New Czechoslovakian Government

In response to Hitler's demands on September 22nd, a new cabinet has been installed in the Czechoslovakian government. President Beneš installed General Jan Syrový as Prime Minister after the resignation of Milan Hodza. He has also ordered a mobilization.

Hodza Resigns

Premier Milan Hodza has stepped down and the cabinet has been dissolved. This is a reaction to the capitulation to Germany's demands for the Sudetenland.

Hitler's New Demands are Rejected

The French and British Governments have rejected Hitler's demands for Polish and Hungarian territorial transactions.

Hitler makes new Demands

Prime Minister Chamberlain met with Chancellor Hitler in Bad Godesberg yesterday. It seemed Germany had finally gotten its demands: control of the Sudetenland and union with the German peoples there. However, Hitler has said that the conditions of the capitulation are no longer acceptable. He has added to the demands. He now wants the Poles and Magyars within Czechoslovakia to be united with Poland and Hungary, their respective nations.

Czechoslovakia Capitulates

Even after the USSR made war talk at the League of Nations yesterday, Czechoslovakia has capitulated. Late last night, the government agreed to Germany's demands.

Despite this, crowds of Czechs gathered in Prague demanding Czechoslovakian troops remain in the Sudetenland. This seems all for not since the presence of German troops on the border and a promise of invasion would bring a very swift war.

The Soviet Union talks War

Today, at the League of Nations, the Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinoff accused the French and British governments of appeasement. He further accused the two nations of using Czechoslovakia to forestall war and also predicted that a larger war would result from their current actions.

Litvinoff included in his speech that the Soviet War Department was ready to discuss military plans with France. The Soviet Union it seems is ready to back up its ally Czechoslovakia.

The Czechoslovakian Response

Today the Czechoslovakian government gave the governments of France and Great Britain a note at 2.45 PM Eastern Time. In this note they expressed their point of view. It became apparent to both the French and the British that what they said was unacceptable.

At the same time, Prime Minister Chamberlain travelled for his second meeting with Hitler in BadGodesburg. A joint declaration has been issued by both the French and British governments telling Czechoslovakia to capitulate to the German demands in 24 hours else face invasion.

Details of the Agreement

Edward R. Morrow of CBS radio reported what many in London believe to be the consensus Hitler and Chamberlain arrived at during their meeting in Bertesgaden. He said "First, the Sudeten majority districts are to be turned over to Germany. Some newspapers mention that those areas having more than 50% Sudetens will be turned over. Second, Britain is to take part in an international guarantee of what is left of Czechoslovakia. And third, the Franco-Czech and the Russian-Czech Alliance is to be abandoned."

This would effectively end the Czechoslovakian nation as we know it.

Hodza talks tough

Earlier today, the Premier of Czechoslovakia Milan Hodza announced on Czechoslovakian radio that if a plebiscite were agreed between Germany and Great Britain, it would be unacceptable to his government. He also said that if it did indeed come down to it, Czechoslovakia would go alone against Hitler and the Nazis.

Italy's own Benito Mussolini also chimed in that if there were to be a plebiscite there should be one for all races within Czechoslovakia.

At that time, Chamberlain had returned from Bertesgaden meeting with Hitler. Many assume there was a plebiscite agreed upon between Hitler and Chamberlain. Chamberlain is now discussing the situation with French Prime Minister Deladier in London.

Lord Runciman returns from Prague

Lord and Lady Runciman returned from their five-week-long trip to Prague on yesterday, September 16th. Lord Runciman's report is anticipated by the Prime Minister as soon as he is able.

The situation in the Sudetenland remains as untenable as possible.

Chamberlain visits with Hitler; Henlein's Flight

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Neville Chamberlain met with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in Bertesgaden, near Munich in Southern Germany on September 15th. There the two leaders will discuss ways to end this crisis before it erupts into war.

But not before all talks between Henlein and the Czechoslovakian Government completely end. Sudeten Party leader Konrad Helein had laid out an ultimatum to rescind Martial Law, recall the reserves to their barracks, withdraw the state police from the territory, and accept this by midnight or all negotiations would be called off. When his demands were not met, he fled to Germany.

With all this continuing to worsen, Nazi radio and Czechoslovakian radio transmissions have been having their own war of words. Even Hungary has joined in and reiterated Germany's narrative on events. Czechoslovakian radio continues to refute the claims made by Germany.

Martial Law in Sudetenland

It seemed the crisis was averted until Hitler's speech on the 12th. No the Sudeten Germans are up in arms once more. President Beneš has imposed martial law in response to the increased agitation. There has also been a recall of Czechoslovak reservists in light of this change of events.

Hitler rattles more sabres

Adolf Hitler said in his speech to the Nazi Party at Nuremberg that the Czechoslovakian Government was using all of its means possible to annihilate the 3.5 million Sudeten Germans. He claimed that these people were being deprived of their rights, for example, they were not permitted to sing German songs or to wear white stockings. If indeed they went through with any of these crimes they were brutally struck down. Although the tone was ferociously threatening, he gave no examples of atrocities, perhaps because there are none. "The misery of the Sudeten Germans is without end," he declared. He then went on to promise that Germany would take care of her own and put an end to the continued oppression of 3.5 million Germans. "I hope that the foreign statesman will be convinced that these are not mere words," he added ominously.

Hitler has demanded the direct annexation of the Sudetenland by the Reich, hinting that if necessary, he would resort to war. He also has said that the Sudentenland is an internal matter for Germans, and supposedly Central Europeans. It is no place for international statesmen, no doubt referring to Prime Minister Chamberlain.

Pope Pius XI speaks

Pope Pius XI has been increasingly vocal about the Anti-Semitic laws being passed in Central Europe and other countries lack of action on the matter. He has been referring to the inaction as a Conspiracy of Silence. Recently, he made a speech to Belgian Catholic pilgrims at the Vatican in which he said

"Mark well that in the Catholic Mass, Abraham is our Patriarch and forefather. Anti-Semitism is incompatible with the lofty thought which that fact expresses. It is a movement with which we Christians can have nothing to do. No, no, I say to you it is impossible for a Christian to take part in anti-Semitism. It is inadmissible. Through Christ and in Christ we are the spiritual progeny of Abraham. Spiritually, we [Christians] are all Semites".

The Pope has been published in Mit brennender Sorge a German Catholic encyclical last year condemning Nazi Party policies against the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism.

Beneš appeals to the World for Peace

Czechoslovakian President Eduard Beneš made an appeal via Radio Broadcast asking for peace and calm in the face of this crisis. He also told the Czechoslovakian people that they would be "firm and have faith in our state, in its health and its strength, in the indestructible spirit and devotion of its people."

Changes in the German Army Command

Among all the events of this crisis, there has been a change in the command structure of the German Army. General Ludwig Beck was Oberkommando des Heeres, otherwise known as the Chief of the General Staff of the Army. He seemingly is not any longer after August 27.

General Franz Halder has now become the new Oberkommando des Heeres. He began this post on September 1st. These events are just now being noticed due in part because of the tension in the Sudetenland.

Impasse!

Talks between the Czechoslovakian Government and Henlein's Sudeten Party have broken down. Of course, negotiations still continue between Great Britain and Czechoslovakia. Germany is staying somewhat quiet. In the coming days, there will be a Congress of the Nazi Party in Nuremberg.

German Sudetens protest

In response to the plan put forth by the Czechoslovakian Government, many of the Sudeten Germans who agree with Konrad Henlein, protested. However, what is Plan No. 4?

Plan No. 4 adds both financial and political concessions such as "states rights to minorities in Sudeten. President Beneš offered to lend a billion Czechoslovak koruny ($35,000,000) "on the most favorable terms" to stimulate industry in Czechoslovak districts now suffering from unemployment, with 700,000,000 koruny earmarked for Sudeten districts. Britain and France stood ready to lend this money to Czechoslovakia, it was understood in Prague, and Dr. Beneš clearly hoped many observers of the Sudeten Germans had been right in reporting recently that what they want is a return to prosperity, not Germany.
Plan No. 4 went further than Plan No. 3 in offering Sudeten Germans and other minority peoples State jobs (including "irremovable judgeships") in the same proportion as their numbers bear to the total population of Czechoslovakia. Moreover, each ministry of the Czechoslovak Cabinet would have a separate "section" corresponding to each minority, and each section would be headed by a member of that minority to guard its interests. As the most fateful concession of Plan No. 4, Dr. Beneš offered that in each minority canton the preservation of order should be "divided" between Federal gendarmerie in the countryside and town police of the Sudeten German or other minority faction.

