It is said that the tree must be judged by its fruit.  Such then is the fruit of the German administration of Belgium.  When he arrived in Brussels, Governor von Bissing declared that he had come to dress Belgium’s wounds.  What would he have done if he had meant to aggravate them?

There is an insidious argument which must be met once and for ever.  We have seen how Germany is trying to throw the responsibility for the misery prevailing in Belgium and for the present deportations on the English blockade, which paralyses the industry and prevents the introduction of raw materials.  But, if this were the case, the situation ought not to be worse in Belgium than in Germany.  On the contrary, thanks to the splendid work of the Commission for Relief, she ought to be far better off.  How is it then that—­according to General von Bissing’s own declaration made to Mr. Julius Wertheimer, correspondent of the Vossische Zeitung (September the 1st, 1916)—­how is it that “the average cost of life is much higher in Belgium than in Germany,” and that “a great number of inhabitants (tens of thousands of them) have not eaten a piece of meat for many weeks?”

This inequality between the social conditions in Germany and in Belgium, in spite of the advantages given to the latter by the introduction of food through the blockade with England’s consent, can easily be explained:  On the one hand, German industry has transformed itself, many factories which could not continue their ordinary work owing to the shortage of rawstuffs having been turned into war-factories in which there is still a great demand for labour.  On the other hand, Germany has not been submitted to the same levies in money, and requisitions in foodstuffs and material; Germany has not been deprived, from the beginning, of all her reserve, she has not been depleted of all her stock.

We shall have to deal, in the next chapter, with the first question.  Let us only consider the second here.

It is impossible to give more than a superficial glance at the matter.  The particulars at hand are not complete and a full list of German exactions has not yet been drawn up.  Let us, however, try to give an idea of the disproportion existing between the country’s resources and the demands which were made on her.

On December 12th, 1914, a poster announced to the citizens of Brussels that the nine Belgian provinces would be obliged to pay, every month during the coming year, a sum of forty million francs, making a total of about 480 millions (over 19 million pounds).  In order to understand the indignation caused by this announcement it is necessary to remember: 

1st.  That the Belgians were at the time already paying all the ordinary taxes, to the commune, to the province and to the State, so that this new contribution constituted a super-tax.

2nd.  That all the direct taxes paid to the State, in ordinary times, amount scarcely to 75 millions, that is to say, to a sixth of this contribution.