THE GERMAN VIEW

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 107, 9 May 1939, Page 9

THE GERMAN VIEW

COL. BECK'S SPEECH

ROOTS OF PROBLEM NOT

ATTACKED

The following communication has been received by the German ConsulGeneral in Wellington:—

The "Voelkischen - Beobachter," the official organ of the National Socialist Party, comments on the speech of tha Polish Foreign Minister, Colonel Beck, as follows:— The speech of the Polish Foreign Minister has caused disappointment because it does not attack .the roots of the problem.1. The main reason which obliged the German Government to consider the Polish-German agreement of 1934 as at an end was not the Polish refusal to accept the German proposals, but the conclusion of the Anglo-Polish Treaty of Alliance. By the stipulations' of this treaty Poland is obliged to attack Germany without the latter giving the slightest offence to Poland whenever the Reich should be involved in a. conflict with Great Britain any-'i where else in the world —it does not matter for what reason. It is impossible to reconcile! this obligation to attack Germany with the solemn declaration of the pact of 1934, by which, the use of arms between Germany and Poland was mutually excluded. 2. The assurance given by Colonel Beck that neither Poland nor Great Britain has the intention of attacking Germany cannot stand closer examination. It will be sufficient to have a look at the Warsaw and London newspapers, which explain with the greatest frankness the policy of encirclement. ' 3. historical account which Colonel Beck has given of the development of the recent crisis also does not stand the test. The Polish Minister tries to establish that at least part of the offers which the Fuhrer formulated in his speech of April 28 were new to him, or that these proposals were never made before in concrete form: The "Voelkischen Beobachter" points out that not only in January and March, 1939, but as early as October, 1938, the Polish Ambassador in Berlin was officially informed of German proposals for a definite solution of the outstanding questions between the Reich and Poland. These applied not only to Danzig and the Corridor, but contained also a German offer to extend the non-aggression pact for 25 years. This offer was not only made to the Polish Ambassador in Berlin by the German Foreign Minister, but also to Colonel Beck personally when he saw the Fuhrer at Berchtesgaden on January 5. 4 If Colonel Beck demands "peaceful' designs and peaceful methods of negotiation" as a condition for solving the problem, it must be stated that this has been exactly the supposition which induced the Reich to make the proposals mentioned above. These proposals were made in the most amicable form, giving the greatest consideration to the rights of Poland. There has not been a single German soldier near the German-Polish frontier to give these proposals the slightest resemblance of pressure or menace. 5. It is incorrect that Colonel Beck should reproach the Reich with having made her decisions on the basis of information given only by the Press. There was also the unmistakable declaration which Mr. Neville Chamberlain gave, also on behalf of Colonel Beck, in the House of Commons whereby any direct or indirect menace to . one of the two partners of the alliance was defined as the point at which automatically an attack on Germany should be launched by the other partner. 6. With regard^ to Danzig, Colonel

Beck refuses to allow the return of this purely German town to the Reich, on the pretence of the economic necessities of Poland. The Fuhrer recognised these necessities in a broadminded way and took them into consideration when he made his proposals. If the fact that the German town of Danzig is situated on the mouth of a river which flows through Polish territory would justify the Polish theses, the Reich could claim with equal right Dutch ports because they happen to be situated on the mouth of the Rhine. In this case the last decision can be given only by Danzig herself. f 5. It is not by chance that Colonel Beck did not even mention the port of Gdynia, which was constructed for the sole purpose of ruining Danzig economically, under the hypocritical pretence that the harbour of Danzig was not sufficiently large for the Polish traffic. There are today more than ten miles of unutilised harbour front- i age in Danzig which are at the disposal of Poland. These facts show better than words the degree of credibility of Colonel Beck's arguments. The rest is- done by the unbridled, Polish Press, with its reckless demands 1 for German territory.