Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1919-07-31
HOLL ! ! ] BELGIAN q! | J
BORDER Is SUBJECT
0fP ARE RE1lsG
Treaty Made q, Eighty Year.
Ago |. to Be Considered al:
Conference Beginning
day B Beleii,iln Chair, .ne
Treaty Is Unjust.

washington, w July IA COmm1S-
sion representing seven powers will
meet In Paris on Thursday, July 20,
to consider the demands of Belgium
FOR reconsideration of the treaty of
1889 by which Holland annexed the
territory on the south bank Of the
scheldt river and the southern part
Of Dulch Limburg, an elongated strip.
OF land between Belgium and Ger
many, says a Belgian official an.
.nouncement issued here.
In view of this meeting, the Bel
gian Official Information Service has
made public statement by DR.. a.
Hebbelynck, rector emeritus Of the
University Of Louvain, reviewing the
treaties under which Holland obtain
ed possession of the disputed terri
tory and setting forth arguments In
favor Of Belgium's claims.
DR.. Hebbelynch, who is now in
New York, declares that .'the con-.
:tention of Belgium is that. both for
the safeguard of its military security
in the north and for it's economical
development, it must have absolute
control of the southern half of the
river Scheldt, which implies possess
sion of its left bank This left bank
from the North Sea nearly to the
Belgian port or antwerp now is con-
trOlled by Holland.
Belgium, says DR.. Hebbelynck, was
compelled by the treaty of 1889 to
recognize Hollands sovereignty over
this territory, now known as Dutch
Flanders. IA return, Belgium was to
be protected by treaties of neutral-
ity the futiiity Of which, he says,
was. as.demoastrated ins.l914s whsn,. Ger
many called them .mere scraps Of
paper. and invaded. Belgium.
The exDeriences, Of 1914 contin-
ues DR.. Hebbelynck, have made
clear that unless Antwerp can even
in time of war maintain its free ac-
cess to the sea, unhampered by the
bubbles of q neutral neighbor, the
position of Antwerp is. rendered in
defensible for. any length of time.
The peril is made all the more acute
by the fact that Antwerp is the only
seaport available in Belgium for big
ships such as army and ammunition
transports.
From the economical J, point of
view it is an absolute necessity that
Belgium obtain the right to manage
without hindrance, as "a sovereign
and Independent power, the whole
water system not only of the Scheldt
river from Antwerp to the sea but
also of the low-lying lands of North
ern Flanders and of4the ship canal
from Ghent to the Scheldt river at
Terneuzen. ~ 81. 81 s&3
THE keys of Antwerp are at pres
ent in foreign hands. Belgium
claims them back OF the strength of
prilciples Of international law, today
aniversally proclaimed. = 81
+ 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 Of Terneuzen, an outlet
sof the ship canal from Ghent to the
sea thru Dutch territory.
Expounding Belgium's claims to
the southern part Of Dutch .Limburg,
DR.. Hebbelynck asserts that Hol-
lands possession Of this territory
. lays the northeastern frontier OF
Belgium open to all attacks because
the Dutch government recognizes
the impossib to defend Limburg
against an invader coming from the
east = ss35ss .,! 5a15s
This fact. he adds, compelled Hol-
land to let a whole German army es-
cape through Limberg into Germany
with its plunder carried from Bel
GUM in November, 1919. The rec
itorsof Louvain also points out that
Belgium needs . 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 Hol-
land only Graves reconsidera-
ton of the iniq uitous arrangements
sof "a 64s to 1899 IN the light of mod
sern principl lies. .'4'5s;
He points out that Holland should
be compensated from Germany the
provinces of ostffiesland and Cleef
which. ne n.y.; sre ! slargsly inha bited
~ Dutch aking peopl u