was one, bound themselves that they would treat neutral territory as inviolable, and not permit it to be used for the passage of troops or munitions of war. Now all these scraps of paper we had been asked to put into the waste-paper basket, and what do you think the plea was upon which this appeal was made to us? The plea was that if we did not break our treaty obligations with regard to Belgium, France was ready to do so.
That plea was a monstrous plea, and it was an utterly untrue statement. It was a monstrous plea because when, in public or private life, you are asked to consent to a disgraceful action, it is no justification to say that somebody else is going to do a disgraceful action also. [Hear, hear.] But the plea was utterly untrue. And I should like to tell you very shortly what the facts were. On a certain date your Government asked the Government of France and the Government of Germany whether they intended to respect the neutrality of Belgium.
What was the answer of the French Government? They replied at once, straightforwardly and unequivocally, that they had no intention of trespassing on the neutrality of Belgium, that they had announced this more than once, and that they had announced it of their own accord. That was the straightforward answer of the French Government. [Cheers.]
Now let me give you the answer of the German Government. There were two interviews between our Ambassador and the German Minister. At the first of these the German Minister said that he would like to have time to reflect. [Laughter.] He said his mind was so full of grave matters that he could not be quite certain of remembering all the points. [More laughter.] That was on July 30. On the following day there was another interview. On that occasion the German Minister said that he must consult the Emperor and the Chancellor before he could give an answer and that he doubted very much whether they would give one. [Laughter.] What do you think of that as an answer to the simple and practical question as to whether you are going to fulfil your obligations or not?
Well, in these circumstances I venture to suggest to you that in this matter our honour as guarantors of the independence and integrity of Belgium was not less deeply engaged than the honour of Belgium itself. [Cheers.] And I suggest to you that if we had repudiated that obligation we should have
