RECOGNITION OF BELGIAN HEROISM

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2241, 29 August 1914, Page 7

RECOGNITION OF BELGIAN HEROISM

BRITISH PARLIAMENT'S TRIBUTE STIRRING SPEECHES IN HOUSE OF COMMONS , ■ ' (800. August 28, 11.10 p.m.) ~ '. ..v' .'■.■' , London, August 28. - Mr. Asqmth, m moving in the House of Commons that ar. address be presented to the King of tho Belgians expressing the House's admiration of uelgmm s .resistance, said the %nr had now shaken tho whole of liuropo s system to its foundations. It originated in a quarrel in which Britain had 110 conaeri, and it was only when Britain was confronted with the choice, between keeping and breaking her solemn' obligations in. discharge- of a binding trust and shameless subservience to naked force/ that she had thrown away the scabbard. '■We do not repent'our decision," declared Mr. Asquith. "The issue was one that a great self-respecting, nation bred and nurtured-in this ancient home oi liberty could not, without undying shame, have doc'lined. "Belgium had no interests of her own to serve, except the supreme interest of preserving her integrity and national life. History tells us that the duty of asserting and maintaining that great principle, which is after all the wellspring, of. civilisation and. progress, has to fall, at critical time's; to States relatively smal in area and population, but great in courage "and resource. (Cheers.) At Athens, Sparta, and in tho Swiss Cantons, and three centuries ago on tho Netherlands, the duty fell, but never has,it been more bravely acknowledged and more heroically discharged than during the last few weeks by theBelgian King and people. They faced without flinching almost incalculable odds, horrors of devastation, of spoliation and of outrage.. (Cheers.) "Tho Belgians have won the immoital glory which belongs to people who .prefer freedom to ease, and security even to life itself. We salute them with respect and honour. Wβ are with them heart and soul because we are defending two great causes—the independence of small .States and the sanctity of international obligations. They can count to the end on our whole-hearted and unfailing support." . , Mr. Bonar Law, Leader of the Opposition, said our admiration and sympathy aro not confined! to the Belgian Army ,but go out to the people who are enduring the horrors of war, which ought to be impossible among civilised nations. Whatever doubts there may have l)een regarding the necessity of Britain engage inpj in this warhave been removed by what is happening in Belgium. This war is in reality a struggle of civilisation against brute force, not less brutal because- it has at its disposal matefjal resources, and inventions of science. Mr. John Redmond, Leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, suggested that the ten million loan to Belgium should 'hot be a loan but a gift. The motion was carried unanimously. In the House of Lords tho Marquis of Crewe, Leader of the House, moved the adoption of an address couched in similar tonus to that adopted in the House of Commons.