THE H.B. TRIBUNE MONDAY, MARCH 18, 1935 A PLAGUY PAIR.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 80, 18 March 1935, Page 6

THE H.B. TRIBUNE MONDAY, MARCH 18, 1935 A PLAGUY PAIR.

The overnight news from Berlin ami Paris is certainly not of a reassuring character so far as concerns prospects of a general understanding with regard to disarmament. Herr Hitler and his advisers—who are obviously very much of Ihe same type as those who hastened an all too willing Kaiser into what turned out to be the Great War—have determined Io take their own way regardless of all treaties and pacts The proclamation for which Der Fuhrer has issued has ‘ manifestly been expedited for two immediate reasons. Firstly, it i, intended as an answer to France’s movement for the extension of the ' term of military service, which, after having been in open content-1 plat ion for some weeks, was made ; law almost simultaneously with the Berlin conscription ukase. In the next place it was doubtless desired to have both the proclamation and its enthusiastic acceptance by the German people published abroad before the time came for the postponed meeting in Berlin between the German Chancellor and the British For-1 cig’n Minister. There is, of course, apparent no need for taking any great notice of the introductory part of the proclamation. That is couched in typical German style and will carry little weight outside Germany itself, while Herr Hitler’s clever quotation of Mr. Baldwin is something like Satan citing Holy Writ. However, putting all that aside for the meantime, there can be no doubt that this entirely defiant proclamation must have created something of a crisis that will puzzle both British and Con-

I tinental diplomats to get over. Stripping Herr Hitler’s edict of all its unnecessary verbal trap pings, there still remains the fact that Germany can advance at least some reasonable moral ground for taking the step she has. She can always point to the introduction of the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty as having been disregarded by some of the old Allied Powers and as thus affording her warrant for also ignoring them. This introduction says: “In order to render possible ihe initiation of a general limitation of the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes ■ strictly to observe the military, naval and air clauses which follow.” There is, of course, in this no specific undertaking on the part of the Allied Nations, but ' there is implicit in it a moral obligation that has most certainly not commanded much respect outside Great Britain. So far as concerns France, she has of late been able to find pretext for her own active military preparations in the unconcealed threats which Germany has held I out. Thus both the speech and > action of each have reacted in 1 j such a way as to provide some ?. justification to the other. With . France, however, must lie the j grave responsibility of having reI fuaed, a' an interna! *h?n Ger-

many was being governed by fairly reasonable men, to join with Britain and Italy in making to them fairly reasonable concessions in the way of defensive armaments. Had it not been for the uncompromising stand then taken—and since maintained with but little and then tardy relaxation —by France the face of history might well have been greatly changed. On the other hand, of course, we have a Germany that, has never yet been given an inch without wanting to take an ell, and whose solemnly pledged word has since 1914 lost very much of its value. Under Herr Hitler, in spite of all his pacific' protests, she has shown herself once more as a distinct menace to the peace of Europe, not just now perhaps, but in the possibly not altogether distant future. Well may the British Government, seeing all its effort* to establish peaceful relations thus negatived, cry with Mercutio, “a plague on both your houses.”