(iii.) That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German Army, that elaborate provision had been made for systematic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and that the burnings and destruction were frequent where no military necessity could be alleged, being indeed part of a system of general terrorization. (iv.) That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the wounded and prisoners, and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the white flag. _British Government Committee's Report._ [Illustration] _A CONFLICT OF TESTIMONY_ "_Sire, it's quite easy; for every witness who swears we've murdered innocent people we will produce two who will swear they did not see it_" All that I care to say about the Belgian charges is that I have officially informed the State Department in Washington that there is not one word of truth in the statements made to the President yesterday by the Belgian Commission. COUNT VON BERNSTORFF, _German Ambassador, at Washington, September 17._ [Illustration] _THE MOTHERS OF BELGIUM_ Christian mothers, be proud of your sons. Of all griefs, of all our human sorrows, yours is perhaps the most worthy of veneration. I think I behold you in your affliction. Suffer us to offer you not only our condolence, but our congratulation. Not all our heroes obtain temporal honors, but for all we expect the immortal crown of the elect. For this is the virtue of a single act of perfect charity--it cancels a whole lifetime of sins. It transforms a sinful man into a saint. CARDINAL MERCIER, _Archbishop of Malines_. [Illustration] _KREUZLAND, KREUZLAND ÜBER ALLES_ _"Where are our fathers?" Belgium, 1914_ [Illustration] _THE WIDOWS OF BELGIUM_ [Illustration] _FAMINE IN BELGIUM_ In Belgium I saw this: Homeless men, women, and children by thousands and hundreds of thousands. Many of them had been prosperous, a few had been wealthy, practically all had been comfortable. Now, with scarcely an exception, they stood all upon one common plane of misery. They had lost their homes, their farms, their workshops, their livings, and their means of making livings. I saw them tramping aimlessly along windswept, rain-washed roads, fleeing from burning and devastated villages. I saw them sleeping in open fields upon the miry earth, with no cover and no shelter. I saw them herded together in the towns and cities to which many of them ultimately fled, existing God alone knows how. I saw them--ragged, furtive scarecrows--prowling in the shattered ruins of their homes, seeking salvage where there was no salvage to be found. I saw them living like the beasts of the field, upon such things as the beasts of the field would reject.