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PROBLEM OF
GERMANY
Britain's Dilemma
RECONCILING TWO
EXTREMES
Re-entry Into League
Solution
This article, third of the series con-
tributed by the Federal Attorney-
General to "The Advertiser," was
written while Mr. Menzies was in
? Paris just before he returned to Aus
tralia.
No. 3.
By ROBERT G. MENZIES
I have not met Hitler, which is a
pity, for even a cat may look at a king.
You do like to see a man. In the case
of this man it would be above all
t.ungs interesting to look into his mind
and heart, for he. more than anybody
else, holds the key to the world's peace.
It is for this reason that, in. spite of
recent preoccupations about Italy, and
to spite of the undoubted ability and
lorce of Mussolini. Whitehall can still
think of Hitler as Dictator Major. vlt
is. when you come to think of it. a
wonderful proof of Germany's virility
that in a few years she should have
passed from a state of confusion and
bankruptcy into one of great Dower and
authority. In all the circumstances,
what is to be done about her? That
is the question which one may hear
earnestly discussed in every political
comer. It is not an easy question to
answer. Three nights ago Mr. Duff
Cooper assured an ? enthusiastic
audience in Paris that "the Rhine was
the common frontier of both France
and England." a' view which, comine
from a leading British Minister, was
very heartening to those millions of
Frenchmen who have seen with dismay
t.Vli* inrrpfljdnpr tendency in T??n piling to
become indifferent, if not actually hos
tile, to French ideas on international
affairs. But when Mr. Duff Cooper's
speech appeared in the English press it
was damned, and not always with faint
praise. (The German people formed
no opinion about it for it was not pub
lished in that country. By the simple
process of permitting the press to pub
lish only one side of any political ques
tion the dictator countries achieve the
dual blessing of saving their citizens a
good deal of worry and of leaving them
free for physical exercise and military
training.)
"Live And Let Live"
One thing can. however, be said with
some certainty, and that is that the
great majority of the people of Great
Britain, while recognising the import
ance of the LjOw countries 3nd the
Channel ports to their own security,
are a little weary of what .they con
sider the unnecessary anti-Germanism.
of French policy, are disposed to think
the Franco-Soviet pact a mistake, and
would do a great deal to establish, a real
friendship with Germany. This is to
be attributed not to fear, which is not
a widespread emotion in Great Bri
tain, but to a real conviction that a
genuine understanding between Great
Britain and Germany, with a little dash
of live and let live" in it. would mean
the peace of Europe for another gene
ration. But because British opinion is
also pro-League, the first task is seen
to be that of Retting Germany back
into the League.
Colonial Question
To understand the difficulties of this
problem, it would be useful to glance
briefly at Germany's current demands,
because at present they may (assum
ing Hitler's good faith) be taken as the
conditions upon which Germany is pre
pared to come back into the League, or,
at least, participate In long-term Euro
pean pacts of peace.
First, she wants the League Covenant
separated from the Treaty of Versailles,
which she resents and repudiates. I
have not been able to find many people
who would object to.such a severance.
Second, she wants, or says she wants,
a restoration of some or all of her
colonies. Mr. Chamberlain has said for
the Government that that is a matter
for the League of Nations, and can be
discussed only at Geneva. Others, in
cluding a group of members of Parlia
ment led by Mr. L. S. Amery. say that
| the Germans were not great colonists
(except In non-German countries)
before the war, that this talk of "hand
ing over" colonies is based on anti
quated ideas of exploitation, which
should no longer exist, and that there
was no real German desire to have the
colonies back until -a. hesitation or
weakness in some British pronounce
ments on the matter encouraged Ger
many to believe that a little persistency
would lead to success.
It is pointed out that British colonial
possessions are just as ready to sell
their raw products to Germany as to
England, and that consequently the
demand for colonies must be based
upon military and not commercial rea
sons, in what is designed to be a
purely objective account, I do not at
tempt to say where the truth is: we
may all have our own opinions about
that. Meanwhile, it is not unamusing
to record that even the South African
Government, which, under General
Hertzog, has consistently advocated a
re-examination of the Peacte Treaty
and a removal of "humiliating restric
tions" from Germany, would have a
good deal to say about any proposal to
band back any or all of the old German
colonies in that continent.
On the whole I do not regard the
colonial issue, to spite of all the pub
lidty it has been recently attracting.
as of either the first urgency or im
portance.
Third, Germany wants, even when
she does not formally admit that she
wants, very extensive-territorial and/or
mercantile adjustments in Europe. Here
we reach the real core of the problem.
Those who regard Hitler, not as a pat
riotic citizen engaged in the good work
of restoring his nation's self-respect
but as the ambitious representative or
the pre-war Junker po.int of view,
eager for revenge, wanting expansion
and quite ready to secure it br force,
?who find in "Mem Kampf" cMy
Struggle") the accurate and up-to-date
plan of his territorial ambitions, see
only the sinister in his approaches to
England. "Of course." they say. "Hit
ler will cultivate England, so that he
can drive a wedge between England and
France, and then deal with each^ sepa
rately. But in the long run Germany s
real rival for world power is England,
and England is therefore the ultimate
enemy."
Tired Of Wor Tolk
Those who do not take this view—
and the furttier you go into unofficial
quarters in England the more Will you
endttiem—say that if Germany has
real territorial grievances in Europe
they ought to be stated and investi
gated with an open mind, and that
this could be done if Germany were
invited back to the League on terms
of equality and on the promiseol a
complete re-examination of the Treaty
of Versailles. „._?,.
Perhaps the matter could best be
summed up in this way. The people
I have met on this side of the world
who know Germany and the Germans
best fear most profoundly the effect
on the German mind of the sword
rafctling In high places and of the wide
spread educational insistence upon war
as a normal and indeed a good element
In national policy. This does not mean
that they are hostile to Germany, or
that they would not welcome closer
association with her; but it means that
they are not going to do anything to
weaken the Anglo-French entente or
to encourage the idea that our peace
ful interests are in any way at variance
with those of France. Hence the Duff
Cooper speech and the Eden Ques
tionnaire. But the average English
man most earnestly desires a rap
prochement, with Germany. He is
tired of all this talk of war, and can
see no advantage for anybody in it.
And he knows that c contented Ger
many can do a great, deal for peace.
But,"if I judge him aright, he has two
mental reservations. The first is that,
while he is a tolerant man and recog
nises that each country is fully en
titled to the form of government It
finds suits it best, he wishes that the
desire for peace and quietness which
he knows must exist in the heart of I
the average German citizen, could be
made more vocal. The technique for
negotiating with a dictatorship In
volves more unreality than he likes.
The second is that he is sceptical About
Germany keeping to the terms of any
agreement which she may make. II
Germany could only realise how pro
foundly disturbed ever her -warmest
well-wishers In England are at her re
cent attitude towards International
bargains, she might decide that if she
wants security she must be prepared
to assure it to the other fellow as well
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