The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1933. A DANGEROUS GAME.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18946, 16 May 1933, Page 4

The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1933. A DANGEROUS GAME.

The tense feeling which exists in Europe, and which, it is predicted in some quarters, will shortly manifest itself in a display of force against Germany, should serve to Hen- Hitler as a final warning that he must go no further. If the Nazi leader is mcapa e of imposing some restraint upon the domestic and foreign po icy carried out on his behalf by his henchmen, he will find that the temper of his neighbours is not without its limits.

The present situation at Geneva, and the comment reflected in press opinion in Britain and France, indicate clearly that there is a rapidly growing tendency to blame Germany entirely for the grouty of the position. It is useless for Germany to argue the unfairness of the Versailles Treaty and to persist in her demands for disarma- . ment by other nations, when her own truculence is forcing them to cling ever more closely to the guarantees and sanctions provided by the Treaty. The Nazi raid on Danzig, which is now foreign territory, was an act of wanton aggression, and accords little with the professions of peace laid down by Hitler.

Weeks ago, when the Nazis influenced German popular opinion to a persecution of Jewry, we expressed the opinion that Hitler might be loosing forces which he would find difficult to control. The intoxication has spread, however, until members of his Cabinet are now affected, Baron von NeuratiTs provocative statements on the question of rearmament and von Papen’s sanguinary outburst in praise of bloodshed and barbarism have served only to strengthen Frenc antagonism and to foster the disapproval of German excesses whic has steadily grown in Britain.

When the Nazis received their electoral triumph on March 5, the world was prepared to watch events. A certain amount of “ settling down ” was to be allowed the new regime, but time moves on apace, and the nations have waited in vain for a cessation of circus tactics and an indication that the new Germany was piepared to get down to the business of economic reconstruction. Instead, Hitler has provided merely a massed parade of military aggiessiveness, none the less savage because it has been confined, until recently, within his own borders. But he has failed dismally in any attempt to give a lead in the direction of progress. The glorification of might over right serves its purpose of diverting domestic opinion from its immediate troubles and difficulties, but it does not help the international situation.

Hitler must remember that the. world is preparing for an ■economic conference, and is determined fhat it shall succeed. France has never recovered from her fear of German aggression, and it. is not improbable that she may be easily provoked to place her armies on the march towards Berlin, claiming self-defence as her justification.

The doom of the Disarmament Conference has again been averted by a timely adjournment for a general discussion. Meanwhile Hitler has summoned the Reichstag for to-morroiv in order to lay before the members his foreign policy. Upon his attitude much will depend. It is for him. to choose whether he will set his house in order and work for international amity, or whether he will, provoke the armies of the Great Powers to launch a punitive expedition into German territory. ___________