the "perpetual neutrality" of Belgium, as reaffirmed by Count Bismarck,
then Chancellor of the North German Confederation, on July 22, 1870, and
as even more recently reaffirmed in the striking fact disclosed in the
Belgian "Gray Book."

In the Spring of 1913 a debate was in progress in the Budget Committee
of the Reichstag with reference to the Military Budget. In the course of
the debate the German Secretary of State said:

"The neutrality of Belgium is determined by international
conventions, _and Germany is resolved to respect these
conventions_."

To confirm this solemn assurance, the Minister of War added in the same
debate:

"Belgium does not play any part in the justification of the
German scheme of military reorganization. The scheme is
justified by the position of matters in the East. _Germany
will not lose sight of the fact that Belgian neutrality is
guaranteed by international treaties._"

A year later, on July 31, 1914, Herr von Below, the German Minister at
Brussels, assured the Belgian Department of State that he knew of a
declaration which the German Chancellor had made in 1911, to the effect
"that Germany had no intention of violating our neutrality," and "that
he was certain that the sentiments to which expression was given at that
time _had not changed_." (See Belgian "Gray Book," Nos. 11 and 12.)

Apart from these treaty stipulations, which are only declaration of