Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 9, Number 42, DeMotte, Jasper County, 7 September 1939 — WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY HENRY PORTER British-German Settlement Of Polish Issue Under Way; 'Appeasement’ a Solution [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY HENRY PORTER British-German Settlement Of Polish Issue Under Way; 'Appeasement’ a Solution

(EDITOR’S NOTE—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union.

A self-explanatory map of the European continent, describing the strength of the Berlin-Rome axis with that of Great Britain. France and Poland. The strength in man power, planes and ships is shown by the inserted figures on the map.

EUROPE: t f)peasement'f A (move to “appease" Hitler is definitely under way, according to reports from London and Berlin, as this is written. Continued preparations for war. however, are reported from! Poland, France and other European centers. The seeming contradiction of peace talk in the midst of these warlike maneuvers was not explained officially. Arrangements for a settlement betweeh Great Britain and Germany over the Polish issue were well advanced, it was said in diplomatic circles. Pressure was being put on Poland from London to accept the preliminaries which Hitler demands as a basis of settlement with the British. Hitlej' demanding Danzig and the Polish corridor before entering negotiations. It was hoped in London to compel Poland to contact Berlin immediately. Berlin reported that Hitler had gnejd a treaty with Albert Forster, v it-fj of the su.'e < f D,t: . ig. T; •• city is already virtually in posses>icn bf Hitler s men. i Idler has' named a special six man council fi r the defense of Germany. The council was given blanket authority to act on its own init-ia- ’. .f but jv.- st.il may is ",:c decrees ard jtisrect legislation through the reichstag. Other developments tn Germany included the authoritative statement that the German goverhment “weleomck with extraordinary sympathy the tiller of mediation by Queen Wilhelmina and King Leopold." The Gernijans indicated, however, mediation would not be considered pending the outcome of the discussion With [Britain.. What is going on now is believed to be| a war of pn paganglu. ofher'A: e n gigant- me of bluff. with me gfime goo •. tvi the best bluffer tin ally.- lh eve-. Europe breathed a little < rv ;ml tire hope was expressed 1 '.l war again lias been sides tjc p p CM An inexplicable aspect of the situation i is the French censorship. French papers reach London with whole columns of white space marked “deleted by censor,” just as m the World war No eommunicaTs'ii by tea phone with Paris is possible, and yet from London one can telephone easily to Rome, Berlin and other parts of Europe. No effect was given in London ,neatly to the appeal of Warsaw to Britain regarding the concentration of] German troops on the border. i Vat nun?’g then- war propaganda, Germans assert that “a cave-in is unavoidable because 500,000 Rus-s-nns are threatening Poland's eastnrn fhmk while her western and s vithern borders .are threatened by German forces preparing a formid- .• le military placer movement that < a be started at a moment’s entire." Developments leading up to ths British offer for “appeasement” of H.her [were merely a repetition of * guessing and rumors that had kept the world in a turmoil. Nh a barriers in the way of a ■•pc., end settlement of the Polish •earns were raised by Hitler in his latest note in the exchange of communications between the German dictatojr ■ and Chamberlain. Diplomatic. circles which knew the contents of the. reply, were frankly alarmed. Hitler again demanded the unconditional surrender of Danzig the Polish corridor before he was willing to discuss international problems with other powers. Now he adds to his previous demands return of the former German lands of Posen and Polish Upper Silesia. . * While England and Germany are negotiating directly, Germany paid little attention to the efforts of the queen of the Netherlands and the king of Belgium in offering their services as mediators. Events took an uglier turn in London while the Hitler note was being discussed. Aroused by the heavy concentration of troops on its south-

