POWERS' NEGOTIATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 193, 17 August 1939, Page 10

POWERS' NEGOTIATIONS.

That negotiations are going on among the Powers with the object of settling the Danzig problem need not be doubted, but as to the nature of the negotiations little more than speculation is available. That part of the speculation which is inspired by hope suggests that as an outcome of talks between the Italian Foreign Minister and Hcrr Hitler the Axis Powers have communicated to the Pope (whose work for peace is unceasing and unpublicised) preliminary proposals relating not only to Danzig but to that "general settlement" for which all the democratic nations yearn. Tlmt part of the speculation which is inspired by suspicious fear sees the possibility of "another Munich," and indeed the implication in the reported GermanItalian propaganda is that,, in given circumstances, Britain should bring pressure to bear on Poland. It is painfully remembered that pressure was brought to bear on Czechoslovakia to force her to accept Anglo-French proposals Inst September, with whnt ultimate results we are familiar. IJiit this suspicion of "another Munich," goes much too far. It is inconceivable that Mr. Chamberlain would again accede to German demands without gaining a quid pro quo much more substantial and dependable than the scrap of paper he took homo with him from Munich.