M. de Sadeleer, Leader of the Conservative Party;
M. Pau Hemans, Leader of the Liberal Party;
M. Emile Van der Velde, Leader of the Socialist Party.
All these men are Belgian Ministers of State, and were accompanied by Count de Lichtervelde, who acted as Secretary to the Mission.
The members of this Mission first came to London to present an Address to the King. On the evening of the day these gentlemen were received by His Majesty, and later by Sir Edward Grey, I had the privilege of a private interview with them.
I had a long talk with M. Carton de Wiart, during which he unfolded to me many frightful details, and
“These abominable crimes against humanity and civilization call for condign reprobation in the face of the civilized world… Let us hear no more whining about German ‘culture.’ But let us make it known that we will make the world ring with our sense of horror.” —Frederic Harrison.
explained the reason for the appointment of a committee of inquiry. He described to me scenes he himself had witnessed. He laid stress upon the bombardment and destruction of open towns – that is, towns unprotected and undefended by any military works – such as Malines and Louvain; while Antwerp, being a fortified place, ought to have had twenty-four hours’ notice given to its inhabitants before it was attacked with bombs, yet no such notice was given. On the contrary, attacks by Zeppelins had been made without warning in the dead of night. He also described to me the atrocities committed by the Germans in the bombardment and setting fire to small villages without any military reason or necessity whatever. He related harrowing details of the massacre of perfectly innocent people, non-combatants, men, women, and children.
He showed me a letter from a person of repute in Belgium who had motored from Brussels to Louvain by the Tervueren road, in which I read: “After I got to a village named Veerde St. George I saw only burning villages; peasants beside themselves with terror threw up their arms in sign of submission on my approach. When I got to Louvain I found the whole town in ruins, and soldiers were still piling straw against buildings which had escaped the flames and igniting them.”
The mass of documents which the Mission were carrying to America, he informed me, were all signed statements of persons who had been eye-witnesses of the atrocities, as well as those of many who had suffered.
In a chat I also had with M. Emile Van der Velde, another member of the Delegation and the leader of the Belgian Socialists, he said: “I went to Malines after the fighting, in order to investigate the state of affairs. I found only eight Belgian people in the town, but even then the Germans were bombarding the deserted houses, apparently with the sole object of destroying them. The whole object of the Germans,” he added, “had been to create such a reign of terror that the whole population of Belgium should flee into Antwerp, and so render it impossible for the people congregated there to be fed. I myself examined the bodies of a peasant and his son which had been cut to pieces by bayonet thrusts.”
Another member of the Delegation told me that he had learned from several wounded persons how a druggist living near Tirlemont, on refusing to act as guide to the Uhlans, was shot three times and then bayoneted; and further, in the same hospital, wounded soldiers had told him how that while lying upon the battlefield many had been bayoneted or shot.
The Delegation had, earlier in the day on which I had this interview with them, presented an Address to His Majesty at Buckingham Palace, the text of which has been published. It ran: —
“Sire, – Belgium, having had to choose between the sacrifice of her honour and the peril of war, did not hesitate. She opposed the brutal aggression committed by a Power which was one of the guarantors of her neutrality.
“In this critical situation it was for our country an inestimable tower of strength to see coming forth the resolute and immediate intervention by great and powerful England.
“Commissioned by His Majesty the King of the Belgians with a Mission to the President of the United States, we have considered it to be our duty to make a stay in the capital of the British Empire to convey to your Majesty the respectful and ardent expression of gratitude of the Belgian nation…
“Our adversary, after invading our territory, has decimated the civil population, massacred women and children, carried into captivity inoffensive peasants, put to death wounded, destroyed undefended towns, burned churches, historical monuments, and the famous library of the University of Louvain. All these facts are established by authenticated documents. Each we shall have the honour of submitting to the Government of your Majesty.
“In spite of all this suffering in Belgium, which has been made the personification of outraged right, the country is resolute in fulfilling to the utmost her duties towards Europe. Whatever may happen, she must defend her existence, her honour, and her liberty.”
The King, in reply, said that he would support Belgium, and expressed his horror at the shocking report of German brutality.
The delegation was subsequently received by Sir Edward Grey at the Foreign Office, where they outlined some of the violations of international law and of humanity committed by Germany, viz.: —
1. Violation of Belgium’s neutrality.
2. Taking of several millions of francs from the private National Bank at Liége and Hasselt.
3. Bombardment of the open towns of Louvain and Malines and the bombardment of Antwerp at night by airship without the twenty-four hours’ notice due in international law to the inhabitants of a fortified town.
4. Bombardment and burning of villages and the massacre of non-combatant inhabitants, including women and children.
III
“The Belgian Minister has made the following statement: —
“In spite of solemn assurances of good will and long-standing treaty obligations, Germany has made a sudden savage and utterly unwarranted attack on Belgium.
“However sorely pressed she may be, Belgium will never fight unfairly and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs of legitimate warfare. She is putting up a brave fight against overwhelming odds; she may be beaten, she may be crushed, but, to quote our noble King’s words, ‘She will never be enslaved.’
“When German troops invaded our country, the Belgian Government issued public statements, which were placarded in every town, village, and hamlet, warning all civilians to abstain scrupulously from hostile acts against the enemy’s troops. The Belgian Press daily published similar notices broadcast through the land. Nevertheless, the German authorities have issued lately statements containing grave imputations against the attitude of the Belgian civilian population, threatening us at the same time with dire reprisals. These imputations are contrary to the real facts of the case, and as to threats of further vengeance, no menace of odious reprisals on the part of the German troops will deter the Belgian Government from protesting before the civilized world against the fearful and atrocious crimes committed wilfully and deliberately by the invading hosts against helpless non-combatants, old men, women, and children.
“Long is the list of outrages committed by the German troops and appalling the details of atrocities, as vouched for by the Committee of Inquiry recently formed by the Belgian Minister of Justice and presided over by him. This committee comprises the highest judicial and University authorities of Belgium, such as Chief Justice Van Iseghem, Judge Nys, Professors Cottier, Wodon, etc.
“The following instances and particulars have been established by careful investigations, based in each case on the evidence of reliable eye-witnesses: —
“German cavalry occupying the village of Linsmeau were attacked by some Belgian infantry and two gendarmes. A German officer was killed by our troops during the fight and subsequently buried at the request of the Belgian officer in