Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/286

 which we have received from the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee, the Flemish question.

With regard to Belgium, we are bound to state that there is a very big difference between the constant assurances that we are given on the subject of the political independence of the country, and the manner in which the occupant administers it and insists on changing the fundamental institutions.

If Germany's intention is to evacuate Belgium and to respect her independence, we cannot understand why she is carrying out a policy which can only be explained by her desire to remain. It is notably in such a spirit that she is trying to exploit the Flemish question, to set the Flemish and the Walloons against each other, and so demoralize the nation.

The Flemish people, as much as the Walloons, wish to remain Belgian, in an independent Belgium. They do not dream of accepting from the hands of the