The feebler spirits of Holland would rather believe anything than be forced into the turmoil of war. Germany, as a protector of the weak, the champion of the small, they are willing to accept--rather than meet Germany in arms. Nay, they--the descendants of the greatest seamen, and to-day dependent on the sea for more than half the country’s wealth--would prefer Germany’s guarantee of sea freedom than run the risk of her land atrocities. Raemaekers is the _enfant terrible_ of political argument. The German contention is childish, the Dutch credulity is childish, and he meets them with a child’s demonstration of what the truth would be. Three great outlets of the sea are blocked by three brutal figures. We have only to look at them to realise that here are dangerous playmates. ARTHUR POLLEN [Illustration: THE FREE SEA Germany’s idea of what it would make of it for Holland.] Belgian Refugee to His Dutch Brother In this cartoon Raemaekers endeavours to bring home to his compatriots one lesson of the War. That as human nature now is--and especially German in-human nature--the only guarantee, not necessarily of peace but of life, for the smaller nations on the borders of the German Empire is the provision of a force sufficient to give pause to wanton aggression. A large and more efficient Army might not have saved Belgium. It would, however, possibly have diverted the German advance to another quarter. It would undoubtedly have gained much valuable time for the Allies in their fight for the cause of freedom and the preservation of small nations. Of the importance of a large and efficient Army to Holland at the present juncture there can be no question. Germany in retreat may invade the territory of the gallant little nation of free people, whose history is a glorious and eloquent plea for their continued existence as a separate nation, unless they are prepared to offer effective resistance. Often the dying throes of a wild beast involve an unexpectedly wide area in destruction. And if Germany wins, Holland may make up its mind to becoming an appendage of the Hunnish Empire. That this is realised by the more thoughtful and prescient Dutch no one who knows them doubts; but the wave of prosperity in war time which Holland has experienced may serve to dull the apprehension of the less suspicious and far-sighted of her people. With the case of the Belgian refugees before their eyes one may hope that the lesson may strike home. Indeed, we cannot believe that the wrongs of Belgium will be readily forgotten. The central figure of the cartoon is not less eloquent because the despair that is written upon the face is less emotional than that of the girl and woman, or even the little boy. But it grips. Wisdom, too often, alas! is purchased only with the bitter coin of experience. CLIVE HOLLAND