At the time the first accusations of this kind were made the Belgian authorities had informed Germany that, conformably with the laws of war, they were fighting only with their regular troops (2nd _Grey Book_, Nos. 68, 69, 71). And they posted everywhere proclamations recommending the people to keep calm, forbidding civilians to take part in the fighting, and counselling the citizens to deliver their arms to the communal administrations (2nd _Grey Book_, No. 71). At the same time the principal daily papers repeated, day by day, on the first page and in large type, the text of these placards. These appeals were heard, and our compatriots, if they owned rifles, immediately took their arms to the _maisons communales_. Would you believe it, this measure of precaution was exploited against us! For later, when the Germans occupied our _hôtels de ville_, and discovered the presence of rifles, each ticketed with its owner's name, they pretended to have brought to light a proof of premeditation (_N.R.C._, 4th September, 1914, evening edition): "Look!--say the officers--with what care the Belgian authorities have prepared for the guerilla war! Each citizen has his rifle ready to hand at the _hôtel de ville_!" The soldiers must indeed have been ridden by the "fixed idea" of the "franc-tireur," or they must have realized the poltroonery of such suggestions! But the Germans made assertions much more extravagant than this. In Belgium repairs to buildings are effected with the assistance of scaffoldings suspended against the outer walls; and at the time of building the house openings are left immediately under the cornice, in which the cross-beams supporting the scaffolding are fixed when required. These openings are closed outwardly by some sort of decorative motive. Now, a German captain gives a detailed description of these arrangements, and arrives at the conclusion that these are _loopholes for francs-tireurs_! What a mentality for an officer! So fantastic an explanation evidently will not bear a moment's reflection; but that matters nothing; it is none the less reprinted by the work _Die Wahrheit über den Krieg_, to be served to the Germans remaining in the country. The authors of the statement know that their compatriots have lost the critical sense and that they are ready to accept, their eyes closed, and their minds also, anything that is told them. This example shows that while inciting the soldiers in order to bring them to the required pitch of irritation, the rulers of Germany are equally concerned to create a violent current of hatred in their own country. It was necessary, in fact, since there was nothing with which the Belgian nation could be reproached, and since nevertheless they were making war upon it, to invent a few serious motives of animosity.