ANTWERP

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 16 October 1914, Page 5

ANTWERP

EFFECT OF CAPTURE,

The following article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on;the : : 10th. instant, before it was:known in the Southern Hemisphere that Antwerp was in possession -of the Germans: a; -People, are naturally wondering what advantage the Germans hope t6 receive; i commensurate with their: sacrifices-by ! the capture of Antwerp. This Belgian city has iri the past been-the chiefi port j of import into the: German Empire.' It lies* some distance up the-River Scheldt; which on its, way to the' ocean passes; through Holland. This materiallylcoiriV plicates the position as far as Germany arid the other; belligerents; pie coricerri-*; ed, and (complexities arise for\,whichinteraational rules probably havea- no parallel. ' ; : , In early da-ys the Scheldt; was free to . Dutch navigation^ only, being' closed to; all other co-riparian Powers. This exceptional rule had this foundation ;in . justice,;that this portion-of the.Rhine ,wa§ .maijily the work^f Dutch industry.; It was rcally{ constructed by Dutch engineers and by Dutch laborers, for the , purpose of protecting arid recovering Dutch territory; from the sea. The closing . of: the Scheldt, however, - was rieyer favpred by internaij^al^ jurists, arid; was for long £rote§tM Bgaifl-t. Eventually the passage was;forcibly opened by" the French *.-in'favor'.' of the >; and against the Dutch.;: The final act of the Congress laid it' 3b\vn that the navigation of rivers separating or traversing different States should be •free from the point at which ia- river became navigable ib the point of its discharge into the sea,' subject, how-, ever, to reasonable and uniform navigation dues, which were to be such as not j tp discourage commerce, and which orice fixed were! not to be alterel save aby agreement by the riparian Stated. The right conceded was also subject to regulations of police, which were to be uniform for all, and as favorable as possible to the commerce of all nations! So, in the event of Germany ataking Antwerp, that city, whileoccupied by the enemy,: becomes virtri^lly portion of German territory. This would enable neutrals freely to trade:with; that port. Wheat, for instance, aoouldWfreeiy ip-i----■pbrted from, say,;the;trni^daSta^^r Argentina, in neutral" bottoms: %> the; Scheldt.. ,As against this|: Great' Britain might blockade the i*^6rt. Whether this could be lawfully doneby^Hhe placing of ships at the mouth of the Scheldt, has probably1' never^^ beerif decided.? A blockade of that 'character:^ would: not Only interfere with rieutral-trade in the way that it is usually^ ihterfered^with, in -case of blockade,, but'would also; prejudicially affect;' Hollands ;g irinocent trade in the; Scheldt: Undoub^dly! this * would be an; infraction* of Dutch neutrality. Whetlier; Great Britain would do; this* remains; t» Jbe* seen.; alni doing so -; she would'; probably Jiave the tacit , consent of the Netherlands; for _foiland: has everything to lose from Gennariy,s iiltiina-te _uccess. "■-..;.••..""• -

.Then again Antwerp might conceivably be used as a base for an expeditionary force for England—in the im-fcrobab-le event of the North Sea fleet being defeated. The Dutch could not, without running the risk of being involved in hostilities/interfere with the free navigation of the Scheldt, even for such a purpose, a.s kmg as no hostilities took place in her natural waters. As for Antwerp being used as a base-for a Zeppelin raid, none of these considerations, of course, apply.