A SAD DUCHESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 September 1915, Page 10

A SAD DUCHESS.

PLIGHT OF LUXEMBURG'S RULER. "MY COUNTRY STOLEN; MY PEOPLE STARVING." '•They have stolen my country. Like so many thieves they sneaked into my beautiful land, and ovornight they turned my flower gardens into open-air stables for their cavalry horses." She is only twenty-one years of age, this beautiful girl-ruler of Luxemburg, slender, handsome, unmarried, and with five younger sisters to take care of; the youngest, Sophie, is only thirteen years old; next, Elizabeth, fourteen; Antoinette, sixteen; Hilda, eighteen; and Charlotte, nineteen. And it is not easy to interview this Grand Duchess, "I must see yonr pass, Madame," demanded the German' officer guarding the Adolf Bridge. "I have lived in this country during the last twelve years, and I am a permanent resident of this country, I responded, surprised. "This country and. its population, one and all, are amonable to the German military law," shouted the German officer. "I have no pass," I responded. Then a huge and heavily gloved hand grasped my shoulder swung me round, and pushed me back towards the head of the bridge on the •> Luxemburg side. I returned to the Boulevard du Viaduc, passing the square called by the Luxemburgians the Place de la Constitution. On the cast of the Place Guillaume is seen the Palais Grand Ducal, a modest looking Renaissance building with two windows, a memorial of the Spanish occupation. This tasteful building was originally erected to be the capital for the Duchy, but later it became the administration building for the Grand Duchy.

THE UNWANTED GUARDS. Alongside of this mediaeval building (for it was oreeted in 1590) stands the Parliament building, called the Chamber des Deputes. Facing the Chamber des Deputes there is a handsome ontrance to tho Palais, and there stand two Prussian guards. Whenever anyone approaches this entrance, unless one can produce a satisfactory parchment, he or she faces two sharp-edged bayonets. "You must give me sufficient reason for your seeking an interview with her Highness." A pair of blad«s were levelled" at my breast. "But I have been her tutor,

• Then a slender girl rushes out of the gate towards me, totally ignoring the presence of the two unwanted guards, and holding out her arm, cried: "My dear old teacher! Do not allow these horrible creatures to frighten you." Saying this she took my arm, and between the two bayonets we passed on into the Palais, where in previous years I had the honour of teaching her little Higluiess her first French lessons. I had scarcely seated myself beside her when she broke out, with tears running down her checks, now crying, now sobbing, saying: "Not satisfied with destroying our beautiful scenery, they have also' stolen our public buildings, our local government, our post, our educational establishments, and they have forcibly taken charge of our railroad, for which we have spent more than 15,000,000 francs. They seized our telegraph system, and whenever my people protested too strongly, they arrested them and sent them to remote Prussian military prisons; more than two hundred of my leading citizei* have been sent out of f their country to Germany. My people, my once happy and prosperous people, are to-day poor and at the verge of starvation. Even I have to receive a permit from a Prussian officer before I can drive my own car on my own roads, in my own land. I must even get a permit from a Prussian officer before I can use the telephone which was established by our own funds. This is annexation; not annexation through conquest, but annexation through stealing.

ENVIES QUEEN OP THE BELGIANS. "The people of Belgium have reason to be proud of their great achievements in lighting tlie arrogant conqueror, but we loci wo were rubbed in the small hours of the night. Had we suspected the treaty-breaking intentions of the Prussians, we could have- rushed to arms. It' wc had had forty-eight hqurs' notice, we could have put at least 25,000 men on our eastern frontier. We are as big as Montenegro, and the country is as mountainous, but we had implicit faith in international law; and we -thought we were immune. For all practical purposes my country is annexed, and the misery of my people is deeper than that of Ihe Belgians: in addition, we hang our heads in shame before the world for not having fought the stealers of our country. ''l sincerely envy the Queen of the Belgians in her present position; for my present plight is more bitter than hers. They were cowards. For many years these Prussians have been plotting against my country in accordance with that general German plan. My country, with its 300,000 population,'has been harbouring hundreds of German spies, and when the appointed hour came these men turned out to be officers in the Imperial German armies. Even my two German drivers were disguised officersj and when that fateful first of August night had arrived they appeared in German uniforms.

"The Germans liud their outposts established everywhere in my country, und my unsuspecting people" had always treated these treacherous spies with the utmost consideration. They have published broadcast that I have received the Iron Cross from the German Emperor. It is not true. 1 have received a medal from the Red Cross officials. They have ill-j published that the Imperial German Government has compensated my people for the damage they have done to my beautiful land. That is also false. They cannot compensate the damage the 800,000 Germans have done to the scenery of my land, with money; and even then, they have only paid the paltry sum of 100,000 dollars for destroying hundreds of buildings 'for military reasons.' They seem to think that one can commit every imaginable sin and outrage 'for military reasons.' They never mention the fact that we have spent 300,000 dollars for our Red Cross in taking care of their wounded soldiers. And now my own people are starving, and they must beg their daily bresfd from the hands of their robbers."

POOR LUXEMBURG. The Luxemburgers are, indeed, starving, as her Highness charges; the former industrious, prosperous, peasantry, now all equally poor, cannot lay claim to their former belongings. Many of the Grand Duchy's leading citizens have been cast into prißon. Proud and once happy citizens and their childafcn can now be seen lined in the avenues begging for their daily bread, whereas only a short time ago they promenaded thi

same avenues prosperous and care-free. The working men who were formerly employed iu the tanneries, distilleries, breweries and wine groves are now working for the invader of their country; and instead of the wage they used to receive, they now receive meal-tickets entitling them to "KK" bread, and,iin rare Instances, to "K" bread, which is commonly known as "war bread." "K" bread consists of 50 per cent of rye, 30 per cent of potatoes, and 20 per cent of barley, oats and rice; while tho "KK" bread is made of 30 per cent of rye, 30 per cent, of chaff and 4Q per cent, of pig's blood. This is the compensation the poor people of Luxemburg are to-day receiving for the wanton violation of their neutrality. The entire Grand Duchy is one huge military camp, and every civilian therein is amenable to the will of the military chief.

For every civilian one meets on the streets, one meets two wounded soldiers. On the Boulevard du Viaduc you may see many children accosting young officers for centimes, while their elders timidly watch their little one 3 beg for a pittance for the price of a loaf of bread. In the Place de la Constitution the soldiers arc receiving their rations. Here and there you observe young children and old men and women, their trembling hands outstretched for a piece of bread. A German orderly comes along with a black whip in his hand. Tho inexperienced, the young as well as the feeble old beggars, are whipped out of range until they are scattered along the avenue. Alas! poor Luxemburg! And the little Grand Duchess, bereft of her liberty and her much loved country.—Retta Melinburg,, in the Record.