5 MAY 1939, Page 6

One phrase in Herr Hitler's Reichstag speech seems a little

odd. Germany, he said, was prepared to conclude a twenty- five-year non-aggression pact with Poland—" a treaty, there- fore, which would extend far beyond the duration of my own life." What Herr Hitler's own life has to do with a treaty between Government and Government is not clear. But why does a man who celebrated his fiftieth birthday last month proclaim thus publicly that another twenty-five years is far more than he can hope to live? Still, counsel in a case in the courts on Wednesday said of his client, " He is an elderly man, just under 5o years of age." " Perhaps care does