Evening star., 1940-07-17
Another Peace Rumor

Another Peace Rumor
As the minutes and hours and days
pass without arrival of the expected
Zero hour" fer the much discussed
invasion of England there comes
another of the recurring rumors of
peace overtures that have emanated
from the Rome-Berlin axis in recent
weeks. This time diplomatic circles
in Rome are said to have received
private advices" from Berlin that
Adolf Hitler is planning to make an
eleventh hour proposal for nego-
tiated war settlement that would
spare Britain from the horrors Of a
total blitzkrieg. AS if by pure CO.
incidence, the cables yesterday also
carried a dispatch from Nazi-domi-
mated France to the effect that
100000 German troops have massed
at ports from Brest to Bergen for the
impending attack, and that it may be
launched in full fury Friday Viewed
together, the two items Of news seem
to have "let's talk it over-or else"
import that may have unusual
significance.
Among the points composing the
latest alleged peace proposal of Nazi
origin would be European" settle
ment of continental problems and
a return to Germany of her pre-
World War colonies. BY European
settlement of affairs on the con-
tinent Herr Hitler could mean only
one thing, a Nazi- dictated settle
ment. In his Reichstag speech of
October last Der Fuehrer sug-
gested somewhat similar CONT
mental adjustment, to be partici-
pated in by all the European powers.
But majority of those powers now
are under German domination or
influence, so that conference today
would find Great Britain standing
alone against a formidable Nazi
lineup. She undoubtedly would have
little say in the division OF spoils
between the axis aggressors, and
little voice in the plans for perma-
nent peace. Colonial possessions
which Germany surrendered to the
British Empire after the first World
War included some African west
coast colonies which, incidentally,
would provide her with closer bases
for welding economic and political
pressure across the South Atlantic
to the Western Hemisphere.
Perhaps the real significance of
the rumored peace program lies in
the fact that up to now Herr Hitler
has shown no disposition to worry
about how much England might
suffer from blitzkrieg. Britain has
been the special object of Nazi hate
and Nazi threats. The German
Propaganda Ministry has been pre-
dieting for weeks that Britain's hour
has come, yet the invasion has not
materialized. In the light of this
inexplicable delay there may also be
much significance in French news
papers account yesterday of a re-
ported disagreement in the German
high command over the feasibility of
an immediate expedition by sea and
air against England According to
this report, the zero hour had been
set for July 9, but Hitler postponed
the jump-off at the insistence of
General Walter Won Brauchitsch,
commander in chief of the German
Army, who, it was said, still regards
the project as "too dangerous. :"
Winston Churchill and his advisers
evidently have sensed the indecision
which is being evidenced in German
military circles with respect to the
vaunted invasion plan, for recently
they have spoke in taunting vein Of
the awaited visit. If the British have
not underestimated the capacities of
their foes, it is more than likely that
any offer by Hitler to talk things
over" at this stage of the conflict will
receive short shrift at the hands of
the Churchill government.