Germany and Arms Limitation Two speeches regarding Germany delivered in
the United States this week have aroused, and are calculated to arouse, very different emotions. When an American Cardinal, apparently of German extraction, refers to Herr Hitler as " an Austrian paperhanger " he no doubt gratifies himself and some of his audience, but the single effect of his words, apart from that, is to raisc a little further still an international temperature which is more than high enough already. When the new German Ambassador at Washington, Dr. Dieckhoff, tells the American Press that Herr Hitler is ready to discuss arms limitation provided Germany is treated on a basis of full equality he is making a contribution of some importance to international discussion. Dr. Dieck- hoff is a man of moderation as well as ability and good sense, and no doubt he put the highest estimate on the possibilities of a development he would himself warmly welcome. His words, moreover, actually mean no more than that Herr Hitler still stands by what he said in more than one public speech last year and the year before. But it is well to be reminded that the door to some measure of rearmament remains open. Contacts in this country during the Coro- nation festivities between Field-Marshal von Blomberg, the German War Minister, and Mr. Eden and others have undoubtedly been beneficial, and the subject of arms limita- tion can hardly have been excluded from their conversations.
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