BELGIUM: Smearism

Belgium’s Fascist party, the Rexists, led by Léon Degrelle, frankly resorts to burglary and theft to obtain private papers with which to smear its opponents. Such tactics drove from office Premier Paul van Zeeland, although he later vindicated himself in the Belgian Parliament. By last week Rexists had turned their attention to Minister of Health Arthur Wauters.

With the aid of two letters they tried to prove that Minister Wauters was guilty of selling military planes and munitions to Spanish Leftists despite Belgian adherence to the Non-intervention Committee. Admittedly the two letters had been stolen from M. Wauters’ desk. In the chamber M. Wauters was able to prove: that the planes were three obsolete Fokkers of no military use, bought in August 1936, several months before M. Wauters was a Cabinet Minister, a week before Belgium entered the Non-intervention agreement, and 2) that the planes are still in Belgium.

Health Minister Wauters had hardly refuted this accusation when a Rexist Deputy swaggered up to Belgium’s present namby-pamby Premier Paul Emile Janson, and offered him a sealed envelope supposedly containing evidence for further charges against Wauters. At this new example of fascism turned smearism, the mild Premier for once showed spunk. “Did you, sir, steal these?” he shrilled. “And where?” Then he treated the Chamber to a denunciation of Rexist tactics, dramatically returned the unopened envelope to its purveyor.