WHO ARE THE HUNS?

The Neutrality of Belgium. 13
nothing could be farther from its purposes. Germany is still
prepared to evacuate Belgium without delay as soon as the
military situation permits of this."
The answer which the Belgian Government delivered to
this on the 13th of August was in the nature of a curt refusal. l
(See Belgian Grey Book.) •
Is this the language of a greedy "militarism," hungering for
world-power ? Here the government of the victorious, most
powerful military state of the world, begs the government of
a small, impotent nation to call a halt to the farther terrors of
warfare. Has there ever in the history of the world been a
similar case of the making of such advances as border on the
limits of self-respect? And this, despite the fact that one
was pretty firmly convinced by the 12th of August of all that
Belgium had brought about in the violation of its own neutrality !
Not only are we conscious of a desire to make good every
injustice, however trivial, but also of the state of absolute
necessity which forced Germany to take measures against
Belgium.
Of course, if the revelations of the "Frankfurter Zeitung"
during the beginning of the month of October, 1914, regarding
tha personal attitude of King Albert toward the Triple Entente,
revelations which moreover, are in perfect accordance with
the views here expressed and perfectly confirm them,—be
correct, it becomes clear that this continued insolent and
haughty attitude of the Belgian Government must be looked
upon as a mere result of the attitude of its king.
King Albert, according to these reports, had already
concluded a sort of military convention with France and Eng-
1 It is characteristic of the attitude of the Belgian Government, which
was hostile from the very beginning, that this extraordinarily important
proclamation to the Belgian people was completely suppressed—and that by
public notices in the press and elsewhere, the false report was spread that
Germany wished to compel Belgium to take arms against France and England
under the Prussian command. This dishonest attitude also proves that the
whole Belgian policy from the beginning had been so directed as to range
itself on the side of the Triple Alliance, as the apparently stronger factor,
through thick and thin. Even later, the Government perpetrated the most
grievous wrong upon its own people by an attitude of the most unexampled
untruthfulness.