The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-08-19

to the coast-Holland might to-day
be a part of the German Empire but
for that ferocious appetite of Will
liam 1 and Bismarck It is known in
every chancellerie Of Europe that
Napoleon III would have given it to
Bismarck for his royal master if they
had left him in peace in France. But
they must needs turn him adrift and
devour Alsace and Lorraine. After
that Holland could not be theirs.
William would to-day give twenty
inland provinces of Alsace and Lor-
raine for one Holland with its two
splendid ports on the North Sea,
from which he could send his feet
of dreadnoughts across to invade
England if he so desired, from which
his merchant vessels could sail in
Haunting triumph through the Eng
lish channel into the ocean and hence
to every other port on earth.
Let the common people take heart
of grace that sovereignty in its
Wanting ambition and its rapacious
green will in the end consume Itself.
The people shall through it yet be
free.
pIan of the Buffer States.
Belgium, Holland and LuXemburg,
as the buffer states, were the first
object of consideration by the great
powers in the Franco-Prussianf war
of 1870. War was declared on July
Is. A proclamation of neutrality was
issued by the British government on
the 18th, and on the 21st, Gladstone,
then the prime minister, announced
in the House Of Commons that both
the belligerents had given satisfac-
tory assurances of their desire to re-
spect the neutrality of these states.
The publication in the London Times
four days later of the historic Sec
ret treaty" by which the independ-
ence Of Belgium was threatened, forc-
ed the British government to take
more decisive measures. The foreign
secretary, Lord Granville, was au-
thorized to propose to France and
Prussia treaty declaring that, If
the armies of either belligerent vio-
lated the neutrality of Belgium,
Great Britain would cooperate with
the other powers in its defense. This
treaty, which held good for twelve
months after the hostilities were con-
cluded, was promptly signed by all
the three powers concerned. and
Gladstone claimed the credit for this
"wise and spirited policy"
1t was not great many years
after the close of the Franco-Prus-
sian war that both France and Ger
many began their efforts to obtain
lBelgium's cooperation in the event
of another war. And Belgium be-
gan to increase her own protection
against them both, with Great Brit
ain looking on, an anxious and far
from the spectator. In 1898, the
decision of the German government
TO construct large entrenched
camp at Malmedy, on Germans Bel
gian frontier, brought the question
Of Belgium's neutrality. to the fore
in Europe's politics. AS war has
loomed nearer among the great pow
ers, Belgium has become more and
more a delicate morsel which each Of
the wolves wanted to devour.
Belgian Military Maps
In 1912 Belgium issued a military
map. It was for sale, ostensibly to
her own soldiers. Her General Star
were amazed to discover that $4,000
copies of this map had been bought
for the German army Belgium's neu-
trality was still guaranteed by the
powers, but as a good route to Paris
from Berlin lies along that way, the
German war Office doubtless thought
the maps might come in handy.
The French army seems to have
been interested in the maps as well.
It was close to this time that Gen.
Picquardt, formerly the FEench Min
ister of War. met with an inconven-
lent automobile accident which re-
vealed his identity in Belgium. ac-
ccmpanied by a party of prominent
members of the French army who
were closely studying the ground by
the aid of the Belgian war maps.
They were following the route which
had been studied just month before
by another band Of distinguished
military men who sought not to be
observed and who were entitled to.
wear the Kaiser's uniform.
Belgium's Defense.
Belgium has already made all her
preparations for defense. not to sub
nit meekly to supplying to Europe
another battle-ground for Water.
loo. Plans for rapid mobilization Of
her army have long been made. Her
Notifications have been strengthened
to the utmost of the country's re-
sources. Last year alone the Bel
gium state borrowed s62,000,000 for
defense aid it had borrowed much
more before. War among the great