"TOURNAI, _23rd October, 1916_.
[Sidenote: And is roundly lectured and fined.]
"In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to
oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied
territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a
complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war.
"The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following:
"The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city
must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous
explanations.
"The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city--on account
of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded--a punitive
contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six
days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such
time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in
arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will
be paid by the city.
"HOPFER, _Major General_,
"_Etappen-Kommandant_."
The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce
the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans.
"COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
"_Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916_.
[TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BELGIUM.]
"EXCELLENCY: The measures which are being planned by your
administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power,
the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region
of the étapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in
Belgium.
"The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central
socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that
they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the
painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the
echo of their touching complaints.
"They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most
diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of
obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance
one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud.
[Sidenote: Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.]
"For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has
been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery
and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the
parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with
which their hearts are overflowing.
"Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and
the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints
and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty
and independence. But the measures which have been announced will
make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow;
the proletariat, _the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced_,
citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor
without having disobeyed any regulation or order.
[Sidenote: And appeal for decent treatment.]
"In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful
anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancées, and whose
little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your
Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary
to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes,
contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human
nature.
"We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the
homage of our distinguished consideration.
"(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the
Commission Syndicale.)"
Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth
of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested
against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the
letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows:
"COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
"_Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916_.
"To His Excellency BARON VON BISSING,
"_Governor General in Belgium_.
"EXCELLENCY: The Secretaries and representatives of the socialistic
and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a painful
disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were good
enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning the
deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the
working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort
to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed
against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity.
[Sidenote: Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.]
"You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of
the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy.
Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested
very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium
of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very
natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those
mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say
those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international
commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the
right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products.
"Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying
authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines
of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and
wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of
transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ
workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have
been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings
have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless
efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men
were constantly thrown out of work.
[Sidenote: And proudly praise the Belgian workman.]
"You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility
to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this
accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where
is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made
of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power?
And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses
of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of
their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is
not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer
to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with
sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and
fruitful work.
"What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the
same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions
of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these
requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war
against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not
wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories
which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty.
Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of
punishments.
"You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May 15th,
1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen
who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and
carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with
what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have
the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps
think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you
yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every
motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted
by international law.
[Sidenote: Laborers see through the German scheme.]
"For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the
right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals
and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain
that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive
approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they
have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly
their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a
question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise;
but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will
take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the
ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these
tribunals carry on their functions.
"You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and
moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence
in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only
in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of
organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational
work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge
and to increase their professional value? The _Comité National_ was
not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is
it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black
despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their
physical and moral energy?
[Sidenote: The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of
Belgians.]
"You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length
weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that
Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that
form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed
the food of so many working families for so many months; and what,
after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed
each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unemployed, in comparison
with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the
horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have
cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in
our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near
future Flanders and _Wallonie_ will rise again, glorious, in history.
[Sidenote: All Belgians understand the German scheme.]
"Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it
is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to
our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their
families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been
deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there
echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by
its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who
constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country.
"Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the
execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts
regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain
workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its
arms.
"While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years
who were under the régime of control, in the Borinage they call all
the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over
17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and
unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been
taken--bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives
of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment;
agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant,
2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age.
Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons
have been exiled thus by force.
[Sidenote: The tears of the mothers and the children.]
"Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered
together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They
had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken
at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not
allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given
to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones.
They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for
how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years
of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide
themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles,
what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there?
In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the
cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers and little children.
Distress and despair reign in the homes.
"Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit
our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit
human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the
dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many
centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot.
"It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope
of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice,
at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the
entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest.
"Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished
consideration."
(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the _Comité Nationale_
and of the _Commission Syndicale_.)
"We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers
and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our
comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland."
The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many
such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic
collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration,
some passages from two others: