Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-01-27
Belgian Neutrality First
Violated by Kaiser in
Violent Attack.
BRITISH SECRETARY
ISSUES STATEMENT
Had Treaties Been OBJ
served Belgians Would
BE Free.

r ONDON, Jan. 2G.-(6:30 p. nj
- Sir Edward Grey the British sec
retary Of state for foreign affairs to-
day authorized the following state
ment in reply to an interview with DR..
Won Bethmann- Hollweg, the German
imperial chancellor, obtained by a
representative of the Associated Press
and published in London January 26
and In the United States January 20;
ut is not surprising that the Ger
man chancellor should show anxiety
to explain awav his now historic
phrase about treaty being a mere
scrap Of paper.
"The phrase has made a deep inn
preston because the progress of the
world largely depends upon the sane
tity of agreements between individ-
uals and between nations and the pol
icy disclosed in Herr Won Bethmann-
Hollwegs phrase tends to debase the
legal and moral currency OF civtliza-
tion.
what the German chancellor said
was that Great Britain, in requiring
Germany to respect the neutrality OF
Belgium was going to make war Just
for a word, just for a scrap OF paper;
that is, that Great Britain was making
mountain out of a molehill. He now
asks the American public TO believe
that he meant the exact opposite OF
what he said; that 1t was Great Brit
ain who really regarded the neutrality
of Belgium as a mere trifle, and that
1t was Germany who took her respon-
sibilities toward the neutral states so
seriously
"The arguments by which Herr Won
Bethmann- Hollweg seeks to establish
the two sides Of this case are in flat
contradiction to the plain facts.
No Interference Planned.
First, the German chancellor al
leges that England In 1911 was de-
termined to throw troops into Bel
glum without the assent OF the Bel
gian government. This allegation is
absolutely false. II Is based upon GER
tain documents found In Brussels
which recorded conversations between
British and Belgian officers I'm 1906
and again in 1911.
The fact that there is no note OF
these conversations in the British war
office or the foreign office shows that
they were of purely informal char
acter' and that no military agreement
of any sort was made at either time
between the two governments. Be
fore any conversations took place be-
tween the British and the Belgian Of
ficers II was expressly laid down on
the British side that discussion of the
military possibilities was to be ad-
dressed TO the manner in which. in
case OF need, British assistance could
be most effectually afforded to Bel
GUM for the defense OF her neutrality
and on the Belgian side a marginal
note upon the record explained that
the entry OF the English into Belgium
would only take place after the viola
ton OF our (Belgium) neutrality by
Germany
No Neutral Breach.
"As regards the conversation Of
1911, the Belgian officer said to the
British officer:
"'You could only land in our coun-
try with our consent, and in 1913 Sir
Edward Grey gave the Belgian gov
ernment "A categorical assurance that
no British government would violate
the neutrality OF Belgium. and that so
long as IL was not violated by any
other power we should certainly not
send troops ourselves into their terri
tory
THE chancellor's method Of mlsus-
ing documents may be illustrated In
this connection. lie repeats Sir Ed
ward Grey as saying, he did not be-
lieye England would take such a step
because he did not think English pub
lie opinion would justify such action
What Sir Edward Grey actually
wrote was: L said that / was certain
that this government would not be the
first to violate the neutrality OF Bel
GUM, and | did not believe that any
British government would be the first
to do SO. nor would public opinion ap-
prove Of IL.
"If the German chancellor wishes
to know why there were conversations
on military subjects between British
and Belgian officers he may find one
reason I'm a fact well known 10 him,
namely. that Germany was esta bllsh-
Ing an elaborate network OF strategiCal
railways leading from the Rhine 20
the Belgian frontier Though a barren.
thinly- populated tract. The railways
were deliberately constructed to per-
NIT Of r sudden attack upon Belgium,
such as was carried out In August last.
This fact alone was enough to JUS
tify any communications between Bel
GUM and the other powers on the
footing that there would be no viola
tlon OF Belgian neutrality unless II
was previously Violated by another
power. u. 1f .i naa
''On no other footing did Belgium
ever have any such communications.