In Germany, every paper printed atrocity stories describing how a Sudeten German Nazi Deputy had been "horsewhipped" by a Czech mounted policeman at the industrial town of Moravská Ostrava. Mounted police had tried to disperse a Sudeten German crowd which had gathered to demand immediate release from jail of 82 persons arrested for possessing arms smuggled from Germany. The prisoners were charged with preparing to organize an attack from the rear upon troops defending the Czechoslovak frontier in case of war. One blow from a riding crop was afterward proved to have struck, without injuring, a man who turned out to be a Sudeten Deputy. Next day the Czech mounted policeman responsible and two others were withheld from duty by Police Chief Baca, who then suspended himself for good measure. But by this time, German papers were well started on a flood of stories under such scareheads as SAVAGE HORSEWHIPPING OF SUDETEN DEPUTY BY BESTIAL CZECH OFFICER.

The No. 1 Sudeten, Konrad Henlein, was at Nürnberg with Hitler, but in Prague the No. 2 Sudeten, Ernst Kundt, tersely announced that "satisfactory amends" had been made at Moravská Ostrava and he then withdrew the Sudeten Party's previous refusal to negotiate on the basis of Plan No. 4. Obviously they were tempted by the 700,000,000 koruny—for there are only 3,500,000 Sudeten Germans.

Smart Dr. Beneš, although relying on money to do some talking in a situation basically desperate, fully realized that Plan No. 4 impressed millions of Czechoslovaks, apart from the Sudeten Germans, as offering such extreme concessions that it imperiled the State. If accepted, Plan No. 4 risks turning every Cabinet ministry into a debating club of minority groups. How democratic Czech gendarmes and totalitarian Nazi police can "divide" responsibility for keeping of order in Sudeten cantons was an unanswered question. In an impossible situation, under crushing British pressure to concede without limit, President Beneš had conceded so much that he realized some of his own people were becoming scared. To reassure the nation, Dr. Beneš went on the air with a calm, firm and tactful broadcast, only a few minutes after he learned that in a speech at Nuremberg General Göring had just gone out of his way to abuse the culture and traditions of the Czechoslovak Republic.

Plan No. 4

Czechoslovakian President Eduard Beneš submitted a fourth plan to the Czechoslovakian Government on September 2nd. Now, the government has submitted this to the British.

Roughly, the plan would accede the Sudeten to Germany due to the high amount of Germans in the region. Czechoslovakia has said that ceding this land would cripple the country economically and would put the nation effectively under German control.

Plan No. 3

In Washington, anxious Assistant Secretary of State George S. Messersmith repeatedly crawled out of bed around 4 AM to hear by transatlantic telephone what U. S. Ambassadors in Europe could tell him about whether Adolf Hitler was going to hurl the German Army into Czechoslovakia.

The danger of war was not acute enough to keep Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in London. With his fishing rods and guns sticking ostentatiously out of his limousine, Mr. Chamberlain left for Scotland to play trout streams and shoot grouse with King George. Lloyd's pointed out in London last week that, although they stopped writing war-risk insurance on British property some months ago, and although they have been unwilling to cover either the risk of war breaking out in Europe or of Franklin Roosevelt announcing he will seek a Third Term, they were still quoting cargo insurance at far below "wartime rates." Thus, although the rate on South African copper shipped to Germany was raised last week from .025% to .125% the latter figure spells "Peace" in comparison with the 42% premium charged on shipments bound for war-torn Spain.

Up and down Europe a new factor working for peace was sighted by anxious millions in the behavior last week of U. S. Ambassadors. In London, after the British Cabinet had reviewed the Czechoslovak situation for nearly three hours, U. S. Ambassador Joseph Patrick Kennedy was invited in for an hour's conference. Next day Mr. Kennedy was back in Downing Street, conferring this time with Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax, and red-ink London placards shrieked this as good news. Mr. Kennedy, interviewed by transatlantic telephone, told the Hearst Boston American, ''No war is going to break out during the rest of 1938."

The Soviet Union and the French met and discussed the situation, while in Prague the British mediator, Viscount Runciman, at last had ready a third series of proposed concessions to the Sudeten Germans known as Czechoslovak Premier Dr. Milan Hodza's "Plan No. 3." This had been secretly flown over for the inspection of the British Cabinet and secretly flown back to Prague by Mr.

Frank Trelawny Arthur Aston-Gwatkin, Lord Runciman's Man Friday. It was taken by Sudeten German Führer Konrad Henlein to Berchtesgaden last week and there laid before the German Führer. Details were kept secret but it was understood that Plan No. 3 embodied these main points: 1) a three-month truce to be declared, to give time for much further negotiation between the Sudeten Germans, the Czechoslovak Government and other interested parties; 2) Czechoslovakia to become after these negotiations a Federal State composed of Gaue or "Cantons" modeled on the Swiss Federal State, whose structure has often been compared to that of the U. S. The Sudetens complain this would give their Gaue only a rough equivalent to American States' rights, whereas they have demanded "autonomy" comparable to British dominion status.

Viscount Runciman's entourage began complaining fortnight ago that they have found Konrad Henlein nothing but a "straw man," and last week the Sudeten Führer went to Berchtesgaden only to take the orders of his boss, Führer Hitler—for the fourth time this year.

Present with the No. 1 Nazi were No. 2 Nazi Göring, No. 3 Nazi Goebbels and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who arrived from Berlin with what was said to be a personal piece of advice to Adolf Hitler from Neville Chamberlain.

This had been verbally delivered in Berlin by the British Ambassador, Sir Nevile Henderson, who brought it by air from London. As Sir Nevile was leaving Croydon, he added an E. Phillips Oppenheim touch by portentously remarking to cameramen : "You had better be quick—this is the last chance you'll get."

Henlein, after four hours' conference with Hitler, returned to his home in the village of As. Three days later one fact seemed obvious: the "strawman" had been instructed to reject Plan No. 3, to compromise on nothing, to hold out for full, unqualified Sudeten autonomy. The Czech Cabinet then met with President Benes and drafted its "last" offer to which a response was expected from Dictator Hitler this week in one of his numerous speeches at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg.

Meanwhile, local bigwigs of the Sudeten German Party were reported from Czechoslovakia as be ginning to show signs of fear lest they be thrust aside by Nazis from Germany, much as in Vienna the Austrian Nazis have lost all the biggest plums to German Nazis. Supplementing cables to this effect was a statement by pro-Czech Chairman George Boochever of the American-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce, who stepped off the Dutch liner Nieuw Amster dam in Manhattan. "In my talks with Sudeten Germans," said Mr. Boochever, "I gained the impression that they had no real wish to be annexed to Germany. . . . I think Henlein is but the mouthpiece for Hitler's views and if it were not for the propaganda and subsidies from Germany received by Henlein and his group there would be no agitation. . . ."

Another Nazi Measure against Jews

The German Government is now requiring all Jewish women to add "Sara" to their given first names, and men to likewise add "Israel" to their names. This is to be on all legal documents and passports. This measure is to better identify Jews who have non-Jewish names.

The law goes into effect on January 1, 1939.

Lord Runciman meets Konrad Henlein

Viscount Runciman had been 15 days in Czechoslovakia without meeting Konrad Henlein, who thought his prestige would be enhanced if he made the British lord call on him. This, the Viscount had refused to do, but in last week's emergency Lord Runciman consented to motor from Prague into the Sudeten Nazi territory and meet Herr Henlein in the castle of Prince Max von Hohenlohe, whose lands extend right up to the German frontier.

Prince Max, although ardently pro-German, keeps his fingers crossed, has a passport which makes him a subject of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Last week he mobilized his villagers, his gamekeepers, his servants and his toddling infants, all of whom gave the Nazi salute as Lord Runciman arrived in formal black jacket, wing collar and black bat tie. Herr Henlein turned up in brown tweed coat, grey flannel slacks and white shoes. Present was the German agent known as "Princess Steffi," who generally operates in London. There she has been hostess to Herr Henlein and to Adolf Hitler's personal agent, Captain Wiedemann (TIME, Aug. 1). From the castle windows the conferees could see the Sudeten Mountains and the German frontier, patrolled unceasingly before their eyes by fighting planes of Czechoslovakia and the Reich. The meeting lasted from 12:30 to 5:45.

