HOLLAND AND THE WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16030, 23 September 1915, Page 6

HOLLAND AND THE WAR.

The relation of Holland to the war is a matter of exceptional interest. From the point of view of the Allies Dutch intervention would be of extraordinary value for strategical reasons ; on this account every discussion of the subject is liable to be coloured by the wish that Holland may see her course as clearly as it is seen in Britain and in France. There is no question of the prevailing sympathy of the Dutch : it is decidedly in favour of the Allies. But while this is so, there is every reason to believe that for many months the leaders of thought in Holland hoped that Germany would be effectually crushed without Dutch help and that the future safety and integrity of Holland would thus be secured without the nation having to face a distressing and costly war. A well-informed writer in the August number of the Fortnightly Review states that recently this attitude is giving place to a more serious view of national responsibilities, and he suggests that the possibility of Dutch intervention is strengthened by the German successes. This view is supported by the tone of the Liberal newspapers of Amsterdam, which within the past few months have repeatedly declared that they are on the side of the Allies and that Holland has the greatest interest in the crushing of the Prussian system of government. The same newspapers give free expression to a truth which is realised by every patriotic Hollander: That a permanent German occupation of Belgium would be incompatible with the continued independence of thencountry. There has never been any substantial doubt that Germany means to make her occupation of Belgium permanent ; in addition, Holland has good reason to fear that she hopes to make Rotterdam a German port and to dictate Dutch policy to suit her own interests. Thus the strength which Germany has developed in the course of the war has brought Holland face to face with the serious problem as to whether ensure her own" independenceshe will not have to throw her military weight on the I side of the armies now fighting for the liberties of the world. How that question will be decided has not passed beyond the stage of speculation, but it is a significant sign that the Government, and the prominent newspapers which in the early stages of the war were tactful and scrupulously neutral, have entirely ceased to conceal their sympathy for the Allies and have become sweeping in their condemnations of Germany and of German methods. There is no doubt where the interests of Holland lie. A German triumph would mean the end of Holland as it would mean the end of Belgium. It is not to be expected that Holland means to allow the whole of the Netherlands to pass into German hands without a struggle. The only question is whether her decision to fight for her own liberties will come in time. to enable her to fight side by side with strong allies or whether she will waver till she may be forced to fight alone.