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Show Wookly IVivs Ileviow Peace Wins Shallow Victory, Compared to That of Hitler lly .Joseph V. La Itino ' Foreign Since early August, whon Czechoslovakia's Czecho-slovakia's Sudeten area first began attracting Reichsfuehrer Adolf Hitler's Hit-ler's serious attention, Italy'3 Premier Pre-mier Benito Mussolini has been out in the cold. While Germany's chancellor chan-cellor talked with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, while the world read about French Pre-' Pre-' mier Edouard Daladier and Czech President Eduard Benes, Adolf Hitler's friend in Rome was asked not once for his opinion. But he gave it nevertheless, thundering six speeches of defiance at western democracies in as many days. Another rebuff came when Franklin Frank-lin Roosevelt drafted his first note to Germany and Czechoslovakia (See WHITE UOVSE), sending copies to Britain and France, but &s:v&l f f t ( S - S , i 'i 'A 1 Y'J v Y $Y f- 1 I-' J PREMIER BENITO MUSSOLINI . . . headlong into the headlines. not to Italy. Sorely hurt, II Duce was ready to jump headlong into the headlines first chance he got. That chance came unexpectedly. Night before, in Europe's capitals, frenzied governments rushed mobilization, mobi-lization, prepared for air raids. In Berlin, where Adolf Hitler had set a 12-hour deadline on the Czech question, ques-tion, troops began marching to the frontier. Though the Reich's every demand had been granted, Chancellor Chan-cellor Hitler's stubborness over detail de-tail was a barrier neither London nor Paris could hurdle. In such a crisis, as President Roosevelt paved a smooth entre with his second note to the Fuehrer, both Washington and London appealed secretly to the one man whose persuasion per-suasion might stay disaster. That man was Benito Mussolini, fellow dictator of . Adolf Hitler, southern mainstay of the Rome-Berlin axis. II Duce rose to the occasion, talked 30 minutes to Berlin by telephone, tele-phone, soon had wires humming to London and Paris. With a scant two hours to spare, Der Fuehrer had cancelled his march, arranged in its stead a four-power conference next day at Munich. To that Bavarian Bava-rian city, where a scant 25 years before be-fore the bemoustached chancellor had worked as bricklayer and house painter, flew Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, Edouard Daladier. Nine hours they talked, emerging with an agreement that meant at least temporary peace for Europe and some measure of integrity for . Czechoslovakia. Terms: (1) Czech evacuation of Sudetenland by October 10; (2) supervision su-pervision of evacuation by international interna-tional commissioners; (3) plebiscites in Sudeten areas with minor German Ger-man population; (4) exchange of populations; (5) Czech release of German prisoners, soldiers, police; (6) settlement of Polish, Hungarian minorities disputes by four-power meeting if nations concerned fail to reach agreement among themselves; them-selves; (7) international guarantee of Czech integrity. As Europe's peacemakers headed for home, a world well accustomed to treaty breaking might well wonder won-der how long the Munich pact would stand. Terms were one thing, plain facts another. Among the facts: (1) Adolf Hitler had won every demand; de-mand; (2) by signing the four-power pact, France and Britain withdrew with-drew their support of Czechoslovakia; Czechoslovak-ia; (3) Russia, left in the cold, turned cold eyes at all western Europe; Eu-rope; (4) by summoning the Munich parley, by winning their terms, Germany Ger-many and Italy now hold a whip hand over Europe's destiny, can probably make further aggressions without much opposition. For peace, only victory at Munich was that the world's war lords had avoided unspeakable disaster even after mobilizing their armies, a feat unparalleled in history. Transportation Though 928.500 members of 19 railroad unions voted to strike October Oc-tober 1 in protest against a 15 per cent wage cut, their walkout has been averted until at least November Novem-ber 20 by presidential intervention under the railway labor act of 192G. Starting investigations last week was an emergency committee which has until October 30 to dig out the facts. Committeemen: Prof. Harry A. Millis of Chicago university, Dean James M. Landis of Harvard