ern frontier the Polish government decided to invoke the British guarantees under the mutual assistance pact. The Polish communique said: “The occupation of Slovakia bv German troops represents an act of aggression against Polish vital interests and is considered a threat to Polish security.” Prime Minister Chamberlain dumped the whole question of war or peace into Hitler’s lap in an address in the house of commons. The tense but cheering members were told that Great Britain again had made it plain to Adolf Hitler its determination to fulfill its obligations to Poland and added that “the issue of peace or war is still undecided.” "We shall hold fast the line which we have laid down,” he declared, as the house echoes with tremendous cheering, “We still will hope and still work for peace.” Without disclosing the details of the exchange. Chamberlain declared Great Britain delivered “our final answer" to a communication from! Hitler; that “we have made plain! that our obligations to Poland will be carried out," and that "at this moment the position is that we are waiting for Hitler's reply." The prime minister spoke in a firm and assured voice. At times almost bi; •yant, such as when he said': “At .any rate we have not had to begin here by issuing ration cards"—an obvious reference to Germany, Speaking for the liberal opposition, Sir Archibald Sinclair said: "At this moment I agree with his majesty's government that they should have solid support of all peace loving people in this country. The last word rests with Herr Hitler." Offer of their “good offices" for an effort to mediate the PolandGerman crisis from King Leopold of the Belgians, and Queen Wilhelniina of The Netherlands, was reported in a quarter close to the French foreign office. The offers Wi re made to France, Great- Britain. Germany, Italy and" Poland. France promptly accepted, it was said. ! .1 \P V\: \etv Cabinet Gen. Nobuyuki Abe has succeeded in forming a new Japanese cabinet in succession to Baron Hiranuma, who resigned over the German-Rus-sian pact. General Abe has surrounded himself with political veterans for the task of restoring domestic unity while avoiding inter-

national pitfalls. For the present General Abe announced that he would retain the post of foreign minister. The new government is expected to pursue an isolationist policy. In line with this, authoritative circles believed that the ambassadors to Rome and Berlin, Toshio Shiratori, and Maj. Gen. Hiroshi Oshima, who had advocated outright military alliance with the axis, would be replaced.

BUSINESS: Outlook Good War conditions are accepted today as a nominal business factor rather than a series of temporary economic shocks as has been the case in the past, according to the magazine Banking. The magazine reported a general hopeful outlook for business in spite of the war conditions. “Business is beginning to see daylight and solid ground, although still wary,” it stated. “Improvement has been fairly general, but statistically, trade still falls short of levels reached two years ago.” The magazine cited four factors which, it said, are responsible “for quite a noticeable spirit of hopefulness on all sides.” “Of these,” it stated, “one is the perfectly obvious change for the better that has come over public opinion regarding business. A second factor is the unexpected nature of the improvement and consistent activity of the summer months. Third on the list of encouraging items is the low point of most inventories," it said, adding that the present business reaction to war conditions as a normal business factor constituted the fourth. u. s. ARMA : Weakness Recent army maneuvers at Plattsburg, N. Y., revealed such serious deficiencies in training, equipment, leadership and administration of the nation’s armed forces that Lieutenant General Drum declared conditions were inexcusable and deplorable. General Drum’s citation of errors and mistakes made in the field included the following: I—Extensive additional training is needed by the National Guard, the

organized reserves, and the regular army units in large-scale actions where they function together. 2 The army is dangerously under manned and the shortage of modern arms is critical. 3 There is a serious breakdown of supply services essential to the maintenance of an army in the field. 4 Staff work has not been speeded up to cope with the speed and great territorial range of mechanized forces. General Drum found that neither officers nor men receive enough experience in operating as parts of a large unit. The staff work was particularly poor as a result. PANAMA CANAL: Safeguarded Extraordinary steps have been taken to guard against espionage, and possible sabotage at the Panama canal, the nation’s lifeline of defense. Washington officials stressed that the assignment of additional guards at strategic locks and control houses is purely precautionary and that there has been no indications of foreign plots against the canal. The safeguards coincide with start of a huge defense program, including construction of another air base, extra anti-aircraft and coast batteries, enlarged garrisons and supplementary locks. The posting of extra guards at vital spots along the canal is part of the general preparedness developed by the army and navy to meet an emergency. Details of the new vigilance measures are being treated as military secrets. Similar steps to guard against foreign spies and sabotage have been taken during recent months in aircraft factories, arsenals and other government or private plants engaged in manufacture of war materials.

INDUSTRIES: War Program The war resources board is making an intensive study of America's plan for industrial mobilization in case of war. Edward R. Stettinus, chairman of the board and top man of the United States Steel corporation, is charged with the responsibility of seeing that the nation’s industrial machine can be swiftly changed over from meeting' the needs of peace to meeting the needs ofywar/ Helping Stettinus are severaEprominent industrialists.

GEN. NOBUYUKI ABE Japanese premier.

LIEUT. GEN. DRUM Criticizes army.