HOLLAND UNEASY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13699, 1 June 1915, Page 3

HOLLAND UNEASY.

FEARS OF A GERMAN INVASION

LONDON, May 31. The Times' correspondent at Amsterdam states that Holland is uneasy at the spread 1 of the war, and is doubtful if her army is sufficient for safety. Leading men are advocating universal service. :md state that six hundred thousand troops arc necessary to preserve neutrality. * ' LONDON, April 16. Tho relations between Germany and Holland during the last few weeks have caused, the smaller nation considerable uneasiness, and tho repeated friendly protestations or Germany have not donemuch, to allay the anxiety of, the. Dutch as to her real :initnntions. Holland's ivith a>s a neutral has been a particularly thorny one, . and' Germany seems nrfw to havo» abandoned all desire to keep on good terms with her forbearing* but small neighbor. There are, indeed, indications that th<« Bully of Europe is almost ready to make use of Afitwtrp as a war port, and she is, cons4M9R%ty, becoming more and more careless as to giving Holland causes of' offence. , When the Medea' was sunk by a German submarine, off Be&chy Head, Holland hastened to protest against this flagrant breach of her rights as a peaceable neutral. Germany temporised for n while, and then returned 'a . Note to Holland, exprespjiu; the most friendly feeling's, and promising to have full enquiry made, with a- view to seemg 1 whether compensation ought to bo. paid. Meanwhile she wont further, and captured two Dutch ships, the Batavior Y. and the Zaanstroom, which were proceeding from Rotterdam' to England, and interfered with several others m pursuance of her, intention- to drive ! all commerce whatever from what von Tirpitz has declared to bo the war areaHolland has been mobilised since the beginning of the war, and has done her best at great expense to be a good and dutiful neutral. For some- months Ger many prized this attitude, for it suited her well to have a strip of neutral territoiy between the occupied territory of Belgium and the North Sea, where the prand^-fleet . of England held command. I3ut lately this has become less necessary, and Germany's" conduct towards Holland has become correspondingly less respectful. . Any possibility that Holland might place confidence .m Germany's protestations of friendliness is dissipated by the torpedoing of the steamer Katwijk, of 2000 ton's, which was steaming peacefully towards Rotterdam with a cargo of grain from Baltimore. The Katwijk was anchored off a Dutch lightship waiting for gome formalities when she was torpedoed without any warning, and the cre\v only liad time to scramble into their boats •iiid get to the lightship. A fresh freeze which was blowing at the time fully exhibited the Dutch flag which the vessel was flying. The cargo consisted of maize to the., value of £25,000, the property, of the Dutch Govexn merit, and uninsured.

The correspondent of the Time's at Amsterdam says this act* has -revived '.the uneasiness and alarm caused by previous outrages on Dutch vessels. Germany so recently gave Holland to understand that »hft. meant no harm that ; it was hoped there would bo no further caiiee- for andetv. Holland is under no delusion as to the chances under -which she is 'Jiving. An essentially peaceful people, the, Dutch realise fully from the example -of IJelrium what a calamity Mar would he for their country, and they have s,hown> by their behavior tliat they are prepared to ?o to considerable lengths', rather than oall ;down on themselves the "civilising" influences whiehhave been so drastically ipplied to Belgium. There is said to be throughout Holland a growing feeling of pessimism, amounting almost; to despair. Stremuouß efforts have been made to secure the country against sudden in*-ya-sion, but Germany on her side of the frontier has taken, the fullest precautions against an incursion by the Dutch army.