THE BULLY OF EUROPE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15138, 30 November 1914, Page 8

THE BULLY OF EUROPE.

•'"WILLIAM THE ASSASSIN."

LORD CURZON'S DENOUNCEMENT.

(rr.OM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, October 14. Lord Curzon, in the Speech House at b Harrow:— "War has conic because there was • one country in Europe resolved to have 1 war at the present time. There are statesmen who have known for some time that it was in tho autumn of 1914 I that Germany would strike. When > Belgium decided, to her lasting .credit, i to stand out against the great bully of i ' Europe, what alternative had we but to ' go in? Tv'e are fighting both for cur i own honour and for our life. We are - fighting not merel3' the German Em- • peror and the German people, but the ' spirit that is behind them —the doctrine ! that war (which we regard as the greatest of calamities, the most horrible of sins, a necessity to bo faced only in , tho last resort and when the national honour is at stake) is a great- and noble . thing, the source of all moral good in ' the world, the supremo factor in the realisation of liTofai perfection. "German philosophers, • statesmen, generally, every German clenryman teaches this doctrine. They stalTwitii the view that Germany has a groat historical mission. Wo pride ourselves, I hopo not indecently, on being a great world-Power. That is a distinction which Germany holds to be reserved for herself alone. It is tho Hohcnzollern , dynasty oh earth, and the Almighty in Heaven—because they appear to work, according to tho German theory, in constant and active co-operation, as two allied instruments, by wuicli this poliois to be carried out. Look tit the history of Germany for tho past fi?ty years. Throughout tho whole of this time Germany has been the arch-dis-turber of Europe, the restless intriguer who has always been bullying the weak and trying to control the strong. When this war is over, if I live to see it..no effort of mine shall bo spared, at whatever cost, to make my countrymen who have had to pay the price for-this terrible conflict, pay that price for the security which it will be necessary afterwards to obtain. "Let ns suppose thafc all the stories about burnings and murders and barbarities of -every description—though there is plenty of evidence of them— are untrue, I still say that the action of Germany in invading, devastating, and destroying Belgium when her name was signed to a treaty for tho protection of Belgium, is, and must always remain, the greatest cr.imo in history; and when tho German Emperor makes his daily appeal to the Almighty, one really wonders what that Divine Power thinks of His self-constituted protege. What is the penalty that ought to be meted out to the man who is responsible for the death of an entire nation? I can imagine no punishment adequate to such a crime, and whatever punishment befall him, either at the hands of men or at the hands of One who is greater than man, of this I am certain, that the execration of the ages will ever be attached to that man, and that his name will go down to history as that of William the Bloodstained, Wil- < liam the Assassin. i "Belgium stands as the light and the < beacon to the world for all time, and ] thouch a crown of thorns has been ] pressed down by her own hands on her < temples, a halo of imperishable glory < will always surround her brow. In my < view the capture of Antwerp is part of the deliberate policy of Germany ' with reference to this country. Sflio ; has taken, Antwerp to fortify it. to j keep it, to make a great naval port of ' it, to use it as a jumping-off place < for her future attempts against 1 this country. You will see that this is no mere temporary occupation—unless wo make it so". Sho ' will obtain a grip on the whole of Bel- 1 gium; she will, whether by direct out- ] rage or not, practically "compel Ho.- I land to play her will, and she will 1 then—unless we interrupt and defeat < tho object—settle herself_steadily down . to the destruction of this country. I i want everyone to understand that we c are in for no light or easily terminable f campaign. In my judgment, more t than one Christmas will pa*s before our f soldiers will come back to their homes. .6 The whole German people are drunk •' with the poison noured into their veins t by Bernhardi Bulow, and others." "FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT." | Lord Haldaae: n "We are at war because it is our ? sacred duty to bo at war. Wo aro s fighting for the right. lam not one Bl of those who even now fail to respect ? tho finer qualities of the German race, but all those great qualities have been ""j 1 prostrated to an unworthy purpose. £ They have been placed under the domi- .* nation of that • military spirit which st shall bo exterminated. Had we in this a conflict stood by and folded our hands, 1 ~ Fiance might have been crushed and ra made a provinco of Germany, Belgium "jj* might have been assured to the German £■ Empire, Holland might have followed, J l ' and Russia might possibly have been Ir checked, and where would we have n ' been? Without a friend in tho world, 01 dishonoured aud disgraced. Our time P< would have come two or three years later, and we should have had to fight alone, with nobody to mourn us. Rather oi than that we should have flinched from tl the ordeal, I would have seen the Brit- tl ish Empire come to an end. Better w perish gloriously than go down, as it E: inevitably woula have gone, in disgrace oi md dishonour. We must win if we tc inly have the qualities—which I believe gt V 3 hay spirit, courage, resolution st md dogged determination. Germany p? nay be admirably prepared, but pre- ra wear off against people who fri

have the resources that we have. It is two moutiis since Germany made her attempt to crusn France/ but she is. not .-ir, Paris yet. "I do not underrate the magnitude of the "task that lies beiore us, Out 1 trnst that the _nock is over, and the rer.t struggle is now beginning under muci less xavouiable circumstances Icr Germany than was the case two montlis ago. Set your teeth and stick out. Up to now tlie resolution of the nation has been splendid, and the tigiis are that it is increasing and not diminishing. Wo aro figuring for the lilo of th.' nation. "I desire to say emphatically that t is fortunate that the war lias como at this moment. If we had been taken alone, as we should have been had we flinched from our duty, we should have found ourselves in a difficult position. But to-day we have three Great Powers lighting in the cause of righteousness, and have made a common treaty that none would make terms of peace without tho other. One indispensable e'enient in that treaty i_ that the dominant spirit of militarism, which has piostituied the German nation to a wicked purpose, shall be crushed and broken, so that we, and those who act with us, may live irec from its terrors. The delusion is held across the German Ocean that wo are an effete and plea-sure-lov'ns nation, but instead of tli.it wj are a nation animated by all our spirit of a century ago. I spent eight years of my life in trying to bring about better relations "between this country and Germany, but an evil genius iia s wiped all that away in Germany, and has captured the machine of that nation, and directed it to evil pur- i pose. With the resolution of this country, if it only be big enough, great eveugh, win you must. Let each tako a big view; let us be all of good faith, and all will be well." BELGIUM'S PUNISHMENT. 31. .Maeterlinck on tho same occasion : "It is a pitiful story that. I have to relate. It is tho story of a littlo kingdom which has kept its pledge und die. for it. (Shouts of 'Never! Never!) Belgium wa s established as « buff.r State against two great contending Powers to prevent the passage of one army into the territory of the other, and that neutrality was guaranteed Lv ! the greatest Power in Europe—England. Wo have kept our pledae loyally. In August Germany sent an ultimatum saying that we should '"t their forces go through into Fronch territory. It is untrue that if tho request had como from France. Belgium would havo been more lenient. "She would, in tho same wav, have endeavoured to prevent the French Army from breaking the terms of neutrality. Belgium has been called England's foster-child, and England has certainly proved herself a cjood fostermother. 3ly countrymen realise that England's word js her bond."