A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
" DO you remember life before the War ? " a Norwegian friend asked me, and we started comparing notes-. It is not a theme one is tempted to pursue. Those days are gone ; we hoped the League of Nations would bring them back to us ; but not many of those who are old enough to remember them expect to see them now. I have been remem- bering 1914 too-1914, which we are told the events of today so much resemble. They do, but what on the whole strikes me most is the difference. The outstanding feature of today is the quiet resolution of the country, especially in the last ten days. Till then there was a surprising failure to grasp the gravity of the situation. Now there is no one who fails to understand it, and not one man in ten thousand to criticise the Government for firmness that may lead us into war. There was no such unity in 1914. Till Belgium was actually invaded the Cabinet was split in half; even after the invasion two of the Cabinet and several lesser Ministers resigned. The Liberal Press resisted war till war had actually been declared. The crisis had flamed up too quickly ; a quarrel between Austria and Serbia seemed too remote. The public had not followed foreign politics as it does today. This issue has been thrashed out for months from every angle, and nothing so dramatically demonstrates the solidarity of the nation as the fact that on fundamentals even The Observer and The Daily Mail have swung into what, with the exception of the isolationist Express, is now the general line.
* * * * This is inevitably a period of " I hear." Everyone you meet at the club, in the street, on the tube platform, has been hearing something from "a man I know." You listen with discrimination, but discrimination need not be wholesale scepticism. A great deal of what you hear is no doubt true. Here is a selection from the news and views that have come my way since Tuesday.
A German General : "What is the position ? Very simple. We are in the train with a madman on the engine."
A particularly acute and well-informed German, hostile to Hitler. "Announce staff talks in London between Russia and Great Britain and the whole trouble will be ended."
Two Sudeten German business men : "We have grievances, and we want them remedied. But we want no Nazis and we want no war."
An observer in Scandinavia : "There is a split in the Nazi counsels. The section headed by Goring and Himmler, whose power in the party is increasing, believes von Ribbentrop's assurances that Britain will not fight, and is consequently pressing for quick surprise action. The other section, which includes many leading members of the Reichswehr, is for political manoeuvring, which will enable Germany, through Sudetendeutsch autonomy, to undermine Czechoslovakia from within. But the last thing Hitler wants is war."
A German Nazi : "No immediate crisis. Our people are mainly bluffing."
There is nothing there that is not worth thinking over. A colleague who has just returned from Italy gives me an interesting estimate of public opinion there as he found at. It may be summarised as follows. There is much more freedom of speech, including criticisms of the regime, than might be expected—not necessarily more hostility to the regime, but more freedom in expressing what there is. There is a marked predominance of Germans among foreign tourists, and a surprising number of them are the possessors of high-powered cars—and very definitely unpopular they are. Italians never did like Germans, and the Rome-Berlin axis is a purely official affair, which leaves the attitude of the people unaffected. How the Germans manage to tour in Italy on the io marks a day which is all they are permitted to take across their frontier is something of a mystery ; but it may be in part explained by complaints by Italian café proprietors of parties of Germans who bring their own food with them, settle down at the café tables and ask for a glass of water—free. As to more political matters, the anti- Jewish decrees seem by no means popular. They came as a surprise to the ordinary intelligent Fascist, and he is inclined to be a little ashamed of them. These are of course simply personal impressions, and based on a limited experience which does not justify or profess to justify generalisations.
* * * * I have just had news from Holland of what seems to me in its way one of the most remarkable journalistic achievements in my experience. That excellent and important weekly the Ho,agsche Post, whose position in its own sphere in Holland is unchallenged, is now appearing simultaneously in its native town, The Hague, and in Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. All matter is telegraphed to the other side of the world on Thursday and the paper duly appears in replica in Batavia on the Saturday. The finished copy gets back to Holland, for the editor's inspection, by the following Friday, being transported by the very efficient K.L.M. Air Line. A copy, incidentally, has also reached me for my inspection. The black-type heading Haagsche Post is supplemented by a stippled " voor Ned-Indies," and the printing as a whole is as good as you would hope to get in London. * * * * In a case to be heard in due course in the Courts an interest- ing question will arise regarding a legacy to the Oxford Group Movement. The sum involved is not very considerable, but the question of who receives and holds money on behalf of the Movement will have to be decided. Hitherto it has rather studiously avoided any formal organisation. Dr. Buchman's own position would, I imagine, be a little hard to define. The office of Leader is not recognised in English law as the office of Fiihrer is (for all I know) in German.
* * * * GOERING TAKEN ILL,said the evening paper pLicard. The vendor elaborated. " Yus," he said, " 'e's got some- thing wrong with 'is glands, and something wrong with 'is leg—and cold feet."
jAM:S.
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