* * *

Quite apart from any sentimental or moral reason, the last step was a
grave mistake, even from the German point of view. It would certainly
have paid the Germans better in the end if they had allowed the Allies
to send raw material to feed the Belgian factories, under the control of
neutral powers, and if they had not requisitioned the machines and
paralysed industry by the most absurd restrictions. It would have been a
most useful move from the point of view of propaganda, and, while posing
as Belgium's kind protectors, they might always have reaped the benefit
through fresh taxes and new contributions. If they have killed the goose
rather than gather its golden eggs it is because they could not afford
to wait. It was one of these desperate measures, like the violation of
Belgian neutrality, the ruthless use of Zeppelins and the sinking of the
Lusitania, which did them more harm than good. From the beginning
Germany has fought with a bad conscience, prompted in all her actions
more by the dread of being defeated than by the clear intention of
winning the game. The manifestation of such a spirit ought only to
encourage her enemies; they are the sure signs of a future breakdown. In
the meantime, they must cause infinite torture to the unfortunate
populations which are not yet delivered from her yoke.

During the first months of occupation the requisitions extended only to
foodstuffs, cattle, horses, fodder, in short, to objects which could be
used by the army. They were out of all proportion to the resources of
the country (Article 52 of the Hague Convention) and therefore
absolutely illegal, but they could still be considered as military
requisitions. In a most interesting article published in Smoller's
_Jahrbuch fuer Gesetzgebung Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft_, Professor
Karl Ballod admits that the requisitions made in Belgium and Northern
France have more than compensated for the harm caused by the Russian
invasion of East Prussia. Not only the army of occupation, but all the
troops concentrated on the northern sectors of the Western front, "three
million men," have been fed by the conquered provinces. Besides this,
Germany took from Belgium, at the beginning of the war, "more than
400,000 tons of meal and at least one million tons of other foodstuffs."

With Governor von Bissing's arrival the requisitions extended to
whatever raw material was needed in the Fatherland, and all pretence of
res