Belgian neutrality, the ruthless use of Zeppelins and the sinking of the
Lusitania, which did them more harm than good. From the beginning
Germany has fought with a bad conscience, prompted in all her actions
more by the dread of being defeated than by the clear intention of
winning the game. The manifestation of such a spirit ought only to
encourage her enemies; they are the sure signs of a future breakdown. In
the meantime, they must cause infinite torture to the unfortunate
populations which are not yet delivered from her yoke.

During the first months of occupation the requisitions extended only to
foodstuffs, cattle, horses, fodder, in short, to objects which could be
used by the army. They were out of all proportion to the resources of
the country (Article 52 of the Hague Convention) and therefore
absolutely illegal, but they could still be considered as military
requisitions. In a most interesting article published in Smoller's
_Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft_, Professor
Karl Ballod admits that the requisitions made in Belgium and Northern
France have more than compensated for the harm caused by the Russian
invasion of East Prussia. Not only the army of occupation, but all the
troops concentrated on the northern sectors of the Western front, "three
million men," have been fed by the conquered provinces. Besides this,
Germany took from Belgium, at the beginning of the war, "more than
400,000 tons of meal and at least one million tons of other foodstuffs."

With Governor von Bissing's arrival the requisitions extended to
whatever raw material was needed in the Fatherland, and all pretence of
respecting the Hague Convention (Article 49) ceased forthwith: One after
another the stocks of raw cotton, of wool, of nickel, of jute, of
copper, were seized and conveyed to Germany. The administration seized,
in the same way, all the machines which could be employed, beyond the