Chapter M: Paul Cambon to Sir Edward Grey (2)

The town of Louvain, with its 42,000 inhabitants, was one of the centres of Belgian culture. It had no mercy shown to it and has been nearly obliterated. Several quarters of the town were set on fire, the Church of St. Pierre, a marvelous example of Gothic art; the buildings of the University, including the Library with more than 70,000 volumes, of which a large number were ancient manuscripts, the collections belonging to the University; nearly all the scientific institutions, and nearly all the houses of the town were _deliberately_ burned. They are now nothing more than heaps of ashes. Their destruction has been a loss to the whole civilized world.

Numbers of absolutely innocent women and children lost their lives in the fire which was started by order of the German military officials. Of those who were saved, several thousand, including women enfeebled by age, and children in arms, are today wandering homeless over the roads, without food or clothing. They are not to blame for anything, unless it is because they belong to a nation which has refused to purchase peace at the price of dishonor. That can be the only crime accounted to them and it is for that they have lost all their possessions upon the earth.

From the declaration made by the Imperial German Chancellor it may be seen that the German Government is conscious of its wrongdoing. As one of the guarantors of Belgium's neutrality, it wanted to force Belgium to relinquish its neutrality for Germany's benefit. Because Belgium would not consent to this injustice and because Germany could not reproach her with anything else, Germany invaded and covered with blood and ruin a small peaceful country of hard-working and honest people, a country which it had promised to protect.

This attack upon her neutrality is the first violation for which Belgium asks judgment from the universal conscience.

The entire Belgo-German question today is dominated by the fact of this violation of the neutrality of Belgium. Therefore, there is not a single shot fired by a German soldier in Belgium, which is not manifestly and avowedly belying most sacred things: the keeping of a solemn pledge, and the right for an honest nation that never wanted war, nor showed aggressive dispositions, to be allowed to live its peaceful and neutral life.

Such is the Belgian case. Humanity will judge it.

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Belgo-British Plot Alleged by Germany

Statement Issued by German Embassy at Washington, Oct. 13.

The German Ambassador drew special attention today to the telegram which came from German headquarters. This telegram proves the German contention that the Allies did not intend to respect Belgian neutrality. It even proves more, namely, that Belgian neutrality practically did not exist and that the Belgian Government was conspiring with the Allies against Germany. Notwithstanding the denials coming from French sources it is a fact that French prisoners were taken at Liége and Namur, who acknowledged that they had been in those fortresses before the German troops entered Belgium.

On the French side it has been asserted that the German Chancellor in Parliament had acknowledged that Germany was doing wrong in violating Belgian neutrality. It must, however, not be overlooked that the Chancellor further said:

We know that the Allies do not intend to respect Belgian
neutrality, and Germany, in the position she is in, attacked from
three sides, cannot wait, while the Allies can wait.

At that time the Belgian archives were not at the disposal of the German Government. If the Chancellor had known at the time he made his speech that Belgium was not neutral he would certainly have spoken of the alleged Belgian neutrality in a different way.

Germany has violated the frontiers of no really neutral country, while the Allies are on record for disregarding all obligations toward China.

Text of Wireless Message.

Headquarters report German military authorities searching archives of Belgian General Staff at Brussels, found portfolio inscribed "Intervention Anglaise-Belgique," containing important documents:

1. Report to Belgian War Minister, dated April 10, 1906, containing
result detailed negotiations between Chief of Belgian General Staff
and British Military Attaché at Brussels, Lieut. Col. Barnardiston.
Plan of English origin sanctioned by Major Gen. Grierson, Chief
English General Staff, contains strength, formation, landing
places, expeditionary-force 100,000 men; continuing, settles plan
Belgian General Staff transport accommodations, feeding in Belgium,
Belgian interpreters, gendarmerie, landing places at Dunkirk,
Calais, Boulogne. Details Barnardiston remarks for present Holland
cannot be relied upon. Further confidential communication that
English Government after destruction of German Navy will direct
supply provision via Antwerp. Finally suggestion from England
military attaché that Belgian espionage service should be organized
in Prussian Rheinland.

2. Map showing strategical drawing up of French Army demonstrating
existence of French-Belgian agreement.

3. Report of Baron Greindl, Belgian Minister to Berlin, to Belgian
Foreign Office, dated Dec. 23, 1911. Greindl, commenting on plan of
Belgian General Staff for defense of Belgo-German frontier in
Franco-German war, points to threatening violation of neutrality by
France, saying: "Danger French attack threatening us, not only near
Luxemburg, but on whole length of common frontier, This assertion
no guess work, but founded upon positive facts."

