abour. On the other hand, Germany has
not been submitted to the same levies in money, and requisitions in
foodstuffs and material; Germany has not been deprived, from the
beginning, of all her reserve, she has not been depleted of all her
stock.

We shall have to deal, in the next chapter, with the first question. Let
us only consider the second here.

It is impossible to give more than a superficial glance at the matter.
The particulars at hand are not complete and a full list of German
exactions has not yet been drawn up. Let us, however, try to give an
idea of the disproportion existing between the country's resources and
the demands which were made on her.

On December 12th, 1914, a poster announced to the citizens of Brussels
that the nine Belgian provinces would be obliged to pay, every month
during the coming year, a sum of forty million francs, making a total of
about 480 millions (over 19 million pounds). In order to understand the
indignation caused by this announcement it is necessary to remember:

1st. That the Belgians were at the time already paying all the ordinary
taxes, to the commune, to the province and to the State, so that this
new contribution constituted a super-tax.

2nd. That all the direct taxes paid to the State, in ordinary times,
amount scarcely to 75 millions, that is to say, to a sixth of this
contribution.

3rd. And that the new economic conditions imposed by the war had
considerably reduced the income of the most wealthy citizens.

As the Germans persist in invoking the text of the Hague Convention of
which they have again and again violated every clause, it may be useful
to point out that, according to the 49th article, the occupying power is
only allowed to raise war contributions "for the need of the army," that
is to say, in order to pay in money the requisitions which he is obliged
to make in order to supply the army of occupation with food, fodder, and
so on. As, most of the time, the Germans only pay for what they
requisition in "_bons de guerre_" payable after the war, and as, in spite
of their sound appetite, we can scarcely believe that the few thousand
"landsturmers" who are garrisoning Belgium are eating two million
pounds worth a month, the illegal character of the German measure seems
evident. Besides, if any doubt were still possible, we should find it
laid down in the 52nd article that any service required from the
occupying power must be "in proportion to the cou