Evening star., 1939-10-23
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

The war on the western front
may still break out into real fight
ing when we expect it least, but
for the time being there is no doubt
that neither of the belligerents
shows much desire to get to real
business.
The reason why no major fight
ing has occurred yet Is that fun
damentally nobody wants to fight
This is war of Herr Hitler and
his associates against Messrs. Cham
berlain and Daladier and their
countrymen.
The French and the British have
no desire to lose hundreds of thou
sands of men and billions worth Of
war material for the sake of break
ing Hitler's power
They are confident that this
will come from within If they
wait long enough. blockade Ger
many effectively and make the Ger
man people realize what the
Fuehrer has gotten them into.
Hitler on the other hand is told
by his general staff that to break
the Maginot Line would take at
least million casualties and
then they cannot guarantee sue
cess. Even If Germany succeeded
in invading Holland and Belgium
the German troops would be con-
fronted by the Maginot forts. which
extend to the Belgian frontier.
Thus for the time being Hitler
Is feeding his people spectacular
naval victories. such as the sinking
of the Royal Oak and a submarine
campaign against British and
French shipping. Neither the Brit
ish nor the French deny the high
seamanship of the German subma-
rine commanders and their crews,
but painful as the losses they are
suffering may be they do not affect
materially the prosecution of the
war of attrition which they are wag-
ing on Herr Hitler.
= y
Both the allies and the Germans
have organized modern and sani-
tary prisoners camps with showers
and recreation rooms and even
movies.
These camps are still empty
There are a handful of German
prisoners in France and not more
than few scores in Germany. So
small is their number In Germany
that they have to join German
soldiers in their games to keep
amused. The one French colonel
the Germans have captured when
the French decided to give up the
positions they had acquired in Ger
many at the outbreak of the war,
Is the prize possession of the Ger
man general staff. He is taken
from place to place in a brand
new French uniform made in Ger
many to replace the one in which
he was captured and shown to the
people. The reports say that the
French colonel is royalty treated.
The French in turn had planned
to use German prisoners for their
P. w. A. works, replacing the
Frenchmen who had been taken into
the army. They figured that the
thousands they may capture every
month would earn their board and
lodging by working in France.
But the French were disappointed
too. There are not enough war
prisoners in France to dig a half
mile ditch.
At the same period in 1914 there
were tens of thousands of men cap
tured, both in Germany and in
France, from private to major
generals.
For the time being the present war
can be compared with what the
French called ia guerre en- dentelles'
(the war with lace). This was the
description of the wars In the 18th
and 18th century, when the French
used to say to the British who were
fighting them: Will you please COM
mence to fire, gentlemen.
The German submarine COM
manders have particularly strict
orders to be nice to the survivors of
the ships they are sending to the
bottom and, with the exception Of
the Athena, they have scrupulously
followed their instructions. One went
so far as to put into an Irish harbor