GERMAN PLOTS IN HOLLAND.

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13275, 2 September 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

GERMAN PLOTS IN HOLLAND.

DITCH PATRIOTS AM) VON PAPKN'S "DIRTY WORK." Amsterdam. Complete failure has attended the Activities of Captain von Papon in Holland, and it is generally admitted that tlio Gorman General Staff, who despatched him here after his sensational expulsion troin Washington, with a mission ol "general spying, will soon recall hun. \on Papon is not only squandering good (ierman money which could he used to better advantage elsewhere, hut he wholly underrates the Dutch sympathy for the Knteute. What is known ol' his dealings even in (piarters iu sympathy with "Ivultur" shows that he is handling his nauseous business with a truly (ierman ignorance of conditions and character in the Netherlands. He started in great style. Ho brought much money from Berlin, and many "ideas." 'I he money is gone, the "ideas" have faded away, and all that, is left of the whole scheme is its all-round ineptitude. The Dutch, like the Americans, will not bo bullied, either by Germany or by any German. They resent von Papon's extravagant and. to a certain extent, criminal fabrication of a "British invasion" scare, not so much because it caused uneasiness all over the country, but because the mere spreading of such lies is at open insult to Dutch intelligence anc patriotism. That von Papon did not leave the country after his falsehooc was exploded is comprehensible only t< few people here; hut the mere spread ing of that "news"' almost cost tliei: jobs to von Papon's official henchmen Horr von lvuhlmann. the German Min ister at The Hague, and Herr von Hum holdt, the Consul-General in Amster dam. In spite of this check, von Papen i

It' is also owin lc to 1 lie activities of von Papon that Holland is flooded with pro-German literature, essays on Kuliwr. jtisiiiv ations ol the Helium murd<'J s. appeals In ill,. Dut. ll In (In their share in (Germany's compiest ol ihe world, and advertising ol tin' Germany army and navy. This I'oniha st i, i!i;t)>ut eau lie round and bought: in every bookshop in Holland, even 111 the remotes; village-. Ij call he bought. hut as a matter of lae! ii not. Ihe ohjf tot this kind ol propa;.'andistii is Ia r 100 obvious. (hii'e recently tin- German spv s\sleia liiriied its* ;ii-i ivii'es to more "artistie propaganda, and sitiiiniotied Pro. lessor Max Pe'.nhardt and his eonipauv the I)eui schi's I'heater of Berlin to these shores. 'I he lyrical company of l lerr von Ueinhut 11 was also sent lor. and they played helore all-German houses. Tickets were ollered to Hollanders tor nothing in every si reot ear in Ainsterdain. The ofler was turned down, in spite o| the well-known talent. 01 the actors. Ihe Dutch have far too good a memory to he taken in by tricks ol this kind. I hey know Germain's designs. I hey know how nianv line Dutch ships were sent to the hoi torn hy German submarines. They know how ot ten German aircraft ilv over Dutch territory, always ''hv mistake." And above all they know what would he their lot in ease Germanv won this war.

Germany s. honeyed words cannot make the Dutch the firebrand speeches delivered all over Germany in the early months of the war. immediately alter the tall ot Antwerp, when even a personage like Kino laidwie of Havana challenged Holland to yive up the mouth of the Rhine that "allGerman ' fiver, he said—to the Kaiser. 1 hey also know what would become, of Dutch independence if Belgium were to be annexed and England forced into an inconclusive and German peace. Above all, apart from iheso post-war hypotheses, the Dutch know how anxious the Germans are to jget ing; in Holland's fine harbors—-Flush-ing, Rotterdam. Ynmiden. Holder—in order to secure a naval base against Enjila nd.

Holland knows the German peril. Ihe Dutcn Press, with feu - exceptions, lias denounced it time and again, and oven the papers known to he on the pay ot the. German Legation have not attempted to minimise it; they have wisely kept silent. Nothing Germany can do—no flattery and no threat, 110 propaganda and no swordrattling. ean change the frame of public opinion in the Low Countries. Holland wants to remain at peace with all belligerents, and the Queen of the Netherlands still cherishes the hope of lending her helpful hand in the bringing about of peace, when peace can satisfactorily be re-established. Till this hour comes, Holland keeps good watch over her frontiers, as welF as over the North Sea.

Meanwhile, a vast amount of work is being done by the Dutch in the interests of humanity. They assist thousands of Belgian fugitives, they attend with untiring sympathy to the exchange of wounded prisoners, they look after several thousand allied and German interned sailors and soldiers. In the line of humane activity. Holland has done wonders, and it will be a subject tor praise and admiration by future historians to record that a little kingdom like that of the Netherlands has so well managed, in the very teeth ot the worst of all wars, to keep i;p her own neutrality by the mere force ol a good conscience, of a wise leadership and a united people. The Dutch Premier. .M. Cort van der Linden, who has just celebrated his seventieth birthday, is the man behind this colossal achievement of patriotic wisdom and far-seeing humanity. But ilie Dutch people, from the Queen down to tin l humblest Frisian peasant, have been his worthy assistants in his admirable task.