of our territory, but it committed
incredible acts of violence, the nature of which is contrary to the law
of nations.
Peaceful inhabitants were massacred, defenseless women and children were
outraged, open and undefended towns were destroyed, historical and
religious monuments were reduced to dust, and the famous library of the
University of Louvain was given to the flames.
Our Government has appointed a judicial commission to make an official
investigation, so as to thoroughly and impartially examine the facts and
to determine the responsibility thereof, and I will have the honor,
Excellency, to hand over to you the proceedings of the inquiry.
In this frightful holocaust which is sweeping all over Europe, the
United States has adopted a neutral attitude.
And it is for this reason that your country, standing apart from either
one of the belligerents, is in the best position to judge, without bias
or partiality, the conditions under which the war is being waged.
It is at the request, even at the initiative, of the United States that
all civilized nations have formulated and adopted at The Hague a law
regulating the laws and usage of war.
We refuse to believe that war has abolished the family of civilized
powers, or the regulations to which they have freely consented.
The American people has always displayed its respect for justice, its
search for progress, and an instinctive attachment for the laws of
humanity. Therefore, it has won a moral influence which is recognized by
the entire world. It is for this reason that Belgium, bound as she is to
you by ties of commerce and increasing friendship, turns to the American
people at this time to let it know the real truth of the present
situation. Resolved to continue unflinching defense of its sovereignty
and independence, it deems it a duty to bring to the attention of the
civilized world the innumerable grave breaches of rights of mankind of
which she has been a victim. At the very moment we were leaving
Belgium, the King recalled to us his trip to the United States and the
vivid and strong impression your powerful and virile civilization left
upon his mind.
Our faith in your fairness, our confidence in your justice, in your
spirit of generosity and sympathy--all these have dictated our present
mission.
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