Diplomatic rumor had it that "Henlein showed himself most intransigent." But shortly thereafter Herr Henlein assembled his lieutenants in the Hotel Veimar in Marienbad. There he outlined the Sudeten demands anew, clarified along lines suggested by Lord Runciman. Meanwhile, to make the clamorous Henlein minority perhaps less intransigent, Premier Hodza soon after announced he would give choice political plums to Sudeten Germans by appointing them to seven large postmasterships, a district public works superintendency, two district governorships, more jobs in the railroad administration.

Main Synagogue of Nuremberg Destroyed

The Main Synagogue of Nuremberg was burned and damaged beyond use yesterday. The Congregation of the synagogue were given until August 3rd to sell to the City of Nuremberg. After the congregation could not come to a consensus, Mayor Willi Liebel, expropriated the land.

August 10th, there was a gathering of many Nazis in front of the grand synagogue. The Mayor attended and took part in the rally as well as the Gauleiter Julius Streicher. The rally then turned into a demolition and the synagogue was heavily burned and damaged.

The Synagogue has been a fixture in the Nuremberg skyline. No response has been lodged by the displaced congregation.

Lord Runciman meets with German Sudeten Party members

Konrad Henlein, the Sudeten German Führer, sent only subordinates to confer with the Viscount. The consideration with which he treated them was considered spectacular. Lord Runciman's program included 20-minute formal calls on President Eduard Beneš and Premier Milan Hodza; two lengthy conferences with henchmen of Henlein, the second lasting until 2 am; next day lunch with Dr. & Mme Beneš; a short conference at his hotel with non-Nazi Czech Germans.

On the third day the British mediator uncorked his first proposal. He declared that before he could attempt to advise he must understand the problems of Czechoslovakia, must study them for at least a fortnight. Therefore, he proposed that the Government and the Sudetens stop negotiating while he studied. To this provisional Pax Runciman they agreed. Instead of discussing the disputed Minorities Statute, the Czechoslovak Parliament met for only 20 minutes—its first meeting since the war crisis was averted on May 21 —then meekly adjourned indefinitely.

Meanwhile, tourist travel to Prague picked up magically overnight. Tourists wolfed tasty Prager ham and downed it with Pilsner beer, convinced that they were safe so long as The Man With the Wrinkled Brow continues his studies.

When U. S. Ambassador to Germany Hugh Wilson, an ace career diplomat, suddenly flew to Prague on what he carefully described as "just a holiday visit" to his friend U. S. Minister to Czechoslovakia Wilbur J. Carr, Czechs were delighted.

They thought his coming was a friendly gesture by President Roosevelt and the State Department, a nudging reminder from Washington to London that the bulk of U. S. public opinion would not be favorable to a Runciman Report so couched as to sell Czechoslovakia down the river. Private Person Wilson was soon received by President Beneš and Premier Hodza, had a talk with Private Person Runciman, insisted he was only vacationing.

Lord Runciman remains in Prague

---From the New York Times---

While Viscount Runciman’s staff continues to work in close contact with the Henlein party leaders, the British negotiator in the Czech-Sudeten German dispute confined himself today to purely formal visits.

In the morning he received Premier Milan Hodza and Foreign Minister Kamil Krofta, who were returning the calls he paid on them yesterday. At noon he and Lady Runciman lunched with President Eduard Benes and his wife at Hradschin palace. At Lord Runciman’s wish the luncheon was entirely private.

In the afternoon Lord Runciman received a deputation of German Activists – who support the republic – consisting of Wenzel Jakach, Herr Taub and Herr Rehward. The interview lasted only half an hour, in contrast with the hour and a half the Henleinist leaders spent with Lord Runciman yesterday, followed by a late night conference with his staff.

These meetings were held at the Alcron Hotel. Tomorrow the Henleinist leaders again will have long conferences with Lord Runciman’s staff.

Last night they put forward the sensational demands advanced by Konrad Henlein in his Karlsbad speech April 24, when he proclaimed himself and his movement purely Nazi. The Henleinist delegates further explained to Lord Runciman’s staff the meaning of the party’s memorandum embodying most of the Karlsbad demands that was presented to the government June 7.

Incidentally, it is reported that the Committee of Political Ministers is drawing up an answer to the Henlein party’s memorandum.

The German Activist representatives deliberately refrained from bombarding Lord Runciman with documentary propaganda. They left it entirely to the British negotiator to say whether or not he wished further contact with them and advice from them. They told him that if he wished to hear the democratic German viewpoint they would be glad to draw up a memorandum next week and he requested that they do so.

They further offered to show him any industrial center in the Sudeten area that he wished to see, to enable him to “see for himself that the Sudeten Germans can do a good day’s hard work as well as conduct political agitation.”

Lord Runciman thanked them and said that he would consider their suggestion when he drew up his program of visits.

Lord Runciman is leaving Prague for a week-end in the Sudeten area and it is understood that he will pay a personal visit to a big German landowner. His staff refused all information tonight as to whom he would visit.

The German press and radio propaganda campaign in connection with the flight of two Czech planes over Glatz in German territory Wednesday is described as the most violent of all those launched against this country, not excepting the campaign in the days preceding May 21, when Czechoslovakia called reserves to the border.

The press reminds Germany that there have been many cases of German pilots flying as far as Pilsen without any Czech press campaign being launched against Germany. It is a fact the there are constant violations of the Czech frontier by German planes, which it is thought wiser here not to make the subject of protests nor even to allow mentioned [sic] in the press.

The extraordinary violence of the present German campaign gives rise to suspicions that there is truth in reports of large military concentrations around Glatz that have been received here in the last week.

Glatz is situated in a German “peninsula” almost entirely surrounded by Czechoslovak territory and it is quite conceivable that pilots flying over Czechoslovakia could make a mistake and cross the German line there.

The Prague radio replied to the German propaganda tonight in the form of an official communiqué giving three cases in which German pilots, giving the same excuse as the Germans refused to accept in the Galtz case – poor visibility – actually landed in Czechoslovak reserved military areas during the last two months.

England sends Lord Runciman to Prague

Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford, arrived today in Prague in response to the continuing Sudetenland crisis between Czechoslovakia and Germany. He is hoping to find a mutually beneficial solution to the situation.

His first day has so far involved a meeting with the Czechoslovakian President. He will be meeting with German Sudetens and other involved parties before returning to England and the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.

Italy cracks down on Jews

Italy has passed the Racial Laws against the Jews barring them from studying or teaching in a school of higher learning and revoking the citizenship of all foreign Jews obtained after January, 1919, and decreeing their expulsion within six months.

Japanese & Soviet conflict resolved

The details are not known at this time. However, sources have said that the conflict between the Japanese Empire and the Soviet Union ended on August 1st. The border between Soviet Union's Siberian wilderness and Japan's state of Manchuria, now called Manchukuo, will return to its previous situation on July 29th. This was the day the Japanese entered Siberia unprovoked.

Conflict at Broad Drum Peak

There has been an act of Japanese aggression at a point of disputed territory on the Manchurian and Soviet border. The Japanese attacked border guards and have been able to push some distance into Siberia.

Street names changed in Germany

In Germany, a program has been started to change street names. Some of the streets apparently have Jewish sounding names. Considering the political problems that exist within Germany at this moment, it has become inappropriate to retain the names. So, the names will be changed to sound more German.

ID cards for Jews

The German Government passed a measure yesterday requiring all Jews to carry Identification cards. This comes after Jewish doctors were forbidden to practice medicine on non-Jews.

Évian Conference Concludes

After nine days, the Évian Conference wraps up in southeastern France. No resolution was passed. There was a great deal of official statements of sympathy by nations for the stateless Jews.

Most of attending nations were reluctant to shoulder the burden of the Jewish refugees.

The Caribbean island nation of the Dominican Republic did offer safe harbor to the refugees. The so-called Sosua Project would have 100,000 Jews settling in the Dominican Republic with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee paying the nation millions of dollars. Costa Rica is also offering the same resolution.

The American delegate noted that the United States has immigration quotas and would be making the German and Austrian quotas fully available. France also claimed it had met "the extreme point of saturation as regards admission of refugees."

