AMAZING STORY RELATED
DELIBERATENESS APPARENT
(United Press Association—By Electric TelegraphCopyright.) / v PARIS, May 30. In a remarkable dispatch in which it declares that King Leopold’s treachery was not only military, but organised, premeditated felony, the Havas Agency states that Leopold, after the out--1 reak of war, forbade his Ministers to leave Belgium, particularly for France. King Leopold refused to present himself to Parliament before assuming command of the army as his father did in 1914, and also refused to condemn the invaders. He stowed signs of a defeatist spirit, and opposed collaboration between the French and Belgian authorities to prepare' the evacuation of civilians. Leopold acted equivocally at Ostend where members of the Cabinet tried to persuade him to accompany them from Belgium and reproached him for not following General Weyganil’s advice. The King was evasive, saying the army was too tired to Brake the withdrawal which would have saved the situation. The Ministers protested that the army was in excellent fettle and morale, of which they had been informed by the army officers, who did not hesitate to use the word treason. It was only by chance that the Ministers learned after the last interview with the King on May 25 that the Germans were only six kilometres away. King Leopold showed signs of extreme exasperation, declaring that he was determined to make peace in order to preserve his country’s relative independence. RUSE THAT FAILED. M. Pierlot without avail pointed out that the King was about to violate the Constitution. The Government on May 2b received a request from the King for a blank, sheet sig'ned by a member of the Cabinet. The King explained that it was needed to enable him to nominate another Minister constitutionally with the obvious intention of summoning a new Prime Minister. The ruse failed, all the Ministers refusing to sign. Soon afterwards the King ordered his troops to cease fire. The Belgian Cabinet, at a meeting, decreed that, as King Leopold is in the power of the invader, it is impossible for him to reign.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 156, 1 June 1940, Page 8
Word Count
342AMAZING STORY RELATED Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 156, 1 June 1940, Page 8
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