HITLER ANGRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23221, 15 December 1938, Page 15

HITLER ANGRY

PREMIER'S SPEECH DINNER IN LONDON GERMANS STAY AWAY THE FUEHRER'S ORDERS OFFICIAL STATEMENT By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 11, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 13 A sensation was caused by the last-minute refusal of the German Ambassador, Dr. 11. von Dirksen, and German journalists to attend the jubilee dinner of the Foreign Press Association, because they objected to Mr. Chamberlain's reference to a German newspaper not scrupling to use vituperation against Earl Baldwin. The text of the Bpecch had been issued in advance. There was comment on the fact that diplomatic action was taken on the matter before tho delivery of the speech. The journalists' decision not to attend was conveyed to tho committee 45 minutes before the dinner. There was no message from the German Embassy, but the invited officials, including Dr. Gottfried Aschmann, chief of the German Foreign Office Press Bureau, who came to London to attend the dinner and to report to Herr Hitler, were absent. "Direct Instructions " Loud and long applause greeted tho criticised passage. Mr. Chamberlain had slightly altered the reference to Earl Baldwin in the text. The German delegates refrained from attending on direct instructions from Herr Hitler, to whom the text of tho speech had' been telegraphed several hours before it was delivered, says the diplomatic correspondent of tho Daily Telegraph. It is understood Herr Hitler also objected to tho passage referring to the transitory character of dictatorial regimes. The German Embassy and press representatives received a copy of the speech in advance as an act of courtesy, says the News Chronicle's diplomatic correspondent, and therefore it is regarded both in Whitehall and in Fleet Street as a breach of etiquette that any action should have been taken on an undelivered speech. The News Chronicle, in a leader, gays: " It was poor manners and worso psychology. The Nazi regime gives hard knocks and ought to know better how to tako them." German Embassy View The Germany Embassy issued the following statement: "The viewpoint of the Embassy is that it was regrettable that members of the Embassy were unable to attend tho Foreign Press Association dinner, but it should be borne in mind that German journalists were in association with the invitations and therefore it was felt that an. embarrassing , situation might arise if mention were made of subjects entailing critifcism of German affairs." "In political developments there will be one unchanging factor —Germany's authoritarian regime," says the Volkischer Beobsichter, the Nazi official organ in Berlin, referring to Mr. Chamberlain's statement that "No form of Government ever remains the same." The paper adds: "Mr. Chamberlain and Britain may rest assured that the Third Reich will last a thousand years." . The German action is justified by official circles in Berlin in view of the "lack of understanding of the German press shown by Mr. Chamberlain s speech." Official circles in Paris are most satisfied with the speech, which is regarded as a valuable and opportune reaffirmation of Anglo-French solidarity. TURMOIL SINCE MUNICH AMERICAN COMMENT NEW GERMAN TACTICS **POLICY FAR FROM GOAL" (Received December 34, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 13 "Mr. Chamberlain's claim of success for his foreign policy would be more widely recognised as valid if the 10 weeks after the Munich peace had been weeks of quiet compromise and friendly gestures," says the New York lim'es in a leading article. "Actually, these weeks havo witnessed an outbreak of new German terror in utter defiant of British opinion, the launching of a violent Italian press campaign for the annexation of French soil, and the projection of new. armament plans by all the European countries on a hitherto unprecedented scale. Whatever the merits of his policy of appeasement, Mr. Chamberlain is still distant from his goal."