THE LAST PHASE

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20919, 26 September 1939, Page 7

THE LAST PHASE

GERMAN VERSION POLISH NEGOTIATIONS VITAL FACTS HIDDEN (Omcial Wireless) (Received Sept. 26, 11.0 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 25 A comparison of the German official publication of the “last phase of the German-Polish crisis” and the two British official publications shows that 15 out of the 26 documents which is all the former contains were among a total of 130 made public by the British Government, while the German Foreign Office has omitted a number of documents recording facts of great importance. There is no account ot the interviews on August 23, 25, 28, 29, 30 and 31, Sir Nevile Henderson’s records of which were one of the most interesting section of the second British White Paper, revealing, as they did, the violent and menacing language used by Herr Hitler and Herr van Ribbentrop. Readers of the German documents who had no access to the fuller British publication would be unaware, for example, that the British Government protested at once against the German demand for the arrival of the Polish plenipotentiary at Berlin to receive and accept the German demands by midnight on August 30. They would not know that the German/'Government, while insisting on August 29 for this demand, not ultimatum, stated that at midnight on August 30 they regarded their proposals as already rejected because the demand for the arrival of the Polish plenipotentiary had not been accepted. Negotiations Refused It would have been concealed from them that the German Government refused absolutely the repeated suggestions made by Britain and accepted by Poland that the PolishGerman negotiations should take the ordinary form—that is, that any German proposals should be given to the Polish Ambassador for transmission to his Government, and that at midnight on August 30 Herr von Ribbentrop refused to give the British Ambassador a written communication stating the German proposals or to suggest to the Polish Government any method of negotiation other than that of facing a Polish plenipotentiary unwilling to listen to Polish counter-proposals. Ribbentrop’s Method of Explanation Again, later in the introduction, there is a clumsy attempt, by the omission of dates and times, to give the impression that on August 30 Sir Nevile Henderson was given German proposals which were explained to him in detail. In fact, on the night of August 30 Herr von Ribbentrop’s method of explanation was, in Sir Nevile’s own words, “to read out a lengthy document in German at top speed.” Herr von Ribbentrop refused to give Sir Nevile a copy of these proposals, adding that in any case he considered the proposals—which the Polish Government had not seen—were rejected because the Polish plenipotentiary had not arrived to accept them en bloc before midnight. The proposals were not given to Sir Nevile until 9.15 p.m. on August 31, when the German Government again repeated the proposals were rejected because the Polish Government had not agreed to what in effect was the German intention to obtain a dictated settlement in Berlin with a series of demands which the Polish plenipotentiary would have been expected to accept without consultation of his Government. As a method of stating a case the procedure adopted by Herr von Ribbentrop has an obvious advantage so long as it is intended only for those who can be prevented from obtaining fuller information, but it is not likely to impress any who have access to the statements of both sides. Another German Misstatement The introduction to the German Foreign Office’s selection of documents is no less tendentious than the selection itself. It is implied that the British guarantee to Poland was given before the Polish rejection of the German offer in March, 1939. In fact, the British guarantee was not offered to Poland until after these terms had been refused by the Polish Government as incompatible with Polish independence.

IN THE BALKANS

BLOC OF NEUTRAL NATIONS GUARANTEE BY POWERS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) NEW YORK, Sept. 25 “ The Balkans situation turns toward the creation of a bloc of concerted neutral Powers embracing all the Balkan States, and guaranteed by Russia, Turkey and Italy,” says the New York Times correspondent “ Augur ” in a radia-telephone report, from London. “ The Balkans appear to be excluded for good from the theatre of war, thus protecting the Mediterranean and restricting German military activity. “ Turkey sponsored the move, which Russia and Italy are supporting for different reasons. Their neutrality has advantages for the democracies. “ Already Hitler has been thrown back in the east, where he was able to crush the Poles at the price of allowing Russia to marshal over 100 divisions on the Vistula-Carpathians line, thus creating the permanent menace of a stab in Germany’s back immediately she weakens in the west. She has also lost the Ukraine and the prospect of seizing Rumania’s economic re* sources.”