THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1938 PEACE AND ITS COST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23150, 23 September 1938, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1938 PEACE AND ITS COST

All thought upon the news from Europe should take account of its lack of. detail and finality. Until Mr. Chamberlain and Herr Hitler have discussed the situation again, in the light of events that have taken place since their first meeting, a large measure of uncertainty remains, particularly about developments in the immediate and near future. There is sufficient ground, however, for believing that the Anglo-French proposals have been accepted by the Czechoslovak Government, and that this acceptance opens a way to peace. It is possible also to say, even without an authoritative disclosure of details of the accepted proposals, that they mean to Czechoslovakia a tremendous sacrifice and may mean more yet. For reasons not difficult to gather —they are at hand, indeed, in any serious survey of facts unfolded recently—the Czechoslovak Government has been constrained by pressure to yield to demands that a few days ago were declared intolerable and are still unwelcome. This pressure, exerted by Britain and France, really arises from

circumstances. Chief among them is the national policy of Nazi Germany. There cannot be the slightest doubt that, but for the influence "of this policy and the associated incitement of the Sudeten Germans by the Nazi Government, no such crisis would have occurred. This is not to say that the political crusade for extended rights of citizenship would not have been maintained by Herr Henlein and his party, but apparently this would have taken a less belligerent course,

and been confined in scope within Czechoslovakia, had not Nazi policy, expressed audaciously in the Austrian coup, been productive of similar action toward this opportunity of decisive intervention. The Czechoslovak Government was thus faced with a hostility greater far than that of an internal racial minority.

More embarrassing has been the position created by the form this intervention took in a threat of invasion. Armed resistance could have been offered and was actually contemplated in the expectation that support would have been forthcoming i from France and Russia, and pos-j sibly Britain. Again circumstances. have prevailed against the Czecho- j slovak Government. In this instance j a realisation of the evil and futility j of war has operated destructively | on Czechoslovak hopes. It would j have been strategically impossible for either France or Russia to place land forces quickly enough beside the defenders, France having to face the line of German frontier opposition lately perfected and Russia being unable to entrain troops save by roundabout and inefficient transport through Rumania. Every material phase favoured Nazi attack. However, eagerness to reach a peaceful settlement, in the interests of-Czechoslovakia and of Europe generally, played its own part, through the British Government, in an unprecedented endeavour. Lord Runcknan's personal mission of mediation ought not to be forgotten, but to Mr. Chamberlain a special tribute is due. Never did a British Prime Minister so self-forgettingly put aside considerations that might have been urged against the course he took. His air-journey to Munich, in order to discuss the whole situation with Herr Hitler, will live in history as a remarkable adventure of peace. Whatever be the fi/ial outcome—it cannot be known until the conversations at Godesberg have been concluded —his unflagging determination to avert war is memorable. He has manifested tho courage of conviction, for it must have been clear to him that the venture exposed him to the risk of sharp criticism at home and abroad. This criticism has speedily followed the various announcements already made of the nature of the AngloFrench proposals which the Czechoslovak Government has accepted as inevitable in the circumstances. The official broadcast from Prague is intensely pathetic. "The dilemma of either accepting the Western Powers' suggestions or fighting alone without hope of success. . . . It was not lack of courage that induced the Government to take this decision. God knows it is more courageous to live than to commit suicide. We stand alone, but shall rise again." That brave outlook on the future should lead many to ask what is to be done with the peace costing so much. It gives n. breathing-space, that is not enough. Threats have not ceased; the danger is not yet over. Mr. Chamberlain's work is not finished. The fate of a Czechoslovakia entitled to life is not a matter to be brushed aside by a word, whoever may speak it; and something must be done about the whole problem of frontiers in Central and South-Eastern Europe, lest worse befall. There is confronted still a parting of the ways—either an era of international stability or one of increasing trouble. On the basis of this appeasement ought to be built a wider and a better international order. No doubt Mr. Chamberlain has all along had this in mind. Germany, says ITerr Hitler, does not want war. Signor Mussolini, on occasion, has said the same. It should be possible, if these assertions have any sincerity and the wishes of countless thousands be consulted, to fashion a web of honest guarantees of security, within which the sacrifice made by Czechoslovakia will have compensation.