The German Press To the uninitiated the manner in which the German press swings into action upon any parti-lar issue with such complete unanimity must come as something of a surprise, but when it realized that the oficial control of the German press has no equal anywhere else in the world, this particular feature is not quite so festonishing. It is all worked upon the principle that when some official father says "Turn" the whole of the German. newspapers turn, Hence the completely smooth manner in which the German "journals changed over from anti-Bolshevik to pro-Soviet_ comment. Uniformity headlines, and in the treatment of certain news, 1s not due to the efforts of censors, but to the knowledge that every editor has' that any error, oF indiscretion will bring down upon him an official rebuke for the first time, expulston from the profession for the second, and Possibly a term of protective imprisonment in a Concentration camp. Hence there is no need for censors in Germany. The knowledge of the pains and penalties likely to be applied stimu-fates all editors to do their own censoring. Some important papers still have no Party members on their staffs, but there is a. general control organization, under the Ministry of Propaganda. Editorial staffs have to check manuscripts under the rules which have been Jaid down, but In difficult eases an editor may. consult an official. Ordinarily the censors do not [see the newspapers before the general public, confident that threats will make the editors duly erreful not to offend. If then something dan-Serous is found in an issue as many copies are Seized as possible, and the offending journalists duly dealt with, Uniformity of policy, however, ensured by daily conferences at the Ministry for Propaganda, These have to be attended by representatives of all Berlin Journals, and [correspondents of provincial papers. They take Gown the orders of the day read out by an official. Later these orders are committed to paper, and messengers from newspaper offices have to collect them. They constitute almost super-newspaper and are treated as highly secret State documents. Every journalist has to sign fan undertaking not to divulge a detail of their contents. Any. leakage is investigated by the [Gestapo and culprits may be severely punished, even with death. Such instructions moreover, may vary from day to day according to the Wishes of the varlols ministries. It fs because fof these things that Dr. Goebbels, once ac-
he said, "One may compare the German' Press as it is' now with what it was before our coming into power. One will not be able to re-
The Cabinet's Future Sora sera eh tad Sica Ae SRI ear Geatoct Mic peta Bar caer tas cana oer er Pts Seeman ae era ope rug yearning Meare ae a Sarai Secee ae Svan Suit aaa seme Saat Soon tae eae recent Sian her eititae a Nort fai area ta tcl matt Sri acca a ake Bae Site Tee Atrocities in Poland 'Though it is repeating an old story it is, per haps, Just as well that some account of the cond report presented tothe Pope on the subject of the persecution of Roman Catholics in Poland should' be made known to the world. Religious life in most of the dioceses. covered by this report, which has been handed In. [Cardinal August Hiond, Primate of Poland, has been almost completely' suppressed, priests have been killed for no reason whatever, at Toast one was tortured, chapels desecrated, while the marriage of, Poles. in churches and cotivents forbidden. "It is impossible to describe the tor= {ure inflicted in cold blood on the population by the Germans." the report concludes. "These [deeds will go' down' in the history. of humanity fas one of its blackest deeds." It will be remem-ered that almost similar stories were told of the Germans during the last war, and they became so frequent that they were in some fers dismissed as the merest clumsy propaganda. Subsequently there were attempts made to dis: count all such stories as being merely war-time confections, und to make it appear that the German was not so black as he was painted. To a very great extent that almost succeeded, and undoubtedly would have done but for the' out break of the present war, and the knowledge of the sufferings which have been and are being inflicted upon all those people unfortunate enough to come beneath the heel of the Prussian jack-boot. What is going on in Poland is a dastardly attempt to wipe out the Polish nation, its culture and its religion, with the idea that there shall never arise another Polish question for the Germans to face. The passing months have shown the German running {rue to form, sinking merchant vessels, whether belligerent or not, without ensuring the safety of the civilian crews, machine-gunning lightships, attacking peaceful Ashing. trawlers and shooting the crews as they sought {0 escape their boats, bombing a Norwegian hospital ship, and perpetrating every atrocity which the Gistorted minds of German Yeaders can. devise. That in itself is bad enough, but when what is being done to conquered nations is remembered, HM' must be realized that the German has not changed his character during the last twenty~ five years, and that cold, calculated brutality is SUill one of the weapons which the Reich wields against defenceless people.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.