Evening star., 1940-01-07

do and no solid reason, so far as the
French peasant and industrial worker
is concerned, for the continuation Of an
economically ruinous war, had to invent
a slogan. This slogan, which explained
the war aims of the Paris and London
governments, was: We must fight to
down Hitler. He himself is the culprit
Of the present tragedy and as long as
he is at the head of the German nation
there can be no solid peace nor any hope
for a peaceful life In Europe. The
Down Hitler" slogan is the war slogan
OF the allies. If Hitler were removed
there would be little to fight for.
Italy is an ally Of Germany. She has
territorial claims against France and
possibly Great Britain. But the price
for obtaining these. when Nussolini
realizes how costly it would be for any
of the belligerents to break through the
fortified lines. appears to II Duce too
high.
He has made it known-unof1ciall
in London and Paris that Italy does not
intend to betray Germany, but neither
does she intend to enter actively into
the present conflict If the situation re-
mains as 1t is today. Mussolini has made
plain to the warning governments that
they can count on him to initiate peace
conversations on a just basis. There
should be no other Versailles. The an
swer, again through devious channels
without implicats.g definitely the allied
governments, was that there could be
no question of another Versailles at the
present time since neither group has
suffered defeat comparable to that of
Germany in 1918. That there could
be no question Of reparations or indem-
mites for losses suffered so far. Each
group must put whatever material losses
it has suffered since September to the
credit of experience"
Furthermore, 1t was indicated from
London that the British government,
having to deal with a more trustworthy
person than Hitler, would consider dis
cussing "iberally" the question Of Ger
man Poland. The section of Poland
which has been taken by the u S. S. r.
was removed from debate some time ago
when Lord Halifax declared publicly
that he could not quite blame the Mos
COW government for what it has done
in Poland at Germany's instigation. In
any event there have been strong indi-
cations from London that the allies
would be satisfied with the settlement
OF the Polish question by the creation of
smaller Polish state which would not
include the Corridor. Danzig and
Silesia.
United States of Europe.
In fact, it was indicated in Rome that
under the present circumstances there
should be less stress laid on the fate of
the various European states, since the
preponderant idea of the allied govern
ments is to establish United States Of
Europe in which most nations would
merge. What the boundaries of Poland.
Czecho-Slovakia or the Balkans might
be is really immaterial since they would
all become part of the huge economic
entity, the United States Of Europe.
And in connection with this thought It
is pointed out that Germany, like Italy,
when this struggle is over, would have
access to the raw materials Of the world.
The German and the italian people will
no longer be able to say that they have
to fight for place in the sun because
the essential materials for their indus
tries are in the hands of France and
Great Britain. There would be a fair
and equitable repartition of those es-
sentials.
The main point made by the London
and Paris governments is that these
terms cannot and will not be offered to
the present ruler of Germany. The
allies, it is said, have no intention of
interfering with the form of government
the Germans wish to adopt. If they
choose to live under dictatorship, they
will be free to do So But the present
dictator, because of his past perform
ances, cannot be trusted by them, and
consequently the offers made to the
German people at the present time can
not be granted while Hitler is at the
head of the Reich. In other words tho
allies have taken stand that they are
fighting this time not so much Hitlerism
as they are fighting Hitler. They can
not recede from this position for the
reason that this is the only platform
they have to explain their fight against
the Germans today.
These suggestions" have naturally
been transmitted to Berlin, where they
have been received coolly. The German
general staff, which at the present time
dictates through Hitler, has already
given its reply. The war against the
allies was not started by the Fuehrer.
Germany has been attacked. Great
Britain is endeavoring to starve Ger
many out by brutal blockade. Ger
many is strong enough, so the Germans
say, to outlast British and French. The
German government is not opposed to
peace, as Hitler has indicated on sew
eral occasions since the conquest of
Poland. But the German government.
ike the German people, are one in their
stand that they cannot allow any OUT
side government to dictate to them who
shall be their leader. If circumstances
are such as to warrant the retirement of
the present Fuehrer, this will be done
from inside, possibly on Hitler's own
initiative, but not at the dictate of Ger
many's enemies, or even her outside
friends. The basic conditions for main.
tenance of the present geographical
boundaries are naturally acceptable to