4. Later decrees of seizure cover materials overlooked in these.
STRIPPING BELGIUM OF METALS
Every scrap of metal in the conquered countries that could possibly be seized has been confiscated. The ordinance below is given as an example of the thoroughness of the system of requisitions. The prices to be paid were entirely too low, and the sixth section shows that the owners were not expected to part with their property willingly. The ordinance was issued at Brussels Dec. 13, 1916:
SECTION I. The following designated objects are hereby seized and must be delivered.
SECTION II. Movable and fixed household articles made of copper, tin, nickel, brass, bronze or tombac, whatever their state:
1. Kitchen utensils, metal ware, and household utensils, except cutlery.
2. Wash basins, bathtubs, warm-water heaters and reservoirs.
3. Individual or firm name plates in and on the houses, doorknobs, knockers, and metal decorations on doors and carriages not necessary for locking.
4. Curtain rods and holders and stair carpet fixtures.
5. Scales.
6. All other household articles or adornments made of tin.
The articles included under the numerals 1-6 are subject to seizure and delivery even when not contained in households in the narrow sense, but in other inhabited or uninhabited buildings and rooms, (e. g., offices of authorities, office rooms in factories and entries.)
SECTION III. Exempt from seizure and delivery:
1. Articles on and in churches and other buildings and rooms dedicated to religious services.
2. Articles in hospitals and clinics, as well as in the private offices of physicians, apothecaries, and healers, so far as these articles are essential to the care of the sick or the practice of medicine and cannot be replaced.
3. Articles in public buildings.
4. Articles which are part of commercial or industrial stores either designated for sale or useful in the business. For these articles a special decree is enacted.[3]
SECTION IV. Procedure of seizure is as follows:
All alteration of the articles subject to seizure is forbidden. All judicial disposition or change of ownership is interdicted, except in so far as the following paragraphs permit.
SECTION V. Obligation to Deliver. The delivery of the seized articles must be made at the time and places designated by the Division of Trade and Industry; it can also be made before the requisition at the Zentral-Einkaufsgesellschaft for Belgium. Upon delivery the ownership of the articles is vested in the German Military Administration.
Articles of artistic or historic value, if so recognized by the Bureau of Delivery, need not be delivered.
The Bureau of Delivery may, for unusual cause, grant exemptions from delivery.
SECTION VI. Indemnity. The following prices will be paid for the delivered articles:
Francs. Copper, per kilo 4.00 Tin 7.50 Nickel 13.00 Brass 3.00 Bronze 3.00 Tombac 3.00 In arranging the weight, seizures of nondesignated materials will not be included.
The payment will take place on the basis of the estimate made by the Bureau of Delivery. Payment will be made to the deliverer without question of his ownership.
If the deliverer refuses to accept the payment he will be given a receipt, and the determination of the indemnity in this case will follow through the Reichsentschädigungskommission according to the rules in force.
SECTION VII. Persons and Corporations Affected by This Decree:
1. House owners, inhabitants and heads of establishments.
2. Persons, associations, and corporations of a private or public nature whose buildings or rooms contain articles enumerated in Section 2.
To this group, furthermore, belong also State, Church, and community business and industrial establishments, including business, industrial, and office buildings in the ownership, possession, or guardianship of military and civil authorities. For buildings abandoned or not occupied by their owners or inhabitants, the communal authorities are responsible for the execution of this decree. The district commanders are authorized to furnish further instructions to the communities in this case. If dwelling houses are occupied as quarters by German military or civil authorities the execution of this order rests upon the military authorities concerned.
SECTION VIII. Confiscation. [Failure to comply with the provisions of the decree entails confiscation.]
SECTION IX. Co-operation of Communities. [Local authorities ordered to co-operate in execution of this order.]
SECTION X. Certificates of Exemption. [Verwaltungschef empowered to issue certificates of exemption.]
SECTION XI. Punishment for Violations. Any one who intentionally or through gross negligence violates the present decree or supplementary regulations will be punished with imprisonment not to exceed two years or a fine not to exceed 20,000 marks, or both. Any one who urges or incites others to violate the present decree or its supplementary regulations will be punished in like manner, unless he has incurred graver punishment under the general law. The attempt is punishable. Military courts and military authorities are empowered to try cases. (From "German Legislation," &c., Vol. IX., pp. 398-394.)
| Francs. | |
| Copper, per kilo | 4.00 |
| Tin | 7.50 |
| Nickel | 13.00 |
| Brass | 3.00 |
| Bronze | 3.00 |
| Tombac | 3.00 |
Some industries which were not directly useful to the Germans were at first allowed to resume work in whole or in part, for the Government did not wish to cut off all sources of the enormous indemnities which it was levying upon towns and individuals. But the rival manufacturers in Germany objected angrily against this policy. Thus Dr. Goetze, head of the German Glassmakers' Union, wrote in the Wirtschaftzeitung der Zentralmächte, Nov. 10, 1916:
It has become vital to the German manufacturers of glass wares that the Belgian manufacturers should be stopped from going to neutral markets, and it must be admitted that the German Civil Administration has fully recognized the necessity of arranging this matter according to the demands of the German industry, and that it has taken suitable action. [In spite of this some Belgian shops were able to do some exporting and had affected the market price.] Measures must be taken to stop this. For this reason the factories of Central and Eastern Germany, which are most directly concerned, have secured the promulgation of an order stopping importation, transit, and exportation. * * * We must demand that the German Civil Administration of Belgium should first of all look out for the protection of the interests of the German industry.
In addition to securing the aid of the German Government in ruining Belgian industries which competed with them, German manufacturers have also been aided by the German Government in obtaining Belgian trade secrets. For example, Dr. Bronnert secured a permit from the War Ministry to visit the factory at Obourg for making artificial silk. He took full notes of all that he could learn when he visited it, on Dec. 9, 1916, and carried away designs and parts of the machinery. Dr. Bronnert is a director of a German factory for making artificial silk which competes with the Belgian factory. (From the "Informations Belges," No. 307.)
HAGUE REGULATIONS FLOUTED
When Belgium attempted to protest against the illegal requisitions, citing The Hague regulations, they received answers such as the following, which was read to the Municipal Council and notables of the town of Halluin, June 30, 1915: