According to Col. Stimson, U: S. Secretary for War, reports from American Army officers abroad are definitely more optimistic about British powers of resistance than they were six weeks go, He said he read these reports carefully, and they did not differ radically from accounts published in the newspapers. That statement is of the greatest as- independent evidence of the fact that the British authorities are content to tell the world the truth.. It is more than ible that the American. Army officers in-doubtedly write with a greater freedom, and the fact that they are' more optimistic over Britain's chances indicates that all along the Government, from the Prime Minister downwards have stuck closely to the Thus some five permitted to elapse before the of the Lancastria's sinking at St. to become known. The for that has been explained. Had it was 1 being they should not have "information. There have been other of a similar nature, but of the truth of the statements which the British Govern-have made it quite an art, but by no means an effective one, for even when they do teli er Tei: there Marine n eve Much has been made by the enemy propagandists that the British Government has decided not to permit air-raíd times to be published in the future. The reason for this seems to be somewhat obscure, for this gives no information to the enemy which they do mot know themselves, but the record of the British Government in these matters has been such that their assurance in this respect can be accepted without question. Lord Caldecote, Secretary for the Dominions, in dealing with the question of British propaganda in the House of Lords said "I sometimes share the feeling that we are not naturally so adept at propaganda or so successful at it, as other nations." -It all depends upon the type of propaganda to which he refers, for, if it is the lying type, then the British are the better for their incapacity. The time has to come when the truth is revealed, and the country which has resorted least to lying emerge from the ordeal of history in a better posi tion than those who have followed the other course.
German propaganda, based upon the obiter dictum of Hitler which is to be found in his "Mein Kampf," is fundamentally a lie. Goebbels has to lie abroad as well as at home, and the many occasions on which he has lamentably failed to make his untruths stand up has justified the world in regarding any German output of alleged news with the gravest suspicion. Aeroplane carriers which did not sink, despite his allegations, a British Navy still in existence, though Goebbels according to his claims has more than wiped it out completely, still brand the German propaganda machine for what it is worth. A reduced German steel output gives the lie to stories that British air-raids on industrial Germany have been abject failures, and millions of neutrals, and indeed Britons listen in to German broadcasts only to seek to learn what new fables the. perverted imaginations under Goebbels's directions have been able to devise. It may seem all very clever to the enemy, but the sounder methods of the British, especially with their genius for understatement, must in the long run prevail, just as their arms will over the enemy, Battle of Egypt Preparations are now being made for what may develop into the "Battle of Egypt," or, for that matter, the "Battle of Libya." With foreknowledge that communications between Libya and Italy would be difficult after the outbreak Of war with Britain, Signor Mussolini concentrated a large force and many supplies in his African colonies. These colonies have mot the resources to victual large armies or to provide the necessary munitions and petrol, and this particularly applies to Libya. The Italians, therefore, are left with no choice but to attack, since they are unable to renew their supplies from their home land. They hope to deprive Great Britain of naval bases in the eastern Mediterranean and thereby open routes for their own navy and transports, which are at present closed. It they fail, they are finished in that part of the world. The terrain over which the Italians are at present advancing is extremely difficult, It is short of water and exposed to attack from the sea. It may therefore be expected that they may shortly advance along an alternative route, through Jerabub, which is linked by road to the naval base of Tobruk, to the Siwa oasis, from which there is a road running direct to Mersa Matruh, which is the British advance base. During the last war something" of this nature was attempted by Senussi tribesmen under Turkish officers, but they were in small numbers and Were defeated without difficulty. For these operations Mersa Matruh was also the British advanced base. The area over which the Italians and British are at present manceuvring is of great historical interest. Mersa Matruh itself was once a famous Roman summer resort. Wealthy patricians maintained villas there, since the climate is excellent, But in those times the hinterland was very different from today. There were stretches of cultivated and fertile land stretching as many miles from the coast as the coastal rainfall penetrated. That part of Libya was one of Rome's greatest granaries and vineyards. Cleopatra owned a villa in Mersa Matruh, the remains of which are still to be seen, There she entertained Mark Anthony, and legend has it that it was there she presented him with the cup of wine in which a pearl had been dissolved. The coast lands rapidly became neglected after ihe Arab invasion, and have remained semi-desert ever since. Another interesting episode can be recalled. In 1805, when European nations were again too busy at war with themselves to bother about pirates and such like, the American representative in Alexandria organized an expedition against the pirates of Tripoli, who were wreaking havoc on shipping in the Mediterranea. With a small force of marines and some troops recruited in Egypt, he penetrated far along the coast into Tripoli and burnt out some of the most obnoxious of the pirate lairs.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.