Snt,—Though I agree with all that Mr. Latey says in
reply to Mr. Harold Nicolson's unfortunate article, it leaves much still to be said, that ought to be said, if it is really our intention to carry out our promises to our Allies and to our own people. We have declared that it is our intention, in conjunction with our Allies, to punish war criminals, • and Mr. Harold Nicolson says, in so many words, that it cannot be
done, even if it were wise to make the attempt. Such an article as he wrote in your issue of January 15th, coming from a little-known private citizen might have been let pass without comment, but Mr. Nicolson is not a little-known private citizen, he is an M.P., was a Government official not so very long ago, and may be one again and in a position to influence policy along the lines of his article. To reply adequately to
th1 at col th fox if
Ntr. Nicolson's arguments as much space would be required as was occu- pied by the original article. As that amount is clearly unavailable I ask to be allowed to comment briefly on one or two points only.
(1) The question of extradition need not arise. It is admittedly difficult to secure extradition, as in the case of the Kaiser after the last war, but there is no evidence that the Dutch looked upon him as anything but an embarrassment, and had they been warned in advance that to give him harbourage would be looked upon by the Allies as an " un- friendly act," there is every reason to believe that he would have been shown politely over the frontier again. At any rate, if the United Nations are serious in their intention to punish the Nazi criminals, they should make such an announcement to the few remaining neutrals well before the end of hostilities. If " an unfriendly act " is too mild a phrase, then a stronger one, " an act of war," can be used. The United Nations should be strong enough to make their will operative. If they are not in this matter, as in many others that will arise, then it is a poor outlook for the future peace of the world. It is not the old International Law we have to worry about now, it is the new.
(2) When, before the war, Hitler was steadily becoming a world menace, the diplomats and politicians said, " Oh, just let him stew in his own juice." We know now what came of this policy. Once he is defeated, Mr. Nicolson, true to the tradition to which he belongs, would have him continue the stewing process. It is curious that though Mr. Nicolson pictures him " munching jam-puffs in a Konditorei " he does not realise that in between the bites Hitler would be writing a second Mein Kampf to prove to an eagerly receptive German public that they were not really defeated in the second great war, and that by doing thus and thus they will easily be able to win the third. That is the least of the menaces of a Hitler at large in modern Europe, where he could br snatched up by aeroplane from one country and deposited in another in an hour's time. Many people in this country and in others (witness Russia's reluctance to come in on the inter-Allied Commission) are frankly concerned that the war criminals will slip through the diplomatic- legalistic net, and Mr. Nicolson's article deepens that concern, but, like Mr. Latey, I base my hope on the man in the street and in his determin- ation to see to it that the criminals shall not escape.—Yours faithfully, The Hazels, Bricket Wood, via Watford, Herts. H. G. LYALL.
Previous page
