Evening star., 1940-09-19

Ministers Of Great Britain and of
France. urging that negotiations for
a peaceful solution of the contro-
versy should not be broken of, and
that no resort be made to force, nor
to the threat of force. Copies of
this appeal were sent to the Polish
and Hungarian governments, each
of which was advancing claims
against the government of Czecho-
Slovakia, for a prompt solution Of
their respective minority questions.
In his message the President said:
The fabric OF peace on the con-
tinent of Europe, If not through
out the rest of the world. is in
immediate danger. The conse-
quences of its rupture are incal-
culable. Should hostilities break
out the lives of millions of men,
women and children in every
country involved will most GER
tainly be lost under circum-
stances Of unspeakable horror.
The economic system of every
country involved is certain to be
shattered. The social structure
of every country involved may
we'll be completely wrecked.
The United States has no
political entanglements. 1t is
caught in no mesh of hatred.
Elements of all Europe have
formed its civilization.
The supreme desire of the
American people is to live in
peace. But in the event of
general war they face the fact
that no nation can escape some
measure Of the consequences OF
such a world catastrophe.
The traditional policy of the
United States has been the fur
therance of the settlement of
international disputes by pacific
means. 1t is my conviction that
all people under the threat Of
war today pray that peace may
be made before rather than
after war
Kellogg Pact Cited.
He continued by calling attention
to the obligations Of all of the coun-
tries of the world to the Kellogg
BRAND pact of 1928 to solve contro-
versies only by pacific methods, and
to the means which civilized nations
possess to solve peacefully their dif-
ferences, and concluded by saying:
On behalf of the 10000, 900 of
people of the United States of
America and for the sake of
humanity everywhere, I most
earnestly appeal to you not TO
break of negotiations looking to
peaceful, fair and constructive
settlement of the questions at
issue.
l earnestly repeat that so long
as negotiations continue differ
ences may be reconciled. Once
they are broken off reason is
banished and force asserts itself.
And force produces no solu-
ton for the future good of hu-
manity.
BY 10 o'clock in the morning the
President had received replies from
the Prime Ministers of Great Brit
ain and of France assuring him of
their desire to avoid recourse to
force and of their willingness to
search for a peaceful solution.
About three hours later a moving
message in the same sense was re-
ceived from the President OF Czecho-
Slovakia. On the evening of the
same day the President received q
response to his appeal from the
Chancellor Of the German Reich as
suring the President that he appre-
ciated fully the lofty intent Of
the Presidents appeal and that he
shared in every respect the Presi-
dents opinion regarding the un-
foreseeable consequences of 4 Euro
pean war. The German Chancellor
advanced the thesis that the situa-
ton which had arisen was a result
of the injustices of the Versailles
treaty and result of the failure of
the League of Nations to carry out
its just obligations. He concluded
his reply to the President by stat
ing:
1t is not Germany who is TO
blame for the fact that there is
any Sudeten German problem at
all, and that the present unjus-
tifiable circumstances have arisen
i fnln fot Nf
people affected by the problem
no longer admits. of a further
postponement of its solution.
The possibilities of arriving at a
just settlement by agreement are
therefore exhausted with the pro-
posals of the German memo
randum 'of September % to the
British Premier. 1t does not
rest with the German govern
ment, but with the Czecho-Slo-
vakian government alone, to de-
eide, whether it wants peace or
war
Invasion Seen Close at Hand.
Throughout the night of Sep
eShhSSi SO, oAiA do viz Aiool dd
vanced during the day OF Septem-
Der q. there was cumulative evil
dence that the situation in Europe
was moving rapidly toward an ap-
parently inevitable climax. From
the reply made by the German
Chancellor in his message to the
President as we'll as from informa-
ton which reached the President
from our American ENJOYS abroad,
the conclusion seemed inescapable
that negotiations had ceased and
that Germany was prepared to move
in accordance with the terms of her
communication to the other powers.
Believing. as this Government
does. IN the moral force of public
opinion, the President, early in the
afternoon of September ~, sent
urgent instructions to our repre-
sentatives throughout the world, to
express the opinion of this Gov
ernment to the governments to
which they were accredited, that