Edward Grey's
guarantee, because they do not differentiate between the words
integrity, independence, and neutrality. Great Britain and her ally
Japan, marching through China into Kiao-Chau, may be said to have
violated China's neutrality, but not her independence, nor, so long as
they refrain from annexing any Chinese territory, her integrity.

Fixing the Blame.

Nobody familiar with the careful work of Sir Edward Grey can for one
moment believe that Sir Edward inadvertently dropped the word, just as
little as J. Ramsay Macdonald and other British leaders believe that he
inadvertently dropped one of the two remaining words, integrity and
independence, when he told Parliament of Germany's guarantee, and why
Great Britain should not accept it, but go to war.

When the blame for the horrors committed in Belgium are assessed these
facts must be remembered:

1. Belgium was by treaty bound to maintain fortresses.

2. France tempted her to commit "acts friendly" to herself, by which
Belgium forfeited her rights to the protection of The Hague articles
governing the rights and duties of neutrals.

3. England urged her to take up arms, when she had only asked to have
her integrity guaranteed by diplomatic intervention. (Nos. 153, 155.)

4. Germany promised her independence and integrity and peace, while
England, quietly dropping her guarantee of neutrality "in future years,"
promised her independence and integrity and war.

5. And Sir Edward Grey was able to sway Parliament, according to one of
the leaders of Parliament himself, only because he misrepresented
Germany's guarantee, and, having dropped, in his note to Belgium, the
word "neutrality," dropped yet another of the two remaining words,
integrity and independence.

This is the case as it appears on the evidence contained in the various
"White Papers." Austria was attending properly to her own affairs;
Servia was willing to yield; Russia, however, was determined to
humiliate Austria or to go to war. Germany proved a loyal friend to her
ally, Austria; she trusted in the British professions of friendship to
the last, and sacrificed seven valuable days in the interest of peace.
France was willing to do "what might be required by her interests,"
while Great Britain yielded to Russia and France, promising them their
support without which France, and therefore Russia, would not have
decided on war.

As to Belgium, Germany told Sir Edward Grey that she had unimpeach