HOLLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 April 1916, Page 4

HOLLAND.

There is nothing like mystery for attracting universal attention, and just now there is such a cloud of mystery overhanging Holland that it has cumed all sorts of rumors to be sH afloat as to the meaning of Dutch activity in m'litory 'utters. One result that is prominent is the crop of press comments that have been devoted to solving the mystery, but inasmuch as the secret is being closely guarded, the nearest approach to its nature can oaly be a guess, and some of the speculations are intensely amusing, though enshrouded with verbiage as dense as the mystery itself. If the matter is regarded in a common sense light it simply amounts to the fact that Holland is putting her house in order with a view to providing for contingencies that are quite within the bounds of possibilities. Maturally, the Dutch responsible authorities are not proclaiming to the world the details of the Bteps that are being taken, nor the reasons governing their action. This very proper course, stimulated the faculties of the guessers and they promptly got busy. We do not pretend to havo any better knowledge of what is happening in Holland than that disclosed in the cable news. That the Dutch Government is acting prudently in facing the position in which the country now stands, acd the possible dangers that may arise later on, is beyond question. All the speculation as to whether Holland will join the Allies or the enemy is keer fatuity. Holland knows perfectly well that she has nothing to fear from England so long as she remains friendly, but rich possessions to lose if she became an enemy. She also knows what she mijkt expect if she became Germany's vassal, and the Dutch are sufficiently cute to avoid falling into a trap that might cost them their identity aa a nation. There has, the Paris Matin States, been much talk among neutrals of an Allied offensive in great force as a sequel to the Paris Confernce, and the Dutch Government has to consider the possibility of the Germans driving north through Holland to the sea. What happened to Beljium might well happen to Holland and she knows it only too well, and this very knowledge justifies the secrecy of measures directed towards self-preservation. Such a course would commend itself to the Dutch.