The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-03-21
European Powers
 Moue T0wards Peace
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Iconsolidates his position in Austria. The bite that Germany took out of middle Europe when she absorbed Austria seems to have appeased the Nazi hunger for land temporarily. Now she must digest what she has eaten. Hitler now controls the bot tie neck through which land, air and water communications to south- eastern Europe must flow. Thus he is in a position to fulfill one of his ambitions-the breakup of the lit- tie entente-by economic and diplo- matic pressure rather than a resort to arms.
 Attitude of Restraint
 Hitler's speech of Friday reflected this new attitude of restraint. He devoted most of it to justification of his Austrian putsch. It was de- void of threats. He omitted his cus- tomary denunciation of Bolshevism and avoided special mention of Czechoslovakia. The interpretation placed on that speech here is that he does not desire to provoke Soviet Russia and that he has decided to step warily in view of the fact that France has reaffirmed her intention of defending Czechoslovakia against aggression.
 But it would be dangerous to be too optimistic over a contention which so many nations are clustered, separated, in many cases, by nothing but artificial boundaries. ReSump- ton of diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania will not mean that all their problems have been solved. Poland still wants auton- omy for the 100000 Poles in Lithu- ania; she wants access to Lithu- ania's Baltic ports; she wants to drive a diplomatic wedge between Lithuania and Soviet Russia. Situation Less Critical
 The situation in Czechoslovakia Is less critical. The apparent willing ness of the Czechs to give German born citizens a more authoritative voice in the government has eased | tension.
 A hopeful note for the peace of Europe even has come out of war torn Spain. The statement of Rebel Generalissirno Francisco Franco that he will do nothing to change the status quo in the western Mediter- ranean in event of victory, and will not cede an inch of territory to any foreign power was regarded as re- assuring for the future.
 Meantime, Franco is giving Europe a preview of the horrors of the next war by his merciless bombing of Barcelona.
 Two Americans have made power full contributions to peace in the last few days. One was former President Herbert Hoover who said, after vis- iting 15 nations and interviewing leading statesmen, that war is un- likely in the near future. He be- lieves that, in general, the will to peace is much stronger now than the will to war and he pointed out that the principal nations would not be prepared for war for two or three years.
 Kennedy Speech Impressive There was impressive reaction throughout Europe to the speech of Joseph Kennedy, new American am- bassador to England, who advised every one against proceeding on the dangerous assumption that the United States would not fight under any circumstances short of actual invasion. Europe has not forgotten that American men and money de- livered the knockout blow in the World war
 French and British political lead CTS are increasing their attempts to appease the hungry" nations. Typi- cal of this were the strong diplo- matic appeals of France and Britain to Poland and Lithuania to recon cile their differences. And always in the background is the implied threat of an ever-increasing British navy and strong French army.
 The tragedy of Europe today, and the gravest threat to it's peace, is the fact that the observance of treaties has broken down. All na- tions have reverted to power poli- tics" in which nothing matters ex- cept force. When and if war comes, the failure of nations to live up to their pledged word will have been contributing factor.