File No. 763.72119/2524
The Belgian Minister (
De Cartier) to
the Secretary of State
Washington,
November 2, 1918.
My Dear Mr. Secretary: Following on our
conversation of last night, I herewith beg to submit to your earnest
consideration a short memorandum which I have received from my
Government on November 1.
From the contents of this memorandum it seems that the wanton
destructions already executed or in preparation were deliberately
planned in violation of the promise given by Germany in her note to
President Wilson of October
20.1 The fact that the telegram sent by the Spanish
Minister at Brussels on October 26 was only delivered to the Spanish
Legation at The Hague on the 30th would seem to confirm this view.
I beg to remain [etc.]
[Page 790]
[Enclosure]
The Belgian Foreign
Office to the Belgian
Legation
On October 26, the Spanish Minister at Brussels sent a telegram to
the Spanish Minister at The Hague, reporting new acts of destruction
by the Germans in Belgium. According to these informations the
German military authorities, on October 25, issued an order to the
directors of coal mines in the Province of Hainaut, to the effect
that all men and animals, then in the pits, should be brought up.
All raw materials still in possession of the companies are also to
be delivered to the Germans. Furthermore, the Spanish Minister at
Brussels received information, on the 26th, of an even graver
character, according to which all coal mines in Belgium should be
destroyed. The blowing up of these by dynamite must have begun at
Hornu and Wasmes (Borinage) on the 26th at 10 o’clock.
The Belgian Government has been requested by Mr.
Francqui and other Belgian notabilities to
take action in the matter in order to avoid a national disaster.
The Spanish Minister at Brussels lodged a protest with the German
civil authorities who seem disposed to examine the protest. The
German Political Department at Brussels is likely to have
communicated on the subject with army headquarters.
