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Telephone 33350 for our expert The more Herr Hitler's speech before the Reichstag on Friday is studied, the more interesting it proves to be, not only because of his denunciation of understandings with Great Britain and Poland, but also because of the invitation he has extended to other nations to enter into non-aggression pacts with Germany. That is an adroit move. Countries which fail to do so will obviously be held to have aggressive intentions against the Reich, even though it is apparent that Herr Hitler only contemplates entering into such arrangements on terms satisfactory to himself. Thus it is to be expected that his offer to enter into a non-aggression pact with Great Britain might be conditional upon the latter agreeing to restore, the former German colonies, and should Britain refuse to consider this matter, he would then be able io claim that such a pact was impossible, and that Great Britain was assuming the rôle of the aggressor. In many of his speeches Der Fuehrer has very obviously sought to do his utmost to pass the onus of responsibility for any war which might break out upon the shoulders óf the demo-crocies, pleading at all times his pacific intentions, grabbing territory by force, and alleging that the refusal of other powers to satisfy his demands places upon them the responsibility for present tension, and all that may develop from it. His attitude may seem convincing to his own people, who have very little opportunity for ascertaining the real facts of the case, but in the eyes of the world, better informed of all that is happening, this device is just about as transparent as it possibly can be. Not only that, this invitation must be examined in the light of all that has happened before. What assurance is there that if the invitation were accepted, and that Herr Hitler sought to establish no conditions, any pacts so arrived at would be of any greater worth than those other undertakings whose merit has -been such as to melt away in the light of what Herr Hitler conceives to be his immediate necessities? What greater permanence would they have than any of the other arrangements which have proved worthless by reason of what Herr Hitler considers to be changing conditions The possibility that President Roosevelt may undertake a new diplomatic move, in which the United States and 21 Latin American Republics would issue an appeal to the European nations to accept Herr Hitler's invitation to enter into non-aggression pacts, is an interesting one. Should he do so, he would in fact be asking the democracies to take Herr Hitler at his word. If, however, Germany's participation in such an arrangement is to be conditional, then it is quite clear that any such move must fail. Great Britain would not be false to her present policy if she were to enter into a purely unilateral arrangement by announcing that she has no aggressive intentions against Germany, and would support no other country in any onslaught upon Germany which was not in the nature of self-defence, and brought about upon German initiative. That is indeed her policy. There will be no hostilities in Europe unless Germany starts them. That is all that the so-called policy of German encirclement amounts to. Not one of the parties to the anti-aggression arrangement when it is completed contemplates any military move against Germany unless the latter by her own actions invite it. It would not even be illogical for Britain, or any of her friends, to enter into unilateral arrangements guaranteeing even Germany against wanton attack by any other Power, for to do so would merely mean the extension of the doctrine of collective security to Germany without demanding reciprocation from her. Collective security, embracing the idea that any aggressor against one country would have to face the resistance of the whole of ihe rest, is still within the bounds of possibility. It can, indeed be extended to Germany without reciprocity on her part, and need not mean that the nations consenting to take such a step would be obliged as a preliminary consideration to grant those German demands which Herr Hitler has so often enunciated.
Taking all the circumstances into consideration it would indeed be the best method of meeting Herr Hitler's move for the parties to the anti-aggression step to make a declaration that none of them will attack Germany, unless that country strikes first. It would amount to accepting an obligation which would have about it none of the uncertainty which bilateral agreements might very well have, calling for no particular undertaking from Germany, and indeed expecting none. In the prevailing conditions it would be an arrangement having about it all the necessary stability which might be missing in any bilateral arrangement which would be dependent upon German good faith, for no matter what endeavours may be made to gloze over it, the fact remains that much, if not all, of the present tension in Europe is due to the belief that the German word is not to be trusted. A declaration to the effect that only in the event of German aggression would military and naval action be taken against her, would not, it is true, mean much of an advance from the present situation, but it would serve to avoid the very clever trap into which Herr Hitler is endeavouring to entice the democracies. His offer of non-aggression is very clearly predicated upon his obtaining satisfaction of his demands. In no other way,—and this he has made perfectly plain,—can the world expect peace from him. What sort of peace even that would be must remain a matter of speculation, for the satisfaction of present demands may very well prove to be but the precursor of the formulation of others. Be that as it may conditional non-aggression pacts based upon complete surrender to Herr Hitler's demands are not within thej; bounds of practical politics. Assurances that so long as he leaves the rest of Europe alone, Herr Hitler will not be molested, are entirely a different matter, and seems to be the only method by which such fresh appeals as that which it is reported President Roosevelt is contemplating could be satisfactorily answered.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.