Minister further thoroughly discusses Entente's plans for passage
through Belgium, Calais, and England. France doubtful protectors,
Barnardiston's insinuations relative Flushing question, both
perfidious and naïve postulates dressing plan of battle against
threatening Franco-British invasion into Belgium in Franco-German
war.

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GREAT BRITAIN'S DENIAL.

Statement Issued by British Foreign Office, London, Oct. 14.

The story of an alleged Anglo-Belgian agreement of 1906, published in the German press and based on documents said to have been found at Brussels is only a press edition of a story which has been reproduced in various forms and denied on several occasions. No such agreement has ever existed as Germans well know. Gen. Grierson is dead and Col., now Gen., Barnardiston is commanding the British forces before Tsing-tau.

In 1906 Gen. Grierson was on the General Staff at the War Office and Col. Barnardiston was military attaché at Brussels. In view of the solemn guarantee given by Great Britain to protect the neutrality of Belgium against violation from any side some academic discussions may, through the instrumentality of Col. Barnardiston, have taken place between Gen. Grierson and the Belgian military authorities as to what assistance the British Army might be able to afford to Belgium should one of her neighbors violate that neutrality. Some notes with reference to the subject may exist in the archives at Brussels.

It should be noted that the date mentioned, namely 1906, was the year following that in which Germany had, as in 1911, adopted a threatening attitude toward France with regard to Morocco and in view of the apprehensions existing of an attack on France through Belgium it was natural that possible eventualities should be discussed.

The impossibility of Belgium having been a party to any agreement of the nature indicated or to any design for violation of Belgian neutrality is clearly shown by reiterated declarations that she has made for many years past that she would resist to the utmost any violation of her neutrality from whatever quarter and in whatever form such violation might come. It is worthy of attention that these charges of aggressive designs on the part of other powers are made by Germany who, since 1906, has established an elaborate network of strategical railways leading from the Rhine to the Belgian frontier through a barren, thinly populated tract, deliberately constructed to permit of the sudden attack upon Belgium which was carried out two months ago.

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REPLY TO GREAT BRITAIN.

Statement by Count von Bernstorff, German Ambassador, Washington, Oct. 15.

Concerning the Anglo-Belgian military agreement existing since 1906, a formal denial has been issued by England, which proves nothing. The documents are in the hands of the German authorities, and will be published in full. The facts remain that a so-called "neutral" country concluded a military agreement with England, which provided for landing of British troops in this "neutral" country. The document proves that by its own free will "neutral Belgium" accepted the British offer and decided to fight on the side of the Allies.

England instigated Belgium to go to war, and when the time came to protect the unfortunate little country it was left to its own resources. Germany, on the other hand, which had heard of Belgium's agreement with England at the beginning of this war, offered to protect Belgium and to pay full indemnity for all her losses. Germany would have religiously kept her promise.

The documents found in Brussels further prove that as far back as 1906 England was systematically trying to bring about the coalition which has now forced war on Germany.

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GRAY BOOK'S TESTIMONY.

Statement by E. Havenith, Belgian Minister to the United States, Washington, Oct. 22.

The Belgian Legation has just received the copies of the "Gray Book." It is evident from these documents that there has never existed any military agreement between Belgium and England, either offensive or defensive, such as the German Government asserts to have been in existence since 1906. The following extracts speak for themselves:

_No. 28--Offer of intervention by England. Note handed to Sir
Francis H. Villiers, British Minister to Belgium, to M. Davignon,
Minister of Foreign Affairs._

Brussels, Aug. 4, 1914.

I am instructed to inform the Belgium Government that, if Germany
exercises pressure for the purpose of compelling Belgium to abandon
her position of a neutral country, the Government of his Britannic
Majesty expects Belgium to resist by every possible means.

The Government of his Britannic Majesty is ready in that event to
join with Russia and France, if desired by Belgium, to offer to the
Belgian Government at once common action for the purpose of
resisting the use of force by Germany against Belgium and at the
same time to offer a guarantee to maintain the independence and
integrity of Belgium in the future.

_No. 37--Offer of England for an alliance for the object of
assuring the neutrality of Belgium against the pressure of
Germany._

London, Aug. 4, 1914.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has informed the British Ministers
in Norway, Holland, and Belgium that Great Britain expects that
these three kingdoms will resist the pressure of Germany and
maintain neutrality. They will be supported in their resistance by
England, who in such a case is ready to co-operate with France and
Russia, if such is the desire of these three Governments, in
offering an alliance to the said Governments to repel the
employment of force against them by Germany and a guarantee for the
future maintenance of the independence and the integrity of the
three kingdoms.

I pointed out that Belgium is neutral in perpetuity. The Minister
for Foreign Affairs replied: "It is for the event of neutrality
being violated."

