THE DANGER IN DANZIG

Danzig continues to be the most obvious danger spot in the international situation of Europe. Various incidents in the news today illustrate the friction that exists between the Nazi German elements in the city and the Polish officials posted there for the discharge of certain duties. The Senate in Danzig is under Nazi control, ancl a dispute has arisen between it and the Polish authorities as to the number of Polish Customs officials in the Free City. The Senate demands a reduction which PolancTrefuses to concede, resenting the interference of the Senate in Customs matters and threatening reprisals. Then the Danzig secret police have arrested a Polish Customs, inspector on a charge of drunkenness, though, it is stated, he is a teetotaller. Apparently the officer suffered ill treatment by the Nazis. There is the further story of a "sensation" at the Senate's dinner, when the Nazi leaders, on sitting down at table, discovered leaflets denouncing the Nazi regime and Herr Hitler attached to the menus. The President of the Senate is reported to have gone to Berlin to apologise. In another part of Poland, according to the German official" news agency, the Polish frontier police shot dead a young German who was attempting to cross into Germany, allegedly because he could not find work in Poland. These incidents, comparatively insignificant in themselves, become important in the present circumstances of friction between Poland and Germany as possible grounds for Germany's longthreatened intervention in Danzig with armed forces. As Poland would almost certainly resist the intrusion with her army, the help of Britain and France as guarantors might be invoked with serious consequences. On this account an early understanding with Russia would seem desirable in the common interest.