Evening star., 1938-04-25
By tire Associated Press.

0t tI-S AsSONAhlco fIcss.
PRAHA. Czechoslovakia. April 25-
A demand for self-government under
Nan principles for the 3,500,000
Sudeten Germans, most of them
living in narrow border contiguous
to greater Germany. faced the Czecho-
slovak government today.
Konrad Henlein, leader of the ma
tority Of Germans within Czechoslo-
vakia. at party congress at karlovy
Vary yesterday made this the keynote
Of his program. expected to be the
text for Nazi orators in the campaign
Of the next three weeks preceding
communal elections.
In many Of the voting communities
the population is predomnately Ger
man.
A meeting today of the political
ministers of the cabinet-members of
the government representing political
parties-which was called last Thurs
day was expected to discuss Herr
Henlein's speech.
Confer With Goering.
Herr Henlein was known to have
conferred in Berlin with Field Mar
shall Goering before he made his
speech, and it was believed the power
ful influence of the German govern
ment was behind his demands.
He declared there must be revision
OF the tCzechoslovakD foreign policy
whereby the state up to now has lined
up in the ranks Of Germanys enc
mics s"-a reference authoritatively in
terpreted as demanding that Czecho-
slovakia sever her alliances with
France and Soviet Russia
For the first time party leaders
openly went on record subscribing to
principles Of the Nazi party in Ger
many. And for the first time they
claimed the right of Sudeten Ger
mans to the same "Weltanschuung"
world outlook as that obtaining in
the German Reich.
Ominously. Herr Henlein declared:
I'VE desire neither civil war nor for
elgn war-but we cannot longer tol-
crate conditions which to us are
kind OF war in the midst of peace"
Unless the Germans receive auton-
omy and complete equality with
Czechs. he warned. his minority would
not consent to remain a part Of the
C1echoslovak state Into which we
were incorporated against our will"
Awaits Elections.
In Praha it was not expected either
the government or the Sudeten Ger
man party would come down to con-
crete discussions OF Herr Henlein's
program until after the elections in
1000 communes beginning May %.
A spokesman for Premier Milan
Hodza referred to Herr Henlein's ad-
dress as an election speech" demand
Ing more than Herr Henlein expects
Political leaders pointed out Nazi-
fcation Of the German districts would
subject Jews and Socialists residing
there to Eazi ''deSpotism."
The Henlein party for several weeks
has been in close touch with other
minorities In Czechoslovakia. formed
a loose federation for purposes of
advancing minority action in Parlia-
ment
In its relations with the Polish
minority, it has become known to
the Czech government that the Hen
lein party has been in touch with the
Polish Legation at Praha.
The government also thought it not
unlikely his men had been in touch
with Hungarian revisionists, observ-
ers pointing out that in recent weeks
there had been a concentric attack
on Czechoslovakia, not only in the
German press, but also in that of
Hungary and Poland.
Summary of Demands.
Herr Henlein's demands were sum-
married as follows: Complete equak
ity Of Germans and Czechs; recogni-
ton OF the Germans in cooperative
groups; definition of German dis
tricts; autonomous administration of
such districts in all departments Of
public life; legal protection for Ger
mans outside these purely German
districts; removal of "injustices," and |
compensation for damages; German
officials for German districts; liberty
for Germans to profess German
"volkstrum" nationality and Ger
man "weltanschauung" (world out
look.
Were the points granted, about one
sixth OF Csechoslovakia would come |
under German administration.
Henlein Demand Held Moderate.
BERLIN, April Is up).-The Voel-
kischer Beobachter. Adolph Hitler's
newspaper, today described the de-
mands OF Konrad Henlein as moderate
compared with the suffering and op- |
preston of 3,50O,000 Germans in the |
CBechoslovak state
On Herr Henlein's public profession
Of naziism the paper remarks, Great
ideas cannot be stopped on the from
tiers. Praha will have to agree with