Evening star., 1938-09-15
HOPES Of PEACE
! REST IN PARLEY
Nazi Demands and British
Relations With Reich
Main Topics.
~ the Associated Press.

comparable in power but unlike in
almost everything else
One is Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain of Great Britain, whose
journey to this Alpine town was
personal stories in the history of the
British government.
His host is Chancellor Adolf Hitler,
one-time corporal who leads powerfully
re-armed Germany and calls himself
the protector Of 3.500.000 German
speaking people in neighboring Czecho-
slovakia.
Troubles involving these Sudeten
German Nazi proteges and having in
Them the germs of war brought about
Mr.. Chamberlain's sudden decision to
fly here
Crisis Months Old.
The crisis was months old It
threatened war last May when Czecho-
slovak municipal elections worried
Germany and Central Europe 1t be-
came more tense last Monday when
Hitler proclaimed himself ready to
help the Sudeten Germans get their
rights. 1t nearly reached the breaking
point yesterday when C2echs and
Sudetens fought and killed each other
on Sudeten soil, and European govern
ments wondered whether the time had
come to order their heavily reinforced
armies into action.
There were many possibilities as to
which lines their interview might
take.
The old conjecture about a four
power peace pact Of Italy and Ger
many with Great Britain and France
was revived. Another was some sort
OF German-British understanding,
which Hitler has long desired.
Autonomy demands or desires for
union with Germany of the Sudeten
Germans, Germany's foreign relations,
NaN and British intentions warlike
and peaceful-these were the main
topics, although in London it was said
Mr.. Chamberlain left with no precise
formula.
Germany Proud.
Berlin and London, each in its own
Eay, agreed the interview could not be
one-sided. World diplomats were di-
vided on points like the wisdom and
prestige involved. Germany was proud
that the Prime Minister of Great
Britain asked to come here.
Joachim Won Ribbentrop, Hitler's
foreign minister. was quoted as saying
the personal meeting of the two states
men might lead to a solution of the
.Sudeten German question AS we'll as
to an understanding between the Ger
man and British nations.
In London it was said Mr.. Chamber
lain wanted to buy peace, but not
peace at any price.
There are few parallels in history to
the circumstances by which Mr..
Chamberlain suddenly telegraphed his
simply-worded request for an invita-
ton to drop in on Hitler.
And there have been diplomatic
conferences in many strange places,
but perhaps none before on a Ba-
" varian Alp, in glorifled Alpine chalet,
except the fateful Hitler conference
with Kurt Won Schuschnigg that pre-
ceded Germany's annexation of Aus
tria March l3
Berchtesgaden is IL miles south Of
Salzburg and 1876 miles south of
Prague, storm center of the crisis. It
is resort town of 5000 nesting in
high mountains that are snow covered
much of the year.
Unusual Setting.
Three miles from it along twisting
roads lie Obersalzburg and Berghof,
the retreat Hitler has renovated and
added to so that it has become some
thing of a pretentious mansion and
more and more his favorite residence
Some Of its rooms are filled with arti-
cles Of peasant art, bright curtains
and cloths, wood carvings Some are
severely plain and modernistic--the
newer ones.
That Is the unusual scene The
men, too, are unusual.
The British think Mr.. Chamberlain
Is a genius at doing important things
at unusual times He spent the best
part of his youth on barren island
in the Bahamas. He did not marry
until he was A. He did not enter
the House of Commons until he wss
80. And now, at SO, he determined
to enter an airplane for the first time
IN his life to make one of the boldest
diplomatic moves in modern history.
Mr.. Chamberlain took over the
Prime Minister'S official residence at
10 Downing street, London. May %,
1887. He was known as the safest
man in England"-he was too dull to
be danger ous," some said.
Mr.. Chamberlain is tall and lean.
His expression, his frock coat and his
natural coolness are mournful Oppo-
nents call him the Birmingham un-
dertaker'
In the face of this. Mr. Chamber
lain never blinked. At the end of his
biblical span of life he is as straight
and fearless as man of 40
Hitler's Career Contrast.
Point for point. Hitler's career pre-
sents a contrast to Mr.. Chamberlain's,
especially in the fact that few details
Of the German Fuehrer's life have
missed worldwide publicity.
His birth, schoollng, youth and I'M
poverished attempts to become an
Artikt-all In Austria-were obscure
and humble. He was corporal and
dispatch carrier in the World War.
But from youth he had strong politi-
cal convictions from which grew, slow
ly at first. but with overwhelming
speed later. the National Socialist
of all
many.
He became chancellor in 1888. Since
then he and his party have lived in
a white light Of publicity with sensa-
ton following sensatfon-the Reich
stag IRE. Germany's rearmament, re-
! militarization Of the Rhineland, scrap
ping Of the Versailles treaty, abandon
rnent Of the League Of Nations men,
bership, annexation of Austria, pro
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