Evening star., 1938-09-30
Peace.

CdCCs
Details are in some vital respects still
fragmentary, but the world today is at
any rate assured, after weeks Of nerve
racking anxiety, that war has been
averted over the German Czech contro-
versy. Invoking that age-old recourse
in the presence Of insurmountable con-
ditions - compromise craftsmanship
evolved eleventh-hour ways and means
OF preserving peace
1t Is deplorable, and history may come
to regard 1t as calamitous, that Czecho-
slovakia had to be sacrificed In the
process. But the larger necessity of ward
ing OF the danger of another holocaust
which would have destroyed millions OF
lives, and might have wrecked civiliza-
tion, became the paramount considera-
ton. 1t was in that spirit that Thurs
days four-power conference at Munich
agreed IN principle" on the cession Of
the Sudeten regions Of Czechoslovakia
to Germany
That Hitler has won a considerable
victory is undeniable. That the Czecho-
slovak state, conceived and fashioned
under conditions now established to have
been inequitable and unavoidable, is re-
duced to a relatively Intellectual shadow
Of its former self, Is equally certain. But
that Chancellor Hitler, Prime Minister
Chamberlain, Premier Daladier and
Premier Mussolini reached decisions
which evoke profound emotions Of relief
and gratitude throughout world terror
stricken by the specter of another 1914
1918 cannot be gainsaid. Their achieve
ment cannot claim the virtue Of perfec-
1on. It presents both lights and shad-
ows. OF paramount importance, tran
seeming all other considerations, is the
fact that a bloodless solution has been
found for the gravest threat to interna-
tional tranquility in the last quarter Of
. century. That is the sentiment which
will inspire the Nation on Sunday when
1t responds to President Roosevelt's ap-
peal for universal prayer for perpetual
ton Of the boon vouchsafed to mankind
as 1t hovered on the abyss Of catastrophe
incslculable
The spokesmen Of Germany, Great
Britain, France and italy agreed that
evacuation OF the Sudeten provinces
ehall begin tomorrow and be completed
within ten days. Thus Hitler wins a
cardinal point, on which he was
adamant. symbolically at least, Nad
sovereignty over the claimed portions Of
C1echoslovakia sets in on October l.
Each Of the four Munich conferee
powers undertakes to hold itself re-
sponsible for the orderly execution Of
this arrangement, which automatically
calls for withdrawal Of Czechoslovak
forces as German forces move in. Mean
time, an international commission, in
cluding Czech representatives, will su-
pervise the occupation and the evacua-
ton, as we'll as eventual plebiscites in
regions not predominantly German,
to determine whether they wish to re-
main under Czech sovereignty or become
part Of the Reich. There is apparently
also provision for safe conduct and
transfer Of Czechs, Jews and other nom
Nad elements from Sudeten terri
tory, to guard against possible molesta-
ton by the new masters Of the area. To
what extent the Godesberg memoran-
DUN submitted to Chamberlain de-
manding not only possession of the Ger
man provinces, but OF virtually all forms
Of property within them, irrespective of
ownership rights, is to be enforced, is not
clear On its face, 1t seemed arbitrarily
harsh. Also to be determined are the
precise boundaries of what remains of
the Czech state and facilities for its de-
Tense.
Munich decided the fate not only of
the sudetens, but also of the Polish and
Hungarian minorities. How urgent these
other problems are is indicated by the
strife and bloodshed that has already
occurred In the Teschen area of Polish
Csechoslovakia. If the Czechs have not
settled with the Poles and Hungarians
within three months there will be
another four-power conference. There
will be eventual international guarantees
of the revised borders Of Czechoslovakia
against unprovoked aggression.
Czechoslovakia's friends in America,
whose name is legion, learn with salts
faction that the actual Munich peace
agreement will incorporate a paragraph
designed to sweeten the bitter pill which
Prague today must swallow. It will set
forth that the settlement constitutes IAN
honorable peace" for the little Central
European republic born of the World
War and which will continue to be, even
IN attenuated form, respected outpost
Of democracy In the midst of dictatorial
neghbors. The Czechs are victims of
might rather than right. 1t Is UNDER
stood. too. that Hitler pledges cessation