(Signed) LALAING,

Belgium Minister in London.

_No. 40--Belgium appeals to the powers after the invasion of
Belgium._

Brussels, Aug. 4, 1914.

Monsieur le Ministre--The Belgium Government regrets to have to
announce to your Excellency that this morning the armed forces of
Germany penetrated into Belgian territory, violating the
engagements which they have undertaken by treaty.

The Belgian Government are firmly decided to resist by all means in
their power.

Belgium appeals to England, to France, and to Russia to co-operate
as guarantors in the defense of her territory.

There should be a concerted and common action, having as its object
to resist the measures of force employed by Germany against Belgium
and at the same time to guarantee the maintenance of the
independence and integrity of Belgium for the future.

Belgium is happy to be able to declare that she will undertake the
defense of the fortified places. I am, &c.,

(Signed) DAVIGNON,

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.

Where is to be found the alleged military convention said to have been concluded in 1906 with England? Where is the agreement said to have existed since 1906 between the Allies to force war on Germany? These documents clearly prove that such compact never existed.

The Belgian nation preferred ruin and death to the shameful perjury proposed to her by Germany. For this reason Germany has devastated and immersed in blood a peaceful little country. Today she seeks to rob her of honor, her only remaining treasure.

The official documents, the confessions of the German statesmen, the ruins of Louvain, Malines, Aerschot, Termonde, and of so many villages burned and razed to the ground, the blood of her children unjustly massacred are the testimonies which the Belgian people cites before the tribunal of public conscience. To this tribunal, without fear, the Belgian Nation confides the cause of her honor.

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BELGIUM'S ANSWER.

Transmitted to The London Times and Published Oct. 23.

The Times of Oct. 14 reproduces a long article from The North-German Gazette commenting on the discovery in the archives at Brussels of a map entitled "English Intervention in Belgium" and of a memorandum to the Belgian Minister of War which goes to prove that in the month of April, 1906, the Chief of the General Staff, on the suggestion of the British Military Attaché and with the approval of Gen. Grierson, had worked out a plan of co-operation between British expeditionary forces and the Belgian Army against Germany in the event of a Franco-German war. This agreement is assumed to have been preceded in all probability by a similar arrangement with the French General Staff.

The North-German Gazette also publishes certain passages of a report of the Belgian Minister at Berlin in December, 1911, relating to another plan of the Belgian General Staff, in which the measures to be taken in case of the violation of Belgian neutrality by Germany are discussed. Baron Greindl pointed out that this plan dealt only with the precautions to be taken in the event of an aggression on the part of Germany, while, owing to its geographical situation, Belgium might just as well be exposed to an attack by France and England. The North-German Gazette draws from this discovery the strange conclusion that England intended to drag Belgium into the war, and at one time contemplated the violation of Dutch neutrality.

We have only one regret to express on the subject of the disclosure of these documents, and that is that the publication of our military documents should be mangled and arranged in such a way as to give the reader the impression of duplicity on the part of England and adhesion by Belgium, in violation of her duties as a neutral State, to the policy of the Triple Entente. We ask the North-German Gazette to publish in full the result of its search among our secret documents. Therein will be found fresh and striking proof of the loyalty, correctness, and impartiality with which Belgium for 81 years has discharged her international obligations.

It was stated that Col. Barnardiston, the military representative at Brussels of a power guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium, at the time of the Algeciras crisis, questioned the Chief of the Belgian General Staff as to the measures which he had taken to prevent any violation of that neutrality. The Chief of the General Staff, at that time Lieut. Gen. Ducarne, replied that Belgium was ready to repel any invader. Did the conversation extend beyond these limits, and did Col. Barnardiston, in an interview of a private and confidential nature, disclose to Gen. Ducarne the plan of campaign which the British General Staff would have desired to follow if that neutrality were violated? We doubt it, but in any case we can solemnly assert, and it will be impossible to prove the contrary, that never has the King or his Government been invited, either directly or indirectly, to join the Triple Entente in the event of a Franco-German war. By their words and by their acts they have always shown such a firm attitude that any supposition that they could have departed from the strictest neutrality is eliminated a priori.

As for Baron Greindl's dispatch of Dec. 23, 1911, it dealt with a plan for the defense of Luxembourg, due to the personal initiative of the Chief of the First Section of the War Ministry. This plan was of an absolutely private character and had not been approved by the Minister of War. If this plan contemplated above all an attack by Germany, there is no cause for surprise, since the great German military writers, in particular T. Bernhardi, V. Schlivfeboch, and von der Goltz, spoke openly in their treatises on the coming war of the violation of Belgian territory by the German armies.

