NAZI COMMENT ON BECK’S SPEECH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 May 1939, Page 5

NAZI COMMENT ON BECK’S SPEECH

Increase in Polish-German Tension REPORTED OFFER BY THE POPE TO MEDIATE POLAND NOT TAKING INITIATIVE IN NEGOTIATIONS By Telegraph—Press Association.—Copyright. , LONDON, May 6. The Speech of the Polish Foreign Minister, Colonel Beck, in reply to Kerr Hitler, was not sufficiently concrete to offer a basis for new negotiations, a spokesman cf the German Ministry of Propaganda said in Berlin yesterday. The speech was weak, and did not answer the Fuehrer directly. Herr von Ribbentrop, the Foreign Minister, and Herr Hitler had both offered Poland a 25 years ’ non-aggression pact. The conference between Poland and Germany on Danzig and the Corridor in October, 1938, had resulted in the Polish rejection of the German proposals in a manner which indicated “If you insist, it will mean war,’’ added the spokesman. A statement issued to the foreign Press in Berlin declared that Colonel Beck disregarded the right of self-determination and that citizens of Danzig must have a part in deciding Danzig’s future. Poland could not claim influence in Danzig merely because the city lay at the mouth of a Polish river. The treaty between Poland and Germany was signed in a spirit of friendship and must be invalidated when one partner’s alliances with the Powers are inimical to the other. The Warsaw correspondent of the British United Press says it is officially stated there that Poland has no intention of taking the initiative in regard to negotiations with Germany. It is considered that Germany must reply to.the last paragraph of the speech setting out Poland’s readiness to talk on a basis of good neighbourliness. Meanwhile, newspapers in Germany reflect a grave increase in Polish-German tension. They carry violent reports of Polish attacks on Germans in the Corridor. It is confirmed in semi-official Vatican circles that the Pope is doing his utmost through diplomatic channels to produce a settlement. It is believed that the Pope is willing to mediate, if this is acceptable, between Poland and Germany. He has received many diplomats’in the last two days and urged Nuncios throughout Europe to use their good offices with heads of States. The Berchtesgaden correspondent of the ‘ ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ ’ says that Monsignor Orsenigo, Papal Nuncio in Germany, joined in conversations between Herr Hitler, Herr von Ribbentrop and Danzig representatives, and later returned by a special Government plane to Berlin.