AMERICA AND WAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23620, 2 April 1940, Page 7

AMERICA AND WAR

PRESIDENT'S ATTITUDE REPUBLICAN CRITICISM " PLANS MAJOR ROLE" By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Receivnd April 1, 5.5 p.m.) I WASHINGTON, March 31 The National Committee of the Republican Party has issued a statement referr ing to President Roosevelt's statement about Mr. Sumner Welles' mission to Europe as an advance notice that the President contemplates the United States playing a major role in the settlement of thu European quarrel. The statement says: "Let us be on our guard against another effort to make the Un ited States a guarantor of peace in the Old World with the American Army as a bond. Mr. Roosevelt should not deal in veiled statements. He should tell Americans! exactly what he proposes to do." POWER OF GESTAPO THE FUEHRER DEFIED UNABLE TO SAVE FRIEND ■ ' 1 LONDON. March 28 The following significant incident, affording unmistakable evidence jof tho unlimited power enjoyed by the Gestapo, is vouched for by a neutral who has resided :in Germany for many years, says the Rome correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Hitler ha.s a few so-called friends, consisting of men he knew in the old days. These are granted his protection as well as the right to have access to him in case of need. One of them, a rather well-to-do man, but of no political importance, some time ago met with a mishap. A shot was fired at him one dark night in the solitary outskirts of Berlin. The man would have bled to death but for the timely intervention of a passer-by, vho drove him to a house, where his i:ajuries were dressed. When he recovered he went to see Hitler at Berclitesgaden and asked for his protection. The Fuehrer evidently understood what the ikccident meant, and, being powerless to avoid its repetition with fatal consequences, suggested that the best plan would be for his friend to leave Germany and spend some time in safety abroad. He guaranteed to have him escorted by two trusted 1 members of his personal bodyguard to the Swiss frontier and get him safely across. ■ Next day the man wes driven in the direction of the frontier, but he did not cross it. !vn a collision with another car he lost his life. The two members of his escort escaped and returned to the Fuehrer to express regret that they had failed in their confidential mission.. The ties between the Gestapo and the members of Hitler's bodyguard are eaid to be very close. STALIN SNUBS HITLER NAZIS MUST GO TO MOSCOW FURTHERING CO-OPERATION LONDON, March 2S Stalin litas administered an indirect snub to Hitler. This is the interpretation placed by some .observers on the fact that he has made no arrangements to spare -the German Foreign Minister, I Ribbentro p, the necessity of a third visit to Moscow. Commenting on the Soviet's refusal to send a representative to Berlin, the Moscow correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet says that Germany would lose prestige if a third visit (for the :iurtherance of Soviet-Nazi cooperation! had to be made by the Germans. a - Germany has thus been doing everything possible to persuade the Red Premier and Foreign Commissar, M. Molotoff, to journey to either the Reich or Poland. "W;

In thci Kremlin it was considered, the Aftonbladet says, that Germany needed [Russia, but that Russia did not need Germany, and that therefore it would be better for Ribbentrop to travel to Moscow once again. FRIEND OF ENGLAND FRANCE'S NEW PREMIER " LONDON, March. 28 "The Toreador has succeeded the Bull," writes a correspondent in the Daily Mail. M. Raynaud, aged 61, who has succeeded |U. Daladicr as Prime Minister of Fnnnce, has been nicknamed "Toreador" because he is France'a most accomplished orator. "It is si sight t<: see him walk to the tribune, when about to address the Chamber, with hi:ad thrown back, chin thrust forward, and ready to do battle. "Some deputies have irreverently nicknamed him 'Mickey Mouse,' because o:: his small, squat figure. "He is a lawyer, a journalist, and an Anglophile. He speaks excellent English, and is a friend of Winston Churclii 11, whom he most closely s,pproacheis among French statesmen. "He is regarded as France's best propagandist, and his inspiring broadcasts markedly affected the French war effort. "After many years of juggling budgets, Eeynaud first balances, then he piles on taxes, but he has not cajoled, threatened or flattered the people, who accept /lis decrees, almost without protest."