The British delegation did not remind the conference attendees of its Palestinian mandate where Jewish settlements have been forming for decades. This may, in fact, have been intentional since there were even Jewish observers from Palestine at the conference such as Mrs. Golda Meyerson. Mrs. Meyerson is Ukrainian-born Jew who was reared and educated in the United States before emigrating to Palestine. She remarked to the press after conference ended, "There is only one thing I hope to see before I die and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore."

An Australian delegate even noted "as we [Australia] have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one."

Yesterday, a Nazi newspaper published an article with a headline stating “JEWS FOR SALE AT A BARGAIN PRICE--WHO WANTS THEM? NO ONE.”

France makes decrees

Whilst the Conference proceeds in Évian, the French Prime Minister has made some announcements in the past two days. First, Prime Minister Édouard Daladier was given the authority to govern by decree in the event of war. This is much like martial law and does not leave the people a representative voice in the creation or implementation of laws.

Second, Monsieur Daladier declared that France is recommitting itself to Czechoslovakian independence. This continues the line that France and Britain have maintained since demands from Hitler have come down for possession of the Sudetenland in April.

Secretary Hull meets with German Ambassador Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff

Today, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull talked with the German Ambassador Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff about the European situation. He told the Ambassador that this Government had been earnestly hoping that the German Government would reach a stage where it would decide to support the program of peace and orderly progress which the United States had been striving to keep alive and to advance.

The Secretary said that there was only one alternative course: the course of force, militarism, and territorial aggression with all the accompanying hurtful and destructive practices.

Conference on Jewish Refugees

US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for a conference to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of stateless Jews from Central Europe. And that's what he's getting.

Representatives from thirty-two nations and twenty-four volunteer organizations are gathering today in Évian-les-Bains, France. Here on the western banks of Lake Geneva and in the picturesque Rhône-Alpes area of southeastern France, these delegates will discuss a solution to the refugees coming out of central Europe.

In the past few years, laws have been passed down in Germany that have made Jews in that country stateless. With other oppressive laws taking business and property from German Jews, many have left the nation looking elsewhere for hope and prosperity.

Austria takes Jews into custody

Earlier today, the Austrian officials took 40,000 or so Jews in protective custody. It is unknown what protective custody means, the ages or gender of the people arrested or where Austria intends to place the Jews.

State of United States Forces

Yesterday, Secretary of War Harry Woodring was able to report encouraging improvements in the military establishment. He declared, however, that there were still deficiencies in organization, equipment, and personnel that required correction. The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Malin Craig, pointed out at the same time that the Regular Army ranked only eighteenth among the standing armies of the world.

Guerillas in the Fields

After marching from Qingdao (Tsingtao), Japanese forces finally reached the Huang (Yellow) River. Mobile Chinese forces limited Japanese control to the railway zone. Despite their military superiority, the Japanese discovered that they could capture major Chinese urban centers, but that Chinese guerillas controlled the rural areas. As a result, Chinese troops were able to conduct successful operations against the Japanese during the Spring of 1938.

Sinti & Roma elements in Germany & Austria

For the past three days, the German and Austrian authorities have been gathering up members of the Sinti and Roma groups. Sinti and Roma are Gypsies and are found living in almost every nation is Europe. Both groups have lived in Germany since the 15th Century.

The German Government took many rights from the Gypsies with "Protection of Blood and Honour" law passed in 1935. This law strips many non-Aryan groups in Germany and, since Anschluss earlier this year, Austria, of civic rights.

Gypsies have historically been nomadic groups all over Europe. The areas of largest populations are in Central and Eastern Europe. Some have countered that the Gypsies are also Aryan, the supposed race of German people.

Dr. Hans F. K. Günther of the University of Berlin has written on the subject in his 1927 book The Racial Elements of European History. Within its pages he discusses Gypsy Aryan origins that corruptions that have occurred dur to breeding with lower classes. All of this is of course the writings of German racialism and has not been wholly substantiated by other learned men.

Other authorities have noted the asocialism and community hygiene problems that the Gypsies present to the Nazi Government.

Many Gypsies have historically been distrusted due to their refusal to live sedentary lifestyles. Gypsies live a nomadic pattern using their skills in crafts and performance to earn money for food. Gypsies are often referred to as criminals, deceivers and thieves.

It is unclear where the Gypsies are going in this relocation.

Japanese land at Anqing

Today, the Japanese landed Naval forces on the Coast at Anqing. The Chinese 11th Army is nearby. More information as it happens.

Flooding of the Yellow River

Reports have been received that the Yellow River (Huang River) near Huayuankou. In the early morning hours of June 9th, local time, many of the local Chinese were caught unawares. The number of dead, missing and injured are unknown at this time. There has been considerable flooding in the area in the past eight years. The local populations are difficult to ascertain as records of the residents have not been effectively kept.

This flood is certainly coming at a bad time for the Japanese. This will impede their efforts at taking control of China.

Latvia and Estonia sign pact with Germany

Germany signed a pact promising non-aggression with the two Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia. The two nations would likely have presented little to no concern to Germany. This is more of a relief to the tiny poor Baltic nations. It is clear to many that a war in Europe is coming but it will not be Germany that brings it to Latvia and Estonia.

Famed Psychologist leaves Austria

Psychoanalyst and Neurologist Siegmund Freud arrived in Paris today via the Orient Express. He left his home in Vienna and Nazi Austria. Dr. Freud and his family including daughter Anna are likely to proceed on to London and establish their home there.

Hungary limits Jewish economics

Hungary, a country that less than twenty years ago, was united with Austria as an Empire, has passed a new law against Jews. Yesterday, a law reduced the amount Jews could contribute to the economy is 20%. This law meets with much skepticism amongst the International Community. It isn't apparent how Hungary's government plans to implement such a measure against its Jewry.

Hitler announces that he will take Czechoslovakia

Hitler has announced that he will "smash Czechoslovakia" before October 1st. It is unclear what the League of Nations will do in response, if anything can be done. Great Britain and France have not responded to Hitler's latest declaration.

Japan arrests Communists

It has been reported that 1300 alleged Communists have been arrested. Japan is appears hopes to rein in any oppositional political parties as its war with mainland Asia increases.

Germany increases building

In response to the messages from Great Britain and France concerning Czechoslovakia, Hitler has ordered for increase in Naval Ship building beyond the Internationally imposed limits. It also appears that Hitler is now even more certain of the course of action he feels Germany must make to protect its Eastern flank from attack.

Nuremberg Laws in effect in Austria

Germany's Nurembeg Laws went into effect yesterday. This means Jews will not have citizenship under Germany and marriages between Jews and non-Jews are voided.

Of particular interest in Austria, any books written by Jews are going to be removed, likely destroyed. In addition, any anti-Nazi literature is meeting the same fate.

Czechoslovakia stirs

Czechoslovakia continues to feel the pressure of its over 3 million Germans clamor for union with Germany. The Sudetenland has become a contentious territory in the western portion of the country. Adolf Hitler of Germany has demanded that the Sudetenland be handed over to Germany.

In reponse, Great Britain and France have rejected these demands. Germany has begun to build up its military installations along its shared border with Czechoslovakia. This apparent aggression has alarmed many with the Chezhoslovakian government. They are now mobilizing in an effort for defense should that need arise.

US Congress votes for rearmament

Despite the amount of time it took for the United States to join in the Great War and its isolationist politics, the Congress has voted to begin rearmament. Navies are particularly slow to build up and the legislature gave its authorization to the Navy to begin expansion.

Chemical Weapons Ban

The League of Nations adopted a resolution today against the use of chemical weapons as used by Japan in its Chinese campaign. The resolution backs up Article 171 of the Treaty of Versailles and Article V of the Treaty in Relation to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare. It has recently come to attention that the Japanese have used poison gas against the Chinese in Northern China.

Viennese Jews

Earlier today, the Volkischer Beobachter announced that "The Jewish element in Vienna must be eradicated by 1942. Whoever knows the sentiment of the Viennese will not be surprised that four years is much too long a time. National Socialism had to convince the people of Northern Germany that the Jews are dangerous. The opposite is true in Vienna."

99.5% of Austrian Jews live in Vienna. Many have already had to endure humiliation at the hands of the Nazis and their fellow countrymen. Jews were forced to scrub Schuschnigg's political slogans off the sidewalks in Vienna.

Both Jews and Gypsies have had their Austrian citizenships revoked since Anschluss.

London Conference Concludes

The representatives of the French and British Governments concluded their three day conference today. The two nations have historically been hostile but in the face of increasing territorial antagonism by Germany, the two nations have vowed to make tactical decisions with regard to each other.

