Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1939. AN UNACCEPTABLE OFFER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 300, 2 October 1939, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1939. AN UNACCEPTABLE OFFER.

The prompt indication, given officially, that France will reject the peace terms planned by German and Russia is the forerunner of a similar declaration by Britain. That France has made the first announcement is due not to difference in principle between the two Allies, but to difference in method. Britain prefers to wait until official advice is received before making a definite statement. But enough has been said by statesmen and written by journalists to show that any peace proposals at the present juncture will not be favourably received. To withdraw from action now would be an everlasting disgrace to Britain, which has declared in no equivocal terms that the war must be waged, not to conquer the German people, but to destroy the evil regime that* is a menace to the independence of every European country. • Victory for Herr Hitler—-for peace to-day would be a moral victory for him —would mean the ultimate overthrow of civilisation. It would be a confession on the part of the Allies that they are impotent against brutal aggression. Indeed, it would be more than confession; it would be inducement to Herr Hitler to pursue his ambitious ruthlessness not only in Eastern Europe, so far as his new-found companion in iniquity will permit him, but also in the West. The small States bordering Germany would quickly disappear. France herself would not be safe and Britain would have to consent to the dismemberment of the Empire, even if she preserved her own independence practically as a vassal State. The Reich and the Soviet affirm their desire for peace, endeavouring to place on Britain the responsibility for continuing the war. No Briton will be swayed by such considerations, for the world at large will realise and acknowledge where the responsibility and the stigma rest. It is asserted by the Berlin radio that lasting peace has been established in the east by the two great Powers. Certainly, by sheer weight of numbers and of mechanised equipment, Poland’s resistance has been crushed. But peace has fled. Peace, in its narrowest sense, remains with the Balkan and Baltic States, but peace of mind has long since been destroyed by the menace of their powerful neighbour. Until the menace is removed there can be no such peace. The one effect that the machinations of Herr Hitler and M. Molotov will have will be to spur the democracies to even greater efforts in a cause that is vital alike for principle and for national security.