The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1919-07-31
BELGIAN CLAIMS
BEFORE BODY
TO CONSIDER TREATY OF 1883
WITH HOLLAND.

Washington, July 2S.-A commission
representing seven powers will meet
in Paris on Tuesday, July 20, to con-
slider the demands of Belgium for re-
consideration of the treaty of 1889 by
which Holland annexed the territory
on the south bank of the Scheldt river
and the southern part of Dutch Linz
burg, an elongated strip of land be-
tween Belgium and Germany, says a
Belgian official announcement issued
here.
In view of this meeting, the Belgian
Official Information Service has made
public statement by Dr. A. Hebbe-
lynck. Rector Emeritus of the Univer-
versity of Louvain, reviewing the
treaties under which Holland obtained
possession Of the disputed territory
and setting forth arguments in favor
of Belgium's claims
Dr. Hebbelynck, who is ow in New
York, declares that "the contention Of
Belgium is that, both for the safe
guard of its military security in the
north and for it's economical develop
met, it must have absolute control of
the southern half of the river Scheldt,
which implies possession of it's left
bank" This left bank from the North
Sea nearly to the Belgian port of Ant.
werp now controlled by Holland.
Belgium, says DR.. Hebbelynck, was
compelled by the treaty of 1899 to
recognize Hollands sovereignty over
this territory, now known as Dutch
Flanders. In return Belgium was to
be protected by treaties of neutrality
the futility of which,. he says, Was
demonstrated in 1914 when Germany
called them mere scraps of paper"
! andin vaded Belgium.
''The experiences of 1914" contin-
ues DR.. Hebbelynck, "have made clear
| that unless Antwerp can even in time
of war maintain its free access to the
sea, unhampered by the bubbles of a
neutral neighbor, the position of Ant
werp is rendered indefensible for any
length of time. The peril is made all
the more acute by the fact that Ant
werp is the only seaport available in
Belgium for big ships such as army
ports.
"From the economical point of view
it is an absolute necessity that Bel
GUM obtain the right to manage with,
| out hindrance, as sovereign and in
dependent power, the whole water
system not only of the Scheldt river
| from Antwerp to the sea but also OF
| the low-lying lands of Northern Elan
ders and of the ship canal from Client
to the Scheldt river at Terneuzen.
"The keys of Antwerp are at pres
ent in foreign hands. Belgium claims
! them back on the strength of princi-
pies of International law, today uni
versally proclaimed"
He asserts that endless trouble
arises from the manner in which
Dutch government officials carry out
the agreement over the use of the
small harbor oiTeneuzen ,anoutlet
of the ship canal from Client to the
sea through Dutch territory.
Expounding Belgium's claims to the
southern part of Dutch Limburg, Dr.
Hebbelynck asserts that Hollands
possession of this territory "lays the
northeastern frontier Of Belgium open
to all attacks because the Dutch gov
eminent recognizes the impossibility
to defend Limburg against an invader
coming from the east"
This fact, he adds, compelled HolI-
and to let a whole German army es-
cape through Limburg into Germany
with its plumber carried from Bel
GUM in November, 1919. The Rector
of Louvain also points out that Bel
GUM needs a ship canal across Dutch
Limburg in order to tap the enormous
coal fields of Westphalia.
Belgium" he concludes, does not
want to grab territory from Holland
Il nnlN crayes q Reconsideration of the