City of Wuhan suffers more bombing

The Japanese have been bombing the city of Wuhan. It coincides with the Japanese Emporer's birthday today.

The Chinese though seem to be quite prepared and have been bringing Japanese planes down. The Battle continues.

More changes for Jews

The Nazi Party has recently changed conditions for Jews living in Greater Germany. On April 22nd, "Front-Ownership" was banned. This prevents Aryans from owning Jewish businesses for Jews. This is one of the first decrees that affects non-Jews and prohibits them from assisting Jews.

In addition, yesterday it was decreed that Jews are now being required to register their property and wealth with the Government.

Sudetengermans

After Anschluss in Austria last month, its not surprising that German populations in other countries would clamor for some sort of restitution there. The Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia is a contentious piece of property. There are 3,123,000 Germans living within Czechoslovakia. These Germans also are the majority in the Sudetenland.

Sudetendeutsche Partei represents many of these Sudetengermans. They have been accorded less rights than other ethnicities in the Sudetenland. Today, the party released the Karlsbader Programm which outlines an 8-point plan to bring equality to Sudetengermans.

British-Italian Accord

British and Italian representatives have hammered out an agreement about territory. The British Government has considerable assets in the Middle East such as Palestine and Egypt. Many of these are within a very short distance to Italy's African possession, Abyssinia, which was recently obtained.

The two nations have agreed to conflict with each other in that region, at least. In the agreement, Britain recognized Italy's conquest of Ethiopia. Also. Italy promised to withdraw her troops from Spain should that country's bloody and brutal Civil War conclude.

Nazi Party banned in Bulgaria

The Eastern European sovereignty of Bulgaria has been rocky in the past few years. It was only three years ago that Tsar Boris was able to end the military regime in his Tsardom.

After Anschluss last month, many European nations have made note. Bulgaria has also followed in this trend. However, it took a different approach. The National Socialist Party has been banned in Bulgaria today.

Plebiscite in Austria

The scheduled Plebiscite has come and gone. Legal voters approved of the Anschluss at 99.7%. 12,000 Voters voted against the Anschluss.

4% of the population are Gypsies and Jews. They were recently disenfranchised. When Austria united with Germany, many of the Nuremberg laws that were passed in 1935 have gone into affect in Austria.

Chinese score a vistory in Tai'erzhuang

On April 6th, the Chinese were able to beat back the Japanese after days of fighting.

Japanese troops were cut off by Chinese troops near Tai'erzhuang. On March 29th, the Japanese troops decided to tunnel under the walls to take the city. But upon emerging, they were killed by the Chinese.

On April 6th, the Japanese tried for a frontal assault. The Chinese were able to repel the Japanese attackers. Despite China's possible inability to capitalize on the retreat by the Japanese.

The Japanese has yet to acknowledge the victory.

Prince Franz abdicates

The prince of Liechtenstein has abdicated the throne. After Anschluss in March, the Prince does not want to be on the throne should Germany take control of the small principality situated between Switzerland and Austria. He has named his third cousin Franz Josef as his successor.

Prince Franz is married to a Viennese woman named Elisabeth. His wife being a Jew has roused some anti-semitic remarks among Nazi sympathetic Liechtensteiners.

Hitler in Vienna

Der Führer Hitler arrived in Vienna yesterday to a cheering crowd of 200,000. At the Heldenplatz, Hitler proclaimed the Anschluss to the Austrian people and the German Reich. He also commented on the criticism that some nations have directed at Germany by stating "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal methods. I can only say: even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier (into Austria) there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators.

A Plebiscite has been set for April 10th. At that time, Austrians will officially vote on the Anschluss. This has already passed as a legislative act in the German Reich on March 13. in essence, the Austrian people will need to ratify it on April 10th.

Political leaders such as Socialist Leader Karl Renner have urged Austria to approve the plebiscite.

Voting in the Referendum that was initiated on March 11th was still counted even during the German Blumenkreig. There were pockets if the country that were only able to count the votes three days later.

National Mobilization Bill

Yesterday, the Japanese government passed the National Mobilization Bill which gives the state dictatorial powers in the Japanese economy. The legislation goes into effect on May 5th.

This amounts to the Armed Forces of Japan fleecing the wealthy families of Japan.

His Imperial Majesty's Government, under its bill, proposes to run Japan under a Planning Commission with authority as complete as that of the Soviet Union State Planning Commission, but only "if in time of war it is found necessary." Much of the shouting and desk-banging in the Diet has been in efforts to find out whether His Imperial Majesty's Government considers that Japan today is at war—for Japan has not declared war on any country—and therefore whether or not the National Mobilization Bill would be operative as soon as passed.

Chamberlain declares England may not aid France

UK Prime Minster stated in parliament yesterday that in the event that France and Germany go to war, the United Kingdom would not be bound to come to France's defense. Chamberlain also said the same thing in case of Czechoslovakia. That nation is nervous since it has a population of 3 million Germans living in the Sudetenland.

Poland makes ultimatum to Lithuania

Poland has given out an ultimatum to its eastern neighbor Lithuania to cease hostilities. In addition to this is a request to establish diplomatic relations between the two nations. Historically, Lithuania and Poland have been ruled many times as one country.

Poland has possession of Vilnius, a city of great importance to Lithuania. Lithuania since closed its border with Poland. Relations have now normalized.

Arrests

In the days following the recent Anschluss of Austria by Germany, 70,000 Austrians have been arrested. This includes recently resigned Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg.

Secretary Hull speaks of Foreign Policy

The Secretary of State in an address at Washington, March 17, 1938, declared that the momentous question was whether the doctrine of force would once more become enthroned or whether the United States and other peaceful nations would work unceasingly to preserve law, order, morality, and justice as the bases of civilized international relations.

The Secretary said that the United States might, if it chose, turn its back on the whole problem and decline the responsibility of contributing to its solution. But he warned of what such a choice would involve. It would mean a voluntary abandonment of some of the most important things that had made us great; an abject retreat before the forces which we had consistently opposed throughout our whole national history. Our security would be menaced as other nations came to believe that through fear or unwillingness we did not propose to protect our legitimate interests abroad, but intended to abandon them at the first sign of danger. The sphere of all of our international relations would shrink until we stood practically alone among the nations, "a self-constituted hermit state". We would find it necessary to reorganize our entire social and economic structure, which would mean lower living standards, regimentation, and wide-spread economic distress.

All this, the Secretary said, would be done in order to avoid war. But, he asked, would this policy give any such assurance? He believed that reason and experience definitely pointed to the contrary. We might seek to withdraw from participation in world affairs, "but we cannot thereby withdraw from the world itself". Isolation, he declared, "is not a means to security; it is a fruitful source of insecurity".

Secretary Hull emphasized that for the sake of our own best interests we must maintain our influence in world affairs and our participation in efforts toward world progress and peace. Only by making our reasonable contribution to a firm establishment of a world order based on law "can we keep the problem of our own security in true perspective, and thus discharge our responsibility to ourselves".

Chamberlain speaks

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Neville Chamberlain, finally spoke on recent events in Austria. His remarks were voiced in the House of Commons. He said:

His Majesty's Government have throughout been in the closest touch with the situation. The Foreign Secretary saw the German Foreign Minister on the 10th of March and addressed to him a grave warning on the Austrian situation and upon what appeared to be the policy of the German Government in regard to it.... Late on the 11th of March our Ambassador in Berlin registered a protest in strong terms with the German Government against such use of coercion, backed by force, against an independent State in order to create a situation incompatible with its national independence.

Later he concluded:

I imagine that according to the temperament of the individual the events which are in our minds to-day will be the cause of regret, of sorrow, perhaps of indignation. They cannot be regarded by His Majesty's Government with indifference or equanimity. They are bound to have effects which cannot yet be measured. The immediate result must be to intensify the sense of uncertainty and insecurity in Europe. Unfortunately, while the policy of appeasement would lead to a relaxation of the economic pressure under which many countries are suffering to-day, what has just occurred must inevitably retard economic recovery and, indeed, increased care will be required to ensure that marked deterioration does not set in. This is not a moment for hasty decisions or for careless words. We must consider the new situation quickly, but with cool judgement... As regards our defence programmes, we have always made it clear that they were flexible and that they would have to be reviewed from time to time in the light of any development in the international situation. It would be idle to pretend that recent events do not constitute a change of the kind that we had in mind. Accordingly we have decided to make a fresh review, and in due course we shall announce what further steps we may think it necessary to take.

