No Migration from Belgium--Germany's War Tax
Levies--Irreconcilable--The Army--No Neutrality over Belgium.


Before Germany launched her thunderbolts of war, Belgium had an
industrious, frugal, hard-working, saving population of nearly
8,000,000 people. Of these, 450,000 are now refugees in Holland, where
the magnanimous Dutch are providing for them with no outside
assistance. Queen Wilhelmina declares, "These are our guests and we
will care for them." Nearly 30,000 Belgian troops have also been
interned in Holland. It was expected that they might leak out, but the
Dutch are stern in their present position of neutrality. They
understand their very existence depends upon it. Some of the interned
warriors attempted to escape, and six were shot by the Dutch. Nor will
they permit contraband articles of war to go through their country.
While the Dutch may sell their own supplies as they please, all imports
of rubber, copper, or petroleum must be accounted for, and their
reëxport to Germany is forbidden.

Germany also holds 30,000 Belgian soldiers as prisoners. England took
18,000 severely wounded Belgian soldiers into her hospitals, and 80,000
refugees are being there cared for largely by private enterprise. The
losses by the war are difficult of estimation. But at the present time
there are 7,000,000 people in Belgium, most of whom must be fed by the
outside world.

Belgium is the one nation from which the people have never migrated.
Beyond war there is only one power that can move the Belgians from
their soil, and that is the influence of the Church.