university's uni-versity's law school. Chief Justice Walter P. Stacey of the North Carolina Caro-lina supreme court. With railroad-ing's railroad-ing's monumental problem brought to a head, labor's protests became secondary to an investigation of why one-third of U. S. railroads are in receivership, why another third borders on bankruptcy. When committeemen finish their inquiry, unions must wait another 30 days before striking. Chief hope is that a solution of railroad financial difficulties will obviate a strike by that time, with congressional aid following close behind. White House "This country can belt he served by putting in positions of influence men who believe in peace and who will resist re-sist this administration in seeking to give free advice to either side in Europe." Day after he recited this opinion of Franklin Roosevelt to Chicago Republicans, Iowa's onetime Sen. Lester J. Dickinson might have admitted ad-mitted that he spoke too hastily. Traditionally isolationist, long silent in Europe's crisis (See FOREIGN) U. S. officialdom kept hands off until un-til every other .effort failed, until Adolf Hitler was poised to march against little Czechoslovakia. Then, to Reichsfuehrer Hitler, to Czech President Eduard Benes, went President Roosevelt's plea: "On bclialj of 130 millions of Americans Amer-icans and for the sake of humanity everywhere, I most earnestly appeal to you not to break of negotiations . . Next day, as Iowa's Dickinson was speaking, came Adolf Hitler's reply disclaiming responsibility, maintaining the "terrible fate" of Sudeten Germans made delay impossible. im-possible. By nightfall all Europe had surrendered hope, and by nine o'clock the President was willing to try again. To Berlin went another cable. ' Its highlight: "There are two points I sought to emphasize ; first, that all matters of difference dif-ference could and should be settled by pacific methods; second, that the threatened alternative . . . of force . . . is as unnecessary as it is unjustifiable." Craftily phrased to maintain U. S. neutrality, the President's message nevertheless contained the word "unjustifiable" which connoted a measure of sympathy for Britain and France. Moreover, he dispatched dis-patched a personal note to Italy's Premier Benito Mussolini, another to Tokyo, thereby asking Reichsfuehrer Reichs-fuehrer Hitler's two bedfellows in totalitarianism to plump against war.. No President in modern U. S. history his-tory has ever taken such a step, nor did much time elapse before tongues started wagging. Would Franklin Roosevelt's intervention embroil the nation in Europe's squabble? Did Washington have a secret "parallel action" agreement with France and Britain? And, most important for the moment, would the President's move bring desired results? By daybreak the last question was answered. To Munich, Adolf Hitler summoned Britain, France and Italy Ita-ly for peace negotiations that undeniably un-deniably resulted in part from Mr. Roosevelt's intervention. By noon, Secretary of State Cordell Hull assured as-sured correspondents that the U. S. has no "parallel action" agreement. By nightfall, even arch-New Deal hater Sen. Rush D. Holt admitted the President's course had been wise. Unnoticed, shoved into the background back-ground by Europe's crisis, was the U. S. political picture which nonetheless none-theless may change definitely as an upshot of the President's action. Recalled Re-called was last summer's Fortune i 'V ( v . - ' , s j ; - -, 1 x ; ; '-SiSW- ? r -- .. I 4. . ; : Yfv - SJ IOWA'S DICKINSON No "free advice" to Europe. poll which showed the New Deal's two most favored features were rearmament and foreign policy. Whatever might result from Munich's Mu-nich's peace parley, the Czech squabble proved (1) that Germany's expansion efforts will continue to threaten Europe, and (2) that the U. S. cannot escape some measure of participation in world affairs. Will the administration's success thus far bring national approval for continuation con-tinuation of New Deal foreign policy? pol-icy? A safe bet was that political speeches leading to November's election will stress foreign relations, possibly urge important revision of the neutrality act, under which the President may now invoke "cash and carry" provisions anytime a state of war exists abroad. War So engrossing