Evening star., 1940-02-25
Wenes' Visit Result
OF Puzz|ing Series
OF Peace FeeIers'
Reports May Prove Only
Nozi TriuI Balloons
To Test Allies
Nv the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A puzzling series Of informal and
Nunoficial peace feelers," made here
and in Europe, greatly Influenced
President Roosevelt's decision to
send Undersecretary of State Sum-
ner Welles across the Atlantic to
gather information.
In the last few months the Presi-
dent and State Department officials
have followed with great attention
an uninterrupted stream of such
proposals.
Generally they have come from
private citizens, merchants. bankers
and the like-mostly citizens Of
Denmark, Holland, Sweden, Belgium
and Switzerland.
For the most part, the procedure
has been to seek an audience with
q statesman as near the top as pos
sible in an allied country. 1t Is
known here that some have talked
to Lord Halifax, British foreign
secretary.
Germany Willing, They Say.
What do they say? Generally that
they have talked with a high Ger
man oficial-Goering has been men,
tioned-aSI that Germany would be
willing to make peace If she could
get the right terms.
What terms? 1t is had for them
to say. The German official was not
definite. The stories they tell do
not always agree. One peace-mak-
er's terms may be better than
another's.
It is known that several of these
unoficial emissaries, If they can be
called that, have made the same
type of approach to officials here.
These officials frankly have not
known what to make of this activ-
ity. Part of 1t they ascribe to the
natural desire of the small neutrals
to do all they can to achieve peace.
Their countries are suffering acutely
from the war and they stand to suf-
fer still more before it is over. The
trade Of the neutrals Is seriously
damaged; many businesses face
bankruptcy.
May Be Test Of Morale.
Some oficials think these peace
approaches may represent an effort
by the Germans to test the allied
morale. If a peace envoy were tc
report back to Germany that q
British or French high ofncial vel
I coined peace with Germany some.
what along the lines the envoy sug.
gested this could be taken as a sigr
Of weakness.
Putting to one side the informa
peace efforts which can be ascribeC
solely to the initiative of citizens Of
the small neutrals, 1t is regarded a.
significant here that the inspiration
of practically all the others is Ger.
many. So far as officials here car
learn, no approaches have started
out on the basis of neutral either
talking to an allied statesman ane
then going to see a German states
man. They have all begun with
something said by German ofncial
No Omcial Moves.
But it is almost impossible to say
whether there is anything more II
this fact than the sending up o.
trial balloons. The best-informet
officials say that no peace NOV
whatever has been made officiall.
or otherwise by the German govern
ment itself.
Consequently. Mr.. Welles has beer
sent to Europe partly to see wha
all these vague approaches amour
to. Where there is so much smok,
there may be a little fire, ever
though smothered
1t is thought that the persons re-
sponsible for initiating the peace ap
proaches might like to broach thei
case more formally and concretely Il
the American Undersecretary. MI
Welles is. of course bound by th'
statement of President Roosevelt
that what foreign officials tell hin
will be kept in strict confidence
which means he cannot carry an,
proposals from Germany to Britain
and France or vice versa.