Belgium's Weakest Point
Both Belgium and Holland adhere firmly to their neutrality and their determination to defend it ; but it appears to be their fixed intention to stand together, not separately—that is, if one of them is attacked, the other comes to her help. That is the underlying assumption of an interview given to a Daily Telegraph special correspondent by Senator Paul Crockaert, President of the Commission of National Defence and a former Minister of National Defence. He spoke of the great strength of the Belgian army, and of its fortified lines of defence, adding " for our defence we can also rely im- plicitly on the Dutch." The whole scheme of defence lines which he unfolded was described on the supposition that the Dutch and the Belgians were co-operating ; and he indicated how well provided they were to meet any attack except—and the mention of this exception is surely intended to have signifi- cance—in one particular sector. He alluded to the corridor about forty miles wide between Antwerp and the mouth of the Scheldt, which would intervene between the Dutch army, entrenched behind its water-lines, and the Belgian army, standing in its entrenched positions. He emphasised the difficulty of sending a defensive army, which has no tanks, to occupy this exposed sector. 'That means, presumably, that it would have to be looked after by other forces. No doubt if the necessity arose they would be forthcoming.
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