was Czechoslovakia's Czechoslo-vakia's problem that both China and Spain (See llelow) received scant attention. One press association's total 12-hour report from both bat-tlefronts bat-tlefronts was 29 words, but U. S. headline writers knew the name of Hankow would soon be flashing from their pencil tips. Reason: Japan's invading army crept closer up the Yangtze river to its ultimate destination, desti-nation, appeared almost certain to capture China's onetime provisional capital before another month is up. Chief question is whether vengeful venge-ful Nipponese troops will turn Hankow Han-kow into the wholesale slaughterhouse slaughter-house they made of Nanking last winter. If they do, it will wreck central China's No. 1 industrial city, a trading and manufacturing point of inestimable importance. Pioneer of western industrialization, Hankow's Han-kow's three WuHan cities of Hankow, Han-kow, Hanyang and Wuchang opened their doors to foreign trade in 1858, became a machine age center of rice, flour and textile mills, dye works, oil refineries and distilleries. Since the WuHan cities head water and rail facilities to all south China, their loss will be a severe blow to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Kai-shek. Since China's capital has moved 600 miles up-stream to Chungking, observers wondered last week whether Japan will stop at Hankow, as promised, or push 6n to drive Generalissimo Chiang's headquarters headquar-ters still farther back into Asia. Only scant hope for China's future fu-ture came from far-away Geneva, where the League of Nations council f 5 1 ! ' ' ' Y. ' ' V - Y f ' I I DR. V. K. WELLINGTON KOO He was not too hopeful. invoked article 16 of its badly battered bat-tered covenant, voting economic and financial "sanctions" against Japan. This was a futile hope, however, since sanctions failed miserably when last applied against Italy in her Ethiopian conquest. Moreover, the League agreed that "co-ordinated action" against Japan was impossible, im-possible, that each member could apply sanctions if it desired. Never Nev-er before have sanctions been invoked in-voked against a non-league member. mem-ber. Not too optimistic was China's scholarly delegate, Dr. V. K. Wellington Well-ington Koo, who reluctantly admitted: admit-ted: "The only question now is to what extent various members of the League will participate in sanctions." Though Spain's war was postponed post-poned last week on' account of wet grounds, observers thought they saw clearing skies that bore close relation to the Munich peace parley (See FOREIGN). From Rome came almost unimpeachable word that Premier Benito Mussolini is withdrawing with-drawing support from Generalissimo Generalis-simo Francisco Franco's insurgent army, and at the same moment Paris heard insurgent Spain would be neutral in any European war. By the time these two rumors were patched together, they added up nicely. If Generalissimo Franco remained neutral, he would be useless use-less to Italy in fighting France. But a more important reason lay in Premier Mussolini's sudden about-face about-face from which he emerged as Europe's Eu-rope's No. 1 peacemaker. Already credited with proposing the Munich parley, since no one else could deal with Reichsfuehrer Adolf Hitler, II Duce was probably seeking to improve his relations with Great Britain by invoking the Italo-British friendship pact. Signed last spring, this treaty has been dormant because Italy refused to desert Generalissimo Franco. Still another reason for II Duce's act might be Italy's inability to continue con-tinue financing Fascism's Spanish battle. Whatever the cause, observers hoped a Europe gone suddenly peace-mad would let the Spanish war fizzle out. With Italy quitting, with Germany likely to follow suit, and with loyalist Spain already dismissing dis-missing her foreign fighters, the hope was a bright one. Saddest U. S. news of Spain's war was the capture by rebel troops of James P. Lardner, 24-year-old son of the late, famed Author Ring Lardner, in the last engagement of his company, the renowned Lincoln-Washington Lincoln-Washington brigade. People Launched, at Clydebank, Scotland, Scot-land, the liner Queen Elizabeth by Queen Elizabeth, who barely had time to smash a bottle of champagne before the ship slid down to sea ahead of schedule. |