The French are making considerable efforts to prove that the
Germans have violated Belgian neutrality. They assert that German soldiers have fired on Belgian guards, that wounded' Germans have been carried through Belgian territory, and that there have even been collisions between Belgian and German troops. There does not appear to be any foundation for these assertions, and whether there is or not, the one question for the British Government is whether the Belgian Government complains, which it does not. With respect to the wounded, there has been a serious correspondence. The King of Prussia asked permission to carry his wounded through Belgium ; the Belgians assented, but required French assent ; and the French, thinking consent would relieve the German railway, refused, though their own wounded would also have been cared for. It is all quite correct, quite diplomatic, and a little inhuman.