HITLER'S SPEECH

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20914, 20 September 1939, Page 9

HITLER'S SPEECH

THE SAME AS USUAL ALLEGED BARBARITY MANY BROKEN PROMISES (Official Wireless) (Received Sept. 20, 3.15 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 19 Herr Hitler’s speech at Danzig followed the now familiar lines of the speeches which he has delivered on each succeeding day of the “liberation” achieved by the enslavement of another people In defiance of treaty obligations and his own earlier pledges. Once more it has been <( the greatest day of his life.” Commentators In London can find little Interest in the speech, so true does it run to type. By his contemptuous estimate of the public intelligence in “Mein Kampf” Herr Hitler had already prepared the worlds for what would otherwise excite some surprise—his complete indifference to the observance of any kind of consistency. It is again clear that words have no meaning or value to him beyond the immediate transitory purpose they serve in the game of political chicanery. The Obvious Retort In a typical passage today he dated from the death of the late Marshal Pilsudski the deterioration in GermanPolish relations, and said: “It was possible for us only with difficulty to look on while the German minority was barbarously ill-treated. The world, which is always shaken to its depths when a Polish Jew who has recently emigrated to Germany is deported, remained dumb in the face of this ill-treatment.” The obvious retort which occurs to many here is that the world remained dumb in the face of this illtreatment for the very good reason that from the time of Marshal Pilsudski’s death in May, 1935, until this spring Herr Hitler represented his relations with Poland as excellent. Hitler’s Changed Tone No word was said in Germany of the maltreatment of Germans in Poland. This is how Hitler himself described his friendship for Poland in the Reichstag on May 21, 1935: “We recognise the Polish State as the home of a great patriotic nation with the understanding and cordial friendship of candid nationalists.” After three years in the Reichstag, on February 20, 1938, he could still say: “In the fifth year which follows the coming into force of the first great international convention concluded by the Reich we state with genuine admiration that our relations with that State with which we had perhaps the greatest antagonism are not only characterised by an entente but that in the course of the past years these relations have resulted in a more friendly drawing together. The value of this was questioned by many at the time, but it has now passed the test and I may well say that since the League of Nations ceased its continuous efforts at disturbances in Danzig and appointed a new Commissioner, a man of personality, this most dangerous place for the peace of Europe has entirely lost its menacing significance. “The Polish State respects the national conditions in this country and Germany respects Polish rights. “It was possible to find a way to an understanding which, in spite of the assertions of many mischief-makers, has succeeded In removing all friction between Germany and Poland and made it possible to work together in true amity.” HURRYING HOME JAPANESE GOODWILL FLIERS PROPOSED STOPS CANCELLED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrig-bt' (Received Sept. 20, 11 a.m.) MIAMI (Florida), Sept. 19 The Japanese goodwill fliers took off for San Salvador. They are hurrying home owing to the war, and it is said that they are likely to cancel the proposed stops at London, Paris and Berlin. NO COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL CLARIFYING THE POSITION (united Press. Assu.—Elec. Tei. Copyright (Received Sept. 20, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 19 There was no competitive football on Saturday. The clubs are awaiting a clarifying statement from the Football Association. The biggest difficulty is restricting the crowds.