One may think that the Prime Minister is reading the Treaty of Versailles very liberally. Chamberlain has made reassurances toward the Czechs that Britain would not let Germany make the same steps there. Czechoslovakia has been nervous since Anshluss.

Arthur Seyss-Inquart passed legislature yesterday that reduced Austria to the Ostmark, or Eastern Mark. As of the 14th, he is no longer the Chancellor of Austria. He now has a new title that of Reichsstatthalter.

Hitler enters Austria

Hitler entered Austria at Branau Yesterday afternoon. He proceeded to arrive at the town of Linz on his way to Vienna. He was greeted by cheers at the city hall in Linz.

In response to the recent Anschluss, Robert Kauer, current President of the minority Lutheran Church in Austria, thanked Hitler. He called Hitler the "saviour of the 350,000 German Protestants in Austria and liberator from a five-year hardship".

The Vatican Newspaper blasted the Austrian bishops and declared "The solemn declaration of the Austrian bishops ... was clearly not intended to be an approval of something that was not and is not compatible with God's law". The Vatican is maintaining a position that the bishops acted without any instruction from the Holy See.

Blumenkrieg

The Austrian Legislature has voted to give the measure full affect today.

Reports that Germany's 8th Army of the Wehrmacht had no need to fire a single bullet have been confirmed. Austrians have generally celebrated the arrival of the German Army. It is being hailed as the Blumenkreig, or, the War of Flowers.

The representatives of the Holy See in Austria have had a more difficult time with this upheaval. Yesterday, March 12th, Cardinal Innitzer said "The Viennese Catholics should thank the Lord for the bloodless way this great political change has occurred, and they should pray for a great future for Austria. Needless to say, everyone should obey the orders of the new institutions." Many other Austrian bishops followed suit.

Vatican Radio was quick to respond with Cardinal Pacelli, the Vatican Secretary of State, commanded Innitzer report to Rome immediately. Reports have it that he may have to sign a statement retracting his previous statement. If so, the other bishops will have to no doubt, do the same.

So far, response from France and Great Britain has been moderate. Both France and Great Britain have filed protests against Germany's actions. These are little more than formalities. France has ignored many of Hitler's violations of the Treaty of Versailles. He has thus far exceeded the quota of 100 planes established in the treaty. A zone extending 50 km east of the Rhine River was specified in the Treaty to be demilitarized. There are to be no installations on this side of the river. On the western side of the same river, Allied troops were to remain in a zone for 15 years. Hitler has moved 3 battalions into this Demilitarized Zone in 1936.

In the United States, an article in the New York Times likened this event to Scotland and England joining centuries before.

Incident at Trasninkai, Lithuania

In the early morning hours of Friday March 11 on the demarcation line in the village of Trasninkai near Merkinė, Lithuanian border police officer Justas Lukoševičius was on a routine patrol when he heard two, then three shots. He informed his superior officer, Vaitkus, who in turn instructed Lukoševičius to investigate the matter. Upon returning to the scene, he spotted a Polish soldier running in the bushes, apparently in the direction of Polish territory. Lukoševičius called for him to halt. Instead, the Pole fired one round in his direction from the bushes. Lukoševičius returned the fire with four rounds. Six rounds were subsequently fired at Lithuanian police officers who had gathered at the scene.

A search uncovered Stanislaw Serafin, a recent recruit to the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (KOP - Border Defense Corps), who was lying in the bushes mortally wounded. He was brought to Trasninkai where he died later that morning.

Anschluss

Today, Austria united with Germany. Adolf Hitler desired having all German speaking peoples united in one Germany. The last time this was fact was in 1806 under the Holy Roman Empire.

The turn of events started as far back as February. On the 12th of that month, German Chancellor Hitler met with Kurt Schuschnigg, the Chancellor of Austria, in Berchtesgaden. That's Bavaria to you and me. At this meeting, the German Chancellor demanded that Austria allow full freedom for political parties and release all political prisoners, notably the Nazi ones.

Mr. Schuschnigg complied with these demands and even appointed Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Interior Minister and Edmund Glaise-Horstenau as Minister without portfolio. Both men are Nazis.

After the release of political prisoners who've not known freedom for four long years after Austria's own civil war, the Communists sided with the Austrian government. The Socialists demanded more concessions from the government before offering any support.

Schuschnigg decided to put the vote on Austrian independence to a vote. On March 9th, he set the minimum voting age at 24. The youth of the Alpine nation have been inflamed with Nazi ideology. For this referendum to pass, Schuschnigg could not have Nazi sympathizers participating.

Germany didn't take this lying down. The Ministry of Propaganda issued reports that riots were occurring in Austria and the Austrians were pleading for Germany to come in and restore order. These were false.

Hitler demanded that control of the country be handed over to the National Socialist Party by noon on the 11th. He extended the demand two hours. It mattered little. Nazis were quick to take over Vienna.

The Chancellor resigned in the evening hours of the 11th at around 7:30 PM. He told his people and the world by radio that he had to this to avoid bloodshed.

The President of Austria, Wilhelm Miklas, though, refuses to recognize Seyss-Inquart as the new Chancellor. As long as he did this, Seyss-Inquart was unable to send a telegram under the government for German troops to enter Austria.

After much frustration, Hitler and Hermann Göring, who was waiting with his troops at the border, decided to forge a telegram, at about 10 PM, allowing them to invade Austria. At midnight, after many of the government officials had been arrested and many places in Vienna were in Nazi control, Miklas conceded and decided to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor.

The German army has slipped across the border without any resistance. There have been reports that the German soldiers have been welcomed with salutes and flowers.

Japanese Yellow River Campaign

After marching from Qingdao (Tsingtao, 青島), Japanese forces finally reached the Huang (Yellow) River. Mobile Chinese forces limited Japanese control to the railway zone.

The Japanese forces have had to contend with Chinese guerillas. These guerillas have so far been underestimated.

King Carol II dissolves Parliament

Two months after a mixed election, Romania's King Carol II dissolved the parliament there. He also ended the Cuza-Goga government. Both men were highly Anti-Semitic.

Those close to the King believe that the Anti-Semitic rhetoric and newly instilled laws against Romanian Jews upset the King. He is considered a true philo-semite and has not hid his displeasure at the increasing public dislike of Jews.

A Good Offence is a Good Defence

Congress continues to debate the President's requests for more military funding to rearm the forces and get America's Army and Navy up to scratch. Secretary of State Cordell Hull took it upon himself to address Congress in a letter yesterday.

He stated categorically his opinion that the proposed naval program was needed for the defense of the United States. Referring to the desire of the people and Government of the United States to keep out of war, he said that those who, with a full sense of responsibility, were advocating this program, were doing so in the belief that its adoption would contribute to achieving this desire. Secretary Hull pointed out that the Navy, even with the proposed increases, would not be able to embark upon offensive or aggressive operations overseas.

The Secretary also declared that the proposed program did not contemplate naval cooperation with any other power in the world that the policy of the United States was to avoid both extreme internationalism and extreme isolation; that, while avoiding alliances and entangling commitments, it was advisable to confer and exchange information with other governments having common objectives and, when practicable, to proceed on parallel lines. Finally, the Secretary said that if every peaceful nation insisted on remaining aloof from every other peaceful nation and on pursuing a policy of armament limitation without reference to relative armaments, the inevitable consequences would be to encourage and even to assist nations inclined to play lawless roles.

Atrocities in Nanking

Since Japan took possesion of Naking late last year there has been word of many grizzly events in the city. Up until today, there had been nothing official.

The International Committee is a group of American, British, and German businessmen, missionaries, physicians and academics living in Nanking and led by German businessman, John Rabe. Despite the dangers involved, these men and their families have remained behind in Nanking. They are responsible for the Safety Zone. It was established in the city on November 22nd of last year. The Safety Zone, which is about the size of New York City's Central Park, was not shelled during combat.

Today, the committee forwarded 450 cases of disorder to the Japanese embassy. Among these cases are reports of bayoneted civilians and rape.

«Case 5- On the night of December 14th, there were many cases of Japanese soldiers entering houses and raping women or taking them away. This created panic in the area and hundreds of women moved into the Gingling College campus yesterday.»

«Case 10- On the night of December 15th, a number of Japanese soldiers entered the University of Nanking buildings at Tao Yuen and raped 30 women on the spot, some by six men.»

