GERMAN SARCASM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22845, 28 September 1937, Page 9

GERMAN SARCASM

ME. EDEN'S SPEECH RAW MATERIAL PROBLEM THE COLONIAL QUESTION BERLIN. Sept. 22 Bitter sarcasm has been Germany's greeting to Mr. Eden's speech at Geneva discussing raw materials and expressing Britain's readiness to negotiate for the lowering of colonial tariffs. Dr. Silex, writing in the Allgemeine Zeitung, complains of Mr. Eden's "governess-like tone," and says the speech, rendered into popular language, would run thus: "World politics will begin only in 1942, when British rearmament is completed. The fate of Spain does not interest us. We do not care to utter the word 'Bolshevism,' because it cannot be pronounced with an Oxford accent.

"Wo shall dominate the Mediterranean route. There is no prestige problem in the Far East until 1942. "Nobody needs colonies. If you have no foreign exchange, you can buy some. We shall even allow you to approach us about preference - duties in our colonies. "We have no influence on the Dominions' policy, and so cannot open the ' door which was slammed at Ottawa."

World economics, the critic adds, would be controlled by Britain if this policy were accepted by the "naughty children deprived of raw materials."

"When the 'hare nots' are at the point of choking," he savs, "Britain is prepared to open a chink in the door and let in a breath of fresh air. The speech was schoolmasterly, rather than masterly."