New-York tribune., 1914-08-04
SIR EDWARD GREY DETAILS
LINES OF BRITISH POLICY

ror5op. Aug. 3.-Great Britain mas
,,obi61ed her forces and aWdl'S
events. Tonight she is not oeiuse'
crt mower. nor is she a neutral one
Tho Government has given tfa"S%
.ssurancc that the British heet VIII
80, hermit the German fleet to attack
tho French coast. IL mas hoV
Dicdced itself to contribute an army
20 the Continental war.
Tho British government regasCs
with the deepest distrust GermahE
violation Of Belgium's neutrahty' Du.
males no declaration as to whether u
considers that measure provocauoh Ior
war. ...,,,,,,t
This pronouncemcnt OF government
ro1;cv-the result Of two days almost
continuous deliberations-WSs naue li11O...,'' ~
the House Of Commons this AFTERNOON
Inv Sir Edward Grey, Secretary o.
state for Foreign Affairs.
Appeals for Calmness.
Sir Edward requested the House 10
deal with the issue before 1t Withou'
passion. and added: ,,b-
"When the documents are mace puO
lie il will be seen how genulnely anu
wholeheartcdly we have maoe eHoi 70 ~
preserve the peace" co4
p-;,o;,,'s obl;oations. Sir Edward said;
al, 20 Yesterday we had given no
,ro,nisc Of more than diplomatic sup
mort | was asked at the time oil inc
hIceciras crisis il we would give armeu
support. and said l could pIomise
notbinc 10 any foreign power unless ~
received the wholehearted support oi
public opinion .o1d botb
al gave no promise, but ! tolu po.n l
the French and German aInpassauUht'
tbat IL war was forced on france pun,
lie opinion in the BRUSH Isles
srally 70 France. .o;,,ed
with oud cheering.
Assurances from France.
Sir Edward Grey then told the House
that he had "given France the aSsu'
snce that il the German feet came lhVo
a. pnglish Channel or through the
North Sea TO undertake hostile opera
tons against the French coast or shlp,,
rinr Inc British feet would give an
he nrotection in its power lie aodeu
,ba+ IL a foreign feet came down the
Enclisb Channel to lombard the Freneh
coss+ 1--WE could not stand ASIDE
The Foreign Secretary stated !has
.ho British fleet had been moDlllZee
and that the mobilization OF the brl'lSn
army was taking place. lie contlhueu et'l.
"The French feet is IN the Meui'ei :
rsnean and the northern coasts %
France are defenceless. IL IoreIgl
Acct engaged in war against Flane1
should come down and battle sgalhs. .
49, defenceless coasts we could not
stand aside. A.. ,7..,oo ,,.ss
entitled to know at once whether IN the5
oxent Of an attack on her unprotected
coasts she could rely on our sup
port.
TO Protect French Coast.
"T cave the engagement TO the
T-oncb Ambassador last night that II
the German feet goes into the English
Channel or into the North Sea TO at
tack French chipping or the freneh
coast the British feet will give all the
protection in its power:
"That answer is subject to the 1p-
proval Of Parliament. 1t is not dec
laration Of war.
81 understand that the German gov
ernment would be prepared II We
would pledge ourselves 70 neutraAt'
10 agree that lis fleet would not attack
the northern coast Of France.
"That is far too narrow an engage
ment." 49,.
Inc mouse bIOhe INV N"NNiN "N N'-'
remark. ~.
history of the Belgian neutrality, say
ing:
il was in 1870. We cannot take less
serious view of our obligations no"
than did the late Mr.. Gladstone ~
when mobilization began tele
cr.nhed 10 both the French and th'
German governments asking whether
tbcv would respect Belgian neutrality
France replied that she was prepare'
20 do so unless another power vlolate'
that neutrality.
Had to Consult Kaiser.
"Tbe German Foreign Secretary .e
,l;od that he could not possibly give 9
resnonse before consulting the lmpe'
rial Chancellor and the German Em'
ncror. He intimated that he douo:ed
whether IL would be possible to giy;
an answer because that answer Wo'lo
disclose the German plans.
1--WE were sounded last week as "a
whether il Belgian neutrality were rS,
stored after the war 1t would paciiy
US. and we replied that we could no'
barter our interests or our oOi'SA'
tions."
Another burst of cheering greeted
this declaration.
Sir Edward Grey then read tele-
gram from the King Of the Belgians 70
King George making a supreme appear
for Diplomatic intervention TO sate-
guard the independence Of Belgium.
In other parts of his speech Sir Ed
ward Grey said:
"The Intervention with Germany IN
regard 10 the independence Of Belgium
was carried out by England last night.
Dutch independence Menaced.
"If the independence of Belgium
should be destroyed the independence
Of Holland also would be gone.
"Do not imagine that IL great
power stands aside in war like this
Il Is going 50 be in a position to ex-
ert its influence at the end. ! am not
quite sure whether the facts regard
ing Belgium are SIS they reached this
government, but there is an obligation
on this country 10 do It's utmost 70
prevent the consequences to which
those facts would lead II they were
not opposed.
I'VE have as yet made no engage