passed back and forth across it--German, Belgian, English, and
French--but I think you have seen that only in the paths of these armies
has the countryside suffered. Where engagements were not fought or shots
fired, Belgium is as it was.

"There has been no systematic devastation for the purpose of
intimidating the people. You will learn this if you go all over Belgium.
As for the cities, we are doing the best we can to encourage business.
Of course, with things the way they are now, it is difficult. I can only
ask you to go down one of the principal business streets here, the Rue
de la Neuf, for instance, and price the articles that you find in the
shops and compare them with the Berlin prices. The merchants of Brussels
are not having to sacrifice their stock by cutting prices, and, equally
important, there are people buying. I can unhesitatingly say that things
are progressing favorably in Belgium."

The conversation turned upon Belgian and English relations before this
war. The Governor General mentioned documentary evidence found in the
archives in Brussels, proving an understanding between these countries
against Germany. He spoke briefly about the point that the subjects of
King Albert had been betrayed into the hands of English financiers and
then laconically said: "The people of Belgium are politically
undisciplined children.

"They are the victims of subtle propaganda that generally takes the form
of articles in French and neutral newspapers," and General von Bissing
looked me straight in the eyes, as though to emphasize that by neutral
he meant the newspapers of the United States. "I can understand the
French doing this," he said, "because they always use the Belgians and
do not care what happens to them. It is beyond my comprehension, though,