Suit Length That the Netherlands Government should have. made representations to Great Britain relative to the trade reprisals planned against Germany in retaliation against the" German mine campaign, and that the Belgian Government may probably do the same thing need not have caused that surprise which it is reported is felt in certain circles in London. Those two neutrals are in a very difficult position, and the probability is that the representations, which have been or may be made, result from the enormous pressure which Germany is bringing to bear upon them. For some considerable time now, since the commencement of the war, large forces have been massed along the Belgian and Holland frontiers, warnings have been addressed to Brussels and The Hague by Germany concerning the quality of the neutrality, they are supposed to observe, and if if is found that in an endeavour to prevent themselves from being embroiled in this present struggle they may at some time or other seem te be leaning backward in their attempts to maintain the completest neutrality it need be no occasion for surprise. Such protests are not likely to influence the British decision to inflict reprisals upon the Reich for the institution of a ruthless form of warfare which is at the present moment inflicting just as much damage upon neutrals as it is upon the Allies, The decision to take action against Germany's export trade follows along lines similar to those in the last war, when the same action was ultimately resorted to, and it is only logical to expect that a nation which ignores all the conventions of war, conventions to which it has subscribed, should face the completest of reprisals which, it may be incidentally remarked, contrast in legality with the illegal behaviour of the nation against whom they are directed. In this connection the summing-up of the Belgian newspaper "Lo Peuple" can with aptness be quoted "Nobody doubted that war would be inconvenient for neutrals, but the British Navy does not sink neutral ships, or deliver their passengers and crews to the hazards of the sea."
The position of the British Government is clearly laid down in that sentence which has been quoted from Mr. Winston Churchill's "World Crisis," written before the war, and consequently somewhat of a forecast of what might happen. "It is for neutrals to recognize that it is not practically possible, nor in neutral interests, to claim the maintenance of a situation which would deprive naval strength of all rights, while permitting naval weakness to indulge in every abuse." It is not to be thought that the British Government ever contemplated the maintenance of a huge navy with the idea that it would willingly limit its lawful operations, and thereby discount all the advantages which a heavy outlay has secured, and so long as Great Britain pursues a policy utilizing to the full the advantages which she has acquired, but well within the canons of law and humanity, there can be no real grounds for justifiable protest. War is inconvenient for neutrals. But it is necessary for them to realize, as undoubtedly they do, that this struggle is not the choice of the Allies, but has been forced upon them by the overweening ambitions of Herr Hitler, which, if they fructify, will be to the enduring advantage of the neutrals of Europe. It is only by an Allied victory that they in their turn will be delivered from the menace that, one day or another, Herr Hitler will hold them at the pistol point, and order them to stand and deliver whatever he may fancy he wants. Every sympathy must be felt with the neutrals who find themselves in present difücult conditions, but it needs to be remembered that whether they are ultimately embroiled or not the Allies are fighting as much in neutral European interests as in their own. It is desirable as much for thd Allies, as it is for those nations which are doing their best to prevent in-valvement in this fight, that hostilities should be brought to as early a termination as possible, and that in favour of the former: To neglect a very obvious method of legally striking at Herr Hitler would be the height of foolishness, and the fact that Great Britain has not taken this decision earlier is not to be taken as any evidence of hesitation as to party organ "Vooruit" remarks with justice that "protests from neutrals to the British Government are certain to come, but protests should also be made against German methods." That has not up to the present eM put ao it must be emphasized even if Germany had not embarked upon this particular form An old and feeble lion, with his chamberlain the unicorn, decided to bring about the death of the eagle which disturbed the lion's dreams, The unicorn suggested that the fighting should be done by an elephant with a Scotch name, a trained fighting cock (Galle of course). Mickey Mouse, and a Jew. They then called in to advise them Saint Anthony, patron saint and protector of the Garden of Colonial Eden. But before they could get anything done, they all sickened and died of Churchillitis.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.