for plunder. A
shot fired, no one knows where, or by whom, or against whom, by a
drunken soldier, or an excited sentry, is enough to furnish a pretext
for the sack of a whole city. Individual plunder is succeeded by war
levies of a magnitude which it is impossible to satisfy and by the
taking of hostages who will be shot or kept in confinement until payment
of the ransom in full, according to the well-known procedure of classic
brigandage. It must also be stated that in order to establish the German
case all resistance offered by detachments of the regular army is laid
to the account of the civilian population, and that the invader
invariably avenges himself upon the civilians for the checks or even the
disappointments which he suffers in the course of the campaign.

In the course of this inquiry we use only facts supported by trustworthy
evidence. It should be noted that up to the present we have been able to
record only a small part of the crimes committed against law, humanity,
and civilization, which will constitute one of the most sinister and
most revolting pages in contemporary history. If an international
inquiry, like that which was conducted in the Balkans by the Carnegie
Commission, could be conducted in our country, we are convinced that it
would establish the truth of our assertions.

[Signed by M. Gooreman, Minister of State, President.]

* * * * *

"NOT A WORD OF TRUTH."

Denial of Belgian Charges by Count von Bernstorff, German Ambassador at
Washington, Sept. 17.

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.

* * * * *

GERMANY'S VERSIONS.

Official Dispatch from Berlin to German Embassy at Washington, Aug.
29.

In consequence of a sudden attack of Belgian troops from Antwerp the
German garrison at Louvain meets the enemy, leaving only one battalion
of the last reserve and army service corps in Louvain. Thinking that
this meant the retreat of the German troops, priests at Louvain gave
arms and ammunition to the civilians, who began, at different places,
suddenly to shoot out of windows at unsuspecting German troops, of whom
many were wounded. A fight of twenty-five hours between German soldiers
and the civil population of Louvai