Evening star., 1938-09-15
To Canossa?

Ever since the time OF the Hohen.
staufens, when Henry Nv Of Germany
had to journey to Canossa, the castle
OF the Popes, and stand barefooted in
the snow s an act Of penance for
political indignities to the Holy See,
Canossa has been q famous idiom in
Germany for supine surrender. In
Bismarck's time the Iron Chancellor
revived memories Of Henry Tvs humil-
iating act Of contrition when, in the
: midst OF his own .Kulturkampf against
the church, he thundered: I'VE shall
not go to Canossa." But eventually he
did 60 in effect, when the young new
empire had to come to terms with Rome
through Windhorst, the leader Of the
. all-powerful Catholic Center party.
All Europe is wondering whether the
British Prime Minister is en- route to
Canossa today. With dramatic sudden
ness and -shattering initiative,
Mr.. Chamberlain yesterday sent word
to Hitler that he would be glad to fly
to Germany. to see Der Fuehrer, "in view
Of the increasingly critical situation.
with view OF trying to hnd q peaceful
solution" Hitler replied that he would
be pleased to receive the Prime Minister
at Berchtesgaden at once. They were to
meet before this day Is over.
Pending some inkling Of the exact
purpose Of this unconventional eleventh.
hour stroke for q bloodless solution OF
the czechoslovak crisis, 1t would be idle
. to speculate on the nature OF the pro-
posals, II any, which Mr. Chamberlain
took with him. 1t must be assumed
that he did not arrive at Hitler's Ba-
varian mountain hideout empty-handed.
If Chamberlain hnds 1t possible to rea-
son with the NaM chieftain, heady with
: the wine OF adulation imbibed 30 freely
at Nurnberg. the Prime Minister will
be the first British statesman to expert
. ence such satisfaction. Three years ago
Sir John Simon and Captain Anthony
Eden made not dissimilar visit to Berlin,
though, Of course. under less critical
circumstances. Their mission was to
learn under what conditions, If any, the
Reich would join in some scheme of
European appeasement. Hitler did all
Of the talking and none of the yielding.
1t was the disappointing result Of the
abortive conference" that frst Allied
Eden with the conviction that the Nazis
were aggressively on the make, both in
Europe and in the colonial realm, and
eventually led the young foreign SEC
retary to quit ONCE rather than trafic
with the Berlin-Rome dictators.
So it remains to be seen If Chamber
lain finds the German chancellor in
more receptive mood for peace discussion
than Simon and Eden discovered him
to be. NaM bosoms swelled to the break
ing point Wednesday, when they
learned that the political head of the
mighty British Empire was on his way
to Berchtesgaden-cap in hand, Is
Hitlerite fanatics envisioned him. They
are probably deluding themselves If they
interpret Chamberlain's precipitate
flight to the Nazi throne as a sign OF
weakness on the part Of the democra-
cies-he Is acting for both Britain and
France. But it would unquestionably
be a. wide Of the marx to believe that
the Prime Minister has gone to Ger
many in utterly uncompromising mood
The British are fully alive to the
menacing implications Of unrestricted
German expansion In Southeastern
Europe. They have vital imperial rea-,
sons for wishing to check 1t. Hitler,
they must know, has his price. If he
is to be induced to soften German de-
mands on Czechoslovakia, he will, Of
course. have to be bought OF, and CO.
lonial readjustment seems the nkeliest
field In which such compensation lies.
London and Paris have never held
the colonial aspirations of Germany to
be unbeatable. They have only con-
tended that If and when restoration Of
Germanys place in the sun" enters the
realm Of practical consideration conces-
sions to the Reich In Africa or elsewhere
must be part and parcel Of a program
embodying reduction Of armaments and
binding remuneration Of German plans
Tor aggression.
The present stock market dip, due to