WHO ARE THE HUNS?

German Administration in Belgium. 177
One proof of this is a speech made by the Belgian Deputy,
M. Franck, at Rosendaal, in which he enjoined his hearers to
return to their homes.
There is no doubt that the German Government is absolutely
justified in refusing to support the riff-raff, the loafers
who refuse to work, and lounge about the streets with hands
in their pockets. It is indeed even the duty of the government
to proceed thus, out of justice to its own people, which cannot
in reason, be placed in a worse position than the Belgian mob.
Countless reports and official communications regarding the
social and political, as well as the administrative and financial
plans and preparations of the German Government, plainly
attest the fact that all the duties imposed upon the occupying
power by Article 43 of the "Rules of Warfare by Land" are
being fulfilled in Belgium with the utmost thoroughness by the
Imperial Government. The Belgian people will soon realize
how shamefully they have been betrayed by their own government
and by the original instigator of their misfortunes, England.
They will soon realize the true significance of this so-called
German "militarism."
German power of organization, conscientiousness, good faith,
stand in place of that greed of power and tendency to oppression
which they had been falsely taught to fear. The errors of the
past will teach them to estimate rightly the prospects of the
future, and will serve to warn them against committing any
fresh follies. 1
1 Germany's support of the Belgian population is recognized by Mr.
Herbert Hoover, Chairman of the Belgian Relief Committee, who returned
to London after his trip through Belgium. The "Vaderland" cites the following
passages from the report published by him:
"The German army of occupation gives much more assistance to the
necessitous Belgians than might be reasonably expected from an army in
time of war. The larger portion of Belgian territory is occupied by the "Landsturm
regiments, whose officers and troops, having been torn from their
own domesticity, evidence much more sympathy than would many a professional
soldier. Many officers have been actively and even enthusiastically
engaged in distributing food supplies and other gifts. No customs duties
whatsoever have been levied upon any of the food supplies brought into Belgium
by the Commission. All contrary reports are mere inventions. The
army of occupation observes the terms of the agreement in the most scrupulous
fashion."
Muller, Who are the Huns? 12