I see no reason why these should not be used in evidence against them,
or why they should not be hanged as murderers when they fall into the
hands of the Allies. The policy is idiotic from a military point of
view; one could conceive nothing which would stimulate and harden
national resistance more surely than such petty irritations. But it is
a murderous innovation in the laws of war, and unless it is sternly
repressed it will establish a most sinister precedent for the future.
As to the treatment of Belgium, what has it been but murder, murder all
the way? From the first days of Vise, when it was officially stated that
an example of "frightfulness" was desired, until the present moment,
when the terrified population has rushed from the country and thrown
itself upon the charity and protection of its neighbors, there has been
no break in the record. Compare the story with that of the occupation of
the South of France by Wellington in 1813, when no one was injured,
nothing was taken without full payment, and the villagers fraternized
with the troops. What a relapse of civilization is here! From Vise to
Louvain, Louvain to Aerschot, Aerschot to Malines and Termonde, the
policy of murder never fails.
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