The Waikato Times. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1939 HITLER’S VAIN HOPE

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20906, 11 September 1939, Page 6

The Waikato Times. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1939 HITLER’S VAIN HOPE

W bile Poland is gallantly meeting the main impact of the German attack the position on the Western Front remains obscure, though major operations are expected there at any time. Britain has apparently despatched a large force to France and the Royal Navy is coming to grips with the submarine menace. Several ships have already fallen victims to the undersea craft, but Britain is confident that she can sweep the seas clear of the U-boats within a reasonable time. What measure of success she has already achieved is carefully kept secret, and the British public will have to possess itself in patience and trust in the efficiency of the Navy. Heartening news continues to come to those whose duty it is to direct the war operations. Every part of the British Empire has declared for whole-hearted support of Britain and France. The Arab peoples, scattered widely across Asia, Europe and Africa, are allying themselves with the democratic bloc, and there is no further sign that Germany will be able to count upon any outside assistance. Those facts, if they become known to the German people, must have a profound effect upon their morale. It is impossible to gain any accurate impression of the general reaction of the German public to the declaration of war, but it is plain that the German Army is fighting desperately in Poland at the command of Herr Hitler. ’

There is still reason for the belief that the Nazis are making all possible efforts to subdue Poland as quickly as possible with the object of offering peace before it is too late. Herr Hitler will probably cling to that idea until the British and French forces leave no further room for doubt. Against the argument that Germany sees a possibility of early peace, however, is the fact that the submarine warfare has gone so far in ruthlessness that Germany can scarcely hope that the hand of the Allies will be stayed short of the defeat of Hitlerism. If Herr Hitler did hope for peace after the annexation of vital parts of Poland, he made a grave blunder in sending his submarines against Allied shipping. Of course it was a vain hope in any case. A Germany in control of Poland as well as of the other territories she had seized would be a greater menace to peace than ever.

Invocation of the neutrality law by the United States is apparently not the last act of the American people in the great conflict. It is believed in Washington that President Roosevelt will call upon Congress this week to take further action. The President is said to be convinced that a major change in the American attitude towards the war is inevitable. Repeal of the Neutrality Act would permit the United States to supply the Allied countries with war materials, and it is widely expected that that is what will happen. American public opinion is daily changing as the result of the “fright - fulnesses” of the war, and there is little hope that at least American shipping will escape the ravages of the submarine campaign.