«Case 13 - December 18, 4 p.m., at No. 18 I Ho Lu, Japanese soldiers wanted a man's cigarette case and when he hesitated, one of the soldier crashed in the side of his head with a bayonet. The man is now at the University Hospital and is not expected to live.»

«Case 14 - On December 16th, seven girls (ages ranged from 16 to 21) were taken away from the Military College. Five returned. Each girl was raped six or seven times daily- reported December 18th.»

«Case 15 - There are about 540 refugess crowded in # 83 and 85 on Canton Road. (...) More than 30 women and girls have been raped. The women and children are crying all nights. Conditions inside the compound are worse than we can describe. Please give us help.»

«Case 16- A Chinese girl named Loh, who, with her mother and brother, was living in one of the Refugee Centers in the Refugee Zone, was shot through the head and killed by a Japanese soldier. The girl was 14 years old. The incident occurred near the Kuling Ssu, a noted temple on the border of the Refugee zone (...)»

«Case 19 - January 30th, about 5 p.m. Mr. Sone (of the Nanking Theological Seminary) was greeted by several hundred women pleading with him that they would not have to go home on February 4th. They said it was no use going home they might just as well be killed for staying at the camp as to be raped, robbed or killed at home. (...) One old woman 62 years old went home near Hansimen and Japanese soldiers came at night and wanted to rape her. She said she was too old. So the soldiers rammed a stick up her. But she survived to come back.»

The German Government Restructures

The German government reorganized the military and diplomatic command in Germany yesterday.

Werner von Blomberg, Minister of War, and Werner von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, stepped down from office.

Chancellor Hitler announces he is personally taking over command of the German armed forces and assumed the Ministry of War portfolio . In the meantime, General Wilhelm Keitel became his representative at the Supreme Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht: OKW).

General Heinrich Brauschitsch became the new Wehrmacht commander-in-chief . In the Foreign Office, Joachim von Ribbentrop replaced Constantin von Neurath as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As a result of these personnel changes, both the army and diplomatic corps, formerly led by moderates, come under the direct control of the National Socialist Party - the Nazi Party.

Roosevelt asks Congress to spend more on Military building

President Roosevelt recommended to Congress, in a special message today, the strengthening of our national defense. The President reported with deep regret that armaments were increasing "at an unprecedented and alarming rate". He called attention to the ominous fact that at least one fourth of the world's population was involved in "merciless devastating conflict" in spite of the fact that most people in most countries wished to live at peace.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, the President deemed it his constitutional duty to report to the Congress that the national defense of the United States was, in the light of the increasing armaments of other nations, inadequate for purposes of national security and therefore required increase.

The President said that "adequate defense" meant that for the protection not only of our coasts but also of our communities far removed from the coasts, we must keep any potential enemy many hundreds of miles away from our continental limits. We could not assume, he stated, that our defense would be limited to one ocean and one coast and that the others would certainly be safe. "

Specifically and solely because of the piling up of additional land and sea armaments in other countries" the President recommended to Congress that authorizations be granted for substantial increases in military and naval armament. Included were recommendations for increasing by 20 percent the existing naval building program and for appropriations to lay down two additional battleships and two additional cruisers during 1938.

Banns on traffic in Kaiser-Wilhem Canal

Germany has banned foreign warships from the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal today. It was effective immediately.

The Canal is located in the Schlewig-Holstein province of extreme northern Germany. The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel with the Baltic Sea Kiel-Holtenau. The Canal is a boon to shipping in the the North Sea Region. It saves 460 kilometers in length of voyage for ships. Ships can avoid having to sail completely around the Jutland.

The Canal was given International Status in the Treaty of Versailles. However, Germany's Chacnellor Hitler repudiated this in 1936.

Laws about Servants for Jews

In an effort to prevent any racial mixing, there has been a Romanian decree forbids Jews from employing Christian female servants under the age of forty. This came out yesterday and is probably going to be followed by many such decrees once Octavian Goga gets his government going.

Jews in Romania still citizens?

The new government, barely a fortnight old, has stripped the Romanian Jews of citizenship. The government is now run by poet Octavian Goga and A.C. Cuza, a theorist from the University of Iaşi. Both have strong far right politics and racial theories.

The Goga-Cuza government has passed a law aimed at reviewing criteria for citizenship (after it cast allegations that previous cabinets had allowed Ukrainian Jews to obtain it illegally). All Jews who had received citizenship in 1918-1919 to reapply for it (while providing a very short term in which this could be achieved - 20 days).

In the recent election, 25% of the vote went to Anti-Semitic political parties: the Totul pentru Ţară, the Iron Guard, and the National Christian Party. Both are considered extreme right-wing and very nationalist.

Italian Navy Construction Boom

Today, the Italian government announced the beginning of a huge naval construction program. This plan augments the Italian rearmament program introduced in 1937.

US Congress bans aid to Spanish Civil War Belligerents

In response to the ongoing Civil War in Spain, the united States Congress has seen fit to outlaw shipment of arms to the parties fighting in the war. Congress passed the bill yesterday prohibiting sail and shipment of arms to Spain.

The United States continues its stance of neutrality in the increasingly bloody civil war. Conflict has raged in the country since July 1936. Before that there was upheaval in the government in 1931.

Hull says US can't intervene in Romania

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull declared today that America cannot intervene in Romania's internal affairs.

In the last week of the year, the National Christian Party established a government at King Carol's request. Octavian Goga formed a government that many fear will be vehemently anti-semitic and much like Germany's Nazi Regíme.

Romanian goes Fascist

On December 20th and 22nd, two rounds of elections were held to choose the Romanian Parliament. The election was held with universal male suffrage.

The first day was to elect Assembly of Deputies. The second on the 22nd was held to elect the Senate.

After two days of voting the tally looked like thus:

Parties Votes Seats

National Liberal Party 1103353 228
National Peasants Party 626612 5
Totul pentru Ţară 478368 70
National Christian Party 281167 35
Maryar Party 136139 3
National Liberal Party-Brătianu 119361 16
Radical Peasants' Party 69198
Agrarian Party 52101
Jewish Party 43681
German Party 43412 3

After the election, King Carol II asked the National Liberal Party to form a government. This is the party that has held electoral power since 1933. Gheorghe Tătărescu has led the party for some time. However, the party was unable to form a coalition government with the next two parties: The National Peasants' Party or the Totul pentru Ţară, otherwise known as the Iron Cross.

This left left the King with the choice of asking poet and politician Octavian Goga to form a government on December 27th. Goga's National Christian Party came in fourth in the polls and is decidedly very anti-semitic and has strong anti-Jewish rhetoric. The party is fascist and shares that in common with Totul pentru Ţară which is also firmly anti-Communist.

It seems he may be the right man for the job. But in the cause of stable government, Romania has become Fascist.

Bombing of Panay Deliberate

Observers who witnessed the Japanese aerial attack on the USS Panay two days ago declared tonight the bombing was unmistakably deliberate, precluding a possibility of error. The observers were rescued by the Royal Navy HMS Bee.

Though the United States gunboat had American flags painting on her awnings and a carried flags in every mast, squadrons of Japanese planes bombed the Panay at 1:35 PM (this would just half past midnight in New York).

The British Royal Navy has requested the stationing of Japanese Officers on the HMS Bee and likewise on the HMS Ladybird, also posted in the Yangtze Patrol. The Japanese have yet to respond to this proposal.

Reports are coming in that Japanese Officers boarded the Panay just two scant hours before she was attacked. They asked questions about her destination and details about the offensive in Nanking. Japanese forces also came alongside her and trained their rifles on her.

The gunboat was assisting ships Meiping, Meihsia and a third ship. As they conducted their business in the Yangtze River, they hugged the North Shore. The Japanese also set these afire.

When asked about recognizing different flags, Colonel Hashimoto, a superior commanding officer in the area in charge of the Wuhu (芜湖) area, said he was out of touch with his headquarters and that his troops could not distinguish British from Chinese flags. Neutral military observers here suspect the same inability to recognize flags on the part of many Japanese pilots.

Japanese Apologize for the Panay

Yesterday the USS Panay was strafed and bombed by Japanese forces near Nanking China where offensives were taking place. It sank in the Yangzte River.

Japanese Foreign Minister Koki Hirota expressed "profoundest apologies" today for the sinking of the gunboat.

