New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-22
TOTI AND'S PI ANSFCR THE FQTURE=-AND DENnAARFK'S
Not Fr:eadleSs, as II. @. Wells
Declares, She Will Meep Her
Head i'm Spite of Oppres-
sive incidents Arising
from Acrimonious
Conduct of the War,
9G$S

and Belgium will obtain their aggrandizen.,.
of territory. There will ensue a tenno,..'
calm, which Germany will make use of to !.
new her strength. When she thinks the I'm.
has come for her to take vengeance on h.,
arch enemy England, she will not request g,
nOcent passage" for her submarines and ,s,,
planes from our stronger southern neigbbo,.
but from us. And, besides, if an Asiatic pow.,
makes a grab at our colonies we shall s,a,s
alone. According to Mr.. Wells
A decision for Holland seems easy. and "a,
a few people hesitate. But great raior,
of the people do not therefore Holland "a
mains neutral. To be sure many DuA
man anxously asks himself by what mean,.
the future our national existence and the p.,.
manent possession Of our colonies is 70 be e.
cured For more than a century tradition h.,
kept Holland out of the great international
politics, and, in the opinion of her people 81.
has had no reason to regret it. Nor has III.
present war given them cause to renoup,.
this tradition.
We know that the possibilities Mr. Wells d.
pcts may be realized but there may be imaO.
ined other possibilities which would Justify
course of action different from the one \.
recommends. Holland abstans from all calcv.
lation of chances of this kind, keeps out d,
international politics and remains what she !,
"a peaceful, neutral nation that sometimes
dreams of playing in the future a leading par
in the development of international law. bu;
does not wish to take part in the struggle 70,
power in the community of nations
For gain we will indeed not make war; NJ
Wells thinks that thousands Of Dutchmen will
contemplate with pleasure and approval the
rounded-off frontiers of their territory, as
traced by him on the map. How grieyously
he is mistaken! We Dutch not only wish 70,
no ACKNOWLEDGMENT for the sake Of aggran.
dizement" but we wish for no aggrandizemert
at ALL for any reason whatever. As regards
our territory, we are, small as it may be, IN
peuple satisfait.'
Perhaps the English cannot understand such
popular feeling; that it exists, they must be-
lieye my statement. Perhaps they think our
satisfaction with our present position sign
of inferiority, just as many a German con.
sidered it a sign of inferiority that we did not
embrace with enthusiasm the German cause
Such criticism, however, is unable to induce
the Dutch people to change their course Of &C.
ton.
For year now the war has continued, and
the time has been long enough to show Ho.
land what it wishes. She wants only to main.
tain peace. She will not 90 to war unless CON.
PEELED to do so. Mr.. Wells thinks that such
situation will not arise since Hollands POSI-
ton is materially strong as regards Germany
and morally strong as regards the Allies. Thu
is also the opinion of many people IN Holland
They think that for Germany q neutral Ho'
land, guarding its western front, Is 70 De pre-
ferred to a hostile Holland, is indeed Of mora
worth perhaps than an allied Holland, open 10
an invasion of the Allies, would be, and they
also believe that England, which took up arms
to defend Belgum's integrity, Will never DIS
grace herself by violating Hollands neutrality
which, besides, is also of great importance 10
the Allies
Holland will maintain peace as long as hol'
land herself is not menaced. Incidents that
arise from the acrimonious way in which me
war is conducted will not induce her to take
part in it, however oppressive they may some
times be to her interests, unless such incidents
should be proofs of malevolent intentions tow
ard her. Then, indeed, it will not be Holland
but one of the beigerents that involves the
Dutch in the war. We are reckoning with sueA
a possibility, and for that reason our army
kept modified permanently
Holland desires peace for the sake OF peace
itself. Perhaps the belligerents cannot easlF
appreciate this attitude, because they sacrINs
so much in the struggle for what they deem
their right and their duty We Dutch onF
hope that the time will soon come when ne
belligerents, too, will appreciate the fact 'nS'
on this little strip of land, in the midst Of ''
. atrocities of war, the banner Of peace has con-
tinued waving, and we are confident that |aea
peace is restored Holland will not be so Lonely
and friendless as Mr.. Wells would make j.
believe. The future alone can show whether
we are mistaken.