of the
Antoing district--another Major, by the way--are invaluable. But they
will never become Generals unless they mend their manners.

From the perusal of the Belgian protests and of all particulars
received, two things appear clearly: First, in spite of all the official
declarations, whether the raiders are able or not to get hold of the
lists, there is no real discrimination between employed or unemployed.
And, secondly, in many districts, unemployment has been deliberately
created by the authorities in order to justify the deportations.

We cannot discover any method in the raids. In some places, all the
able-bodied men from 17 to 50 are taken away; in others the priests, the
town-clerks, the members of the "Comite de Secours," and the teachers
are left at home; in others still a certain selection is made. _But
everywhere some men who were actually working at the time or even men
who had never been out of work since the beginning of the German
occupation have been obliged to go with the others_. The proportions
vary. In the small town of Gembloux, of a total of 750 inhabitants
deported, _there were only two unemployed_. At Kersbeek-Miscom out of 94
deportees only two had been thrown out of work. At Rillaer, the Germans
have taken 25 boys under 18 years of age.[6] In the district of Mons,
from the numbers taken down in fourteen communes, we gather that the
proportion of the unemployed varies between 10 and 15 per cent. of the
total number of deportees.[7] Among the 400 men taken from Arlon
(Luxembourg) were 43 members of the "Comite de Secours" who were working
in connection with the Commission for Relief, so that not only the
people supporting their families are being deported, but even those who
employed themselves in alleviating the sufferings of the whole
population. This practice has been repeated in several other towns, for
instance, in Gembloux and Libramont.

Whether the people are ordered to present themselves at the town-hall or
seized in their own homes, whether they are taken forthwith or allowed a
few hours to prepare themselves, whether they are forced to sign an
agreement or not, the same fact is evident: the criterion of employment
is never considered as a sufficient cause for exemption.

In certain districts where, in spite of the requisitions, no
unemployment existed, the authorities have manufactured it. Some of the
new coal mines of the Limbourg province have been closed on the eve of
the ra