15 DECEMBER 1939, Page 2

Belgium and Holland

Though news on the subject is scanty, it seems increasingly clear that Germany could not count on Belgium's neutrality in the event of a German attack on Holland. Speaking in the Belgian Chamber this week, the Prime Minister, M. Pierlot, made it clear that Belgium's declaration of neutrality was unilateral, and therefore revocable at any moment. A report made to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber by Count Carton de Wiart, a former Prime Minister, and adopted by the committee, confirms the impression already generally prevalent that Belgium was actually prepared to intervene in the critical week in November, when King Leo- pold met Queen Wilhelmina, and points unmistakably to the maintenance of that attitude in the future. Any other policy would be disastrous to Belgium's own security. Herr Hitler has an unalterable technique, to pick off his victims singly, giving lavish assurances the while to the next but one. Sup- porting Holland, and supported herself by France and Britain and her own efficient army, Belgium could face with some confidence an attack that might well be fatal if it came from an enemy already established on her northern frontier.