The Foreign Minister called on US Ambassador, Joseph C. Grew, to convey the Japanese Government's regrets. Mr. Grew said he had visited the Foreign Office this morning, before he had received the news of the sinking of the Panay, and had told Mr. Hirota that shells were falling near US ships.

The Ambassador had expressly asked the Japanese vessels and aircraft use caution.

News of the Panay incident was suppressed in Japan.

Japanese believe they have Nanking

Japanese troops preceded by tanks, have been rushing into Nanking since 4 AM local time when they captured Chungshan Gate. The city's capitulation is imminent.

The fighting continued anabated throughout last night inder clear skies and a half moon. Yeasterday, the Japanese forces took Lotus Lake which border Nanking's North Wall. Colonel and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh landed on this lake after their flight to China in September, 1931.

The Japanese have also captured Pukow.

The Chinese have demonstrated repeatedly their ability to take extraordinary punishment. Mostly unpaid and underfed, without any provisions for their wounded, the Chinese forced the Japanese to pay a terrific price for every foot gained around the gates.

As in 1900, when Chinese forces held Teintsin's walls until the hill of corpses exceeded 7,000 and conspicuously again at Tsinan in Shantung in 1928 when they fought with similar valor, the Chinese contested every foot of the Japanese advance.

Despite their own heavy losses, the Chinese are claiming the Japanese have lost 6,000. Japanese Officers have admitted they have only advanced 100 yards.

Besides the bombardment of Nanking throughout yesterday, the Japanese raided the Nanchang Air Field at noon. The pilots reported that they shot down two pursuit planes down and destroyed twelve others on the ground.

Just before sunset, several squadrons of Naval planes made a surprise raid on the distant Sian, capital of the Shensi province. It was said they destroyed an airplace and a repair factory.

Signalling their victories it this region, the Japanese are arranging to ring the centuries old bronze bell in the Hanshan Temple, Soochow for a New Year's Eve national radio broadcast.

More news on the USS Panay as it becomes available.

USS Panay sunk in Yangtze River

Japanese planes strafed, bombed and sunk the USS Panay earlier today at 1:38 local time. It was anchored in the Yangtze River near Nanking in China. The Japanese are currently involved in heavy fighting with the Chinese in and around Nanking.

The riverboat and three oil steamers Mei Ping, Mei An and the Mei Hsia came under fire from nine A4N. Two bombs from a B4Y also hit the Panay.

Of the Sailors on board, three were killed and twenty seven of the remaining forty-three were injured. Five civilians were also aboard including newsmen from Movietone and Universal News.

Many of the men swam to the Ohau, an American craft nearby. The Royal Navy also had the HMS Ladybird and the HMS Bee nearby that assisted with the wounded.

The Japanese have said that they saw no flags designating the ship as American. They are calling this an accident and do not wish any hostility with the United States.

Japanese attack Nanking

The Japanese have engaged in a siege on the city of Nanking (南京). Outside the city, 1 million Japanese troops wait for a reply to the many leaflets dropped over the city demanding a surrender.

Currently, there is an agreement among the Japanese not to shell portions of the city not occupied by Chinese military.

Many of the foreigners in the city have fled but 22 remain behind. They have formed a Safety Zone of some kind to protect themselves. They are calling themselves the International Committee with German businessman John Rabe as their leader.

Recently, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, has relieved the Japanese military of the required international laws for treatment of Prisoners of War. The Japanese troops are not even allowed to call the Chinese soldiers they have captured Prisoners of War.

Further Battling in China

Colonel Ott, a German advisor to the Chinese, has stated that the Japanese are lucky that the Germans are still there. otherwise, it is likely they'd be replaced by Soviet ones. Their continued presence also helps to protect the German citizens who remain in the country. If the officials were to leave, it is believed that the Chinese would be rather harsh against these citizens abroad.

In China there remains citizens of several countries such as Great Britain, of course, France, the US and Japan. Many of these citizens are claiming their extraterritorial rights to protect them from the prolonged fighting.

The Japanese remain unchecked in Northern China. The Japanese commander, Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki, while his motorized divisions roared over a Chinese strategic highway built by famed "Model Governor" Yen Hsi-shan of Shansi, announced: "We are pursuing the disorganized Chinese troops so fast that they are unable to reform their lines in the strong positions which they had prepared earlier in anticipation of their retreat."

The Japanese while fighting the battle for Shanghai, are also having to contend with uprising in Manchukuo. The weather has been cold enough to freeze the marshes and swamps of Manchukuo allowing for easy transportation of mechanized vehicles.

German advisors remain

Despite a pact against Communism between Japan and Germany, Adolf Hitler has not withdrawn his advisors to the Chinese military. They continue to help the Chinese strategize against the Japanese attacks.

Conference Concludes

The conference concluded yesterday in Brussels with a chiding of the Japanese as an aggressor. The sanctions Kai-shek was hoping for are likely to only come from the United States.

Things at the Wufu line get worse. The officials who were supposed to be there to meet the exhausted Chinese troops had fled. Chinese forces have been unable to use the facilities for defense thus far.

Chinese withdraw to the Wufu Line

As the conference in Brussels continues, the Chinese have now had to retreat to the Wufu Line. The Chinese have little left to use to fight against the Japanese and the frontline is near collapse.

They have recently lost the town of Kunshun. There is also a severe shortage of ammunition.

There are reports of disarray in the withdrawal.

Nine-Power Conference Continues; Chinese lose more

The Nine-Power Conference continues in Brussels with Germany, Italy and Japan refusing to attend.

In the meantime, the Chinese have taken heavy losses. The Japanese were able to make landings at Jinshanwei in Northern China on November 5th.

On November 8th, the Chinese Central Command issued a retreat from Shanghai despite the ongoing conference. Chiang Kai-shek continues to hope that the conference will do something to contain Japan.

Nine Powers convene in Brussels

With the Japanese closing in on the Chinese in Shanghai, western powers decided to hold a conference in Brussels to discuss possible intervention.

The nine nations are those who signed the agreement of the Open Door Policy on February 6, 1922. These nine nations include Great Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Japan, China, The United States and the Netherlands. The treaty has not been very effective. Six years ago with the invasion of Manchuria, the United States could do little more than impose economic sanctions on Japan.

Many of the other Chinese troops have withdrawn to the other side of the Suzhou Creek where fighting remains intense. Chiang Kai-shek continues to stay in Shanghai during the conference.

Hard Fighting at Suzhou Creek

The situation at Suzhou Creek looks grim. The strength of the Chinese forces is little compared to the Japanese forces. Many divisions are depleted to only one or two regiments.

Chiang Kai-shek came to the battlefield and seemed to boost morale for a short period.

Dachang falls

Dachang has finally fallen to the Japanese. It was the last suburban town lying between the Japanese forces and the Chinese fortified within Shanghai.

The two sides engaged in many seesaw battles over the past few weeks. The frontline of the battle has only managed to move 5 Kilometers with the Japanese making the gains. The Chinese have so far, never been able to capitalize 0n Japanese vulnerabilities.

The fighting has been so intense that the rate of casualties an hour for the Chinese has reportedly been in the thousands. Some divisions have been wiped out in a matter of days.

On October 25th, however, Dachang fell to the Japanese. In the course of last night, the Chinese began to withdraw from Shanghai, particularly its downtown which they've held for the better part of three months.

US President calls for Quarantine

The President of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, gave a speech in Chicago yesterday. In it, he proposed a "quarantine of the aggressor nations" such as Japan and Italy.

The prevailing political thought right now in the United States is one of neutrality and isolationism. The Neutrality Act, signed on August 31, 1935, forbid the US from shipping arms of ammunition to Italy or Abyssinia, though that crisis has ended.

Mr. Roosevelt seems to be suggesting economic measures be taken against aggressor nations rather than reacting to aggression with aggression. In other words, put water on the fire, not more fire!

The Chinese withdraw to keep Dachang

Since the fall of Luodian, the frontline of the battle has moved southward to the town of Dachang (大場). There the Chinese hope to maintain some sort of continued communication between themselves the the troops in downtown Shanghai.

The Japanese have increased their numbers to 200,000 given the intensity they faced from 300,000 Chinese at Luodian. Chiang Kai-shek mobilized whatever troops he could scrape up for the defense of Dachang.

After invading the town of Liuhang, the Japanese have managed to push the frontline back further to the Yunzaobin River (蘊藻濱).