ility of speaking on behalf of the population which has to
submit to the enemy's rule and whose sufferings increase every day? ..."

We have all listened to that voice. The Belgians in exile more intensely
perhaps than the other Allies. Belgium had nothing whatever to do with
the origin of the quarrel. She had nothing to gain from its conclusion.
She had been drawn unwillingly into the conflict. She has taken arms
merely to defend her rights and territory. What should her answer be if
Germany offered to restore them?

* * * * *

At the beginning of August last, a certain number of Socialist leaders,
in occupied Belgium, succeeded in arranging a meeting, in spite of
German regulations, and passed the following resolution, which they sent
to the Minister Vandervelde, in London: "The Belgian working classes are
decided to endure all sufferings rather than to accept a German peace,
which could neither be lasting nor final. The Allies must not think that
they must hasten the conclusion of the struggle for us. We are not
asking for peace, and we take no responsibility for the Socialist
manifestations made in neutral countries on our behalf. _We ask those
who want to help us not to let the idea that we long for peace influence
their decisions_. We pass this resolution in order to prevent the
disastrous effect, which such an argument might produce."

The Belgium people has never departed from this attitude, and it is the
plain duty of all those who are defending them, to conform, in the
spirit and in the letter, to their heroic message. In the "Appeal" of
the Belgian workers to the civilised world, sent during the worst period
of the slave-raids, the idea of a truce is not even entertained. On the
contrary, the workers declare that, "whatever their tortures may be,
they will not have peace without the independence of their country and
the triumph of justice." An eye-witness of the raids was telling me, a
few days ago, that, on some occasions, the men in the slave trains are
able to communicate with the people outside: "They shout, of course,
'Long live Belgium' and 'Long live King Albert,' but the most frequent
cry, in which they seem to put their last ounce of strength, is: 'Do
not sign,' which means: 'Do not sign an engagement to work in Germany,
do not sign a compromise.'" And I have not the slightest doubt that, if
they had heard of the German peace offers, they would still shout, "Do
not s