The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-05
BELGIUM HOLDS COUNCIL WITH
 BIG POWERS
Scorns Role of Small Nation, Protected and Thought Too Small to Fight.

Brussels, Oct. 5.-BeIgium, seated in the councils of the Great Powers of Europe, is playing an influentia role in the maintenance of the un. 1 broken front of the Allies. In a re cent conference at London it was the Belgian Minister, Theunis, who occu- | pied the delicate middle position or the Anglo-French teeter-totter and Kept the balance between Poincare and Lloyd George at a time when both camps feared the permanent rupture of the Entente
 Thanks to the Treaty of Versailles 6oth France and England must curry favor with the little nation whose population is not much larger than that of Greater New York, but who holds a vote in the settlement of the separations question equal to that of the great British Empire or of France. At the outbreak of the war. when Belgium's neutrality was viola ted, a wave of anger swept the world at Germany's lack of sportsmanship in attacking a little nation whom all the important states in Europe had agreed to respect as too helpless to defend herself and too small to be attacked.
 Is Now "Big Nation" Within a decade Belgium has de- tided she wishes no longer to be con- s.dered small Power. Instead of re- ouesting that in the covenant of ma It ons framed at Versailles she should
 
 tion of Switzerland and Holland in world affairs-that is, of neutrality Belgium chose to seat herself as peer in the councils of the " Great Powers.'
 In support of her military alliance with France the Brussels government representing only 7,60O,000 people has raised a conscript army of 105,000 11rger than the present army Of Ger many. American military observer declare that the Belgian army is prac. tically an integral part of the Frencl army.
 The military solidarity between the two peoples has not, however, result ed in perfect political teamwork. In consideration of Belgium having borne the brunt of the German offensive in 1914 she was given the right to the first two billion gold marks repara- tons.
 French Worried Now
 As time goes on, and the Belgians as well as the French become more and more convinced that they can bill they have presented to the Will helmstrasse, the value of this priority clause to Belgium becomes more and more apparent.
 The London conference fOcussed much of its attention on Frances de- mand for Allied consent to the seiz- ure Of the Rhineland and of the con- trol of the receipts of the Ruhr. To
 
 gium placed her own interest in her priority claim above her alliance with France and refused to support Poin- care.
 A recent careful sounding Of high military and naval auth critics in Lon don by an American official led to the astonishing disclosure that many leading British politicians and officers consider that Belgium because of her military alliance, has altered her posi- ion to such an extent that in case of a possible war between France and Germany, in which Belgium would take part because of her alliance England would consider the case a second time before she interfered be- cause of Belgium.
 No Longer Neutral.
 Belgian neutrality exists no long er- Belgium would be drawn into a war with Germany if some incident on the French-German-Sw frontier caused a war between the former enc Ilies.
 American aerial bombing marks nanship, in destroying the German war vessels in target practice, revo- utionized warfare The submarine