the Press SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1939. Germany Strikes

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22805, 2 September 1939, Page 14

the Press SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1939. Germany Strikes

Until the House of Commons hears Mr Neville Chamberlain’: statement, the scarcity of official news leaves in some uncertainty the situation created by the German attack on Poland. That Germany has struck, in the air and on land, is clear; that Danzig has been violently recovered by the Reich is clear; the full extent of Germany’s military measures, however, is at the moment of writing not established. But the question of the limits set, at present, to the aggression is an abstract one. All that was necessary to present Warsaw and the world with the fact of an invasion, a blow at Polish independence and integrity, has been done. Defiance of the British and French guarantees and a challenge to the guarantors appear in that fact. If it is still possible, - arid it is no more than desperately and vanishingly possible, that an alternative to general war may be found, not in surrender but in reason and in honour, the possibility is that the word may be said and the step taken that will halt aggression and introduce negotiation. It can be thought of, but not with hope. The process of events to the fulfilment of the British and French guarantees may be expected to be deliberate. It rests with Poland to announce that her independence has been violated and to appeal for the fulfilment of the Anglo-French guarantees. The British and French Governments will satisfy themselves upon questions of fact, in consultation. They will, it may be assumed, call upon Germany to define her actions and intentions, and to defend them. Beyond this point war waits on the declaration, that the British and French guarantees have become effective. The British peoples will respond to the demands of that moment in earnest unity, sadly, but resolutely and confidently.