The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, THURSDAY, AUG. 31, 1939. “IN THE BALANCE”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20030, 31 August 1939, Page 4

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, THURSDAY, AUG. 31, 1939. “IN THE BALANCE”

During the brief, but very important, sitting of the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister made the real position between Germany and the Peace Front so clear that nobody could any longer remain under any misapprehension. In a most .convincing manner, Mr. Chamberlain showed that, if there should be a second Great War, the stupendous responsibility would —as in the case of the European conflagration of 1914-18 —rest solely upon the shoulders of Germany. Maybe, the world at large was keenly disappointed that he could not, that day, go into all the details of the negotiations that li'err Hitler had entered upon with Britain. Full credit must, however, have been given to the Prime Minister for having been so scrupulously fair in his method of handling the matter. In every respect, he took the utmost care not to say anything that might prove detrimental to the main object of the negotiations—to explore every available avenue with a view to finding (if possible) one that might lead to the goal of peace. Mr. Chamberlain made no secret of his belief that it would be more helpful if he did not, at that stage, make fuller disclosures in (to quote his own words) “a situation of such extreme delicacy, when the issues are so grave and hang precariously in the balance.” In effect, what he told the British Parliament was that, although Germany had not indicated any substantial change of heart up till that point “we still will hope and still will work for peace, but we will abate no jot of our resolution to hold fast to the line which we have laid down for ourselves.” When Mr,. Chamberlain’s statement came to be analysed in Germany it. would, rightly, be held only to mean that the Peace Front remained as determined as ever that the day of “one man” rule in Europe—that of' Herr Hitler—was no longer going to be tolerated.

The extraordinary attitude which Herr Hitler had continued to adopt in respect of the Polish problem has, assuredly, provided further illuminating evidence of the peculiar workings of the official German mind. If Germany had been actuated by honest intentions not to do anything that might lead to the fracture of the peace of Europe, no crisis could have arisen over Danzig and the Corridor. And, furthermore, there would, of course, have been no coups, __ on Germany’s part, with Austria and Czechoslovakia for her victims! Months ago, it was pointed out to Herr Hitler, not only by Britain and France, but also by Poland (in the case of Poland as far back as May sth) that, if the Reich would agree to be guided by two cardinal and essentially fair conditions—namely, the creation of peaceful intentions and the adoption of peaceful methods of procedure—conversations on any (or all) of Germany’s grievances might, at once, be held. But it never suited Herr Hitler’s book to agree that the principles of international justice should be heeded by Germany in the settlement of any quarrel that she might force upon any of her small neighbours. To-day, therefore, she stands condemned, in the eyes of all peace-loving nations, for having employed against Poland intimidatory measures that were dearly intended to be provocative. In strict fact, when similar tactics had been used against hapless Czechoslovakia, they had speedily proved effective. Germany’s attitude when she was invited, right at the outset or the trouble, to negotiate with Poland in a peaceful manner was nothing short of contemptible. “Why should Germany treat Poland as an equal?” was Herr Hitler’s scornful answer. By massing huge forces in the vicinity of Poland, and by sponsoring irritation in the so-called “Free City of Danzig,” Germany then left

no room for doubt but that her intentions were sinister. In the light of all that has happened, Germany, unquestionably, stands self-convicted 01 committing numerous gross outrages whilst carrying out instalments of her plan to gain dominancy in Europe by wrecking what remained of the Versailles Treaty. Behind her every move has been the threat to use violence, if intimidation should fail. Plainly, she did not regard her signature either to the Versailles Treaty or to the Kellogg Peace Pact as any more binding than that which she had placed, before the Great War, on the Belgian Neutrality Treaty. And, what is more, Germany’s duplicity had not been less marked in connection with her precrisis “friendly” relations with the Poles. This was shown by the fact that, not until March last, did Germany conveniently find that it was urgently necessary that Danzig and the Corridor should be returned to her. She had, of course, no ground for claiming that her nationals in Danzig were being oppressed, seeing that the Polish residents there are in a sad minority and tljat its Senate is composed chiefly of Germans. Nor did it matter that even Herr Hitler himself had made a treaty with Marshal Pilsudski guaranteeing the maintenance of the status quo of Danzig and the Corridor up till 1944 and, in addition, that a trade treaty was operating to the advantage of both parties! What had happened by March last to bring about such a complete and such a sudden change of front on Germany’s part? It can only be conjectured that Germany had reached the item “Poland” at a much earlier date than that which had originally appeared against it on the Nazi programme of expansion at the expense of her weaker neighbours.