imprisoned.  There were few trains for Belgium or Switzerland.  Thousands and thousands who had to abandon their property rushed to the stations with wife and children, fought for room in the overcrowded trains, surrounded by a howling mob, and even then were punched and slapped by policemen.  During the trip there was nothing but misery.  Men and women fell ill, children died.  The refugees had to cross the Belgian boundary, walking a distance of six or seven kilometers in the middle of the night, dead tired, their luggage stolen—­sometimes, it is said, by officials.  In Belgium the same tragedy occurred as in France.  And then came the salvation.  The cordial, hospitable reception by the Germans in Holland and Switzerland is unanimously praised and appreciated.

The reports of brutal acts from Paris, Antwerp, Brussels, would be incredible were they not confirmed hundredfold.  The most brutal and insulting threats of death were flung by processions of people going through the streets to all those who looked like foreigners.  They were severely ill-treated.  Houses and stores were upset, furniture and the like were thrown into the streets, employers and working people were dragged out, women were stripped and pushed through the streets, children were thrown out of windows.  Knives, swords, sticks and revolvers were used.  One could fill books with the details, but they are all equally cruel.  Not only Germans and Austrians were expelled and ill-treated, but citizens of neutral States shared this awful lot.  Thousands of Italians were expelled, as well as numerous Rumanians.  The press in both countries complains bitterly and asks what has become of those who remained in France and were imprisoned in the south—­but nobody knows.

History will place this ill-treatment and oppression of foreigners on record.  The responsibility rests, not with an uncontrollable mob, but with the Government and the authorities of the two countries who have always boasted of their culture.

* * * * *

COMMERCE AND TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN GERMANY AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Germany’s financial rise since 1870—­Export and import with the United States of America—­The present firm condition of German finance.

Politicians and commercial men must base their plans upon facts, as they are and not as they wish they were, otherwise they fail.  France has closed its eyes not only to the great intellectual and moral assists of Germany but also to its commercial resources.

France has repeatedly declared that Germany could not effect a serious political opposition, because a war would result in the ruin of its commercial and financial strength.  This we heard in the Morocco crisis, also in the Balkan wars.  Germany’s love of peace which was tested in the above-mentioned cases strengthened the French in their error.  He, however, who has taken the trouble to visit Germany and the Germans in their places of employment—­and especially Americans in recent years have done this, however, also many Englishmen, who in vain have protested against the war with Germany—­he can testify to the astonishing commercial advancement which Germany has made since its political union by Bismarck.