CZECH MINORITY DISPUTE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22478, 12 August 1938, Page 11

CZECH MINORITY DISPUTE

Situation Said To Be Worse GERMAN TROOPS AT STATIONS Fears Of Trouble At Week-End (DKITID PMM AIiOCUTIOJI—COPTBIGHT.) (Received August 11, 8 p.m.) PRAGUE, August 10. The first direct negotiations be* tween Czechs and Sudetens since Lord Runciman’s arrival in Prague began to-day. Hopes broke down, however, when the Henlein Party refused to recognise the constitutionality of the Czech Ministerial Committee, or to negotiate with anyone except the Prime Minister (Dr. Hodza).

Dr. Hodza received Sudeten deputies and arranged for further meetings. Lord Runciman will receive the Sudetens to-morrow. It is stated that his presence is assisting the meeting of groups, which hitherto have been most widely separated. The Prague correspondent of the “News-Chronicle” states that military circles in Prague expect a new period of danger next week-end. Two concentrations of German troops are proceeding to the Bavarian and Austrian frontiers, especially Linz, where great masses of troops and artillery are stationed round the railway. Long-range guns emplaced at Deutsch-Altenburg are directed on Prague. After a meeting of members of the Sudeten Party, headquarters issued a statement to the effect that the situation had become worse instead of improving.

An official Czech broadcast objects to the German “campaign of insolence which is directed against the efforts of France and Britain for European peace.” The latest suggestion from the German press is that the Sudetens may be forced to take “measures of self-defence against the Czech terror.”

GERMANY’S WESTERN FORTIFICATIONS ,

FUTURE REGARDED WITH ANXIETY APPEAL FOR USE OF PRIVATE MOTOR LORRIES LONDON, August 10. The Berlin correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph,” states that further evidence of the extraordinary efforts to complete the ring of fortifications on Germany’s western frontiers, is provided in an appeal to private lorry owners to put all trucks carrying more than two tons at the disposal of the State until the end of October. Generous pay is promised for lorries drafted to the Rhineland to facilitate the work. The diplomatic correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” states that German military movements and preparations continue in the western, south-eastern, and southern regions. Twelve military trains have passed along the Nuremberg-Ulm line in the last few days. Orders have been given that all farmers must be prepared to place their horses at the disposal of the military authorities from August 20. Men over military age, but fit for garrison work, have been ordered to report on August 22 for duty lasting till October 28. Conscripts about to finish their military service have been informed that their period fs provisionally extended for a year. Reports from German border sources leave no doubt that the future is regarded with grave anxiety.