Herr Hess's Overture to France There was one section in
the speech of Herr Hitler's deputy, Herr Hess, which was not addressed to the German public, but primarily to France. The significance of his utterance has been more appreciated by the French Press than by the British, the former recognizing in it a gesture in favour of an understanding, to which, says the Temps, " we cannot be too attentive." M. Barthou's speeches in • Bucharest and elsewhere sounded, said Herr Hess, " unpleasantly " to the friends of under- standing, yet nevertheless he was convinced that not only the French people but "even the French Minister Barthou " wanted peace with Germany ; and he went on to say that all Frenchmen and all Germans would gain by an agreement. This does not necessarily mean that the present German Government would be prepared unconditionally to enter into such a Pact of Mutual Assistance as M. Barthou has been outlining ; but it does appear to indicate that that would not be impossible if France and other countries were prepared to be conciliatory to Germany in making some of the con- cessions which she has claimed as a right.
