Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1935. DENOUNCING THE TREATY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 134, 19 March 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1935. DENOUNCING THE TREATY.

Germany’s denunciation of the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, it is apparent, has not caused the stir in the Chancellories of Europe that so momentous an act might have occasioned. The fact is that while the announcement was sudden and, in view of the present circumstances of international negotiation, unexpected there has long been realisation that it was only a matter of time before Germany made an official declaration. The national atmosphere has been manifestly electric for some time. Even before his attainment of the Chancellorship, Hitler made no secret of his wish to see Germany independent of international obligations. The abrogation of the Treaty, to be achieved by defiant rather than pacific means, was made a main plank jn his political platform. He rallied support, especially among the younger members of the community, by reiterated complaint of Germany’s alleged wrongs. On these he based part of his assault against other parties, and declared himself the one man capable of freeing the Fatherland from shackles forged by enemies. But for this, it is at least doubtful whether the Nazis could have gained ascendancy. His declamation, it is true, varied in degrees of violence. On occasion he preached peace, and at a critical stage of his earlier political career was at pains to assure foreign peoples of his friendly intentions. Yet in all his speeches directed to the electorate of the Reich he made much of grievances and by fomenting rabid nationalism prepared the- way for just such a climax as this. The decision to cut adrift from international ventures of peace is the logical consequence of the Nazi propaganda he so vehemently fed at the very beginning of his campaign. Always there has been much effort to arouse resentment against other Powers and to create suspicion of their sincerity as Germany’s professed friends, lhis purpose, which induced him to magnify the restrictions under which Germany was placed by the peace treaty, has carried him on until his present attitude is that of irreconcilable opposition to any plan of peace that does not begin with the granting of every German demand. Hitler s book, My War,” though not of recent writing, has been lately distributed throughout Germany by the million. It outlines “the educational work of the Nationalist State,” declaring mental training to be a matter of secondary importance and “a people of scientists of physically degenerated, weak-willed and cowardly pacifists to be unable to ensure its existence. The young German, according to him, must be entirely educated and trained to believe himself superior to others, and the whole educational system should “take the form of a preparatory training for future army service Ihus Hitler has prepared the youth of the nation for accepting all that is implied in the introduction of conscription, both in its relation to the individual and in its disquieting effect on other nations.