Germany and Belgium The assurance given by the German Government
to Belgium on Wednesday is—subject to the proviso, common to all assurances, regarding the relation of pledge to execution —of undoubted value to Belgium. When the Locarno Treaty was nullified by Germany's occupation of the Rhine- land in violation of that treaty in March of last year Britain and France both gave Belgium the same assurances of protec- tion and support as were embodied in the treaty, but those statements, which implied reciprocity on Belgium's part, were modified last April in such a way as to leave Belgium uncom- mitted to any armed action except under the Covenant of the League of Nations. The new- German Note, which declares the intention of Germany (like Britain and France) to respect absolutely the inviolability of Belgium, appears to involve or imply no curtailment of Relgium's obligations as a member of the League of Nations, to whose Council she has just been elected. Similar declara- tions by Germany in regard to States on her South-Eastern frontier, with a similar recognition of their League obligations, would considerably increase general confidence in Europe.
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