Duke of Windsor Makes Eloquent Appeal for Peace

Northern Advocate, 9 May 1939, Page 8

Duke of Windsor Makes Eloquent Appeal for Peace

(Received 2.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 8. The Duke of Windsor, through the National Broadcasting Company (which is a network radio advertising concern), gave a radio broadcast from Verdun, which he visited in the course of a tour of the battlefields. It was his first broadcast since In's abdication. In his address, which was brief, he drew attention to his consciousness of the presence of a great company of the dead at Verdun, from which he was speaking. He stressed that he had abstained from public affairs in the past 30 months deliberately, and still proposed to do so. He was speaking wholly for himself, and simply as a soldier in the last war. “whose earnest prayer is that such cruel and destructive madness shall never again overtake mankind.” He added that he was convinced that no people want war, whether German, British nr French, and lie appealed to all political leaders to maintain peace, adding that “the greatest success that any Government could achieve for its national policy would be nothing in comparison with the triumph of having contributed to save humanity from a terrible fate which threatens it today.

“It is not for me to put forward concrete proposals. That must be left to those who have the power to guide their nations toward a closer understanding. God grant that they may accomplish that great task before it is too late.” The Duke urged discouragement of all harmful propaganda, “which, from whatever source it comes, tends to poison the minds of the people of the world. I personally' deplore the use of such terms as ‘encirclement’ and ‘aggressor.’ They can only arouse just those dangerous passions it should be the aim of all of us to subdue.” He drew a parallel between international relations and the relations of individuals, which are harmoniously adjusted.

“Otherwise modern civilisation can never come to existence.. Are we now going to destroy civilisation by failing to do internationally what vve learn to do individually?” he asked.

The address was heard very clearly in the United States. It was not rebroadcast over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “We are following the example of the 8.8. C. in this matter,” it was stated.