The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 6, 1911. HOLLAND'S FORTIFICATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1068, 6 March 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 6, 1911. HOLLAND'S FORTIFICATIONS.

Holland's scheme of maritime • defence has created considerable stir in Europe, and that it should do so was only to bo expected. The actions of the Netherlands Government is, in one sense, almost inexplicable; viewed from another point of view the conviction is inevitable that some kind of pressure has been applied at The Hague. Holland is a neutral Power, and any dread of attack by outside enemies must be, in the main, chimerical. The influence of Germany is discerned by some in Holland s desire to fortify her ports on the North Sea, instead of strengthening her far from invulnerable land defences, especially those on her eastern frontier. Wc seldom attach much importance to intelligence concerning Germany's subterranean methods, and ' will maintain that scepticism until some tangible proof of a permanent success, and one worthy of' the name, achieved by those mcthoc's, has been established. In the present case, however, certain slignt reasons exist for admitting that Germany's agents may have been at work among QjOeen Wilhelmina's Ministers. That Holland is merely giving effect to the behests of the Kaiser provides a complete and a convenient explanation of the proposed fortifications. _ Many observers will doubtless be inclined to accept the Kaiser theory for the reason that it sheds light upon the unusual spectacle of a neutral Power arming, and, further, because the inspired press of Germany unanimously declares that_ never has the Kaiser sought to influence the Dutch Government. Indeed, German journals pretend to be indignant that Belgium, France, or any other Power should seek to restrict Holland's activities and "forbid it to execute plans j of defence in its own territory." The Kolnisclie Zeitung concludes a rather weak attack on M. Pichon, France's Foreign Minister, with the superfluous assurance that Germany "would not lend-a hand to such limitation of the Netherlands' sovereign rights." All that M. Pichon said,was that Holland as a signatory to the Treaty of 1839 could not take any action calculated-to affect .Belgium's neutrality. Germany is, however, singularly sensitive to French criticism.

The problem is perplexing: is one less difficult to state than to solve. Comment lias been great in volume, the facts few and simple. All that is lacking is a sufficient raison d'etre, an exposition of the motives which produced Holland's Fortification Bill. It has been said that the fortification scheme is new, that only 'recently the Kaiser assumed a peremptory tone, and 10, the defence scheme appeared ! This 'contention is scarcely borne out by the few facts that are known. As far back as 1903 a Defence Commission was appointed to inquire- into and report upon, the maritime defences of the country. The report was speedily made, but it was secret, and nearly seven years w*:e permitted to pass before its recommendations were embodied in the present Bill. The work proposed, it is estimated, will take eight years to accomplish. Not only were additional fortifications recommended, but also six special warships. In the Bill the number oi ships has been cut down to four: the' class of ship proposed has not been made known. About the middle of December last the 'Dutch Government published an extract from the secret report on maritime defence. This extract set forth the strange dictum that "the system of defence must give complete guarantees for the maintenance of Dutch neutrality." It then proceeded to mention what the report recommended, namely, that the fortifications of Tcxcl, on the Zuydcr Zee, should be modernised, that those of the ports of Ymuiden, and fticuwe Waterwcg should ho completed, and that the fortifications at Neuzen and Ellcwoutsdyk should be :.upplem'ented by works of the highest class at Flushing. The total cost of the scheme, says the official document, is estimated at about £3,166,000. Attention has concentrated upon the proposed fortifying of Flushing, its situation, being at the mouth of the Scheldt, the high waterway to the city of Antwerp and to the heart of Belgium. To tlie present, Belgium's Foreign Minister has contented himself by requesting, in the friendliest manner, an explanation of the proposed fortifications at the mouth of the Scheldt. •

In spite of all that has been said and written, and of the bitter tone heard both in Franco and in Russia, the all-important fact remains that the work of fortifying the Dutch coast has not yet begun. And there are not wanting indications that the scheme may yet remain in abeyance. Dit. KuYPEfi, the Dutch ex-Premier, for example, interviewed by tho Brussels tiair, showed that he, at all events, considers the proposals as but constituting little eke than a tentative scheme. Dr. KuYper is of tho belligerent school, and he is found declaring that hostile criticisms from France and England "will decide Holland into carrying the scheme into practice." The article contributed three months ago to the' Nineteenth Century by Slit Harry Johnston' will doubtless satisfy many that Holland's action has been dictated by Germany. As the result of investigations carried on in Germany, "among the. enlightened and the intelligent," Sin Harry Johnston arrived at the decision that there would be no abate-

ment of naval rivalry between the I two countries unless by a compel, written or unwritten, Great Britain agreed to the virtual incorporation by Germany of Holland, the Balkan Peninsula, and all that then remained of the Turkish Empire. Missioned to Germany on particular objects bent never fail to obtain precisely the information sought. Of late there have been Free-trade delegates, Tariff Reform delegates, peace delegates, and others, invading the Fatherland, and all of them returned to England able to announce that their creeds, policies, and theories had been confirmed by what they had seen and heard. Sir Haiiry Johnston may or may not belong to this variety of peripatetic seekers after knowledge; if he does, not, he must have conversed with imaginative Germans, who wore in an expansive mood. The spreading of Germany over the face of Europe and the appropriating of Asia Minor is the aim of Pan-Germanism, but never before has Great Britain been informed that the building of German Dreadnoughts will cease only when German territory extends from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf. German ambitions must be known at The Hague, and that knowledge should serve to keep Holland aloof from her powerful neighbour. The coming months should solve this peculiar fortification problem.