Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-24
WHERE HE'LL MAY BREAK
OUT NEXT

WHETHER Germany attempts to seize
w Holland now or later is not particu-
larly important The reports from Eu-
rope regarding the acuteness Of the
crisis are conflicting. From one source
we are told that there has been no change
in the situation for months and from an
other word comes that within a few
weeks, if not within a few days, Ger
many will act.
No one familiar with German ambi-
tions has doubted that Germany would
act when the time seemed TO her ripe.
'olland has been serving her purposes
from the beginning of the war better as
a neutral than as an ally. Germany has
been receiving much-needed supplies
through the Dutch ports, and Dutch busi
ness men have been making enormous
forum through their dealings with the
Germans. The trade has gone on in spite
of the efforts of the Allies and of the
Netherlands Government to prevent it.
The seizure of Dutch shipping by the
United States and Great Britain and the
stoppage of the shipment of more goods
to Holland than are needed for home
consumption have changed the conditions
ceased to be useful to Berlin.
The time seems to be ripe now from
the German point Of view for the an
nexation of the Netherlands. German
armies surround her by land on all sides.
If she can be prevented from receiving
assistance it will be comparatively easy
for these armies to sweep over the boun-
Diary and occupy the country. The Dutch
army on war footing contains about
100000 men. The few fortresses on the
frontier could be reduced by the Ger
man guns if resistance were offered, and
when the nation thinks Of resisting she
has the fate of the .Belgians to consider.
But she has also to consider the fate
of her colonial possessions. While the
mother country covers an area of only
1880 square miles, containing a pOpu
laton of 6.500,000, the colonies include
735,000 square miles of rich territory,
in which 4S,000,000 persons live, all con-
tributing to the wealth of the Dutch. The
moment Holland became German terri
tory she would lose every square mile of
her colonies.
Holland cannot be taken without
reckoning with the Entente Allies. Ger
many already mas 700 many IdNdl DdSGS
on the North Sea. 1t is inconCevable
that she will be allowed to increase them
without meeting the Allied armies on
Dutch soil. 1t is inconceivable also that
the men in charge of the strategy of the
war have not a we'll l-thought-out plan for
going to the defense of Holland. When
the purpose of the attempt to close the
mouth of the harbors at Ostend and
Zeebrugge is explained no one should be
surprised if we are told that it was
part of a movement to clear the way for
the passage of transports to the Dutch
coast. 1t is certainly true that if the use
of these ports as submarine bases can
be made impossible it will be safer for
transports to get to Holland.
We must wait developments and look
to events to disclose the plan of cam
paign to keep Germany from making an
other Belgium of the Netherlands. The
German raid is liable to begin at any
timo. but it is not likely to find either
the Dutch or the Entente Allies unpre-
pared, for the Dutch are not ready to
surrender their nationality and the Allies
cannot afford to stand idly by while the
rape of a nation is in progress.