Fighting For Peace | Page 7

armed
neutrality; her forts and her military forces were left to her. That of
Luxembourg was a disarmed neutrality; her only fortress was
dismantled and razed to the ground, and her army was reduced and
limited to one company of gendarmes and one company of infantry.
Thus Belgium had the right, the duty, and the power to resist if her
territory were violated by the armed forces of a belligerent. But
Luxembourg was made powerless to resist; she could only protest.
Remember this when you consider the fates which fell on the two
countries. Remember how the proud and independent little duchy must
have felt beforehand, standing without a weapon amid the mighty
armed powers of Europe.
It was in February or early in March, 1914, that the Grand Duchess sent
out an invitation to the Diplomatic Corps to attend a court function. We
all went gladly because of the pleasantness of the land and the good
hospitality of the palace. There were separate audiences with Her Royal
Highness in the morning, a big luncheon given by the Cabinet and the
city authorities at noon, a state dinner in the old Spanish palace at night,
and after that a gala concert. It was then that the incident occurred. I
had heard in the town that thirty military officers from the German
garrison at Trier, a few miles away on the border, were coming, invited
or self-invited, to the concert, and the Luxembourgers did not like the
idea at all. Well, the Germans came in a body, some of them courteous
and affable, the others stiff, wooden, high-chinned, and
staring--distinctly a foreign group. They were tactless enough to
propose staying over the next day. A big crowd of excited
Luxembourgers filled the streets in the morning and gave every sign of
extreme dissatisfaction. "What were these Prussian soldiers doing there?
Had they come to spy out the land and the city in preparation for an
invasion? Was there a stray prince or duke among them who wanted to
marry the Grand Duchess? The music was over. These Kriegs-Herren
had better go home at once--at once, did they understand?" Yes, they
understood, and they went by the next train, which took them to Trier
in an hour.

It was a very trivial affair. But it seemed to throw some light on the
mentality of the German army. It also made me reflect upon the state of
mind of this little unarmed country living next door to the big military
machine and directly on the open way to France. Yet we all laughed
and joked about the incident on the way back to Holland in the train.
Only the French, German, Italian, and Belgian Ministers were not with
us, for these countries have separate missions in Luxembourg.
At The Hague everything pursued its tranquil course as usual. Golf set
in. The tulips bloomed in a sea of splendor. I strove at the footless task
of promoting the third peace conference. It was not until the season of
Pentecost, 1914, that I went to Luxembourg again, intending to gather
material for a report on the flourishing steel industry there, which had
developed some new processes, and to get a little trout-fishing on the
side. During that pleasant journey two things happened which opened
my eyes.
The first was at a luncheon which Prime Minister Eyschen gave me. It
was a friendly foursome: our genial host; the German Minister, Von B.;
the French Minister, M.; and myself. Mr. Eyschen's wine-cellar was
famous, and his old Luxembourg cook was a wonder; she served a
repast which made us linger at table for three hours. The conversation
rambled everywhere, and there were no chains or padlocks on it. It was
in French, English, and German, but mostly in French. One remark has
stuck in my memory ever since. Mr. Eyschen said to me: "You have
heard of the famous 'Luxembourger Loch'? It is the easiest military
road between Germany and France." Then he continued with great
good humor to the two gentlemen at the ends of the table: "Perhaps one
of your two countries may march an army through it before long, and
we certainly cannot stop you." Then he turned to Herr von B., still
smiling: "Most likely it will be your country, Excellenz! But please
remember, for the last ten years we have made our mining concessions
and contracts so that they will hold, whatever happens. And we have
spent the greatest part of our national income on our roads. You can't
roll them up and carry them off in your pocket!" Of course we all
laughed. But it was serious. Two months later the French Minister had
to make a quick and quiet flight along one of those very roads.

A couple of days after the