DENMARK AND HOLLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16456, 5 February 1917, Page 4

DENMARK AND HOLLAND.

The German concentrations upon the Dutch and Danish frontiers are admittedly due to the possibility of friction" resulting from the German submarine policy. That is to say, if Holland or Denmark follow the procedure of the United States by dismissing the German Ambassadors at the Hague and Copenhagen, and by protecting their citizens against "overt acts," German armies will cross the frontier to plunder and to terrorise. It has already been pointed out in Germany that much good food and necessary raw material may be obtained by raids upon these neighbouring neutrals, and it would appear that the Berlin War Office is prepared to make the most of its opportunity should its little neighbours interfere with its policy. To effectually terrorise Holland or Denmark it must be made to appear to them that they cannot depend for assistance upon the millions of troops now ready in Britain for continental service; they will not thereby be made more appreciative of German submarining methods but will be the more eager to assist in her overthrow when onco they realise that her downfall has begun. In one way or another, Gormany has estranged every neighbour and created hostility in the heart of every neutral. This was inevitable when the violation of Belgium was seen to be a necessary result, of the spirit animating Germany, but it is nevertheless instructive that all the money spent to create a pro-Ger-man sentiment and to induce neighbouring governments to display a pro-German sympathy has so completely and ignominiously failed.