The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. MONDAY, MAY 30, 1938. "COOLING-OFF" IN EUROPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 125, 30 May 1938, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

MONDAY, MAY 30, 1938. "COOLING-OFF" IN EUROPE.

For tfce cause that tacks assistance, For the tcrony thai needs resifttatwo, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Barring explosive "incidents" —of which the continual allegations of frontier violations naturally arouse apprehension—the "eoolingoff" period in the German-Czechoslovakian dispute seems likely to have satisfactory results. If the German Government intended another coup, it immediately lost the valuable advantage of surprise, for the Czechs manned the frontier, and their emergency call to allies antl potential allies met with a response .sufficiently impressive to deter aggression. The German Government denies that anything of the kind was contemplated, but it is difficult to believe that the Prague Government was utterly mistaken in thinking that the country was in imminent danger, and in moving to

meet that danger. Whatever the exact truth, the Czechs, with the example and fate of Austria fresh in mind, were obviously not disposed to take chances, and the world, except Germany will applaud them for their courage and resolution. Apart from the Czechs' own rights, nothing could have been worse for Europe than a second easy victory, within a few weeks, for armed forces suddenly dispatched across a frontier.

But though the immediate danger is less, the causes of the crisis remain. The Sudeten Germans still want autonomy, and the Prague .Government is not prepared to grant it in full. Recent events will have heightened the Sudetens , sense of "separateness," and increased the Government's fear of the consequence of weakening its hold on the Sudeten frontier. It appears clear that the problem .is not one that can be solved by the Czeehs alone, and that belief, coupled with the knowledge that if a conflict began it would speedily spread, is responsible for the intense diplomatic activity in the capitals of the major Powers. As in all countries, including Germany, it is* realised that a peaceful settlement of the dispute would be infinitely less costly than the alternative, there is some ground for hoping that diplomatic efforts will be successful. Possibly the Prague Government will be induced, by the offer of a frontier guaranteed by the Powers against violation,-to make larger concessions to its minority than it has been prepared to make hitherto.