At the outbreak of hostilities the Imperial Government, through the mouth of the Chancellor and of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, did not search for vain pretexts for the aggression of which Belgium has been the victim. They justified it on the plea of military interests. Since then, in face of the universal reprobation which this odious action has excited, they have attempted to deceive public opinion by representing Belgium as bound already before the war to the Triple Entente. These intrigues will deceive nobody. They will recoil on the head of Germany. History will record that this power, after binding itself by treaty to defend the neutrality of Belgium, took the initiative in violating it, without even finding a pretext with which to justify itself.

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WHO BEGAN THE WAR, AND WHY?

ATROCITIES OF THE WAR

* * * * *

By Pope Pius X., Kaiser Wilhelm II., President Poincare, and King Albert of Belgium.

Official Message from Pope Pius X. at the Vatican, Aug. 2.

At this moment, when nearly the whole of Europe is being dragged
into the vortex of a most terrible war, with its present dangers
and miseries and the consequences to follow, the very thought of
which must strike every one with grief and horror, we whose care is
the life and welfare of so many citizens and peoples cannot but be
deeply moved and our heart wrung with the bitterest sorrow.

And in the midst of this universal confusion and peril we feel and
know that both Fatherly love and the Apostolic ministry demand of
us that we should with all earnestness turn the thoughts of
Christendom thither "whence cometh help"--to Christ, the Prince of
Peace, and the most powerful mediator between God and man.

We charge, therefore, the Catholics of the whole world to approach
the throne of Grace and Mercy, each and all of them, and more
especially the clergy, whose duty furthermore it will be to make in
every parish, as their Bishops shall direct, public supplication so
that the merciful God may, as it were, be wearied with the prayers
of His children and speedily remove the evil causes of war, giving
to them who rule to think the thoughts of peace and not of
affliction.

From the palace of the Vatican, the second day of August, 1914.

PIUS X. Pontifex Maximus.

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THE POPE'S DYING WORDS.

Pronounced by Pius X. at the Vatican, Aug. 20.

In ancient times the Pope, with a word, might have stayed the
slaughter. Now I am impotent and forced to see the spectacle of my
own children, even those who yesterday worked here with me, leaving
for the war and abandoning their cassocks and cowls for soldiers'
uniforms. Yesterday, although belonging to different nationalities,
we were here studying in sympathetic companionship. Now we are in
different fields, armed against each other and ready to take each
other's lives.

* * * * *

GERMAN KAISER'S PROTEST.

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.

WILHELM I. R.

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REPLY TO THE KAISER.

Made by President Wilson at Washington, Sept. 16.

I received your Imperial Majesty's important communication of the
7th and have read it with the gravest interest and concern. I am
honored that you should have turned to me for an impartial judgment
as the representative of a people truly disinterested as respects
the present war and truly desirous of knowing and accepting the
truth.

You will, I am sure, not expect me to say more. Presently, I pray
God very soon, this war will be over. The day of accounting will
then come, when I take it for granted the nations of Europe will
assemble to determine a settlement. Where wrongs have been
committed, their consequences and the relative responsibility
involved will be assessed.

The nations of the world have fortunately by agreement made a plan
for such a reckoning and settlement. What such a plan cannot
compass the opinion of mankind, the final arbiter in all such
matters, will supply. It would be unwise, it would be premature,
for a single Government, however fortunately separated from the
present struggle, it would even be inconsistent with the neutral
position of any nation which, like this, has no part in the
contest, to form or express a final judgment.

I speak thus frankly because I know that you will expect and wish
me to do so as one friend speaks to another, and because I feel
sure that such a reservation of judgment until the end of the war,
when all its events and circumstances can be seen in their entirety
and in their true relations, will commend itself to you as a true
expression of sincere neutrality.

WOODROW WILSON.

* * * * *

CHARGE AGAINST GERMANY.

President Poincare of the French Republic to President Wilson, Sept. 11.

Mr. President: I am informed that the German Government is
attempting to abuse your Excellency's good faith by alleging that
dumdum bullets are manufactured in French State workshops, and are
used by our soldiers. The calumny is nothing but an audacious
attempt to reverse the rôles. Germany has since the beginning of
the war employed dumdum bullets, and has daily committed violations
of the laws of nations.

On Aug. 18 and on several occasions since then we have had to
report crimes to your Excellency as well as to the powers signatory
to the Convention of The Hague. Germany, which was aware of our
protests, is now trying to deceive and to make use of pretexts and
lies in order to indulge in further acts of barbarity in the name
of right. Outraged civilization sends your Excellency an indignant
protest.

RAYMOND POINCARE.

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