Another Prop Gone

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21941, 16 November 1936, Page 8

Another Prop Gone

The German Government’s denunciation of the clauses in the Treaty of Versailles relating to the internationalisation of the rivers Elbe, Oder, Niemen, and Danube, announced in the cable news this morning, seems to have been received calmly enough in London, perhaps because- such action was expected at the time of the military occupation of the Rhineland. It must be remembered, however, that some of the clauses which Germany is denouncing merely confirm understandings and agreements which are a century old. If Germany has merely freed herself from certain admittedly one-sided restrictions imposed by the treaty on her rights over the rivers concerned, then possibly no great harm has been done. If, on the other hand, her future policy in respect of these rivers has the effect of destroying arrangements in force before the Great War or is contrary to the provisions of the Barcelona convention of 1921 relating to navigable rivers, then a very serious situation may arise. On this point the German note cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory. The status of the Danube in particular wijl be a matter for anxiety. German diplomacy has been very active in the Danube valley lately, and it is possible that Germany’s reassertion of full sovereignty over her stretch of. the river is by way of a reminder to these countries that her goodwill is essential to their economic welfare. Some surprise has been expressed that the German Government should have broken a treaty for the sake of rights which it had every chance of securing by negotiation. One explanation is that th§ German Government gains more prestige in its own country by contemptuously defying the Versailles powers than by negotiating with them successfully. Another possible explanation is that it wants something more than it is entitled to ask for.