The Washington times., 1935-03-26
TREASON TRIAL
CAUSES TENSE
SITUATION
MemeI Verdict May Incite
German Pressure on Weak
Lithuanian Territory
By H. r. KNICKERBOCKER
(World Copyright. 1888, BY international
News Service. Reproduction In
whole or Part Strictly ProhibitedD

LONDON, March 26 U.N.s0.
Lithuania tossed its own bomb
shell today upon the conference
table between Reichs-Fuehrer Hit
Ter and British Foreign Secretary
Sir John Simon.
Suddenly the lives Of four
Memel NaziS condemned to death
by court-martial at Kovno have
become a matter of primary sig
nificance in the conversations
which Sir John is desperately try
ing to direct towards salvation Of
those millions of lives which q
new war would cost.
War Threat
Today Hitler and Simon. with
the fate Of Europe in their hands,
turned their attention from those
nameless millions to these four
obscure individuals.
Why?
The answer is not simple but
should be worth the time Of any
American who wants to know why
Europe cannot keep the peace.
Your correspondent just came
from Memel. Memel is Europe'S
number one war risk today, first,
because its citizens are German
but its government Is Lithuanian.
Lithuanians Hated
The Germans hate and look
down upon the LithuanianS and
call them "long-haired Asiatics"
and call their state a puppy dog
dwarf"
The Lithuanians hate and fear
the Germans, call them arrogant
barbariarS" and "bald-s h aved
bruteS."
Second, Germany's avowed aim
is to unite all Germans in Europe
under the third Reich and of all
Germany's neighbors harboring Q
considerable minority of German
population, Lithuania is the weak
est.
Memel Weak Point
Memel is the one point where
German pressure can be brought
to bear with the least risk and
today the Kovno verdicts released
the whole enormous weight Of
Germany's propagands machine,
backed by 66,00o, 900 people and
SO army divisions to press upon
this one frail link in what the
Germans used to call "the chains
Of Versailles"
Will it hold?
The question is of first impor.
tance in Europe because while
Germany has denounced the mill
tary clauses of the Versailles
Treaty she so far has left the ter
ritorial clauses untouched.
Should Memel be surrendered,
then the allied view is that the
whole fabric of the Versailles
boundaries would be dissolved.
Hopes for Allies
Against this pressure Lithuania
has to present 100000 in popu-
lation and an army a fraction
larger than Germany has sta
toned regularly in East Prussia
alone.
She looks for allies in England,
France, Italy and Japan, who
jointly guaranteed the autonomy
Of Memel but she is skeptical Of
help from these quarters.
She knows the Soviet Union
has the greatest interest in keep
ing the Germans out Of Memel,
but the Soviet is separated from
her by Poland. These are physi-
cal factors but moral factors are
even more involved and both
Germany and Lithuania have
strong arguments.
Given by Allies
In 1919 the Allies gave Memel,
purely German town, to Lithu-
ania to provide her with a port.
The town was under League
control, nominally autonomous
and with a French garrison.
In 1928, presumably with the
connivance of the French, Lthu-
ania seized the city but thereafter
promised to maintain its auton.
omy, which meant local self-gov-
eminent by the German popula-
ton.
In 1925, the Lithuanian repub-
lie adopted a dictatorship and
thereafter the lives Of Germans
in Memel became harder.
In 1888, after Hitler came to
power, the Lthuanians bore down
hard on the Germans and in the
latter part of the year arrested
for treason 1875 Nazis whose trial
had just come to an end.
In 1884, LithuanianS openly de-
posed local German officials and
in contravention of the Memel
statute Of autonomy, governed the
district by the same "authorita-
tive" methods which the Lithu-
anians as a whole had adopted In
1925 and which Germany ap-
proved for itself under Hitler but
strongly diSapproved for Memel
under Lthuanians.
German Complaints
Now Memel Germans bitterly
complain:
First. they have been illegally
deprived of self-government:
Second, their schools have been
Lithuanianized, German teachers
discharged and instruction in
German reduced intolerably;
Third, under Lithuanian martial
law, existent since 1925. they get
Sa i,1ef;na