Evening star., 1937-02-14
HITLER COLONY DEMANDS
PUT ISSUE UP TO BRITAIN
Fuehrer Will Not Be Satisfied With
Less Than Complete Possession.
Russia Involved i'm New Plans.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

CONS DnoVNs
THE European crisis has tempo
rarily entered into a new
phase The saber rattling Of
L the last few months has been
replaced by the soft-spoken words Of
diplomats.
Baron Won Ribbentrop, the former
champagne salesman and now Hitler's
pet Ambassador, Is back in London.
He no longer calls on club managers
to convince them of the excellence OF
his brand of wine, but calls on the
foreign Office to convince Baldwin and
Eden of the necessity of giving Ger
many forthwith new colonial empire.
And while the soft and pleasantly
spoken words of the ex-cavalry officer
and ex-champagne salesman are max
ing less noise than the movements of
German divisions and fleets, they are
equally dangerous. That is why the
State Department in Washington is
today following with keen interest the
conversations between the represent
atives of the Austrian upstart" and
the dyed-in- Tory govern
ment.
On January 80 Hitler took the last
leaf out of his bible, "Mein Kampf,"
and talked to the Reichstag about the
Importance of the colonial question.
In fact. he addressed the British peo-
pie, placing squarely on the shoulders
of the British government the burden
of responsibility for what may hap
pen in Europe.
Hitler told the world that Germany
needs raw materials and intends to get
them. He appealed to Great Britain
although he did not name that
power in his speech-to yield to the
Reich some of its surplus territory in
order to enable the Reich to develop
Its industries in peace.
The Main Controversy.
It is no longer a question of the
struggle between the political philos-
ophies of fascism versus communism,
or the policy of non-intervention in
Spain which occupies the minds Of
the European diplomats. There are
questions which always can be revived
to inf1ame public opinion. But Hitler
and his associates in Italy and else
where are willing to let sleeping dogs
lie, while Won Ribbentrop and :he
British cabinet discuss the question
Of colonial empire for the Reich.
The question of giving Germany
access to raw materials is not new.
1t has formed the subject of serious
rnngi6aYQtin Sinrn ct oJIc<
that time, during the Berlin visit of
the British permanent undersecretary
of state, Sir Robert Vansittart, he
listened to the arguments of Hitler
and Schacht, said little, but gave his
hosts to understand that, under GER
tain circumstances, such as the sig
nature of a non-aggression agree
ment between all other European ma
tions, their request might be favorably
considered. The French Ambassador
at Berlin, M. Francois-Poncet, was
kept fully informed about these con-
versations and reported them to
Paris. Blum was of the opinion that
1t would be worth while swapping
colonies for peace in Europe.
But since there was no positive
reaction to the proposal of
general non-aggression pact from
Berlin, the matter was allowed to
drift. The Spanish crisis, the rapid
increase of the German military, air
and naval forces all continued to
overshadow the colonial problem
which was described by many in
France and Great Britain as merely
q smoke screen put out by Hitler to
cover some dark, Interior purposes.
The January developments in Spain
and the scare created by the uncon-
f1rmed invasion of the Spanish
Morocco by German soldiers brought
to the fore once more the question of
raw materials for Germany.
Hitler Won't Temporize.
The details of Hitler's demands
have not yet been disclosed. One
thing, however, Is known even in
Washington. And that is that Hitler
does not want to temporize about the
colonial question; neither does he
want to accept the Franco British
thesis that Germany should be given
access to raw materials Won Rib
bentrop has been instructed to tell
the British that whatever happens,
Germany must be in complete phys
acal possession of the territories out
side Europe and to hold out the
threat of Germany's making a casus
belli out of noncompliance with her
request. The refusal to grant. Ger
many's request will force the Reich
to look elsewhere for raw materials.
Since the Reich's navy is not strong
enough to cope with the British and
the French fleets, and since there
are no more Ethiopias available in
Africa or Asia, Germany must be ex-
pected to look toward expansion on
the European continent-in Russia.
The expensive military and air ma
chinery which the Reich is building
at top speed can, Hitler thinks, give
the Reich new territories which con-