The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-27
ANGLO-BELGIAN
 MILITARY PACT Is
 FULLY EXPLAINED
Chancellor Asks World to Believe Exactly Opposite
 to What He Said Regard ing Import of Treaty, Says British Foreign Secretary

London. January 26.-(6:3O p. m.) Sir Edward Grey. the British foreign secretary, today authorized the fol- lowing statement in reply to an inter- view given by Dr. Von Bethmann-Hol- wegg, German imperial chancellor, to representative of the Associated Press and published yesterday in the United States and today in London:
 The secretary of state for foreign af- fairs authorizes the publication of the fol- lowing observations upon the report of an interview recently granted by the Ger man chancellor to an American eerks- spondent.
 Tt is not surprising that the German chancellor should show anxiety to ex
 plain away his now historic phrase about treaty being mere scrap of paper
 The phrase has made a deep impress sion because the progress of the world largely depends upon tho sanctity of agreements between individuals md be-
 tween nations, and the policy disclosed in
 Herr Von Bethmann-Hollwegs phrase
 tends to debauch the legal and moral cur l rents of civilization.
 What the German chancellor said was
 that Great Britain in requiring 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 1 Britain was making a mountain out of n mole hili He now asks tho American, 1 public to believe that he meant the eN- act opposite of what he said. that 1t was
 Great Britain who really regarded the
 neutrality of Belgium us mere tritlc
 and that it was Germany who took her
 responsibilities toward the neutral states
 SO seriously.
 Contradicted Facts
 "fhe arguments by which Herr Von Bethmann-iIollweg seeks to establish | the two sides of this case arc in flat con | tradicton of the plain facts.
 First. the German chancellor alleges | that England in 1911 was determined to throw troops into Belgium without the assent of the Belgian government This l allegation is absolutely false. 1t Is based upon certain documents found in Brussels which record conversations between Brit l ssh and Belgian officers in 1906 and again | in 1911.
 Tho fact that there is no note of .hcse conversations at the British war office or the foreign office shows that they were
 of a purely informal character, and that
 no military agreement of any sort was at either time made between the two gov- RP ionS place between the British and the Bel gian officers it was expressly laid down on the British side that discussion of tho military possibilities was to be addressed to the manner in which. in case of need. British assistance could he most effec- tually afforded to Belgium for the defense of her neutrality. and on the Belgian side d marginal note upon the record explains that the entry of the English into Bel gium would only take place after the violation of our (Belgian) neutrality by Germany
 "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 Ed ward Grey gave the Belgian government u categorical assurance that no British Government would violate the neutrality of Belgium and that so long as 1t was
 not violated by any other power We should certainly not send troops ourselves into their territory
 "The chancellor's method of misusing documents may be illustrated in thls l connection. He represents Sir Edward Grey as saying: He did not believe Eng land would take such a step, because he did not think English public opinion would justify such action.
 What Great Britain Saw What Sir Edward Grey actually wrote was T said that I was sure that | this government would not be the first (Continued on Page Two)